SOMETHING’S IN THE AIR: CDI LAUNCHES AIR QUALITY PROGRAM

An exciting new community-based air quality monitoring and education program, funded by the San Francisco Foundation, USEPA Region IX and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, has begun in East Palo Alto. CDI is undertaking the year-long project as part of the East Palo Alto Environmental Justice   Resource Team for Air Quality coalition (EPAEJRTAQ); other coalition members include the City of East Palo Alto, Youth United for Community Action (YUCA), Community Focus, USEPA Region IX and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD).

Among the project’s goals are to determine the level of ozone (O3) and particulate matter (PM 2.5 and PM 10) in the community and if there is, in fact, any correlation between high air pollution levels and asthma incidence in EPA, which is the highest in San Mateo County.

Air quality has long been a concern for  the city. According to a 2005 YUCA study, EPA continues to have a high asthma rate--14.2% of residents surveyed have asthma, twice the rate of asthma sufferers in San Mateo County on a whole (6.7%). A frightening correlation between health and length of  residency in EPA finds that 65% of asthma sufferers have lived in EPA for 15 years or more. Additionally, one in 32 residents surveyed suffers from cancer and 31% suffer from allergies.1

A host of environmental problems, including air pollution, can be linked to these health problems. Though the correlation between the community’s   persistent illnesses and air quality is speculation, there is cause to suspect air quality. Not only is EPA home to ROMIC Environmental Technologies Corp, the County’s seventh highest toxic chemical emitter, but it also shoulders heavy flows of traffic on its major streets. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, East Palo Alto was at highest risk for lifetime cancer from 32 toxic air   pollutants. 2        

EPA’s children are especially vulnerable to environmental health hazards. Statistics show that in 1999, EPA’s asthma hospitalization rate for children (ages 5-14) was the highest in San Mateo County and 2.5 times higher than the County’s average rate. In California, asthma is the leading cause of missed school days. 

A January 2005 study found a correlation between poor air quality and poor educational achievement, showing that academic performance scores for  students in communities with ambient air toxins were lower even when school  poverty, teacher quality and other factors were controlled.3        

With  the health and sustainability of the community and its members at risk, EPAEJRTAQ hopes to address community concerns about air pollution and public health, as well as educate the community about issues related to air quality and the health status of EPA residents. For more information, please contact Goro Mitchell at 650-327-5846 ext. 301 or goro@cdi-usa.org.

1. “You Think You Know, But You Have No Idea: The Diary of Our Health.” A Community Health Survey Report, Youth United for Community Action, August 2005.
2. Nicole Buffa, Custom GIS Map Based on 1996 Air Toxics Assessment data, Environmental Protection Agency, 16 September 2002.
3. http://cjtc.ucsc.edu/docs/Breathless_03_with_figures_unlinked.pdf