Lead exposure comes in many forms 鈥� that can include aircraft engines, paint or pipes in peoples鈥� homes 鈥� and ongoing exposures present health risks. Westerners weighed in on a draft plan to reduce lead exposure and disparities.
The Environmental Protection Agency wants to identify lead-exposed communities and reduce exposures as part of its to Reduce Lead Exposures and Disparities in U.S. Communities.
Elizabeth Heidl from Broomfield, Colorado joined the and is a part of the , an organization working to reduce lead in aviation fuels, among other things.
She said she wants unleaded fuels to be the norm, like they are in new cars following a . The EPA reported in January that the piston-engine aircraft that uses leaded fuels has the 鈥渓argest remaining source of lead emissions into the air.鈥�
鈥淚f this isn鈥檛 included as a key part of the EPA鈥檚 strategy to reduce lead, it may take another 26 years to eliminate this source of lead in the atmosphere,鈥� Heidl said.
Some residents focused on the acceptable amount of lead in peoples鈥� blood. David Hutchins is from Butte, Montana, and he advised the agency to reduce its threshold.
鈥淭his does directly expose many overburdened populations to higher concentrations of lead. So for almost 10 years now we鈥檝e been asking for this update without any answers from the EPA, so it鈥檚 overdue,鈥� Hutchins said.
Ongoing exposure can lead to serious health outcomes, like heart disease or infertility.
The call was for Region 8, which includes Colorado, Montana, Utah, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, and 28 tribal nations.
An earlier session, , was for Region 6, which covers New Mexico, as well as Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.
The public comment period ends March 16 and written comments can be submitted through the , Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2021-0762.
