Air

After checking the math, Oregon regulators were surprised to discover the state's only cement plant emitted more mercury into the air than a major coal-burning power plant.

"Children in Texas are more likely to miss school when certain types of air pollution increase -- even when the levels are below the limit set by the federal government, a new study says."

"Exhaust from cars and trucks exacerbates asthma in children and may cause new cases as well as other respiratory illnesses and heart problems resulting in deaths, an independent institute that focuses on vehicle-related air pollution has concluded."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed a stricter standard for smog-causing pollutants that would bring substantial health benefits to millions of Americans while imposing large costs on industry and local governments."

"To ensure that the most vulnerable Americans are better protected from exposure to lead, the U.S. EPA is proposing to revise the monitoring requirements for measuring airborne lead."

"A $93 million court settlement requiring Duke Energy, one of the America's largest electric power companies, to eliminate sulfur dioxide emissions from a coal-fired plant in Indiana, was reached Tuesday, state and federal officials said."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [Tuesday] finalized a rule setting stricter exhaust emission standards and cleaner fuel standards for large marine diesel engines on large U.S.-flagged ships, a part of the agency’s long-term strategy to reduce harmful marine diesel emissions."

"Around the world, whenever airborne particles increase, so do deaths from heart and lung diseases. Now new evidence is emerging that some particles may be more dangerous than others. A growing body of research – much of it in New York City – suggests that breathing nickel and other metals may put acute stress on the lungs and heart, resulting in illnesses and deaths at particulate levels below national standards."

"Government regulators have found high levels of manganese, a dangerous metal that can affect the brain, in the air outside a school in eastern Ohio."