EPA Proposes Stronger Emissions Standards for Lead Smelters

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is proposing stronger air toxics standards for secondary lead smelters, improving air quality and protecting people's health in communities where the smelters are located. The proposed standards would cut lead and arsenic emissions and would, for the first time, require these facilities to control emissions of dioxins. Exposure to toxic air pollutants can cause cancer and other serious health issues. Even at low levels, exposure to lead can impair a child's IQ, learning capabilities and memory. Secondary lead smelters use furnaces to remove and recycle lead from scrap material, mostly from automobile batteries, keeping a significant amount of lead from polluting our environment. These facilities have already made significant emissions reductions due to the current standards that were issued in 1997 as well as other state and industry actions. The new proposal would result in an additional 63 percent reduction in lead and arsenic emissions. These reductions will also help areas meet the new, more protective air quality standards the agency issued in 2008. EPA's proposal would give these facilities the option to choose the most practical and cost-effective emissions control technology or techniques to reduce their emissions, which are readily available and already being used by many of the facilities.