Health groups demand strict ozone standards

Healthcare professionals want the EPA to adopt the strictest standards possible for ozone pollution.

{mosads}“A new standard is not only long overdue, but publicly needed,” Janice Nolen, assistant vice president of national policy at the American Lung Association, said in a telephone conference on Tuesday.

“The current standard of 75 parts per billion [ppb] fails to adequately protect public health. We’re proposing a new rule of 60 parts per billion over a period of 8 hours.”

By court order, the Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has until Dec. 1 to propose a new national ambient air quality standard for ozone, rules that business groups say could end up being the most expensive in EPA’s history. 

The agency said in 2010 that annual compliance costs could reach $90 billion if the standard is set at 60 parts per billion.

But Nolen said those cost estimates are based on assumptions.
“We are protecting public health. That’s the goal,” she said. “We need to be setting new standards and we’ll deal with cost when we get to compliance.”

The agency has not released any cost estimates for the proposal it’s expected to release next month.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to revise or propose new standards for six pollutants — ground-level ozone, carbon monoxide, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, lead and nitrogen oxide — every five years.

In addition to decreased lung function and swelling of the airways in children, John Balmes, a pulmonary critical care physician, said ozone pollution has been linked to an increased risk of developing a cardiovascular diseases and low birth weights.

“My patients and the public at large deserve protection from ozone pollution,” said Balmes, who also chairs the American Thoracic Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee. “They deserve to know how dangerous the air is they breathe.”

The American Lung Association was one of the groups that legally challenged the 2008 standard of 75 ppb, claiming it did not adequately protect health as required by law. EPA settled on 65 ppb in 2010, but the White House Office of Management and Budget threw out the proposed final rule in 2011.

The EPA is now considering lowering the ozone standard from 75 ppb to a number between 70 and 60 ppb.

Nolen said President Obama should be leading the charge in setting the lowest levels of pollution possible.

“One of the key priorities of any president is to protect the public health of the people,” she said. “This will help save lives.”

The 60 ppb recommendation is on the low end of what the EPA is proposing. If the agency comes back with a standard of 65 or 70 ppb, Balmes said there will likely be more asthma-related emergency room visits and more people in the hospital with respiratory illnesses.

“Sixty [ppb] provides the best protection, based on the science,” he said.

This story was updated at 5:00 p.m.