The US Environmental Protection Agency has finalized regulations reducing the legal limit on airborne lead by 90 percent (AP, New York Times).

The EPA has come under fire repeatedly in recent years from environmentalists (see coverage here and here), but they appear to be fairly pleased with this week’s announcement. The new lead regulations replace previous standards dating back to 1978 and come in at .15 microgrammes per cubic metre, compared to .25 microgrammes per cubic metre in the UK.

Not everybody is entirely happy, of course. The new standard is within the range recommended by a science advisory panel charged with evaluating air quality issues, but a separate advisory panel focused on children’s health recommended a substantially lower level: .02 microgrammes per cubic metre.

“Although this is a move in a more positive direction, many children will still face the risk of unnecessarily high levels of lead in their blood,” Frank O’Donnell, who heads the advocacy group Clean Air Watch in Washington, wrote Thursday. “That is the judgment of EPA’s children’s health advisory panel. And children are the ones mainly at risk here.”

Lead might not be good for adults, but it causes IQ loss and permanent learning disabilities in children. Citing the dangers of high exposures for even brief periods, the children’s health panel also recommended a stricter compliance scheme that would better account for occasional spikes in emissions.

Nonetheless, the progress on this issue is indisputable. Although the standards haven’t changed since 1978, EPA estimates that airborne lead emissions have fallen by 97 percent since 1980, due largely to the elimination of leaded petrol.

Today some 16,000 facilities emit 1,300 tons of lead into the air each year, says EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. “The new, stronger standards address these remaining emissions and offer a shield to protect our nation’s children.”