Plumb Crazy

U.S. EPA considers delisting lead as an air pollutant

That sound you hear? It's jaws dropping everywhere in response to the U.S. EPA's announcement that it might stop regulating lead as an air pollutant. Citing the fact that concentrations of the toxic heavy metal in the air have dropped 90 percent since 1980, and using logic we can only assume was supplied by EPA administrator Stephen Johnson's six-year-old granddaughter, the agency says lifting the national standard may be justified "given the significantly changed circumstances since lead was listed [as an air pollutant] in 1976." In other words, listing it worked so well, we might as well delist it. Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), who's set to take over the House Committee on Government Reform, told Johnson "this deregulatory effort cannot be defended" and urged the agency to "renounce this dangerous proposal immediately." Meanwhile, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission is recommending that lead be banned from children's jewelry. Because. Lead. Is. Poisonous. Now close your mouth.