Fetal Health Endangered by Outdated Clean Air Standards

    SAN FRANCISCO, July 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Southern California
 Environmental Justice leader Jesse N. Marquez and Coalition For A Safe
 Environment have joined three other environmental groups in a lawsuit filed
 against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its failure to update
 nationwide air quality standards for carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide (CO)
 is lethal at high levels and at lower levels is linked to low birth weights
 and other serious health problems.
     Under the Federal Clean Air Act, all National Ambient Air Quality
 Standards must be reviewed by the U.S. EPA every five years to determine if
 the rules need to be strengthened. However, the carbon monoxide standard
 has not been reviewed since August 1994, nearly 13 years ago.
     "Our health standards need to catch up with our health science," said
 Jesse N. Marquez. "Right now, carbon monoxide standards are as outdated as
 an 8-track player. Air pollution is increasing. We need to update and
 strengthen these standards to protect our children, our communities, and
 environment."
     Carbon monoxide pollution contributes to cardiovascular, nervous
 system, and developmental problems. It also reacts with sunlight to form
 smog and contributes to climate change.
     "The evidence is both alarming and clear, so there is no excuse for
 delaying action," said Philip Huang with Communities for a Better
 Environment. "Poor people and people of color suffer most from carbon
 monoxide, which is spewed by the refineries and power plants located in our
 communities, as well as the congested highways in our backyards."
     Recent studies have found that carbon monoxide levels at 1.4 parts per
 million over a three-month period, or trimester, are harmful to developing
 fetuses. Current standards allow carbon monoxide to reach as high as 9
 parts per million over an 8-hour period. No standards currently exist to
 limit long-term exposure to carbon monoxide at any level.
     Low birth weight is a significant health problem contributing to infant
 mortality and long-term developmental problems. The percentage of infants
 with low birth weights (under 5.5 pounds) has increased by 16% both in
 California and nationwide since 1990. African American babies born in
 California are twice as likely to suffer from low birth weights as white
 babies; an alarming trend exacerbated by persistent and unacceptable levels
 of CO in the atmosphere.
     The groups joining the lawsuit to strengthen carbon monoxide standards
 include Communities for a Better Environment (Oakland, CA), Rocky Mountain
 Clean Air Action (Denver, CO), Coalition for a Safe Environment
 (Wilmington, CA), and Physicians for Social Responsibility-Los Angeles. The
 lawsuit can be downloaded online at
 http://www.ourcleanair.org/uploads/CO_lawsuit.pdf.
 
 

SOURCE Coalition for a Safe Environment