EPA seeks views on benzene health risk

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee M. Thomas wants to find out "what level of risk we as a society are willing to accept in terms of regulating all hazardous air pollutants." So contrary to its normal procedures, EPA is proposing four alternative approaches for controlling benzene emissions from sources in the chemical manufacturing, petroleum refining, and iron and steel industries. The agency estimates that about half the U.S. population is exposed to some cancer risk from these sources of benzene. It further estimates that these sources emit about 33,000 tons of benzene annually, less than half the total annual emissions of the chemical, accounting for approximately three fatal cancers per year nationwide. The agency has been told by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that it can consider only health risks in determining a safe emission level for a hazardous air pollutant. EPA then can consider cost and feasibility in establishing ...