Lung Association Says Soot-Lung Cancer Study Confirms Need for EPA to Act Now

3/5/2002

From: Diane Maple of the American Lung Association, 202-785-3355

WASHINGTON, March 5 -- The American Lung Association today said that a new study indicting fine particle or soot air pollution as a cause of lung cancer among people living in many large U.S. cities adds urgency to the need for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency end a needless delay in implementing strong new rules to curb fine particle emissions.

"This research dramatically underscores the urgent need for EPA to limit the emission of these cancer-causing particles," said John L. Kirkwood, President and CEO of the American Lung Association. "The American Lung Association is very frustrated with how long it is taking EPA to act."

In 1997, the EPA issued new regulations strengthening federal air pollution health standards to include, for the first time, fine soot particles smaller than 2.5 microns (a human hair is 100 microns). The agency said the annual average for fine particles should not exceed 15 micrograms per cubic meter. Industry challenged the regulations in court and has worked to delay the new rule. EPA has yet to issue rules describing measures states must use to meet the fine particle regulations.

"It's been almost five years and EPA has yet to issue the rules needed to implement its own health standards. The scientific evidence keeps mounting. In the meantime, we are no closer to protecting people's health because EPA has not acted," said Kirkwood. "Further, the EPA is considering weakening the Clean Air Act as it applies to many of the largest sources of particle pollution - coal-fired power plants, refineries, pulp and paper mills, and other large industrial facilities."

The new study appears in this week's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). It is the most definitive research yet linking tiny soot particles with lung cancer. Researchers looked at the impact of soot particles smaller than 2.5 microns in cities throughout the United States. Particles this small are easily drawn into the aveoli, the smallest air sacs of the lungs. Because the lung is slow to clear foreign bodies from that deep within its system, the soot deposits stay there to cause damage over long periods of time. Sources include diesel bus and truck emissions as well as ordinary auto exhausts, industrial and utility smokestacks, mining and construction.

The researchers analyzed data from 500,000 adults who were surveyed as part of an ongoing cancer study from 1982 to 1998. They have calculated that the number of deaths from lung cancer increases by 8 percent for every 10 micrograms of fine particle matter per cubic meter.