One of the most dangerous and harmful forms of air pollution is invisible. It’s called particle pollution or particulate matter (PM), and it is designated with the number 2.5, indicating that the individual particles are 2.5 microns or less in diameter. How small is 2.5 microns? It’s really, really small: 1/30th the width of a human hair or less. Their tiny size renders this form of pollution hidden from the naked eye.
The health impact of particle pollution, however, is hardly invisible. This form of pollution, which comes largely from burning fossil fuels in power plants, combustion engines, and other industrial processes, is a global killer, responsible for more than 8 million deaths annually. In the US, particle pollution is responsible for 350,000 deaths each year, about equivalent to the US death toll from COVID in 2020. The states with the highest number of particle pollution deaths per capita are Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey, and Wisconsin.
EPA sets health-based standards for allowable levels of particle pollution through the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or the NAAQS. Right now, EPA is poised to propose new standards for particle pollution to better protect Americans from breathing this deadly pollution.
The toll that particle pollution exacts on our health goes far beyond premature mortality. The pollutant is linked to a wide range of grave health burdens and is especially harmful for children, older adults, pregnant women, and people with underlying health problems. Communities of color and low-income communities bear a disproportionate burden of the health harms of PM2.5, as they often live near pollution sources like high-traffic roads and heavily polluting industrial facilities.
The latest available science indicates that particle pollution harms people at levels well below EPA’s current standards. The Trump administration declined to strengthen these standards—which were last updated in 2012—and now EPA is reconsidering the science and getting ready to propose an update. This update is long overdue. The current standards, which address both the annual average for particles and the 24-hour average, do not protect public health.
This summer, Moms Clean Air Force joined with a coalition of partners to ask EPA to strengthen the current standards in a letter sent to the agency in July. In the letter, we wrote:
“On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, our 101 organizations write to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to quickly set stronger National Ambient Air Quality Standards for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution of no higher than 8 micrograms per cubic meter (μg/m3) for the annual standard and no higher than 25 μg/m3 for the 24-hour standard. Setting tighter limits on harmful PM2.5 pollution … will protect millions of Americans, including vulnerable populations like children, the elderly, and people with asthma and other respiratory and heart conditions.”
Last month, EPA transmitted its proposal for updated particle pollution standards to the White House for final approval and vetting before making the proposal public. We joined with partners to meet with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to discuss our concerns about the health harms of particle pollution.
A range of public health benefits will flow from strengthening the particle pollution standards. In addition to reducing the risk for mortality, asthma, and nervous system effects, there are also reproductive health benefits of reducing particle pollution. Breathing fine particles is correlated with increased risk of low birth weight, premature birth, and congenital defects. Reducing particles in the air is therefore especially important to moms, dads, babies, children, and all who love them.
At our meeting with the White House, we urged the Biden administration to propose the strongest possible particle pollution standards in order to protect public health, and especially the health of pregnant women and babies. We don’t know what EPA will propose for the particle pollution NAAQS update, but one thing we do know is that Moms are ready to support strong standards to protect our families and communities.
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