Pollution

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new regulations in regards to cement kilns, incinerators and industrial boilers on December 21, 2012. According to The New York Times, the standards focus on reducing acid gas, mercury and small-particle emissions across the country.

Several officials with the National Association of Manufacturers noted that the compliance expenses associated with the rules could cost companies up to $14 billion. These administrators said that the additional EPA regulations may limit expansion opportunities for some businesses.

However, the EPA estimates that air quality improvements to comply with the new regulations could cost manufacturers around $2 billion. The standards are also designed to give companies several years to comply to reduce the impact on employees and operations.

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Recent statistics reflect air pollution's impact on people across the globe. According to Time Magazine, a December 2012 analysis published in Lancet showed that more than 3.2 million people suffered premature deaths due to air pollution in 2010.

U.S. officials have instituted new policies and technologies to help reduce air pollution. The news source notes that urban air is cleaner in the United States and other developed nations than it was 30 to 40 years ago, thanks in part to an increased focus on air quality.  

Additionally, computer scientists at the University of California, San Diego, recently introduced a new smartphone app that could help safeguard Americans against air pollution. Gizmag reports that these researchers created a portable sensor that measures local concentrations of several harmful pollutants, including carbon monoxide and nitrogen dioxide. The device wirelessly transmits data to users' smartphones, which enables them to evaluate the air quality in numerous locations.

The Airgle® PurePal® Plus AG850 Air Purifier is a high-end system that helps protect people against potentially dangerous chemicals, odors and particles. This air purifier features an ultra-quiet design and metal-frame housing, which make it ideal for efficient removal of harmful allergens and pollutants. 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released statistics in regards to its annual pollution enforcement on December 17, 2012. Agency officials said they eliminated 2.2 billion pounds of air, water and land pollution over the past year. Additionally, EPA administrators noted that $252 million in civil and criminal penalties were levied in 2012.

Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, said enforcement was crucial for officials, as administrators used new initiatives to help reduce pollution across the country.

“We are using vigorous enforcement, as well as innovations in monitoring and transparency, to reduce pollution violations, protect and empower communities and focus on the environmental problems that matter most," Giles said.

An innovative enforcement actions map was one of several tools that EPA officials provided to communities. The map was designed to increase public accountability to improve environmental compliance and includes information about violators throughout the nation.

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently finalized air quality standards designed to protect Americans from soot pollution. Fine particles can cause serious health effects such as heart attacks and strokes, and the updated air quality standards are designed to help U.S. counties further protect citizens against these dangers.

Agency officials said that they anticipate that 99 percent of U.S. counties could meet the revised health standard by 2020, without any additional action.

"These standards are fulfilling the promise of the Clean Air Act," EPA representative Lisa P. Jackson said. "We will save lives and reduce the burden of illness in our communities."

Fewer than 10 U.S. counties will need to perform actions to reduce fine particle pollution to meet the new standard, which is mandated by the Clean Air Act. Meanwhile, the remaining counties can follow existing federal guidelines to meet the new standard.

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The Utah Air Quality Board will create new air pollution guidelines after it deemed its previous standards insufficient. According to The Associated Press, board members said they intend to develop tougher regulations for Salt Lake City and much of the northern Utah urban sector.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrators had set December 14, 2012, as the deadline for Utah leaders to establish up-to-date air pollution standards. However, Utah officials said they will miss the deadline, as these representatives will have more time to develop stricter policies for oil refineries and other industrial facilities.

"It's better to have the right plan late than the wrong plan on time," Bruce Bird, director of the Utah Division of Air Quality, told the news source.

Richard Mylott, an EPA spokesperson, noted that agency officials expect Utah leaders to work diligently to institute new air pollution regulations.

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Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health recently discovered a significant connection between the declining air pollution rates in the United States and the rising average life expectancy among the country's citizens. According to News-Medical, the research team found that there have been substantial reductions in air pollution over the past 10 years, which have helped improve life expectancy figures in many areas. However, Andrew Correia, a researcher with the Harvard School of Public Health, cautions that optimum air quality levels have not yet been reached.

"The U.S. population as a whole is exposed to much lower levels of air pollution than 30 years ago...it appears that further reductions in air pollution levels would continue to benefit public health," Correia told the news source.

Correia and other researchers collected data between 2000 and 2007 for their evaluation. Group members calculated the mean life expectancy change during this time frame in 545 U.S. counties, and also considered potential variables such as the number of residents who smoked and the socioeconomic status of citizens in these regions.

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Parents and teachers at Woodriver Elementary School in Alaska's Fairbanks North Star Borough are trying to eliminate air pollution from the area. According to the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, the elementary school was severely hit by wintertime smoke, and local parents and educators have formed a committee to help combat air quality issues.

A recently approved proposal prevents officials in the borough from enforcing air pollution regulations on home heating devices. However, parents and teachers are reaching out to state administrators to help relieve air pollution problems that have been shown to cause health problems.

"As the parents, once we started looking into it more it was really concerning," local parent Carrie Dershin told the news source. "Seeing the levels and seeing how extremely poor it was for all the children was really concerning."

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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is encouraging Texas residents to become actively involved in helping the state control air pollution at power plants and other industrial facilities. According to the Houston Chronicle, the agency approved revised regulations for the Lone Star State's power plants and refineries on November 30, 2012.

EPA officials noted that the public plays a role in the permit-approval process, and residents can offer input before a company receives a state-issued permit. Ron Curry, a local administrator with the EPA, said that public participation is essential for the agency's Clean Air Act to be successful. Amendments from this regulation are designed to help people avoid the dangers of air pollution, and under the recently accepted Texas legislation, agency representatives said they hope state residents will have easier access to documents and other information related to pending permits.

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For the first time ever, a no-burn alert order has been issued for Southland. A majority of the Los Angeles population is being asked to not light wood-burning fireplaces or open fire pits. The Los Angeles Times reports that the intent of the restriction is to reduce the levels of air pollution surrounding the city.

The new program was adopted by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and applies to residents in West Hollywood, Burbank, the downtown area and many in the eastern portion of the San Fernando Valley. Violating the order comes with a $50 fine for first-time offenders.

"Over 1 million homes actively use fireplaces to burn wood in Los Angeles,'' Sam Atwood, an agency spokesman at the South Coast Air Quality Management District, told the news source. "That results in four times the particulate pollution created by all of the power plants in the basin."

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Americans concerned about the presence of air pollution in their community can monitor the posted concentrations of the six most common pollutants in the United Stated. The Environmental Protection Agency tracks levels of ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide and lead.

The Clean Air Act requires the EPA to set National Ambient Air Quality Standards for these six pollutants because they can be harmful to people's health and the environment and even cause property damage. These pollutants are tracked in two ways: by air concentration levels based on actual measurements of pollutant concentration in outside air at selected monitoring sites and by emission estimates made by experienced engineers and scientists.

The limits based on human health requirements are referred to as primary standards. Another set of regulated levels, called secondary standards, is intended to prevent environmental and property damage.

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