The Clean Air Act of 1990: achievements and ongoing environmental challenges

Clean Air Act of 1990 is actually the most recent version of a law first passed in 1970 designed to improve the quality of the air we breathe. The Act was passed for the purposes of bettering human health and environmental health. The Act has made notable strides in improving fuel standards emissions for cars, and lessened the exposure of citizens to harmful chemicals in the atmosphere to some degree, but its critics allege that it has fallen short in setting strict enough limits upon emissions and other toxins.

Ambient air quality

The Clean Air Act was designed to reduce outdoor -- referred to as 'ambient' -- concentrations of air pollutants. These pollutants are most often visible in the form of smog, low-lying haze, and acid rain. Passage of the act was supposed to reduce the emissions of carcinogenic air pollutants or pollutants that cause other serious airborne-related illnesses, such as asthma and lung cancer. The Act was intended to phase out the production and use of chemicals that destroy the earth's stratospheric ozone. The most common sources of these pollutants include carbon monoxide, sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and lead.

Remedies

These pollutants can come from chemical plants, gas stations, and power plants as well as cars and other vehicles. However, because of the nature of air pollution, it is not enough that individuals or states observe these regulations. Thus EPA works with state governors and tribal government leaders to identify chronic, problem areas known as "nonattainment areas where the air does not meet allowable limits for a common air pollutant," and tries create a plan to ensure that these trouble spots are eventually compliant.

Important strides

Lead

One of EPA's earliest accomplishments was the elimination of lead from gasoline. The use of lead-based gasoline had effects beyond that of air quality. "Elevated levels of lead can damage organs and the brain and nervous system, and affect the heart and blood. Adverse health effects range from behavior disorders and anemia to mental retardation and permanent nerve damage.

Atmospheric issues

Acid rain

Air pollution is thus a health issue as well as an environmental issue. For example, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) are the principal pollutants that cause acid precipitation and "air pollutants that cause acid rain can do more than damage the environment-they can damage our health. High levels of SO2 in the air aggravate various lung problems in people with asthma and can cause breathing difficulties in children and the elderly. In some instances, breathing high levels of SO2 can even damage lung tissue and cause premature death."

Other health issues

Worker and student productivity lost because of environmentally-triggered illnesses like asthma, as well as the toll of diseases such as lung cancer because