Car owners and fans of NPR's Car Talk [1] know that when you get new tires or rotate them, the tires need to be balanced [2]. Often, those tires are balanced with lead weights [3], which either disintegrate over time from daily driving, releasing lead powder into our environment, or are knocked off by curbs and unkempt roads. Maine [4], Vermont [5], and Washington [6] have banned lead weights, and at least California [7] and Iowa [8] are considering similar action. The Environmental Protection Agency [9] has taken notice, recently signaling that it will work to institute a nationwide ban of leads weights as Europe has already done.
It is well known that exposure to lead [10] causes a variety of health maladies, such as brain and nervous system disorders, high blood pressure, and reproductive and development problems. However, the EPA estimates that 2,000 tons [11] of these small lead weights are lost from vehicles and released into our environment each year, the weight equivalent of 1,364 Toyota Prius [12] hybrids.
The Sierra Club [13], Ecology Center [14] and other environmental groups have long petitioned [15] for the ban, and were rebuffed by the Bush Administration in 2005. Yet, the EPA is now changing course [11]. Adding to the pressure on the EPA to ban the lead weights has been the action of states in recent years. A senior EPA official cited the increase of state bans [11] as one of the pressure points leading them to act, saying "a number of states have moved to ban these weights, so there's clearly rising concern."
Resources:
Ecology Center - www.LeadFreeWheels.org [16]
Sierra Club and Ecology Center - EPA Moves to Ban Sale of Toxic Lead Tire Balancing Weights for Cars [15]