Concord —
According to the EPA, Hanscom Field is in the top 1 percent of airport emitters of lead, emitting 544kg per year into the air. This data comes from the 2008 EPA report “Lead Emissions from the use of Leaded Aviation Gasoline in the United States.”
The EPA says: “While lead concentrations in the air have declined, scientific studies have demonstrated that children’s neurological development is harmed by much lower levels of lead exposure than previously understood. Low-level lead exposure has been clearly linked to loss of IQ in performance testing. Even an average IQ loss of 1-2 points in children has a meaningful impact for the nation as a whole, as it would result in an increase in children classified as mentally challenged, as well as a decrease in the number of children considered gifted.”
The EPA regulatory standard for atmospheric lead is 0.15 micrograms per cubic meter, but the EPA’s own studies have shown that to prevent a measurable decrease in IQ for children deemed most vulnerable, the standard needs to be set much lower, to 0.02 micrograms per cubic meter. Other airports similar to Hanscom have been measured at many times this level.
Hanscom supplies leaded fuel, so-called “Avgas 100LL” to propeller aircraft. This fuel is called “low lead” but actually has more lead per gallon than leaded automotive gasoline from the 1960s. Leaded automotive gas was phased out of automobiles in the 1980s and is now illegal.
Leaded aviation fuel has been eliminated in much of Europe, but special interest lobbying has successfully fought its elimination in the USA. Recent announcements by Massport that hangar space at Hanscom Airport will be doubled are alarming, and we must demand that lead levels be measured and mitigated before any expansion occurs.
— Timothy Ehrlich, Monument Street
Source: LETTER: Lead emissions from Hanscom Airport - Concord, MA - The Concord Journal http://www.wickedlocal.com
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