WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency just announced tighter restrictions for one of the deadliest types of air pollution for the first time in more than a decade.
The new restrictions were placed on particulate matter 2.5, which is a particle smaller than the width of a human hair. The pollutant so small it can bypass our noses and throats, get into our lungs and eventually our blood stream. Particulate matter 2.5 is often times referred to as soot.
Jermone Paulson, a pediatrician and member of the Virginia Clinicians for Climate Action, explains that for adults, exposure means the risk of heart attacks and strokes. It can cause asthma attacks and for pregnant women it can result in premature birth and smaller than normal delivery sizes.
"Whether it's pregnant women and babies [or] elderly people, PM 2.5 impacts the health of all of us," says Paulson.
The EPA lowered the allowable limit for annual PM2.5 levels from 12 micrograms per cubic meter to 9. Experts say this is a significant reduction, but still well above the World Health Organization's recommended annual limit of 5 micrograms per cubic meter .
The EPA estimates that the tighter standards will prevent around 4,500 premature deaths per year by 2032 and prevent roughly 800,000 asthma-related emergency room visits. They also estimate the lower pollution could reduce healthcare costs by around $46 billion in that same time frame.
"By regulating PM 2.5, this will improve the combustion that continues to occur," Paulson said. "Maybe it will spur some people to stop burning for the production of electricity for example and move to renewables, but anything we can do to get PM 2.5 out of the atmosphere, again these teeny tiny little particles, is good for human health."
This is the first time since 2012 standards for this particular pollutant have been tightened.
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