Nurses & Hundreds of Thousands of Advocates Call on EPA to Cut Soot Pollution
Advocates from organizations including Moms Clean Airforce, Sierra Club, and Green the Church along with members of the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments rallied at EPA Headquarters Tuesday March 28th to deliver over 500,000 public comments demanding stronger limits on deadly soot pollution.
Fine particulate matter or PM2.5, defined by the microscopic particles that are smaller than a strand of hair, can penetrate deep into the lungs and even reach the human bloodstream causing a host of health problems. PM2.5 or soot has been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular conditions, preterm birth, as well as tens of thousands of early deaths, with BIPOC and lower wealth communities disproportionately at risk due to historical environmental racism.
“I have seem firsthand, the toll that respiratory illness can take on a person…air quality has a significant impact on the lives of those with respiratory disease” shared Wisconsin nurse Lillian Jensen as she spoke to the wide range of health harms resulting from soot pollution.
Member organizations involved in Climate Action Campaign’s Solutions for Pollution campaign are calling on agencies in the Biden Administration like EPA to advance and strengthen safeguards like National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter that will protect public health, promote health equity, and drastically reduce climate warming emissions.
