Healthy Indoors Magazine - USA Edition

HI February 2023 - USA edition

Healthy Indoors Magazine

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46 | February 2023 What kind of standards does EPA set for PM2.5? EPA's PM2.5 rule sets health-based limits, in micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3), for two measures of particle pollution: an annual average and a 24- hour average. • The annual average limit ad- dresses year-round exposure to particle pollution (currently set at 12 µg/m3). • The 24-hour average limit ad- dresses short-term daily spikes in particle pollution, such as bursts of pollution from fuel combustion and industrial facilities (currently set at 35 µg/m3). Do our PM2.5 standards need an update? The PM2.5 NAAQS haven't been up- dated since 2012. Since then, scien- tists have learned a lot more about how dangerous particle pollution is for our health. It's time to strengthen the PM2.5 standards to protect our families' and communities' health, and there's no time to waste. What is EPA proposing? The NAAQS PM2.5 rule proposed by EPA in January 2023 suggests strengthening the annual average limit for particle pollution but falls short of the strongest limits recommended by scientific guidance. The proposed rule also suggests maintaining the current 24-hour PM2.5 standard, instead of strengthening it. As is, the proposed rule misses a key opportunity to save lives, protect health, and advance environmental justice. What can I do? We can't miss this critical opportunity to speak up for our families' and com- munities' health. Join Moms Clean Air Force in call- ing on EPA to set a protective standard for PM2.5, consistent with the body of scientific evidence, of no higher than 8 µg/m3 for the annual standard and 25 µg/m3 for the daily standard. All of us deserve to breathe clean air. You can TELL EPA: PROTECT OUR CHILDREN FROM DEADLY SOOT sign our digital petition below, and you can also sign up to give public testi- mony to EPA by emailing us at info@ momscleanairforce.org. Elizabeth Bechard of Durham, NC, is senior policy analyst for Moms Clean Air Force. She is also a health coach, author, former clinical research co- ordinator, and a public health grad- uate student at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. After becoming a mother, Elizabeth became passionate about the inter- section between climate change and family resilience. She is the author of Parenting in a Changing Climate: Tools for Cultivating Resilience, Tak- ing Action, and Practicing Hope in the Face of Climate Change. Her work with Moms Clean Air Force has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, Reader's Digest, Forbes, the Charlotte Observer, and Chapelboro and on Good Morning America and the Hope. Act. Thrive podcast.

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