EPA plans tougher airborne lead limit

Building on one of its all-time biggest success stories, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it planned to adopt a more stringent health standard for airborne lead to protect children.

Under the long-awaited proposal, the amount of lead allowed in the air would be dramatically lower than the current limit, which was adopted 30 years ago. Nationally, airborne lead has dropped nearly 98 percent since the original standard prompted phasing out leaded gasoline.

Inhaling or ingesting small doses of the metal can damage the developing nervous system, reducing children’s IQs and causing learning disabilities and behavior problems. Since the original standard was adopted, numerous scientific studies have shown that children’s brains are altered at much lower levels of lead in the bloodstream than previously thought.

Only one place in the U.S. – Herculaneum, Mo., which has the nation’s last remaining lead smelter – had readings last year that violated the current standard for lead.

Two years ago, the EPA was under fire from environmentalists and some members of Congress for including in its review the option of eliminating the lead standard. A coalition of U.S. battery makers had urged the agency to remove lead from its list of air pollutants.

But in a November report, EPA staff recommended against that option and told top agency officials that they should set a much more stringent standard to protect children from lowered IQs.

EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson agreed, proposing Thursday to set a standard within the range of 0.10 to 0.30 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air. The current standard is 1.5 micrograms.