In its most recent report on the air quality standards for lead, the Environmental Protection Agency has made one thing clear:
measures must be taken to improve health protection, and by that, they meant tightening the allowable lead level 10 times less, to 0.15 micrograms of lead per cubic meter of air (ug/m3).

For the first time in three decades, the lead standards have not only been changed, they’ve been drastically reduced, all for the
benefit of future generations in America.

“America’s air is cleaner than a generation ago,” EPA Administrator Stephen L. Johnson said, adding that the new standards will protect a new generation of Americans from the harmful effects of lead emissions.

EPA’s plan includes two standards, one to protect health, and another one, established at the same level, to protect public
welfare. The agency said it still had to determine which areas of the country will be able to meet the new standards, which also
means that the nation’s monitoring network will need to be revised as well.

Health studies have revealed that lead reaches our bloodstream after either being inhaled or ingested, affecting a lot of our organs. Its negative effects are especially dangerous for children. In children, lead exposure has been linked to a poor development of the nervous system and IQ loss.

Over the past two decades, EPA found that the lead emissions in the air have decreased and are now below the 1978 standards. Tightening the allowable level will primarily affect smelters, iron and steel foundries, but also the aviation industry, all known to be the main producers of lead.

EPA expects that within the next three years, it will manage to designate the areas that will need to take additional steps to reduce the lead air emissions; however, the states will have five years to comply with the standards.