Feb. 17, 2006
Prominent local and state policy makers, air pollution officials and
medical health experts are meeting today in a landmark conference to discuss
potential policy solutions to address the impacts of air pollution on asthma
sufferers.
“Asthma is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States, and here
in Southern California 1 in 12 children are afflicted,” said William Burke,
Ed.D., Governing Board Chairman of the South Coast Air Quality Management
District. “Today’s conference highlights scientific findings that poor
outdoor air quality is a preventable asthma trigger and reinforces the need
to do everything we can to reduce the risks.”
AQMD is hosting a one-day conference today titled “Asthma Impacts of Air
Pollution-Healthier Solutions Today for our Children’s Tomorrow” at the
Millennium Biltmore Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. The conference brings
together an unprecedented breadth and depth of policy makers and health
experts from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa to medical researchers
responsible for the region’s largest study on air pollution and children’s
health. Afternoon panel discussions will include state Senator Alan
Lowenthal and state Assembly Members Ron Calderon, Karen Bass, and Lloyd
Levine discussing current policies and legislation addressing both asthma
and air pollution.
Current research being conducted in Southern California shows strong ties
between air pollution and increased symptoms among asthmatics. In 2004, USC
researchers published the Children’s Health Study, a 10-year study that
followed lung health of children in the Southland. Results showed that the
lungs of children growing up in smoggy areas are underdeveloped and will
likely never recover. A subsequent study published in 2005 showed a link
between childhood asthma and freeway pollution.
While Southern California air quality has improved dramatically in recent
decades – in spite of rapid population and vehicle growth -- asthma rates
have increased substantially in the past decade.
Recognizing these serious health impacts, AQMD in recent years has:
- Created the Asthma and Outdoor Air Quality Consortium in 2003 to fund
research to better understand the relationship between air pollution and
asthma and to ensure the protection of public health. To date, the AQMD
has provided approximately $814, 000 for six research projects, currently
ongoing and managed by UCLA;
- Provided millions of dollars in state and local funding to assist
school districts in replacing their older, diesel-powered school buses
with new, alternative-fueled buses to reduce school children’s exposure to
harmful diesel exhaust;
- Helped secure funding for lung and asthma testing of children in
mobile Breathmobiles;
- Established a $30 million fund, from AQMD’s penalty settlement with
BP, to be spent over three years for community programs directed at asthma
diagnosis and treatment, such as community clinics and asthma vans; and
- Distributed guidance to school districts to encourage them to consider
exposure to vehicle emissions when selecting and evaluating sites for new
schools and playgrounds.
AQMD is the air pollution control agency for Orange County and major
portions of Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
-#- |
