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U.S. EPA announces new air quality standards to improve public health

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to lower the standards for a traffic-related air pollution.

Published:

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) sets guidelines for the levels of air pollution in the United States. Up until now, the standard for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) was 12 micrograms per cubic meter, and last month, the U.S. EPA announced it would lower the standard to 9 micrograms per cubic meter.

The CHILL team acknowledges this historic decision, as the first change in PM2.5 NAAQS limits since 2012.

People exposed to low levels of air pollution over a long period of time still experience high risk of poor health outcomes, as several large-scale studies in the United States, Canada and Europe have shown.

The CHILL study is investigating how exposure to lower levels of air pollution, including PM2.5, affects children's lung and cognitive development. With results pending, the CHILL team expects its findings to help contribute to existing evidence and inform air quality management in the UK and globally. 

 

We acknowledge the breadth of research supported by the Health Effects Institute which helped to inform this new standard.

 

 

 

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