Discussion/Current Research In 1970, Congress created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and passed the Clean Air Act. This gave the federal government ability to clean up air pollution in the United States of America3. The EPA and states, tribes, local governments, industry, and environmental groups have worked to establish a variety of programs to reduce air pollution levels across America3. Under the Act, EPA and states set emissions limits for motor vehicles and industrial facilities. In most programs, the limits set are using data on the emissions performance and costs of available technology. “EPA's Assessment of the Impacts of Global Change on Regional U.S. Air Quality: A Synthesis of Climate Change Impacts on …show more content…
“The system contains ambient air pollution data collected by EPA, state, local, and tribal air pollution control agencies. AQS also contains meteorological data, descriptive information about each monitoring station (including its geographic location and its operator), and data quality assurance/quality control information.4” It is through this information that reports are made for Congress as the Clean Air Act mandated it. The Clean Air Act, as a comprehensive federal law, has the goal of addressing the public health and welfare risks posed by chemical substances in the air. This act has led to significant positive change on the national level. In 1990, the Clean Air Act was revised and expanded. It was then that the EPA’s authority to enforce sanctions and reducing the level of air pollutant emissions in the environment. Due to the amendments made in 1990 there was increased emphasis on cost saving and cost effective approaches to reducing air pollution …show more content…
Nowadays, urban air pollution includes hundreds of chemical substances including sulfur dioxide, ozone, nitrogen oxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulate matter and many other compounds7. The impact of this pollution is apparent in the heavy smog that is seen in large cities like Beiing11 and London. In the 1950s, London England smog episodes would be lethal and resulted in more than 3,000 deaths7. Throughout the last few decades, in developed countries low sulfur fuels, improved combustion technology, and regulations have resulted in reductions in the levels of ambient air pollution. It was found that over the past 25 years, “considerable epidemiological research has been conducted to investigate acute and chronic effects on health as a result of exposure to ambient air