What disease do you think affects one in every five U.S. households, costs the U.S. $50 billion annually in medical expenses, accounts for 10.5 million missed school days every year, causes black children to be hospitalized at twice the rate of white children and to die at four times the rate of white children?

You’re probably thinking: whatever it is, let’s figure out a vaccine quickly.

It is asthma. Anyone can have asthma, but it impacts some more severely than others. Significant disparities, or differences, in asthma exist in racial and ethnic groups. Children from minority groups and children in low-income families are at greater risk for having the disease and once they have it, they are at greater risk of having it more severely.

While we don’t yet have a vaccine or know how to prevent someone from getting asthma, we do have a clear understanding of how to control it. It’s a balancing act: controlling exposure to the things indoors and outdoors that trigger asthma attacks and getting the right medicine and knowing how to take it.

Building awareness is one piece of the nation’s asthma control puzzle. EPA is working hard on many levels to help individuals and communities gain control of asthma. Our website has evidence-based resources that assist kids,  parents, caregivers, older adults, child care programs, schools, healthcare providers, health insurers, and community groups.  Each year, over one million people visit our companion website NoAttacks.org to download easy to read information in English and Spanish.

Another piece of the asthma control puzzle focuses on closing the gap in disparities. Beginning over ten years ago, EPA saw effective work was being done in communities across the country to improve outcomes for kids most severely impacted by asthma. To help health practitioners and asthma programs share their best practices and top questions with one another, EPA launched AsthmaCommunityNetwork.org. This site contains the System for Delivering High-Quality Asthma Care and hundreds of effective print and multimedia resources from programs across the country. Each year EPA honors exceptional health plans, health care providers and communities in action with the National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management as a way to celebrate the important contribution these programs are making to close the gap in asthma disparities. To hear from the 2012 Award winners about their best-in-class programs, register for EPA’s live webinar on Wednesday, May 30, 2012, from 1–2 p.m. EDT.

About the author: Alisa Smith, Ph.D., is Acting Director of the Center for Asthma and Schools in the Indoor Environments Division at the U.S. EPA.

I never imagined myself becoming a NASCAR fan. But sure enough, I find myself watching races on the weekends. It all started because my fiancée is an avid NASCAR fan (his favorite driver is #39, Ryan Newman…. I didn’t even need to Google Ryan’s name to find out his number!). At first, I actually teased him quite a bit about it. But as the months went on, I found myself knowing drivers names, numbers, and sponsors as well as trying to predict a winner before each race. I know more about NASCAR now than I ever imagined I would.

So when I found out that EPA was working with NASCAR (and signed an MOU with them on Monday), I jumped at the chance to be involved. I knew my fiancée would be proud, if not a bit jealous. NASCAR and EPA will be working together to continue to green the sport. Since NASCAR has such a huge national fan base, they can help communicate environmental information in ways that reach a large audience.

NASCAR and EPA will work together to highlight DfE products. Additionally, NASCAR can use DfE products at their facilities and at racing events, to show fans that using DfE products is an easy, cost-effective and important way that they can protect the health of their families and pets, clients and co-workers, and the planet.

My fiancée has been trying to convince me to go to a race, and I’ve resisted. Now with the newly formed partnership between EPA and NASCAR, attending a race this year is on my to-do list!

About the author: Melanie Vrabel is a chemist and project manager in the Design for the Environment Program. She works very closely with product manufacturers to help them formulate the safest products possible.

I recently participated in a preparedness exercise at a hospital, involving a hurricane scenario that included surgery, pharmacy, food service, safety, maintenance and environmental health services. The facilitator informed the exercise participants that a storm had interrupted water services. He then turned to each group and asked how they would respond. I was concerned to hear that many groups were planning to continue patient care, meal service and instrument sterilization; and none of their plans included a backup water supply. After some time, I asked if they knew who their water utility provider was and if there was a backup water supply to support their plans – the answer was a resounding no.

My experience in this exercise mirrored many others I’ve had; many stakeholder groups outside of the water utility community are ill-prepared to continue essential services during an interruption in water services. The reality is that there are over 600 water main breaks a day in this country causing water service interruptions, not to mention impacts from floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, and other severe weather events. In addition, service interruptions can be caused by human error, malfunctioning equipment, and vandalism or other crimes. Being prepared for interruptions in drinking water and wastewater service begins with knowing your local water utility. Do you know who your provider is for both drinking water and wastewater services? If you participate in emergency preparedness training in your community, have you ever considered including drinking water and wastewater service providers so you can learn more about their emergency operations and restoration process? Even if your role in the community or organization does not include exercise participation, this information is valuable and will assist in building your resiliency to water service interruptions.

The Community-Based Water Resiliency initiative assists communities in understanding the importance of including water utilities in emergency preparedness efforts. The Community-Based Water Resiliency (CBWR) electronic tool features a self-assessment for community members to assess their current preparedness and learn more about free tools and resources for improvement. You can help enhance water resiliency in your community by using the tool, which includes access to over 400 free resources on water preparedness. You can also help spread the word about these great, free resources by posting the new CBWR widget on your organization or personal website or blog, as well as by sharing through electronic newsletters, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets.

About the author: Nushat Thomas joined EPA’s Office of Groundwater and Drinking Water in 2009, as an Environmental Protection Specialist in the Water Security Division. She is the project lead for Community-Based Water Resiliency, an initiative to increase awareness of water interdependencies, and enhance water resiliency, at the community level. She is also an Environmental Science Engineering Officer in the DC Army National Guard and worked closely with the water utilities at Fort Bragg to reduce potential impacts of water loss while on active duty.

Are you interested in helping your community improve the academic performance of students?  Whether you’re involved in a parent-teacher’s organization, school sports, or you just want to be a positive influence on the schools in your community, you’ll want to take a look at your school-based asthma management program.  Working with schools in your community to integrate asthma management programs can help improve academic performance and can even lead to increases in school funding.

Without a strong school-based asthma management program, students with asthma can miss significantly more school and perform worse than students without asthma.  This can also impact the community, as parents miss work to stay home with their children. But, when students’ asthma is under good control, they can attend school and perform equally well.  Along with that, better attendance rates increase school funding for most school districts.

EPA has several resources to assist schools in their efforts to create healthier school environments and improve the lives of students and staff with asthma.  In particular, check out EPA’s Managing Asthma in the School Environment publication to learn helpful tips for putting a school-based asthma management program in place.

You can help.  These programs are guided by school health councils or wellness teams and reflect a partnership between school staff, student, parents, and asthma care clinicians. They are usually part of a school’s larger plan to assist students with any type of chronic condition, but take extra steps such as encouraging all students with asthma to have an Asthma Action Plan on file with the school.  Asthma prevention activities and education for staff, students and families are important components, too.

Reach out to the schools in your community to see if their school-based asthma management programs are providing the best support available to students with asthma. More information on managing asthma at school is available at: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/schools/managingasthma.html

About the Author: Dr. Lani Wheeler, MD, FAAP, FASHA is a public health pediatrician and consultant in environmental health. She recently co-chaired the NHLBI National Asthma Education and Prevention Program’s (NAEPP) School Education Subcommittee where she represented the American School Health Association (ASHA).

May first is World Asthma Day and the start of Asthma Awareness Month. Each year EPA takes this opportunity to amplify its public awareness campaign, strengthen its partnerships with community level asthma organizations, and further the discussion on the asthma epidemic.

Asthma is a serious issue. It’s a chronic respiratory disease that affects the quality of life for almost 26 million Americans, including over seven million children. It can also sometimes be deadly. Environmental irritants such as smog, smoke, and chemicals in the air–affect our health and trigger asthma attacks. So, the cleaner our air, both indoors and out, the easier it will be to manage this disease.

While the Clean Air Act has provided numerous health benefits, including the prevention of millions of asthma attacks per year, community level organizations that deliver asthma management and care also deserve special recognition. Each year EPA honors exceptional health plans, health care providers and communities in action as they integrate evidence-based best practices into effective public health programs. The National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management is the highest recognition a program and its leaders can receive from the federal government for delivering excellent environmental asthma management as part of their comprehensive asthma care services.

This year, EPA honors four winners for their outstanding efforts to improve the lives of people with asthma in under-served communities. We recognize:

• Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, Hartford, Conn., for its Easy Breathing Program, which includes patient education and environmental interventions. The program is implemented across the state of Connecticut helping ensure that comprehensive asthma care is available to the 105,000 children with asthma now enrolled in the program.
• L.A. Care Health Plan, Los Angeles, Calif., which serves Medicaid members in low-income communities in Los Angeles County. The program has developed strong community ties, and collaborates with the local housing authority. This health plan reimburses for home visits, environmental management supplies, and asthma education.
• Michigan Department of Community Health’s Asthma Prevention and Control Program, Lansing, Mich., for its state-wide program that supports local interventions and builds community capacity across Michigan. The program improves outcomes for underserved children and adults dealing with asthma. This program has been able to secure health plan reimbursement for several of its initiatives, while others are supported through state and local state asthma partnerships.
• Mission Health, Asheville, N.C., which addresses health disparities in minority children, including Native Americans, with asthma in rural western North Carolina. Mission Health works with communities, health care providers, clinics, families and schools and provides interventions that address both indoor and outdoor environmental exposures.

EPA thanks these and the thousands of other organizations that are working to combat asthma in communities across the United States. Please read more about Asthma Awareness.

About the author: Gina McCarthy is the Assistant Administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.  A brief bio

I never really gave much thought about medicine until now. Now I need medicine. Now I am a mother and my kids take medicine. Now I study how medicine is disposed of as part of my job as an environmental scientist. And now, I know just how serious a problem unintentional poisoning can be. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an estimated 142,000 children were seen in emergency rooms in 2004 and 2005 because of medication poisonings, and more than 80 percent of those poisonings were because an unsupervised child found and consumed medications.

I used to keep my medicine in the bathroom under the sink or in the medicine cabinet. I now know that is not a good idea. Besides being subject to steam and heat, the medicine can be reached by my kids if I store it in the bathroom cabinet. Being the little explorers that they are, my kids see cabinets as perfect treasure boxes – all of this little stuff to play with and potentially ingest.

Additionally, pharmaceutical compounds have been detected at low concentrations in our nation’s rivers, lakes, streams and drinking water, leading to concerns that these compounds may affect aquatic life. For these reasons, EPA initiated a study of unused pharmaceutical disposal practices at health care facilities with the goals of understanding one way in which pharmaceuticals enter our waterways and also understanding what factors contribute to pharmaceuticals entering through water. While EPA understands that there are many factors influencing the handling and disposal of pharmaceuticals by the health care industry, the focus of EPA’s study is on disposal into water. EPA decided to study medical facilities because the Agency believes that these facilities dispose of a large quantity of unused pharmaceuticals.

If you have not already done so, take a thorough look at your medicine cabinet. Find a new location to store your medicine that is not in the bathroom and is up high and out of reach of kids. Properly dispose of the medicine that you no longer use. Don’t dump it in the toilet or down the drain – if possible, take it to a prescription drug take-back event this weekend. Chances are there’s a drop-off location in your neighborhood. To find a drug take-back drop-off point, visit the Drug Enforcement Administration’s web page.

About the author: Meghan Hessenauer is an environmental scientist in EPA’s Office of Water. She is writing guidelines for the health care industry on how to manage their unused pharmaceuticals.

Last week, I visited the San Juan Bay National Estuary Program office in Puerto Rico and took a tour of the estuary with the program’s director, Dr. Javier Laureano. San Juan Bay was the first tropical island estuary to become part of the National Estuary Program and, it contains coral communities, seagrass beds and mangrove forests – all habitats designated critical areas. The San Juan Bay program also faces some significant environmental challenges, but Dr. Laureano and his team are making tremendous progress through their partnerships with commonwealth and municipal officials, the local water and wastewater utilities, and dedicated community groups.
We started the day with a boat tour of the waterways that connect to San Juan Bay. It’s an oasis in the Puerto Rico’s largest urban center with almost no development and lots of wildlife, but with significant contamination issues from sewage and stormwater. The National Estuary Program has requested $1.2 million from the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to track all of the sources of untreated sewage into the waterway. We also saw a number of new eco-tourism businesses that the National Estuary Program has helped get off the ground.

A hallmark of this program is its focus on developing economic opportunities for many of the communities located within the National Estuary Program study area because of the poverty they face. In this case, many of the local neighborhoods lack sewage treatment and have clogged stormwater drains as well, so the storms flood the streets, homes and even schools with sewage-laden water.

The trash in the Martin Pena Channel that flows into San Juan Bay and is so deep that you can walk across the former stream at many points. It is a health hazard that EPA is working in partnership with many, including effective community leaders, to address, but it’s a big job and presents a significant financial challenge for this impoverished community.

I also joined EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck and Assistant Administrator Craig Hooks for a meeting and walking tour with representatives of community groups, a visit to a community garden where university students tutor children in the neighborhood and a trip to eroded coastal areas where the National Estuary Program is planting mangrove trees to stabilize and protect the coastline. These projects are a few examples of the great work underway to restore and protect one of the country’s most unique ecosystems in the United States.

About the author: Nancy Stoner is the Acting Assistant Administrator for the EPA’s Office of Water

Before coming to work at the EPA, I was a Peace Corps volunteer in Mozambique, along the southeastern coast of Africa. I didn’t have running water, but at first the school I taught at had a well about 100 yards from my house so getting water was not a problem. It only took a little time out of my day, and I got a little exercise at the same time! After 9 months the pump broke, and they weren’t able to fix it. For the next year, the closest public well was over a kilometer away. Walking 2 kilometers for every 20 liters of water was a big drain on my time.

I was still lucky: I had enough money to hire someone to carry water for me, and as a teacher I was respected enough in the community that people would loan me wheelbarrows or even give me water if they had extra. But many people are not so lucky: UNICEF estimates that women and girls in developing countries walk an average of 6 kilometers a day for water. Even then the water they drink is often not safe. 2.2 million deaths of children are preventable through improvements in the provision of safe drinking water, basic sanitation and hygiene practices.

It’s easy to forget sometimes how fortunate we are to be able to turn a tap and have safe drinking water come out. Here at the EPA, I’m proud of the work I do analyzing drinking water data to help ensure that in the US. To promote the need for access to safe water worldwide, we’re also teaming up with the US Agency for International Development to organize an Earth Day 6K Walk for Water – to reflect the average distance a woman in a third world country must walk daily for water. If you’ll be here in Washington, DC on April 27th, please join us by registering here. No matter where you are, you can do your part for safe drinking water by conserving water in your home.

About the Author: Elinor Keith analyzes drinking water data for the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. Before joining the EPA, she taught high school chemistry in Mozambique for two years as a Peace Corps volunteer.

Earth Day 2012 has come and gone and many of us marked the day by making private commitments to become better stewards of the environment. These lofty goals are a lot like New Year’s resolutions–and sadly they are usually completed with the same dismal success rate. This Earth Day I have a challenge for you. Put your energy savings were your mouth is and make a public commitment with ENERGY STAR.

EPA’s ENERGY STAR program just kicked off its 2012 campaign and we are making it easier than ever for you to make changes both big and small to protect the climate. If you are looking for a way to become part of the solution, we have everything you need to stay in check all year long.

Step One: Take the ENERGY STAR Pledge! The pledge is a great way to commit to making simple energy changes in your home and community. Over 2.8 million other Americans have already signed on, so you will be in great company. The pledge even links to special offers by ENERGY STAR partners that will help you accomplish your goals.

Step Two: Check out the Map! The ENERGY STARs Across America map is brand new for 2012 and includes energy efficiency education events all over the country. Find one in your area and get the support you need to fulfill your goals.

Step Three: Share Your Story! We know that many of you are already saving energy and striving to fight climate change. Well grab the video camera (or a still camera) and show the world how you are doing your part! We will put your story on the map for everyone to see.

Step Four: Join Team ENERGY STAR! Sign your kids up and let them see how easy it is to save energy at home. EPA is providing fun tips and tools to help spread the energy saving message to team members and their families. Kids can share their stories too, and they may earn cool rewards!

Ready to get started? Just go to ENERGY STAR’s website and get ready to make a difference! While you are at it, check out our brand new video that shows you exactly how to get started.

About the author: Brittney Gordon is a member of the ENERGY STAR communications team. She has worked for EPA since Fall 2010 and manages ENERGY STAR’s social media channels. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Seed catalogs are piling up around the house. It’s that season when my attentions turn to spring, then to summer’s bounty. I grow just enough of the things our family likes but leave the veggies that take a lot of land to local farmers –things like corn and potatoes.

I grow a salsa garden, a salad garden and a pesto garden. That means I grow the ingredients to make salsa, salads and pesto: tomatoes, peppers of various colors, shades and hotness, lettuce, basil and herbs. I plant obscure and familiar varieties of lettuce. Every time my husband eats a garden salad he says “I feel like I am eating the sun.”

I meticulously label each row of tomatoes so when it’s time to harvest, I know what I’m eating. Funny, though, I am never sure whether I am eating an Early Girl or Pink Beauty by time it goes from basket to summer table. When I pick these tomatoes they are still full of the sun’s heat which makes them that much juicier to eat.

Backyard gardeners learn to share their plots with wildlife. Bunnies nibble on early greens, woodchucks eat everything if I’m not careful, and birds love blueberries. The neighbor’s chickens have a knack for filing in to feast the day before I would have picked the tomatoes. I’m always torn about how aggressive to be in keeping critters out. My master gardener friend plants a row of veggies for the critters and harvests inner rows for her family.

This year I can choose from a broader range of varieties For the first time in more than 20 years the USDA redrew the Plant Hardiness Zone map, based on national warming trends. My town in Massachusetts is now in Zone 6. This map is the gardener’s Bible about what varieties of shrubs and plants can be grown given certain climate limitations. Kim Kaplan of the USDA said the agency isn’t forecasting a dire message about climate change. She says the map is not scientific evidence of climate warming since the map is simply based on the coldest days of the year.

But Mainers are excited to try varieties of rhododendrons that would surely have perished in winter’s freeze. And Tucson gardeners report daffodils blooming earlier. Nebraskans are pondering peaches and apricots. For me, the big question is whether I should try growing figs. Or maybe kiwi?

About the author: Alice Kaufman works in EPA’s Boston office. She loves to travel, is an avid backcountry hiker, and frequently tromps through Thoreau’s woods in her home town with her husband and kids, and Watson, her mischievous Golden Retriever.