Farm dust — the stuff at the center of this story — contains things such as windblown dirt, bits of last year’s cornstalks and manure dried down to powder. It is an ancient fact of farm life.
By the EPAÂ’s rules, it is also pollution.
The EPA lumps it in with soot from power plants as “coarse-particle pollution.” The agency limits how much of this can be in the air, because the particles can cause heart and lung damage.
.... But last fall, an EPA advisory panel raised worries that more farmers could be affected. It recommended that the agency tighten standards, potentially leading to crackdowns elsewhere