WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, U.S. Senator Tom Carper, top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was joined by Senators Ben Cardin (D-Md.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeffrey Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to pursue stronger standards to protect Americans from particulate matter (PM).

PM pollution is made up of a mixture of small particles and liquid droplets, and is often created by fossil fuel combustion or industrial processes. This form of air pollution has been found to be particularly dangerous and deadly for low-income communities, communities of color and Tribal and Indigenous communities, which are disproportionately exposed to higher levels of PM pollution. In 2011 alone, PM pollution was responsible for more than 100,000 American deaths. A new peer reviewed Harvard study released just last week, which examined 16 years of data and 570 million observations of 68.5 million Medicare enrollees, further demonstrated evidence of the causal link between long-term PM2.5 exposure and mortality.

In April, EPA proposed to retain, rather than strengthen, the current particulate matter National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS), despite recommendation from EPA’s own scientists to strengthen the annual fine particulate matter standard from 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air to somewhere between 10 and 8 micrograms per cubic meter of air.

In their letter, the senators urged EPA to better protect Americans, particularly vulnerable communities, from the health dangers associated with particulate matter.

“This proposal rejects the latest science and ignores the recommendations of EPA’s own scientists and public health experts. More importantly, hundreds of thousands of lives could be lost every year if this proposal is finalized; lives that are disproportionately in low-income communities, communities of color, and Tribal and indigenous communities” the Senators wrote. “We strongly urge you to reject this proposal and instead pursue updates to the particulate matter NAAQS that protect public health and follow the direction of the Clean Air Act as Congress intended.”

“The cost of protecting public health is far less than the cost of breathing polluted air, especially today during COVID-19. That is why we urge EPA to heed the advice of its own scientists and seize this opportunity to strengthen the particulate matter NAAQS,” the senators continued. “Failure to do so would put American families at risk and be yet another decision where this administration chooses to ignore the science to place polluters over public health.”

The full letter can be found here.