Children's exposure to particulates drops.

The percentage of U.S. children living in counties that do not meet air quality standards for fine particulate matter declined from 1999 to 2004, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Yet the agency's own final decision on particulate standards is under fire from those who say it falls short of necessary protections.

In October, EPA officials said the percentage of children living in counties that do not meet air quality standards for fine particulate matter dropped from 24 percent in 1999 to 16 percent in 2004. Data from the update to America's Children and the Environment report, EPA's compilation of information from federal databases, found children are less likely to be exposed to secondhand smoke in the home and the concentration of lead in young children's blood has dropped by 89 percent in a 25-year period.

Despite the encouraging news, many environmental advocates were criticizing EPA's final regulatory rule on particulate pollution air quality, which was issued in late September. The standard lowers the 24-hour fine particle limit from 65 micrograms per cubic meter to 35 micrograms per cubic meter, which will allow more pollution into the air than environmental health advocates, including APHA, had recommended.

"EPA's action is truly breathtaking in ignoring the dangerous impact of particulate pollution on America's hearts and lungs," said John Balbus, MD, MPH, health program director for the group Environmental Defense and co-founder of the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the Environment.

Members of EPA's own Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee wrote a letter in September to EPA's administrator expressing "serious scientific concerns regarding the public health and welfare implications" of the new EPA standards.

For more on the final rule, visit <www.epa.gov/ pm/fs20061006.html>.