1. AIR POLLUTION: Smog's link to premature death should be factor in health assessments -- NAS (Greenwire, 04/22/2008)

Katherine Boyle, Greenwire reporter

U.S. EPA must consider the link between smog and premature deaths when weighing the health benefits of reducing ground-level ozone, a National Academy of Sciences panel said in a report today.

Short-term exposure to ozone -- a component of smog -- likely contributes to premature death and heart and respiratory problems, the report says. It recommends that EPA use national databases of air pollution and mortality and analyze data on multiple days to further study ozone's health effects.

The study comes in the wake of a controversial EPA decision on ambient ozone standards last month. EPA tightened the standard from 80 parts per billion over an eight-hour period to 75 ppb, against the urging of health advocates, environmentalists and the agency's own science advisers who wanted a more restrictive standard (E&E Daily, March 13).

The NAS report says that the association between short-term changes in ozone concentrations and mortality is generally linear, noting that any threshold is likely to be below current ozone standards.

Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel for the Environmental Defense Fund, said the findings "really punctuate the serious health effects associated with ozone air pollution and the failure of EPA to follow the recommendations of the science advisers in setting a health standard that protects Americans from not only the disease associated with ozone pollution but death" as well.

"We hope [the report] puts an end to government policy that is seriously misguided and ignoring the fact that ozone causes death," Patton said.

EPA spokesman Jonathan Shradar said the agency's ozone ruling would "stand and continue to be law."

EPA is still reviewing the NAS report, he said. It is unclear if the report could affect future rulings, including proposed emissions standards for gasoline-powered lawnmowers, hand-held garden engines and marine stern drive engines.

E-mails between the the White House Office of Management and Budget and EPA last year showed that the White House requested that EPA remove language from the proposed lawnmower rule discussing a possible connection between ozone and premature mortality.

Patton described the lawnmowers and other engines as "one of the nation's largest overall sources of hydrocarbon emissions that contribute to summertime ozone pollution."

"More than a year later, we continue to wait for EPA to finalize standards that, according to today's report, would have enormous benefits in protecting Americans from the death and disease associated with air pollution," she said.

Other recommendations

The NAS report also suggests EPA conduct more research on the interaction between ozone and fine soot particles in different regions. Other areas for further study include the effects of low ozone exposure during the winter months.

NAS recommended researchers take a close look at how ozone exposure affects the mortality of populations at high risk of death within a few days and healthier individuals, noting that personal thresholds for ozone exposure may vary.

Research also is needed on the time that may elapse between short-term exposure to ozone and death and the health effects of chronic exposure to ozone.

Back to Public index page