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The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

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Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina's congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Mayorkas.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Lead Threat Still Exists Years After it was Banned in Paint and Gasoline

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Thursday, July 10, 2008   

Des Moines, IA - Researchers have long known the health dangers associated with exposure to lead. It was banned 30 years ago as an additive in paint, and more recently removed from gasoline and other materials. However, there are thousands of facilities around the country, including some in Iowa, that still emit lead into the air. According the Natural Resource Defense Council, the Dexter Company in Fairfield emits the most lead in the state, over 10 pounds a year. NRDC lead expert Avi Kar says the element is linked to heart, lung and kidney problems in adults, but does the most damage to children.

"Lead can cause brain development problems in children, resulting in a lower IQ. It can also lead to an inability to concentrate and aggressive behavior."

The EPA is currently reviewing lead exposure rules as required by the Clean Air Act, and they're proposing tougher standards for the first time in 30 years. But Kar says the proposal doesn't achieve what scientists have recommended.

"The science has progressed quite a bit and we've discovered that lead is dangerous at far lower levels than previously thought. The last time EPA looked at the issue was 15 years ago, and they failed to make any changes to the rules then."

Kar says the health consequences of exposure to lead are significant. The average child exposed at the proposed standard of 0.2 micrograms per cubic meter could lose two-to-three IQ points. EPA defends the new standard, saying it cuts the allowable emission of lead by as much as 93%. The agency is accepting public comments through August 4th.

An interactive map of lead emitters is available at the NRDC's website, www.nrdc.org.


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