
The American Lung Association recently sent letters to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to bolster and finalize the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) for particulate matter air pollution. The letters carried the signatures of more than 1,000 physicians, nurses, public health and other health professionals. The much-needed change in standards was long overdue.
The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to ensure healthy outdoor air quality by setting NAAQS for several pollutants that are known to be harmful to public health. This includes particle pollution, PM or soot. In January 2023, the EPA proposed new NAAQS for fine PM, which are much weaker than what scientists recommended and necessary to protect human health.
One of the pediatricians who signed the letter, Anne Mellinger-Birdsong, MD, MPH, FAAP, urged the EPA action to protect the next generation.
Particle pollution is everywhere and is on the rise as climate change increases things such as drought and heat and eventually wildfires. The 2023 “State of the Air” report found that 63.7 million people lived in counties that suffered most from episodes of unhealthy spikes in particle pollution.
According to the American Lung Association, particle pollution can cause serious health harms and can be fatal. Exposure can cause worsened asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD); cause heart attacks, strokes, heart disease, congestive heart failure; cause lung cancer; increase risk of low birth weight or infant mortality and impaired lung function in children; and even shorten life expectancy.