Regulations

EPA is committed to considering risks to children in developing standards to protect human health and the environment. This commitment is reflected in:

• Rulemaking Guidance
• Development of Rules and Policies

EPA's Rule Writer's Guide to Executive Order 13045 (PDF). EPA and other federal agencies and departments evaluate the health and safety effects of planned regulations on children under Executive Order 13045, "Protection of Children from Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks." In addition, an Agency policy requires all EPA standards and regulations to explicitly consider risks to fetuses, infants, and children. To help its rule writers apply the Executive Order and Agency policy, EPA issued this guidance in November 1998.

Guidelines for Preparing Analytic Blueprints. EPA typically prepares an Analytic Blueprint when developing rules, policies, and other actions. An Analytic Blueprint describes the Agency's plans for data collection and analyses to support developing the action. To ensure that children's health is properly considered, the Guidelines identify the need for analyses related to children's health including determining whether the action may disproportionately affect children, assessing risks to children, and analyzing the distribution of the costs and benefits.

Children's Health Valuation Handbook (October 2003). EPA developed the Children's Health Evaluation Handbook as a reference tool for analysts conducting economic analyses of EPA regulations and policies that may affect risks to children's health. This handbook focuses on valuing changes in risks to children's health caused by environmental improvement or degradation. It addresses incorporating children's health considerations in efficiency assessments and distributional analyses.

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Children's health concerns have been important in the development in many EPA programs, such as the following:

• Clean Air
• Clean Water
• Drinking Water
• Pesticides
• Multi-Media

Hazardous Air Pollutant Emissions from Electric Utility Steam Generating Units. EPA is developing standards under Clean Air Act Section 112, as amended, to regulate the emission of hazardous air pollutants from oil- and coal-fired electric utility steam generating units. The pollutant of greatest concern is mercury. Mercury is toxic, and the developing fetus is sensitive to the effects of methylmercury (a form of mercury). Very young children and women of child-bearing age are the populations of greatest concern. EPA plans to publish proposed standards by December 15, 2003 and final standards by December 15, 2004.

Standards for Particulate Matter and Sulfur Dioxide. EPA has taken several actions to improve ambient air quality to help reduce the incidence of asthma in children, including developing and implementing a voluntary air toxics reduction program, issuing guidance documents, and conducting research activities. Also, EPA is helping to reduce the risks of childhood asthma through rulemakings addressing particulate matter (PM) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂).

• Offroad Diesel Engines. On May 23, 2003, EPA proposed new emissions standards for certain offroad diesel engines that will reduce PM emissions by more than 90 percent.
• Highway Truck Rule. EPA established a single comprehensive national control program to regulate heavy-duty vehicles and their fuel. Among other benefits, the rule is estimated to help avoid more than 360,000 asthma attacks and 386,000 cases of respiratory symptoms in asthmatic children every year.
• National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for SO₂. EPA is conducting several activities to review this standard, which was set in 1994.

NESHAP for Mercury Cell Chlor-alkali Plants (PDF). Mercury has known adverse human health effects, particularly in children. EPA promulgated a final rule on August 25, 2003 to reduce mercury emissions from mercury cell chlor-alkali plants. This rule replaces the previous standard, which was established in 1973 and developed without considering children's health. The new rule is estimated to reduce nationwide mercury emissions from chlor-alkali plants by over 70 percent.

Biosolids. As suggested by a National Research Council (NRC) study on the application of biosolids (e.g., sewage sludge) to the land, EPA is investigating the scientific basis of the existing Clean Water Act Part 503 rules on biosolids use and disposal, including the risks to children and other sensitive populations. EPA has published a strategy explaining how the Agency plans to respond to NRC report.

Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs). EPA published the CAFOs final rule in February 2003 to control runoff from agricultural feeding operations, preventing billions of pounds of pollutants from entering America's waters. The rule will limit nitrate concentrations in surface and drinking water, among other objectives. Excess nitrate reduces the capacity of blood to carry oxygen, turning skin blue, causing shortness of breath, and depriving the brain of oxygen, which impairs metabolism, thinking and other bodily functions. These symptoms can develop rapidly in infants.

Mercury Water Quality Criterion. EPA establishes water quality criteria under the Clean Water Act that states and tribes use to establish enforceable water quality standards. In January 2001, EPA published a recommended water quality criterion for methylmercury and withdrew its previous, less stringent criterion. The new criterion was the first water quality criterion expressed as a fish and shellfish tissue value rather than as a water column value. The approach is a direct consequence of the scientific consensus that consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish is the primary human route of exposure to mercury.

EPA's current drinking water standards are designed to protect children and adults. The standards take into account the potential effects of contaminants on segments of the population that are most at risk. When EPA sets each standard, the agency conducts a risk assessment, in which scientists evaluate whether fetuses, infants, children, or other groups are more vulnerable to a contaminant than the general population. The standard is set to protect the most vulnerable group. Children's health has been an important consideration in several National Primary Drinking Water Regulation (NPDWR) efforts, such as:

Six Year Review of Drinking Water Standards. The Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) requires EPA to review each NPDWR at least once every six years and revise them, if appropriate. Any revision must maintain or increase public health protection. The results of the most recent review were published in July 2003.

Microbial/Disinfection Byproducts Rules. EPA is finalizing a series of regulations addressing the challenge of balancing the risks from microbial pathogens in drinking water and the risks from the byproducts of disinfecting the water against such pathogens. In analyzing both types of risks, EPA considers sensitive populations including fetuses and children.

Drinking Water Contaminant Candidate List. SDWA requires EPA to establish a list of contaminants to aid in priority-setting for the Agency's drinking water program. In establishing the list, EPA has divided the contaminants among those that are priorities for additional research, those that need additional occurrence data, and those that are priorities for consideration for rulemaking. EPA considers risks to children and other sensitive populations in developing priorities.

Children may be especially sensitive to health risks posed by pesticides for several reasons. Their internal organs are still developing and maturing. In relation to their body weight, children eat and drink more than adults, possibly increasing their exposure to pesticides in food and water. They engage in certain behaviors, such as playing on floors or lawns or putting objects in their mouths, which increase a child's exposure to pesticides used in homes and yards.

EPA carefully considers risks to children health when regulating pesticides, as is illustrated in the examples below.

Atrazine Pesticide Tolerance. EPA is revising the pesticide tolerance for atrazine. Atrazine has been one of the most widely used agricultural herbicides in the United States. It has been detected in drinking water in the Midwest and other parts of the country and has been linked to adverse health effects such as the disruption of reproductive and developmental processes. Since EPA established the existing atrazine tolerance, new information has become available that allows for a more complete evaluation of the health effects of atrazine on children. In January 2003, EPA issued the Interim Registration Eligibility Decision (IRED) for Atrazine. It identifies measures to mitigate the risks to human health and the environment, including aggressive monitoring requirements and restrictions on atrazine use covering approximately 150 vulnerable surface water community water systems. EPA expects to issue the revised IRED for atrazine in October 2003.

CCA -Treated Wood. Chromated copper arsenate (CCA) is a chemical preservative that protects wood from rotting due to insects and microbial agents. CCA contains arsenic, chromium and copper. Arsenic is a known human carcinogen that presents special risks to children. CCA has been used to pressure treat lumber used for decks, playground equipment, and other outdoor uses since the 1940s. Since the 1970s, the majority of the wood used in residential settings is CCA-treated wood. In March 2003, EPA granted voluntary requests for cancellation and use termination requests affecting virtually all residential uses of CCA-treated wood. Children may have increased exposure to CCA (and therefore increased risk) due to their unique behaviors. EPA is planning a children's exposure assessment.

Farm Worker Protection Standard (WPS). Under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), EPA addresses childhood and prenatal exposures to pesticides through WPS, including labeling, reentry intervals, personal protective equipment, worker education and training, and posting of signs. To minimize the impact of pesticide exposure on children below the age of 12 who work in agriculture or are otherwise present in pesticide-treated fields, EPA has crafted a four-part strategy that includes enhancing enforcement of the regulations, improving education, developing better exposure data, and using risk assessment methods in making risk management decisions.

Pesticide Tolerances for Organophosphates. Organophosphate pesticides can cause cholinesterase inhibition in humans, which results in an overstimulation of the nervous system causing nausea, dizziness, confusion, and, at very high exposures, respiratory paralysis and death. Since these pesticide tolerances were initially developed, new information has become available on children's differential exposures and unique susceptibilities. Thus, EPA is reevaluating the tolerances for organophosphate pesticides, including chlorpyrifos, dimethoate, and methyl parathion, which represent the majority of the dietary risk from organophosphate pesticides to children. EPA's progress in evaluating these pesticide tolerances is described below.

• Chlorpyrifos. Prior to EPA's evaluation and risk mitigation, chlorpyrifos was one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the United States. To reduce the risk associated with this pesticide, EPA issued its Interim Reregistration Eligibility Decision (IRED) for chlorpyrifos in September 2001. The IRED concluded that the Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) ten-fold safety factor should be retained for infants and children for all exposure durations. It identified measures to mitigate the risks to human health and the environmental and determined that children of age one to six were determined to be the most sensitive population subgroup.
• Dimethoate. Dimethoate is a systemic organophosphate insecticide primarily used on field and orchard agricultural crops and ornamentals. It has been applied using ground and aerial application equipment. In September 2001, EPA announced the discontinued use of dimethoate on cabbage (bok choy and kohlrabi) because of dietary concerns from dimethoate residues. The registrants of products containing dimethoate requested that EPA delete these uses from their registrations. Also in response to requests, in March 2002, EPA published a cancellation order and label amendments for dimethoate end-use products. The cancellation order removed all residential and public building uses, including areas around these buildings, and certain agricultural uses. These actions will reduce children's exposure to dimethoate.
• Methyl Parathion. Methyl parathion is a restricted-use pesticide that is applied aerially and by ground application methods on a variety of field and orchard agricultural crops. In August 1999, EPA accepted voluntary cancellation of uses of methyl parathion on crops that contributed most to children's diet. The cancelled uses represent 90 percent of the dietary risk to children and reduced the acute dietary risk from food to below levels of concern. In January 2001, EPA revoked the methyl parathion tolerances associated with these foods.

Mercury Action Plan. EPA is developing an Action Plan for Mercury. This plan will present the Agency's mercury goals, priority actions to reduce mercury, and EPA's plans for measuring progress towards goals. The Plan will also include a baseline of mercury health and environmental data, and a description of how existing regulatory and voluntary mercury programs at EPA and elsewhere are addressing aspects of mercury health and environmental concerns. EPA expects to publish a new draft Mercury Action Plan for public comment in the fall of 2003, and to issue a final Mercury Action Plan in the fall of 2004.

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Last Modified on Thursday, November 11th, 2004