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About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

It’s time for the dreaded task again: time to paint our house. As I discussed with my husband the possibility of hiring a contractor to paint the house exterior and for us to paint inside, our son’s asthma became a sudden concern. Paints, stains and varnishes release low level toxic emissions into the air for years after application . These toxic emissions stem from a variety of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a by-product of petrochemical-based solvents used in paints. Exposure to VOC’s in paint can trigger asthma attacks, eye, throat and nose irritation, respiratory problems, nausea, allergic skin reactions and dizziness among other symptoms. As one can imagine, painting our house would require extreme planning, including a temporary move.

EPA studies indicate that when people use and store products containing organic chemicals, they can expose themselves and others to very high pollutant levels. These elevated concentrations can persist in the air long after the activity is completed, thus causing the quality of indoor air to deteriorate.

Given our concerns, I decided to embark on an internet research of our alternatives for painting the house without affecting our son’s health. These is a list of the suggestions I found on various sites, including EPA’s

• Low VOC or No VOC paints are an excellent alternative for painting the inside of our house.
• Ventilation is very important while painting.
• Warnings in the labels are extremely important since these are aimed at reducing exposure of the user.
• Buying limited quantities might save us something more than money. By buying only what we need we won’t have to worry about the fumes and toxic materials emitted by these paints while being on storage. Gases can leak even when the containers are closed.
• By using the right equipment-including masks–as with any other household project–we can reduce our exposure to hazardous substances while completing our task.

So before mixing that paint, take the necessary steps to protect your family.

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

On a recent Saturday afternoon, my husband and I took the kids kite flying to El Morro Fort in San Juan. Our three year-old marveled at the hundreds of kites in the sky and flew his with our help. But what caught his attention and gave him the most thrills throughout the sunny afternoon was rolling down the hills that surround the El Morro’s esplanade. Soon he forgot about his colorful kite and left his father and sister to enjoy the afternoon while I watched him roll in the grass. By Sunday morning all fun had disappeared from his face as he had developed a full blown asthma attack. While trying to pinpoint what had been the trigger and reviewing our daily routine, only one thing stood out: rolling on the grass. I know that mold, strong odors, second hand smoke and Sahara dust particles can trigger an asthma attack in my son, but I was dumbfounded this time. After some research I found out that nearly 80% of adults and children with asthma are allergic to trees, pollen and grass. While browsing for information I stumbled upon EPA’s Asthma Research Strategy where scientists study and develop an understanding of exposure, health effects, risk assessment, and risk management of indoor and outdoor environmental pollutants linked to asthma. This site was very helpful since it provides additional resources and publications related to projects supported by EPA. Among the studies that caught my attention were those that linked susceptibility and genetic factors with environmental exposures.

Even though I have identified most indoor triggers, and EPA provides a great wealth of information in that area, I was working on identifying outdoor environmental stressors. My search yielded the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health site. One interesting, but simple thing I learned on its website was to avoid outdoor activities on windy days. That made perfect sense since February through April is the windy or “kite” season in Puerto Rico. I also learned that most common grasses can trigger an allergic reaction in asthma patients. Now armed with this new information I can work better on identifying other outdoor environmental asthma stressors for my child.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.

Recientemente, durante un pasadía un sábado por la tarde, mi esposo y yo llevamos los niños a volar cometas o chiringas como se dice en Puerto Rico frente al Fuerte del Morro en el Viejo San Juan. Nuestro hijo de tres años estaba maravillado con los cientos de cometas que volaban por los cielos y pudo volar la suya con nuestra ayuda. Sin embargo, lo que sí le atrajo más la atención durante esa soleada tarde fue el rodar por las colinas alrededor de los terrenos del Morro. Rápidamente se olvidó de su colorida chiringa y dejó que su padre y hermana disfrutaran la tarde a su manera mientras él se deslizaba y rodaba en la yerba y le observaba atentamente. El domingo por la mañana toda la diversión y el regocijo habían desaparecido de su rostro cuando desarrolló un severo ataque de asma. Mientras tanto, yo estaba repasando todas nuestras actividades matutinas y nuestra rutina cotidiana para ver que le había desencadenado este ataque. Lo único diferente que se destacaba era el hecho de haber rodado por el césped. Yo sé que el moho, ciertos olores fuertes, el tabaquismo pasivo y las partículas de polvo del Sahara pueden desencadenar un ataque de asma en mi hijo, pero esta vez, me quedé atónita. Después de investigar un poco más el tema, encontré que cerca del 80 por ciento de los adultos y niños son alérgicos al polen, a los árboles y a las hierbas. Mientras buscaba mas información, me tropecé con la Estrategia de Investigación de Asma de la Agencia de Protección Ambiental (EPA, por sus siglas en inglés) donde científicos estudian y desarrollan un entendimiento mayor de la exposición, efectos de salud, evaluación de riesgos, y manejo de riesgos de los contaminantes medioambientales en entornos interiores y exteriores vinculados al asma. Este sitio Web fue muy útil ya que brinda recursos adicionales y publicaciones relacionadas a los proyectos apoyados por EPA. Entre los estudios que más capturaron mi atención estaban aquellos en los cuales se vinculaban la susceptibilidad y factores genéticos a las exposiciones ambientales.

A pesar de que yo había identificado la mayoría de los factores desencadenantes en entornos interiores, y la EPA brinda amplia información en esta área, estoy trabajando para identificar los estresores ambientales en entornos exteriores. Mi investigación me llevó al sitio Web del Instituto Nacional de las Ciencias de Salud Ambiental de los Institutos Nacionales de Salud.  Algo muy interesante, pero sencillo, que aprendí de este sitio cibernético fue el evitar las actividades al aire libre en los días ventosos. Ahora eso me hace perfecto sentido ya que de febrero a abril es la temporada ventosa en Puerto Rico denominada comúnmente como la “temporada de las chiringas”. También aprendí que algunas hierbas comunes pueden desencadenar reacciones alérgicas en pacientes asmáticos. Armada con esta nueva información ahora puedo trabajar mejor para identificar otros estresores medioambientales de entornos exteriores que afectan a mi hijo.

Each week we ask a question related to the environment. Please let us know your thoughts as comments. Feel free to respond to earlier comments or post new ideas. Previous questions.

Many people don’t realize children can be more sensitive to environmental exposures, indoors as well as outdoors. But there are many, often simple things we can do to protect children from environmental hazards, including avoiding asthma triggers such as secondhand smoke or mold. October is Children’s Health Month.

What do you do to protect children from environmental hazards?

En español: Cada semana hacemos una pregunta relacionada al medio ambiente. Por favor comparta con nosotros sus pensamientos y comentarios. Siéntase en libertad de responder a comentarios anteriores o plantear nuevas ideas. Preguntas previas.

Muchas personas no se dan cuenta cuán más sensitivos son los niños a las exposiciones ambientales, tanto en entornos interiores como exteriores. Sin embargo, hay pasos, muchas veces sencillos, que usted puede tomar para proteger a los niños de los peligros ambientales, incluso el evitar los desencadenantes de asma como el tabaquismo pasivo o el moho. Octubre es el Mes de Salud Infantil.

¿Qué hace para proteger a los niños de los peligros medioambientales?

About the author: Brenda Reyes Tomassini joined EPA in 2002. She is a public affairs specialist in the San Juan, Puerto Rico office and also handles community relations for the Caribbean Environmental Protection Division.

Last Saturday, as I was watching the 11:00 p.m. news, the weather anchor gave an advisory of Sahara dust in the area. Too late I thought, since I have an asthmatic three year old. Most of us who suffer with asthma can feel the effects before satellites detect this Saharan cloud. Following the weather advisory, I had him stay inside the house all Sunday as a preventive measure. As feared, Monday morning came and he was wheezing with a full blown asthma attack.

Every summer, particles of dust from the Sahara Desert travel halfway around the globe and settle in the Caribbean area around Puerto Rico. This dust impacts not only our air quality, but the climate. This cloud, full of minerals and fungi, alters the quality of air and impacts not only respiratory health, but ecosystems as well. Some studies trace the loss of coral reefs in the Caribbean to this phenomenon. It’s incredible that these small particles from the Sahara Desert in Africa can cause so many adverse impacts to the environment and health an ocean away.

According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), in July 2000 alone, nearly eight million tons of dust from Africa reached Puerto Rico. That’s the equivalent of eight million pickup trucks (each pickup truck weighs one ton. Satellite imagery tracks this gigantic cloud that arrives from Africa every year, peaking between May and August in our area. Most of the population relies on the Puerto Rico Environmental Quality Board air quality information. Also the National Weather Service, issues warnings whenever the uninvited guest drops by our beautiful Caribbean island.

I was counting my blessings all summer long since it had been five months since my son’s last attack. A combination of factors had been successful in helping us manage his asthma over the past months. First the medications, second, I had been very vigilant about indoor asthma triggers and third, during the summer, since he was at home, I made him stay indoors every time the air quality index rose to alert levels. Nevertheless, here I was back to square one with our yearly uninvited visitor: Sahara dust.

Sobre la autor: Brenda Reyes Tomassini se unió a la EPA en el 2002. Labora como especialista de relaciones públicas en la oficina de EPA en San Juan, Puerto Rico donde también maneja asuntos comunitarios para la División de Protección Ambiental del Caribe.

El sábado pasado, mientras veía el noticiario de las 11:00 p.m. el reportero ancla del tiempo anunció un alerta de polvo del Desierto del Sahara en el área. Muy tarde, pensé, ya que mi hijo de tres años es asmático y al igual que otras personas asmáticas y alérgicas puede sentir los efectos antes que los satélites puedan detectar esta nube de polvo. Ese día nos había acompañado a realizar encargos e inclusive había jugado afuera. Al día siguiente del aviso, hice que mi hijo se mantuviera dentro de la casa como medida preventiva. Sin embargo y tal como temiera, el lunes ya tenía un ataque de asma.

Todos los veranos las partículas de polvo del Desierto del Sahara viajan alrededor del mundo y se asientan en el área del Caribe, especialmente en Puerto Rico. Este polvo no solo afecta nuestra calidad de aire, pero también el clima. La nube, lleva de minerales y hongos, altera la calidad del aire e impacta severamente a aquellos con condiciones respiratorias, pero también afecta los ecosistemas. Inclusive algunos estudios asocian la pérdida de corales en el Caribe a este fenómeno. Es increíble que partículas tan pequeñas sean responsables de tanto impactos adversos al medioambiente, las personas y a los ecosistemas que se encuentran a un océano de por medio.

De acuerdo a la Administración Nacional Aeronáutica y Espacial (NASA, por sus siglas en inglés), en el mes de julio del año 2000 llegaron a Puerto Rico 8 millones de toneladas de polvo del Desierto del Sahara. Eso es el equivalente a 8 millones de camionetas! ( cada camioneta pesa una tonelada). Aunque las imágenes de satélite vigilan esta nube gigante que llega a nuestro vecindario caribeño entre los meses de mayo y agosto, la gran mayoría de la ciudadanía depende del informe de caldidad de aire de la Junta de Calidad Ambiental de Puerto Rico. Este a su vez es el que utilizan los noticiarios junto a los avisos que emite el Servicio Nacional de Meteorología (NWS, por sus siglas en inglés) para alertar a la población.

Ante este panorama, siempre tomo mis precauciones especiales durante el verano con mis niños para que no se vean afectados con alergias o asma. Hacía cinco meses que a mi hijo menor no le daba un ataque de asma. Una combinación de factores que incluyen medicamentos, controlar los detonantes y el mantenerlo dentro de la casa cuando los informes de calidad de aire indicaban un nivel insalubre, habían resultado exitosos para manejar su condición. Pero cierto visitante no invitado, el polvo del Desierto del Sahara, se encargó que todos mis esfuerzos se hicieran sal y agua en menos de 48 horas.

About the author: Kelly Leovic has been with EPA since 1987, doing indoor air research and then exposure research before beginning her dream job of educational outreach in 2003.

I loaded the lung capacity kit, Watts meter, and brochures into my car and couldn’t believe that I was getting paid to do this! Today was my 3rd year staffing our EPA Booth at the Durham Bulls Education Day - same team as Bull Durham movie, just a new ballpark.

At 9:30 a.m., over 3,000 students, 1st grade through high school, and their chaperones and teachers descended upon the Ballpark. Instantly, our table was surrounded by students anxious to measure how many cups of air they had in their lungs or to compare the wattage of a CFL with a traditional bulb.

Lung capacity is always the most popular activity at our booth, so the next 3 hours went something like this:

A class of 3rd graders surrounds our table curious about the big bucket of water with a tube.

Kelly: Today we are going to do an experiment to measure how many cups of air you have in your lungs.

Kid #1: Is it free?

Kelly: Sure is! Now take a clean straw, and put it into the end of the tube attached to the bucket. Take a deep breath and blow all the air out of your lungs into the tube. Then we’ll measure how many cups of water you emptied. Only take one breath. (We can’t use the term “water displacement” with 3rd graders!)

Kid #1 begins to blow, and we all cheer words of lung-emptying encouragement. I play judge, making sure no one sneaks in an extra breath.

Kelly: Nice job. Now, let’s measure how many cups of air you had. Wow…8 cups! (Most kids measure between 4 and 16 cups of air.)

Finally, we then talk about why some kids might have more capacity than others and how exercise can improve lung capacity.

I repeat this, smiling and saying “nice job,” approximately 172 times that day. In the spirit of exercise and health, my favorite part is talking to the students about their sports. I especially enjoy when they play basketball or tennis, run track, or swim because those are sports that my kids do. I also love their “competitive” spirit in trying to outdo their classmates.

Education Day was a great way to celebrate National Air Quality Awareness Week and Asthma Awareness Month. Oh, and did I mention that, to top it off, the Durham Bulls won, 2-0?!