Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Think tank calls EPA indoor air ideas costly, dangerous Date: Sat, 14 Nov 92 16:22:11 EST Message-ID: \SE A \HD Think tank calls EPA indoor air ideas costly, dangerous \BY David Alan Coia \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES Indoor air controls contemplated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would cost lives rather than save them, according to a report by the National Center for Policy Analysis. The NCPA report, "The Next Environmental Battleground: Indoor Air," says proposed congressional regulations to control the quality of indoor air would be expensive, their cost borne by the public in the form of reduced income and higher mortality rates. The report, written by University of Georgia Professor Dwight R. Lee, criticizes legislative proposals to spend millions of dollars "to save one hypothetical life at some undefined point in the future." Rather than new legislation, the center recommends better ventilation, potted plants and natural market forces as the best means for combating unhealthful air in buildings. "If we allow government to regulate indoor air the way it regulates outdoor air, the results would be devastating to the real estate industry and to workers in many industries - workers who would suffer from income reductions, lost job opportunities and even higher mortality rates," the report concludes. Mr. Lee's report says the EPA "is trying to extend its regulatory authority over indoor air pollution" and points to a Senate bill as the result of the agency's efforts. That bill, the Indoor Air Quality Act, authorized spending $242.5 million through 1996 and called for setting up a separate office at the EPA to handle research and regulation of indoor air pollution. It later became part of the Indoor Radon Abatement Reauthorization Act, which was passed by the Senate in March and is awaiting action in the House, said Congressional Quarterly researcher Mike Williams. "We find this [report] incomprehensible," said David Ryan, an EPA press officer. "We have never proposed or supported a broad regulatory approach to indoor air pollution." The report by the Dallas think tank, which studies health care and state policy issues, outlines health problems that have been associated with indoor air and points to poor ventilation as often being their underlying cause. "Poorly ventilated buildings have harbored Legionnaires' disease and tuberculosis. Largely because of federal policy, some excessively insulated buildings have become 'sick' - leading to increased absenteeism and lower productivity," the report says. Building-related illness "is relatively rare," the report says. The more common problem, it says, is the "sick building sydrome, characterized by general complaints such as headaches, fatigue, nausea, eye, nose and throat irritation, coughs and muscle pain." The high cost to the U.S. economy "in medical expenses, absenteeism, lost revenue, reduced productivity and property damage" provides an incentive for the private sector to deal effectively with indoor air pollution, Mr. Lee contends. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM