Selected References 1. Bailar. J.C., III, King, H., and Mason, M.J.: Cancer Rates and Risks. USDHEW, PHSP 1148, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1964. 2. Kotin, P. and Falk, H.L.: Atmospheric factors in pathogenesis of lung cancer. Adv. Cancer Res. 7:475-514, 1963. 3. Nelson, N.: Carcinogenic implications of inhaled pollutants. Arch, Environ. Health 8: 100-104 (Jan.) 1964. 4. Shimkin, M.B.: Science and Cancer, PHS Pub. No. 1162, USDHEW, National Cancer Institute, 1964. 5. Dean, G.: Lung cancer in Australia. Med. J. Australia. 49 1003-1006 (June 30) 1962. 6. Kotin, P., and Falk, H.L.: Air pollution and lung cancer. In: Proceedings, National Conference on Air Pollution, USDHEW, PHS Pub. no. 1022, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C., 1963. 7. Kotin, P., and Falk, H.L.: II. The experimental induction of pulmonary tumors in strain-A mice after their exposure to an atmosphere of ozonized gasoline. Cancer 9:910-917 (Sept.-Oct.) 1956. 8. Saffiotti, U. et al: Experimental studies of the conditions of exposure to carcinogens for lung cancer induction. J. APCA 15:23-25 (Jan.) 1965. 9. Kotin, P.: Air pollution with cancerigenic substances. Acta Union Internationale Contre le Cancer 19:3-4, 469-471, 1963. 10. Motor Vehicles, Air Pollution and Health. A report from the Surgeon General to the U.S. Congress. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. June, 1962. 11. Stern, A.C. ed.: Air Pollution, Vol. I, Chapter 9. Academic Press, 1962. Secretary GARDNER. I think all of us in the Department feel that the only limits on the speed with which we act should be the limits inherent in our own capacity to act. We feel that it is urgent. We feel we ought to move ahead as quickly as our funds and our organization and the realities of the situation permit. Senator MUSKIE. Is it your feeling that as fast as it is economically feasible and technologically possible we should prevent the discharge of any pollutant into the air? Secretary GARDNER. Yes, sir; although I do believe that the most critical thing facing us now is to mount some research on the effects on human beings of low-level toxicity of the atmosphere. We need to know what the effect is of the various kinds of substances, pollutants, which are being thrown into our atmosphere. As of today, unfortunately we know too little about it. Senator MUSKIE. Another point I would like to emphasize which I think is implicit in your testimony, is that what we have done, although it has been meaningful and encouraging, is really a very minor step in the solution of the problem. You have told us in your statement that you implemented last year's regulations with respect to motor vehicle exhaust. I think it might be helpful to define what that represents. First of all it deals only with new automobiles, does it not? Secretary GARDNER. Yes, sir. Senator MUSKIE. Now what does it do with respect to imported automobiles? Secretary GARDNER. It applies to imported automobiles but it does not apply to automobiles in use. There is nothing in the Federal law which provides for keeping the device built into the automobiles functioning properly. Senator MUSKIE. Inspection and maintenance? Senator MUSKIE. Is that a function which ought to be regulated by the Federal Government or is it one that you think needs to be regulated by the State? Secretary GARDNER. I think our present view is that this a very appropriate function for the States. Senator MUSKIE. Can the Department do anything or is the Department planning to do anything to encourage the States to take steps along those lines? Secretary GARDNER. We are prepared to work with any State which is interested in this. The States best equipped to act of course are those which now carry on routine inspection of motor vehicles. Senator MUSKIE. Would it not be well for the Department to take. the initiative to approach the States to solicit their active interest to perhaps enact necessary legislation to create this kind of inspection and maintenance requirement? Secretary GARDNER. Well, I believe that our people are now doing exactly that. Senator MUSKIE. I was encouraged that Secretary Udall's guidelines of May 10 to the States on water quality standards has apparently stimulated a great deal of interest, at least in those States which I am in a position to observe. I think if the Department takes a strong initiative and prods the States it might get some results. It has some time to act here before these regulations become operative. Secretary GARDNER. We have been dealing with the Council of State Governments on this question and there is interest. Senator MUSKIE. How much of the pollution from an automobile exhaust will these new standards eliminate? Secretary GARDNER. I am sorry to say I can't answer that. I assume a technician would know that. Mr. COSTON. Senator, it is far from all of the pollution. They only relate to certain specific pollutants. The standards at the moment cover the emission of hydrocarbons and carbon monoxide. They don't deal with the oxides of nitrogen which are more and more coming to be recognized as one of the more serious pollutant emissions from automobiles. I think in the state of the art as we know it now we are dealing with that part of the problem that is controllable. But again as the Secretary indicated, much more research is needed in this whole area to determine how best to deal with some of these exotic, difficult pollutants that are emitted from automobiles. Senator MUSKIE. Have you initiated a program of research into the problem of oxides of nitrogen? Secretary GARDNER. Yes, sir. Senator MUSKIE. So you are working on that problem too? Secretary GARDNER. Yes, sir. Senator MUSKIE. Is it conceivable that eventually we will have to restrict the use of gasoline burning, or fossil fuel burning by motor vehicles? Secretary GARDNER. I made the point in the order that I issued regulating the emission from automobiles that the problem was clearly going to outgrow present provisions to solve it and that sooner or later we would have to move to other kinds of solutions. I don't know what those will be but it is quite clear that we are now on a course which will solve our problem in the long run. Senator MUSKIE. Would this be an accurate way to state it: When the 1968 models begin to move onto the highway with these new controls we may be going down a less steep hill but we won't start climbing toward a solution of this problem? Is that right? Secretary GARDNER. This is quite probable. Senator MUSKIE. The legislation dealing with automobile exhaust last year was a minimal step which will have very little observable impact upon the problem. Is that not accurate? I am downgrading my own legislation. I think it is important not to expect too much from it. Secretary GARDNER. I agree with that statement. I think your first statement was perhaps a little more discouraging than necessary. I think it will have effects. But I think the magnitude of the problem is something we simply should not underestimate. Senator MUSKIE. Now the standards you establish do nothing with respect to diesel-burning motor vehicles. Secretary GARDNER. No, sir; they do not. Senator MUSKIE. What can we look forward to with respect to that? Mr. COSTON. Senator, in our earlier testimony on this subject we indicated that we really don't have at hand the means to control the emissions from diesel vehicles. It is a different kind of problem. We are conducting extensive research and investigation into this problem. By the 1970 models we will be in a position to establish standards for diesel exhaust similar to the standards we have now established for gasoline-burning engines. Senator MUSKIE. That is a long way off. Mr. COSTON. Yes, it is, sir. Senator MUSKIE. Senator Boggs, do you have some questions along this line? Senator BOGGS. Mr. Chairman, I think you have done well in asking questions but, Mr. Secretary, I want to thank you for your presentation this morning. As you mentioned, there is a lot of research to be done in this field. I was wondering if you could present to the committee for the record an outline of the research that is being undertaken now in the air pollution field and where you think the major gaps are. And answer the question, Are we doing all we should be doing at this stage in research? I feel that much of our effective control is going to be based upon the knowledge we can find from the research we do. Thank you. Secretary GARDNER. I would just answer a little piece of that now and submit the rest for the record. We are not now doing all we should be doing; very far from it, in my opinion. We will supply you with a full outline. Senator BOGGS. Thank you. (Subsequently, the following paper was submitted:) AIR POLLUTION RESEARCH IN THE UNITED STATES (Division of Air Pollution, Public Health Service, U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare, Washington, D.C.) CONTENTS I. Introduction: 1. Relationship of Scientific Research to Air Pollution Control. 2. Scope of This Report. II. Ongoing and Needed Research Projects: 1. Sources Control Methods and Equipment. 2. Meteorological Factors. 3. Chemistry and Physics of the Atmosphere. 4. Measurement and Identification of Pollutants. 5. Effects on Man's Health and Welfare. 6. Expanded Research Efforts by American Industry. III. Three Research Areas of Special Interest: 1. Motor Vehicle Emissions. 2. Sulfur Emissions From Combustion Processes. IV. Conclusion-Basic Research Needs. I. INTRODUCTION Air pollution research in the United States has made considerable progress during the past 10 years. In 1963, there were under way approximately 500 air pollution research projects, totaling in cost about $20 million. These were in large part conducted or supported by the Public Health Service of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. 1. Relationship of scientific research to air pollution control This research has resulted in substantial advances in scientific knowledge, including greatly improved technical means for the reduction of pollutant emissions at the source. But neither control regulations by States and communities-where primary responsibility for air pollution control has traditionally been vested-nor effective control measures voluntarily undertaken by industrial and other polluters, has kept pace with the growth in technical know-how. To stimulate control efforts, the Congress passed, and President Johnson signed into law, the Clean Air Act of 1963. While this Act provided for further expansion of Federal research, its most important new provisions authorized substantial Federal funds to help set up or strengthen State and local regulatory control programs; and, under certain circumstances, Federal initiative in the abatement of serious localized problems. In 1965, amendments to the Clean Air Act further enlarged the Federal role in air pollution abatement, notably by authorizing Federal standards, to apply nationwide, for emissions from motor vehicles. There has been an encouraging response, on the part of lower governmental levels to the new Federal grants-in-aid and on the part of the automotive industry to the anticipated Federal standards. But progress in actual abatement is slow, and there will be a long time lag before it can catch up, even with progress to date, in scientific research. Nevertheless, the need for continuing and expanded research in this field is as great as ever, for a number of reasons. In some respects, it is more urgent than ever as a result of the new legislation, for example, to help develop sound criteria to serve as bases for legal standards, not only for automotive emissions but also for other source emissions and for ambient air quality. There is an increasing demand for such standards by local control authorities. There is also need for more exact knowledge of the health effects and economic costs of air pollution as a basis for future revision and improvement of these criteria. A Moreover, there are still a few major pollution problems for which technically efficient and economically feasible solutions are yet to be found, for example, motor vehicle exhaust and sulfur emissions from fossil fuel combustion. number of research needs in specific problem areas will be reviewed in this report and some important basic research needs summarized in its concluding section. Without continuing scientific research, the degree of air pollution control which is needed today, in the United States and in other leading industrialized countries, will be impossible to achieve. Since air pollution tends to increase along with all the normal growth factors in these countries-population, transportation, power use, industrial progress, living standards, even more stringent control may be needed in the future. And without substantially expanded scientific research this will certainly be impossible to achieve. 2. Scope of this report This report is intended to present first an overall picture of air pollution research in the United States, including research anticipated or needed as well as that under way. This will cover nongovernmental as well as governmental projects. The report will discuss in considerable detail ongoing and needed research on three specific problems: motor vehicle emissions, sulfur emissions from combustion processes, and effects as related to air quality criteria. These were selected for amplification because they are universal in interest, major in importance, increasing in scope and urgency, and difficult to solve. A concluding section will undertake to provide some more basic reasons why the Division of Air Pollution of the U.S. Public Health Service considers continuing and expanded research of vital importance to our quest for cleaner air, and therefore to the health and welfare of the American people. II. ONGOING AND NEEDED RESEARCH PROJECTS 1. Sources-Control methods and equipment Research and development on source emissions and on control methods and equipment are being conducted by industrial agencies, private and university research agencies, local and State enforcement agencies, and the Federal Government, the latter primarily through the U.S. Public Health Service. (a) Source emissions studies and surveys Only a few source studies had been conducted to determine specific types and range of concentrations of air pollutant emissions from industrial and domestic sources. One was a detailed study of all pollutant emissions from 18 refineries, and another characterized sources of nitrogen oxide emissions from all stationary combustion sources, ranging from space heaters to powerplants. However, comprehensive new source surveys have recently been undertaken. These include studies of gaseous and particulate emissions from the six main types of large coal-burning powerplants and testing of both sulfuric acid and nitric acid manufacturing processes. In addition, a screening study of emissions of polynuclear hydrocarbons from heat generation, incineration, and industrial sources is also being made to determine the important sources of this type of hydrocarbon and lay a foundation for possible future work. Pollution from automobiles has been studied more extensively. The preliminary goal was to define the quantity of exhaust contaminants discharged to the atmosphere. Due to instrument and technique limitations of the earlier studies, additional cyclic dynamometer studies were initiated in 1960. Concurrent with studies of exhaust emissions and crankcase emissions, studies were initiated and continued by the automotive industry, the petroleum industry, and the California enforcement agencies, to evaluate the quantity of evaporative losses from both the fuel and the carburetion systems of the vehicles. The U.S. Public Health Service is at present conducting a supplemental study on exhaust and tank evaporative losses, employing emissions from vehicles under actual road conditions rather than emissions measured under fixed cyclic conditions. Also, source emission studies have been initiated under contractual arrangement by the Public Health Service with the Ethyl Corporation to evaluate operating modes and exhaust emissions from both gasoline and diesel powered trucks and buses. The causes of both diesel smoke and diesel odor also are under investigation, and the effects of engine tuneup and engine maintenance on exhaust emissions are being studied. Emission data for source surveys are essential in most communities to carry out an effective air resource management program. Relatively few source surveys are presently being conducted. The data needed to characterize the numerous existing sources of industrial emissions and the effects of increased emissions from industrial expansion will require considerably increased research efforts by both private industry and governmental agencies. Specific manufacturing processes that need to be characterized for source emissions include: (a) mineral acid and alkali processes, e.g., phosphoric acid and phosphate fertilizer, hydrochloric acid, cement, and chlorine and caustic; (b) organic chemicals, e.g., carbon disulfide, formaldehyde, methyl and ethyl amines, and phenol; (c) synthetic fibers, such as acetate and rayon; (d) synthetic rubber; (e) plastic; (f) pulp and paper; (g) iron and steel; and (h) nonferrous metals. Continued work is needed for characterization of source emissions from: (a) small- and medium-size boilers and heaters, (b) waste disposal units, e.g., in |