Proposal marks first official step to regulating leaded aviation fuel, the top cause of lead in the air in the country 

Most lead air pollution in the country comes from piston-engine aircrafts

Most lead air pollution in the country comes from piston-engine aircrafts

As children across the country are drinking and breathing lead, EPA must take concrete steps

57 organizations and 146 medical professionals, professors, advocates, and other individuals submit letter in support of the October 12, 2021 updated petition, originally submitted on August 24, 2021, of Alaska Community Action on Toxics, Center for Environmental Health, Friends of the Earth, Montgomery-Gibbs Environmental Coalition, and Oregon Aviation Watch, and by the County of Santa Clara, California and the Town of Middleton, Wisconsin, petitioning the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make an endangerment finding under section 231 of the Clean Air Act that leaded aviation gasoline contributes to air pollution that harms public health and welfare.

The undersigned organizations hereby submit this updated petition to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to make an endangerment finding under section 231 of the Clean Air Act that leaded aviation gasoline contributes to air pollution that harms public health and welfare.

Jonathan Smith, Attorney, Community Partnerships Program, Earthjustice: “It’s unconscionable to think about the hundreds of thousands of children that have been exposed to lead over all of these years from airport activity.”

Most airborne lead in the U.S. comes from aircraft, yet EPA refuses to regulate toxic additive

Top 100 Lead-polluting Airports

A response to a petition filed by environmental groups urging the agency to address lead emissions from aviation gasoline –– the largest source of airborne lead emissions in the country

The lead monitoring program summary that accompanied EPA's response letter to the AvGas petition

EPA issues a response to a petition filed by environmental groups urging the agency to address lead emissions from aviation gasoline—the largest source of airborne lead emissions in the country

Earthjustice is working to enact stronger protections from these toxic chemicals for our families, communities and the environment because everyone has a right to know the truth about harmful toxins.

Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Oregon Aviation Watch, represented by Earthjustice, asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to take action to address harms caused by lead emissions generated by the continued use of leaded aviation gasoline (avgas).

Evidence linking ill-health, especially in children, to airborne lead emissions mounts as EPA fails to act