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The US strengthens air quality rule for soot


New standards define what’s considered clean air in the United States.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a significantly stricter standard today for fine particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. In the call with reporters, EPA administrator Michael Regan defended the action saying, “based on the science, the annual and 24 hour standards work extremely well together to provide protection against long and short term [fine particle pollution] exposures.” “While the stronger annual particle pollution standard will mean fewer asthma attacks, heart attacks, strokes and deaths, it is disappointing that EPA did not follow the strong science-based recommendations of the Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee and the health community to also revise the 24-hour standard to more fully protect public health,” Harold Wimmer, president and CEO of the American Lung Association said in a statement.

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