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Wiping Out Smog And Soot

Yuck! as you wait to cross the street, a huge truck rumbles by and blasts a smelly black cloud of smoke in your face. But the truck's fumes don't just stink up the neighborhood. Dirty chemicals from factories and engines foul the nation's skies and threaten everyone's health.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) wants to do something about this threat. This government agency has proposed tough new limits on two big parts of air pollution: ground-level ozone gas and dusty stuff called particulate matter.

Targeting Soot And Smog
Ground-level ozone, or smog, is the haze that hangs over cities on hot summer days. (You may have heard of the ozone layer above the earth. That faraway ozone is protective, not harmful.) Particulates (par-tick-you-lets), or soot, are tiny flecks of dust, as small as one-seventh the width of human hair. Both come from cars, trucks, factories and construction.

Smog and soot soil the earth's sky, land and water. They cause serious illnesses, including asthma and other breathing problems that have been on the rise in America. The American Lung Association and other health groups have been especially worried about dust particles, which irritate the lungs. Thousands of Americans die each year as a result of air pollution.

The EPA's new limits would allow less than a third of the soot now permitted to enter the air. For the first time, even the tiniest particles would be controlled. The rules on ozone would be tightened even more sharply. Regions that failed to meet the limits would lose federal highway funds and other money.

The rules are part of a move to toughen the Clean Air Act of 1970. That act sets limits on six kinds of pollution. Every few years the EPA reviews some of these limits, as it is doing now.

"The current standards fail to provide adequate health protection, especially to children," says EPA administrator Carol Browner. She calls the new proposal "one of the most important decisions I will make to protect public health."

Are The Standards Too Strict?
Before the new limits are official, the EPA must listen to public reaction. Some politicians and businesspeople are complaining about the new standards. It's possible that Congress will block the new rules. Industry leaders say they can't afford to spend billions of dollars to change the way their factories work. They say that current standards are strict enough and that changes will hurt the economy.

"The ozone standard doesn't need to be changed," Paul Bailey of the American Petroleum Institute told the Los Angeles Times. "For particulates, the science is not good enough to reach any conclusion yet."

Factories aren't the only places that would have to make changes. Hundreds of cities and towns are too polluted to meet the new standards. These communities would have to work with the EPA to create more carpools, public transportation and smog checks on cars.

Cities might even have to pass new laws governing how families heat their homes, mow their lawns, dispose of garbage and conduct other activities that release dangerous fumes. Says California environmental official Jane Hall: "We'll be looking at the burners on your home furnace before this is over."

Clear Skies Ahead?
Cleaning up the air has never been cheap or easy. The EPA estimates it will cost at least $6.5 billion to make the changes needed to meet the new standards. The biggest burden will fall on the largest polluters, such as diesel-engine users and power plants.

Is it worth it? The new standards would save 20,000 lives a year, according to the EPA. They would prevent a lot of illness. And for the 133 million Americans who now live in polluted areas, they would truly bring a breath of fresh air.

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Smoggiest U.S. Cities

EXTREMELY BAD
Los Angeles, California

VERY BAD
Chicago, Illinois
Houston, Texas
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
New York, New York

BAD
Baltimore, Maryland
Sacramento, California

Danger In The Air: Ingredients Of Pollution

Pollutant: Ozone
Source: Cars, factories, landfills. Ozone gas is formed when the sun's heat causes oxygen to react with other chemicals.
Danger: Breathing problems, possible lung infections, eye irritation, serious damage to plants.

Pollutant: Carbon Monoxide
Source: Cars, buses, trucks, factories.
Danger: Headaches, dizziness, heart damage.

Pollutant: Nitrogen Oxides
Source: Factories, cars, trucks, coal-burning stoves.
Danger: Harms plants, causes breathing problems for humans and reacts in the atmosphere to cause acid rain.

Pollutant: Particulate Matter (soot and dust)
Source: Factories, cars, smoke from burning wood, and dust from construction.
Danger: Breathing problems, eye irritation. Also makes air look dirty and harms plants.

Pollutant: Sulfur Dioxide
Source: Factories and furnaces.
Danger: Breathing problems. Harms plants and waterways.

Pollutant: Lead
Source: Cars, trucks or buses that have lead in their fuel; factories.
Danger: Harms the brain, kidneys and blood.

Source: Environmental Protection Agency

Next: A Deep, Dark Crater Holds An Icy Surprise