Greenversations

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection.Previous Science Wednesdays.

By Katie Lubinsky

Imagine the swooshing sound of air being vacuumed. This is what I heard the second I stepped into the car. As I looked inside, I noticed the jungle of wires, plugs and Back to the Future-like machines. While maybe not as cool as a DeLorean, the vehicle I just stepped into might just be a clean air scientist’s dream ride.

Lucky for me I was riding with one—EPA’s own Gayle Hagler (someone I’ve blogged about previously). Gayle invited me to ride along with her in EPA’s tripped out science vehicle, so I could learn more about the Geospatial Mapping of Air Pollutants (GMAP) project.

Through the project, Gayle and other researchers are designing, developing and utilizing state-of-the-art mobile measurement systems to gain insights into the sources of air pollution and the impacts emissions have on public health.

This isn’t your ordinary car. What started out as an everyday, economy-sized, gasoline-powered vehicle was transformed into an electric-powered, zero emissions, air quality ‘sniffing’ machine that can travel up to 100 miles, give or take depending on the speed. Gayle and her EPA colleagues use it to measure air pollution on and near highways.

From the outside, the car looks normal except for a small sphere-like ‘hat’ on top. This is where the high-tech GPS antenna sits and gives the car’s location by the second. Inside is where you really notice the differences. Here, there are many machines that take in outside air as the car drives, which analyze the amount and types of pollutants being emitted by other vehicles.

I’ve never ridden in an electric car before and especially one with top-of-the-line air pollution monitoring equipment in it. I felt as if I were a character in Back to the Future with all the science going on but relieved to notice Gayle was way more down to earth than crazed “Doc Brown.” As we rolled, she explained some of the data activities going on around us like how she and her colleagues collect measurements on pollutants important to the Agency, including black carbon, carbon monoxide and fine particles.

I felt very privileged to ride in such style—an innovative EPA vehicle that measures air quality as part of our effort to inform policy from a local to national level.

About the author: Katie Lubinsky is a student contractor working with EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

By Lou Witt, Indoor Environments Division and Kathy Seikel, Office of Children’s Health Protection

With an emphasis on healthy schools, this year’s Children’s Health Month brings back memories of life as a student. When we were children, not many people focused on indoor air quality in schools. Until fairly recently, few made removing asthma triggers a priority. Industrial strength pesticides and cleaners were used liberally, and teachers smoked in their own separate lounge. Times have changed. Now we understand how important a healthy environment is to the learning process.

Children are uniquely affected by environmental hazards due to their body size and their immune and respiratory systems not being fully developed. A well located, thoughtfully designed, soundly built and efficiently operated school can help ensure a safer, healthier learning environment for children, allowing them to thrive and succeed.

Join EPA this October and throughout the year as we work with partners to promote healthy environments where children live, learn and play. Proven, cost-effective and often simple actions can directly benefit everyone’s health. Indoors, testing for radon, removing furry pets and stuffed animals from classrooms, using low/no VOC products and going smoke-free are common. The physical location of a school also can affect students. A properly located building can help reduce children’s exposure to harmful pollutants by ensuring a potential school site is safe from contaminants and environmental hazards.

If your community is renovating a school, building a new one or wanting to improve the health and performance of students, Children’s Health Month is the perfect time to get involved. Two great places to visit that will get you started are EPA’s new School Siting Guidelines, which can help mitigate outdoor environmental risks; and the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Action Kit, which provides guidance and helpful instructions for teachers, staff, students and the community.

Better indoor air quality protects children’s health. To see how you can help create a healthier school environment for youth in your community, visit www.epa.gov/schools/ and www.epa.gov/iaq/schools

Learn more and tell us how you celebrated Children’s Health Month by promoting green, clean and healthy schools!

• Common indoor air pollutants
• Addressing indoor air quality as part of health school
• Reducing radon risk in schools
• IPM in Schools
• Addressing environmental asthma triggers in schools
• View the school siting guidelines.
• View the Presidential Proclamation for Child Health Day.
• How EPA is Celebrating Children’s Health Month

About the authors:

Kathy Seikel, a senior policy analyst with EPA’s Office of Children’s Health Protection, has worked for EPA since 1984 and remembers when, as a college student in the 70s, smoking by students and teachers was allowed in all classrooms.

Lou Witt, a Program Analyst in EPA’s Office of Radiation and Indoor Air, is promoting indoor air quality risk reduction

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

By Tanya Otte

Lots of people like running. I’m not one of them…unless it involves running models! Since I was hired, I’ve been a part of a team that develops and runs models to help understand interactions between meteorology, natural and anthropogenic (“human-caused”) emissions, and air quality. The heartbeat of the air quality model development occurs in EPA’s Atmospheric Modeling and Analysis Division and with the Community Multiscale Air Quality Modeling (CMAQ) system, the Nation’s premier air quality simulation model.

CMAQ (pronounced “see mack”), a state-of-the-science tool for air quality modeling, was first publically released in 1998 by the EPA, and it now boasts a worldwide community of more than 3,700 users in 95 countries. CMAQ has been used by the EPA and by state environmental agencies to support air quality policy decisions. Nations around the world use CMAQ to study air pollution issues and create air quality management strategies. CMAQ provides daily ozone forecast guidance issued by the National Weather Service. The CMAQ user community spectrum spans academia, government, and private industry. CMAQ is one of the most widely respected modeling tools of its genre.

This month, EPA is releasing CMAQ 5.0. Major updates to CMAQ, like this, occur about every three years. CMAQ 5.0 incorporates the latest developments in air quality science, and it can be used to examine the interactions between air quality and climate. One of the biggest advances in CMAQ 5.0 is a comprehensive and synchronized coupling of meteorology and air chemistry to more accurately simulate the feedbacks between weather and air pollution.

This month, EPA also celebrates the 10th anniversary of its partnership with the Community Modeling and Analysis System (CMAS) Center. CMAS has been the conduit for public releases of CMAQ, and they have been instrumental in brokering international scientific contributions to CMAQ. CMAS has provided training and online support for the CMAQ community, and they host an annual workshop dedicated to exchanging the most updated scientific findings. This year’s workshop takes place October 24-26, and more than 250 participants have registered.

CMAQ just completed the half-marathon (measured in years, not miles). With a strong team at the EPA and a diverse and growing community of international collaborators, CMAQ will be running the race for many years to come!

About the author: Tanya Otte, a research physical scientist, has worked at EPA in atmospheric modeling and analysis since 1998.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Lake near Bald Mountain, Adirondacks. Photo by Danny Hart

By Danny Hart

For the past few weeks I’ve been planning my vacation to the Adirondack Mountains in Northern New York. I’ve decided to recapture some of the childhood pleasure of trout fishing. As kids, my siblings and I learned “spin casting” as opposed to the more artistic “fly casting” method of fishing; though my grandfather tied his own flies and could fly cast, we didn’t inherit that skill.

As the time to depart for vacation nears, the excitement grows and I share my anticipation with coworkers. Last week, one asked from across our cubicle which lake I was visiting. I mentioned the name of the lake and she replied, “You know you can’t eat trout from that lake”. I couldn’t believe it! She showed me a website for New York waters and the health risks associated with eating fish from various lakes. I couldn’t fathom why I wouldn’t be able to eat fish from a pristine, crystal clear lake! “DDT” she said, and lakes around the area were limited to one fish per month, one! Why? “Mercury” she said.

In that moment, the vision I had in my head of untouched natural wonder transformed to polluted, man-effected potential hazard. How could this be? How could these waters so far from industry have been changed? I realized then, that we are all connected in some way…that the smoke stacks in the Midwest directly affect the water and air quality of once-untouched waterways hundreds of miles away. The winds carry heavy metals and drop them in the form of rain. The DDT came from some other source, which is a mystery on that particular lake to this day.

Once I realized the connection I wanted to know more about this issue. I found out EPA recently finalized what is called the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule, which will prevent smoke stack pollution like mercury and other toxics from traveling long-distances and polluting what should be pristine lakes. The agency is also developing mercury and air toxics standards that will go a long way to cut mercury — and other harmful pollution — from our environment, so that maybe one day my kids (and their kids) will have an opportunity to fish in these lakes.

So, next week we’ll boat and swim in the lake. But we won’t fish. To safely fish, we’ll have to drive to another lake. We’re lucky, because there are other lakes in the area where eating the fish is still safe. For now.

About the author: Danny Hart has been with EPA since 2006. He’s the Associate Director of Web Communications.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

By Sarah Bae

My mom works full-time, and has done so for decades. Although she’s nearing 60, and has various health issues stemming from the stress of her work, because I have an 11 year old sister, she says she won’t be retiring anytime soon. Our family has always lived in big cities, and on vacations we go to places like Washington D.C. or New York City – always cities. My mom deserves a relaxing vacation, as does every mom, so it is important to be aware that women are susceptible to multiple environmental health impacts. Be prepared during trips. A big one, strongly associated with congested urban areas like cities, is air pollution.

Air pollutants can come from fine particles, like vehicle exhaust and soot, gases such as ozone and carbon monoxide, smoke from tobacco and stoves, as well as fumes released from the burning of coal, oil, kerosene, everyday household cleaning products and paints. Fine particles, and ozone in particular, are considered the most harmful pollutants.

For older women who may already have health problems, like my mother, exposure to air pollution can be particularly harmful. Air pollution can cause sudden variations or an increase in heart rate for those with cardiovascular problems, which could be a catalyst for conditions leading to a heart attack. For those with a lung disease, air pollution can lead to lung inflammation, difficulty breathing, and aggravation of asthma. Additionally, those with diabetes may also find that their risk of suffering a heart attack, stroke, and other heart problems increases.

To avoid or minimize exposure to air pollution, check the Air Quality Index (AQI) daily. The AQI reports on how clean the air is and whether it can affect your health. It recommends to reduce outdoor activity on bad air quality days. More information about the AQI is available. Information about daily air quality can also be obtained through newspaper, television, and radio weather reports. However, staying indoors doesn’t guarantee complete safety from air pollution as fine particles can enter buildings through open windows or doors, and tobacco smoke as well as fumes from cleaning products can concentrate in indoor areas with inadequate ventilation.

For more information

About the author: Sarah Bae is a summer intern for the Office of Public Engagement. She is a rising senior at UC Berkeley majoring in Society and Environment.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Each week we write about the science behind environmental protection. Previous Science Wednesdays.

By Sarah Blau

A few weeks ago my eyes wouldn’t stop itching. That intense, burning itch you know you shouldn’t scratch, but eventually you do. My irritated eyes were telling me that something was wrong, that some foreign species was polluting the air I breathe and my body did not like it.

The source of this relentless itch I discovered from the news on the drive home—wildfires! Wildfire smoke, to be more exact, wafting some 200 miles from the North Carolina coast where peat fires have been smoldering since early May.

As it turns out, I had only one minor symptom of something that can actually cause serious health problems.

In fact, I recently learned that a team of scientists led by EPA investigated the cardiovascular health effects of a similar eastern NC peat fire in 2008. A paper describing the results of this study was published Monday by Environmental Health Perspectives.

Researchers collected emergency room (ER) records from counties directly affected by the 2008 fire’s smoke plume and compared those records to ER records from smoke-free neighboring counties. Research statistics show that the smoke affected counties had an increase in ER visits by 65% for asthma, 59% for pneumonia and bronchitis, and 37% for symptoms of heart failure.

Photo courtesy US Fish and Wildlife Service

Peat fires differ from western canopy wildfires in both the way they burn and the chemical composition of their smoke. This is the first known study to show that exposure to a peat fire can cause both respiratory and cardiovascular effects, and the first study to conclusively show associations between a wildfire and emergency department visits for heart failure symptoms.

Wildfires are inevitable, but we are not completely helpless to suffer their mal-effects. EPA’s AIRNow website is an excellent source for information on both the air quality in your region, and how to protect yourself from the hazard of wildfire smoke.

Whether it’s severe cardiovascular illness or minor allergy-type symptoms, research by EPA and others has shown that wildfire smoke can have harmful health effects. Keep yourself informed of your local air quality and when conditions are poor, take appropriate actions. Maybe if I had taken a shorter morning walk outside with my dog, I wouldn’t have had itchy eyes all day!

About the author:  Sarah Blau is a student services contractor working with EPA’s Science Communication Team.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

By Kathy Sykes

One of the indelible memories I have of my grandfather, Lars Svensson, was the trouble he had breathing. For as long as I can remember he struggled to breathe, even when we went for a short walk or just a few feet to the mail box in the front yard. My grandfather was a smoker and suffered from a serious lung disease called emphysema, also known as chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD.
COPD is now the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and also causes long-term disability. Both asthma and COPD are common chronic respiratory diseases that take a toll on the quality of life for persons of all ages. More than 12 million Americans suffer from COPD and another 12 million may have it and not know it.

I was a teenager when my grandfather died, at a time when very little was known about treating the disease. We fortunately know a lot more now about living with COPD and asthma including how to avoid the environmental triggers that can cause an attack. By reducing exposure to environmental triggers one can control and reduce the frequency of symptoms and make it easier to breathe.

Triggers in the environment include outdoor particle pollution and ozone. Indoors, where we spend 90 percent of our time, common indoor hazards may trigger an asthma or COPD attack including tobacco smoke, direct and second-hand smoke, animal dander, dust mites and cockroaches, mold, and pollen. It is also important to check furnace and heating units each year and fix water leaks quickly help to reduce the occurrence of these triggers in your home. Pesticides, household cleaning products and substances with irritating odors may also exacerbate COPD and asthma. And don’t forget to check the air quality index where you live to see if the air quality is a problem. If it is, reduce outdoor activity as much as possible on poor air quality days.

Asthma and COPD have a lot in common and affect the health and quality of life of older Americans. The U.S. EPA Aging Initiative has developed a poster in English and Spanish called Age Healthier, Breathe Easier. The fact sheet on the same topic has been translated into 17 languages.

About the author: Kathy Sykes began working for the U.S. EPA in 1998. Since 2002, she has served as the Senior Advisor for the Aging Initiative.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

By Jan Roberts

Chances are you or someone you know has asthma. Whether it’s your child, parent or friend, this person helps make up the nearly 25 million people with asthma living in the U.S. This statistic is staggering, as asthma is one of the most controllable diseases. Our job at Genesee County Asthma Network is to turn around this figure by making healthy, environmental changes within our community. By making small changes in homes and schools, we can significantly improve our patients’ quality of life.

Those affected by asthma often use only 50 percent of their lung function because they don’t – or are unable to – eliminate the asthma triggers around them. To effectively deliver high-quality asthma care, we complete tailored environmental interventions in our patients’ homes and schools. We assess homes for asthma triggers while identifying potential financial or social barriers to fixing them. During these visits, we educate our patients about their medication, demonstrate safe cleaning methods, and help develop a personalized asthma action plan, which is tailored to the patients’ sensitivities, such as secondhand smoke or pet dander. For children in our program, we take it one step further and go into schools to educate their teachers, principals and maintenance staff (among others) on the basics of asthma and how it can affect student productivity and performance.

We know this hands-on approach works and produces dramatic results; among the patients we serve, emergency room visits have dropped by 45 percent and hospitalizations by 25 percent. By tracking medical records and administering questionnaires, we have also seen reductions in medication usage, decreased school absenteeism, and a general improved quality of life in both the children and adults we serve.
With limited resources and staff, our program continues to deliver comprehensive care by building partnerships within our community. We team with our local lead poisoning prevention program, Habitat for Humanity, the American Lung Association and others to share resources and holistically address asthma management.

If your program is interested in learning strategies on developing meaningful partnerships, I recommend attending EPA’s Communities in Action National Asthma Forum, June 9-10, 2011, in Washington, D.C. The Forum helped our program discover the power of collaboration and optimizing our resources, while delivering tailored environmental interventions that make a great impact.

About the author: Jan Roberts, RN, AE-C, has been with the Genesee County Asthma Network for 14 years and currently serves as the Asthma Disease Manager. The Genesee County Asthma Network is the recipient of EPA’s National Environmental Leadership Award in Asthma Management.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

By Natalie Loney

One can never underestimate the power of a strong voice.  It can be clear like a bell with the right timbre and resonance, or booming and vibrant like a bass drum.  Either way, the power of my own voice was tested on a recent trip to St. Croix, USVI.

I was in St. Croix in support of EPA’s emergency response to an air release from the HOVENSA refinery.  Part of my responsibilities included going door to door in impacted areas to talk to residents about our sampling results.   So, with the support of local Department of Planning and Natural Resources (DPNR) reps, our team set out to reach out to residents.  I was comfortable with this task, I’ve done community outreach countless times before.   Walk up to the door, ring the bell, wait for someone to answer, then,  start your mini-presentation, simple, right? Wrong! First of all, you can’t just walk up to someone’s door.  Most of the residents’ homes were set back from the road behind a fenced or sometimes walled lot.  My DPNR colleague pointed out that opening someone’s gate and entering their property without permission would be seen as improper.  I definitely didn’t want to introduce myself to a resident by insulting them.  What to do?

The answer was really quite simple.  My DPNR partner simply stood outside the fence, gate or wall, and yelled out, “INSIDE!”   It worked like a charm.  Residents looked out and waved us in or sometimes came over to the gate and spoke to us over the fence.  By the fourth or fifth home, I was calling out “INSIDE!” like a pro, I even adopted the sing-song inflection of a Crucian accent.  The simple act of following  local protocol went a long way,  I started out on the right note and residents were receptive to our message.  My voice made it through the whole day without incident.  That’s because mine is of the bass drum variety not the resonant bell.

About the author: Natalie Loney is a community involvement coordinator in New York City. She has been in Public Affairs since 1995.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.

Healthy buildings provide a safe and secure physical structure that helps occupants maintain their health and well-being through improved indoor air quality. Creating a healthy indoor environment can have a particularly significant impact on people who have asthma. Allergens, such as dust mites, other pests, including cockroaches and rodents, and mold are all related to asthma symptoms and unfortunately we know these triggers are ubiquitous in urban housing.

At the Boston Public Health Commission, we work collaboratively within the community to address these triggers, teach residents how to better manage their asthma and their environment, and support residents when their indoor environment is making them sick and it is out of their control. We conduct over 100 direct service home visits for families with asthma each year to help people create healthier indoor environments within their homes.

In addition, with EPA support, we established the Breathe Easy At Home program, a collaborative effort among city agencies and health care institutions. This program enables clinicians to make online referrals for housing code enforcement inspections, for their patients with asthma. A patient tells their doctor about a health concern related to their home environment, the clinician reports it, an inspection is performed, and the clinician receives continued information about the resolution of the complaint. The city of Boston is reaping the benefits of this powerful collaboration. The hospitalization rate for Boston’s children with asthma has decreased 39 percent and emergency department visits are 16 percent lower.

Attending EPA’s Communities in Action National Asthma Forum was an amazing learning opportunity for us and really helped us to solidify our vision for the future. It brings together both clinical and community-based programs and affirms that we are a continuum of care. It also allowed us to reevaluate and reprioritize our efforts and to learn from other leaders working in asthma management. It also pushed us to think about how to address asthma management from a nation-wide perspective.  I would highly encourage both new and established asthma management programs to attend the upcoming National Asthma Forum, June 9-10 in Washington, D.C. It’s an inspiring event that yields a huge return on investment.

About the author: Margaret Reid has been with the Boston Public Health Commission for twelve years and currently serves as the Director of the Division of Healthy Homes and Community Support.

Editor’s Note: The opinions expressed in Greenversations are those of the author. They do not reflect EPA policy, endorsement, or action, and EPA does not verify the accuracy or science of the contents of the blog.