The Bay Area is a cradle of environmentalism and a region with a rich trove of health and medical research and resources. In this blog, we’ll report on the deepening understanding of how the places we inhabit and the lifestyles we adopt contribute to our own health and the health of our communities.
The new rules will save more than 10,000 Americans lives annually, the agency said.
The regulations will also help prevent 4,700 heart attacks, 130,000 cases of childhood asthma symptoms and 6,300 cases of acute bronchitis among kids annually. The new standards were two decades in the making.
Dr. Albert A. Rizzo, national volunteer chair of the American Lung Association, called the new rules "a huge victory for public health," in a statement.
Power plants are the largest remaining source of mercury, arsenic, cyanide. They are responsible for over half of mercury and over 75 percent of the acid gas emissions in the United States, according to the EPA.
"This new rule will help protect the health of those most at risk: children, teens, seniors and people with chronic lung diseases like asthma," said Bill McLin, CEO of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America in a statement commending the new rules.
Mercury pollution is of particular concern to women who may become pregnant, expectant mothers and nursing mothers because it can damage the developing human brain, as The Bay Citizen has reported.
© The Bay Citizen, 2012
