Our Clean Air &Water Protections Are At Risk

Air Pollution Standards Under Attack: New national health standards for smog and soot will save over 15,000 lives every year. Unfortunately,the auto,coal and oil industries are already working to roll back these important protections.

Stricter Arsenic Limits Under Attack: New protections against arsenic,a cancer-causing poison found in the drinking water of 13 million people, are under attack from the mining, electrical and wood preserving industries because these protections would require polluters to clean up arsenic-contaminated ground water.

Air & Water Pollution Are Causing Sickness & Death

The American Lung Association estimates that more than 135 million Americans live in areas where the air quality poses health threats.

• Each year, smog triggers six million asthma attacks and sends 150,000 Americans to emergency rooms for respiratory emergencies.

• Soot pollution is responsible for an estimated 60,000 premature deaths annually. Mining companies and wood preservers emitted 77,385,004 pounds of arsenic into the environment in 1998 alone.

• Arsenic causes cancer of the lungs, bladder and skin.

• Pregnant women and children may be particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of arsenic.