July 2006 NewSlice
7/31/06
CONFERENCE SPONSORED BY MID-ATLANTIC CENTER FOR
CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND THE
ENVIRONMENT
To register, please click on : http://www.gwu.edu/~macche/conference/
October 21, 2006: 4th Annual Conference on Children's Health and the
Environment
The 2006 4th Annual Conference on Children's Health and the
Environment will be held at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh. It is
organized by the Mid-Atlantic Center for Children's Health and the
Environment, and jointly sponsored by Children's Hospital of
Pittsburgh, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, Region
III and the Children's National Medical Center of Washington, DC
The conference will address clinically important issues in children's
health that are affected by the environment. Children of all ages,
including those in the fetal stages of development, can be affected by
environmental hazards. Exposure to environmental toxins via air, water,
food or soil can have a significant impact on the health of children.
The conference will focus on the following areas; the built environment,
heavy metals exposure and neurcognitive issues, cancer and environmental
exposures and newborn outcomes and environmental exposures.
The Children's National Medical Center (CNMC) designates this
continuing medical education activity for 7.5 credit hours in Category I
of the Physician's Recognition Award of the American Medical
Association.
Contact hours for nurses will be available through CNMC. Health
educators seeking CHES Credits can claim the conference as a category II
activity.
For conference updates, please go to
http://www.gwu.edu/~macche/conference/
or contact: Aurora 0. Amoah,
MPH @ 202 994 1166
________________________________________________________________________
7/31/06
Student in coma after fight: Friends, family gather to protest school district
BY JONATHAN CRIBBS, The Beaufort Gazette
Published Friday, July 28, 2006
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BEAUFORT -- The family of a seventh-grader who was critically injured at
Robert Smalls Middle School this week rushed Thursday night to a Charleston
hospital where the boy has slipped into a coma, friends, family and
authorities said.
Matthew Walls, 13, of Beaufort, was on life support at Medical University of
South Carolina after being injured Monday morning in a Robert Smalls Middle
hallway, said his 21-year-old brother, Daniel Walls. School district
officials have called the incident "horseplay."
Immediate family members at the hospital could not be reached for comment,
and hospital officials said they do not discuss patients' conditions. But a
cousin who was with the family at the hospital said in a phone interview
late Thursday that Matthew was showing little brain activity; however,
doctors were considering taking him off his respirator because his breathing
was improving.
Earlier Thursday, a group of nearly 20 people -- some friends and family of
Matthew -- gathered on Robert Smalls' front lawn to protest the school and
the school district.
Some of Matthew's classmates who held signs in front of the school on W.K.
Alston Drive said he and another boy were playing a game Monday morning,
punching each other in the chest. Matthew punched the boy in the chest and
upset him, said 13-year-old William Gill of Beaufort, who said he watched
the incident.
The boy punched Matthew in the chest several times, he said. Matthew cried,
"Quit, I have asthma," William said, and the boy smashed Matthew into a
concrete wall. His head hit the wall's corner and he fell to the ground.
An officer from the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office arrived at the school
at 9:45 a.m., according to an incident report that said Matthew had a cut on
his head.
"It wasn't (an) accident," William said as he clutched a foam cross with a
picture of Matthew -- known to friends and family as "Matt-Matt" -- taped to
it. "No Child Left Behind" was scrawled on the cross in black marker.
A student has been suspended in connection with the incident and will face a
disciplinary hearing next week, district spokeswoman Jill Weinberger said
Thursday. She directed other questions to the Beaufort County Sheriff's
Office, which is investigating the incident.
As of Thursday, no charges had been filed related to the incident, according
to the Sheriff's Office.
The school district released a brief statement Monday afternoon that said a
student had fallen and was taken to MUSC, but friends at the protest said
they are not satisfied and want a full account of what happened Monday
morning. The school district also sent a letter about the incident home with
students, and counselors assisted students in need the next day.
Demonstrators lined both sides of W.K. Alston for several hours with signs
encouraging vehicles to honk their horns in support.
The Walls family has hired a lawyer and plans to challenge the district,
Daniel Walls said.
"We're not worried about the money," he said. "We're just worried about
Matt-Matt's safety."
Matthew is not the first student to be seriously injured after being hit
repeatedly in the chest at a county school.
Francisco Belman, an eighth-grader at H.E. McCracken Middle School, died
after two other students hit him in the chest repeatedly in a school
bathroom in 2002. The incident was part of an initiation into the "Latin
Mafia" group, authorities said.
In 2004, Belman's father filed a lawsuit seeking $2 million in damages from
seven sets of defendants ranging from school and government officials to the
parents of the two teens who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in
the death of his son.
________________________________________________________________________
7/31/06
New Science Report below:
HSN note:
FYI, NYS Education Law bans cake toilet deodorizers in schools:
§ 409-g. Purchase and use of paradichlorobenzene deodorizers.
1. No board of education or trustees, principal or other person in charge of
any public or private, elementary or secondary school shall authorize
the purchase of or purchase any urinal or toilet deodorizer containing
paradichlorobenzene.
2. No public or private, elementary or secondary school shall use or
authorize the use of any toilet or urinal deodorizer containing
paradichlorobenzene in any toilet or urinal in any school building or
any other facility under the control of such school.
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/menugetf.cgi?COMMONQUERY=LAWS
________________________________________________________________________
7/27/06
Deodorizing chemical may hurt lungs
http://www.upi.com/ConsumerHealthDaily/view.php?StoryID=20060727-034901-3642r
[Please visit the original website to view the whole article. - Mod.]
RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., July 27 (UPI) -- A chemical compound
found in air fresheners, toilet-bowl cleaners, mothballs and other
deodorizing products may be harmful to the lungs, a U.S. study finds.
Human population studies at the National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, a part of the National Institutes of Health, found
that exposure to the volatile organic compound 1,4 dichlorobenzene may
cause modest reductions in lung function, according to the study in
Environmental Health Perspectives.
The researchers found that 96 percent of the population samples had
detectable 1,4 DCB blood concentration levels -- African-Americans had
the highest exposure levels, while non-Hispanic whites had the lowest.
This particular VOC, 1,4 DCB, is a white solid compound with a
distinctive aroma similar to that of mothballs. It is typically used
primarily as a space deodorant in products such as room deodorizers,
urinal and toilet-bowl blocks and as an insecticide fumigant for moth
control, say the researchers.
...
=-=-=-=-=-=http://www.ehponline.org/docs/2006/9019/abstract.html
Volatile Organic Compounds and Pulmonary Function in the Third
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994
Leslie Elliott, Matthew P. Longnecker, Grace E. Kissling, and
Stephanie J. London
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National
Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services,
Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA
Abstract
Background: Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are present in much
higher concentrations indoors, where people spend most of their time,
than outdoors and may have adverse health effects. VOCs have been
associated with respiratory symptoms, but few studies address
objective respiratory end points such as pulmonary function. Blood
levels of VOCs may be more indicative of personal exposures than are
air concentrations ; no studies have addressed their relationship with
respiratory outcomes.
Objective: We examined whether concentrations of 11 VOCs that were
commonly identified in blood from a sample of the U.S. population were
associated with pulmonary function.
Methods: We used data from 953 adult participants (20-59 years of age)
in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
(1988-1994) who had VOC blood measures as well as pulmonary function
measures. Linear regression models were used to evaluate the
relationship between 11 VOCs and measures of pulmonary function.
Results: After adjustment for smoking, only 1,4-dichlorobenzene
(1,4-DCB) was associated with reduced pulmonary function. Participants
in the highest decile of 1,4-DCB concentration had decrements of -153
mL [95% confidence interval (CI) , -297 to -8] in forced expiratory
volume in 1 sec and -346 mL/sec (95% CI, -667 to -24) in maximum
mid-expiratory flow rate, compared with participants in the lowest
decile.
Conclusions: Exposure to 1,4-DCB, a VOC related to the use of air
fresheners, toilet bowl deodorants, and mothballs, at levels found in
the U.S. general population, may result in reduced pulmonary function.
This common exposure may have long-term adverse effects on respiratory
health.
7/27/06
Pesticides and Inner-City Children: Exposures, Risks, and Prevention - group
of 5
PJ Landrigan, L Claudio, SB Markowitz, GS . - Environmental Health
Perspectives, 1999 - ehp.niehs.nih.gov
... Certain pyrethroids exert hormonal activity that ... against the
developmental hazards
of pesticides ... children's environmental health, chlorpyrifos,
environmental ...
http://www.ehponline.org/members/1999/suppl-3/431-437landrigan/landrigan-full.html
PESTICIDE IN LAWN SPRINKLER- NEWS ITEM forwarded by Ellie Goldberg
The new buzz in area backyards: Automatic bug-spray sprinklers
By Thomas Caywood, Globe Correspondent | July 27, 2006 Boston Globe West
Sprinklers spray Mario Vottola's Waltham yard twice a day all summer, but
it's not water jetting from the nozzles. It's pesticide.
Vottola is one of the first homeowners in Massachusetts to have an automatic
mosquito spraying system in his yard.
The system, which Vottola had installed two years ago at a cost of $2,000,
works on a timer, misting the yard with a mild pesticide in the mornings and
evenings, when the mosquitoes are most active.
``The only time I've had some mosquitoes in my yard for two years now is
when I ran out" of the pesticide, Vottola said.
Ed and Fran Smith paid $2,500 last year to have the system installed at
their house, in a wooded area of Burlington, and have reported similar
results.
``We love it. We're in our yard all the time now," Fran Smith said. ``Once
in a while you might see a mosquito, but I haven't been bit since we got
it."
Their boys, ages 13 and 9, swim in the backyard pool and play on the sand
volleyball court now without needing bug spray. Ed Smith even sets up his
movie projector and a screen to show films in the backyard.
``The kids get their little sleeping bags to lay on, and we watch movies,"
Fran Smith said.
The idea of spraying to eliminate mosquitoes in such an aggressive
fashion -- and then lolling in the backyard grass afterward -- might seem to
be extreme to some, when pesticides have been linked to illnesses among
humans and damage to the environment.
But specialists say the pyrethroid pesticide used by the Smiths and Vottolas
is relatively safe.
Pyrethrum is produced naturally in chrysanthemum plants and man-made
versions can be synthesized in laboratories.
The man-made versions have been used as insecticides for more than a
century, said Stephen Rich, an entomologist at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst and a specialist on pesticides.
``Pyrethroids are very toxic to insects. They attack the central nervous
system," Rich said. ``But the really neat thing about them is they don't
have much toxicity to mammals at all. They've been used for a long time to
spray grain products for livestock and so on."
The compounds break down rapidly under sunlight and thus do not accumulate
in the environment like harmful pesticides such as DDT, Rich said, adding:
``It's one of the safer insecticides there is."
Pyrethroids also are used in many bug sprays and in flea treatments for dogs
and cats. There's even a line of insect-repelling clothing called Buzz Off
that comes with the compound embedded in the fabric.
Smith said she much prefers to have pyrethroids sprayed twice a day to
slathering her sons down with bug sprays containing DEET and other chemicals
or, worse, taking the chance that they might be bitten by a mosquito
infected with a potentially deadly virus.
Mosquitoes infected with Eastern equine encephalitis were detected this
month in Carver. Mosquitoes trapped in Needham last month tested positive
for the West Nile virus, public health officials reported. Last summer,
mosquitoes trapped in Holliston and Westborough were found to be infected
with EEE, while a mosquito from Westborough also tested positive for West
Nile.
``I know it's an aggressive way to get rid of mosquitoes, but, in my eyes,
it's become necessary," said Anthony Santoro, whose Waltham company,
Mistguard Mosquito Control Systems LLC, installed the sprayers at the Smith
and Vottola homes. ``You feel safer, and you can sit out in your yard
again."
Similar systems have been popular in marshy parts of Texas and across the
South for years, but only now are catching on here.
Vottola heard about it two years ago from Santoro, who had left a family
heating oil operation to try the automatic mosquito spraying business.
Vottola said at first that he was dubious of Santoro's claims of a nearly
mosquito-free backyard. But he could not enjoy his pool or deck without
suffering dozens of mosquito bites a night, so he opened his wallet and took
a shot.
Santoro said most potential customers are initially skeptical. So far, he
has installed 15 systems, most this year, but he has been scrambling lately
to keep up with calls for estimates.
The misting system's quarter-inch tubing and metal spray nozzles can be
buried in the yard like in-ground sprinklers or installed above ground,
along a fence, for example.
A tank and pump mechanism about the size of a small trash barrel is
installed in an inconspicuous spot along the fence or in a garage. Newer
models are even smaller, Santoro said.
The chemical spray can harm some plants and flowers, but does not hurt
anything that can survive a New England winter, Santoro said.
``We arrange the system to be a little farther away from those delicate
plants," Santoro added.
Lucia Dolan, a member of the Committee for Alternatives to Pesticides, an
offshoot of the Green Decade Coalition in Newton, said the pyrethroid
pesticide may not pose much risk to humans, but it could harm the
environment.
``According to what I've seen, it's indiscriminate," Dolan said. ``It's
toxic to bees and toxic to certain kinds of fish. If it's used near water,
it could be hurting fish."
The spray starts to cut down on mosquitoes after three days, but the most
dramatic results come after two weeks, a full mosquito breeding cycle,
according to Santoro. A one-gallon container of the insecticide costs $130,
and can last for several months, depending on the size of the yard.
``Turn it on at the beginning of the summer and then you don't have to touch
it," Smith said.
Santoro has traveled as far as Vermont to install the system, and has
customers in a number of area communities, including Lexington and
Framingham, he said.
Waltham resident Vottola said the only time he thinks about mosquitoes
anymore is when visiting someone else's house.
``I went to a barbecue on Saturday," Vottola said last week, ``and the next
morning it looked like I had the measles, I got bit so much."
© Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company
________________________________________________________________________
7/24/06
NYCOSH Newswatch
Are FEMA Trailers 'Toxic Tin Cans'? Private Testing Finds High Levels of
Formaldehyde; Residents Report Illnesses
By Mike Brunker
MSNBC
July 24, 2006
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/14011193/
BAY ST. LOUIS, Miss. - For nearly a year now, the ubiquitous FEMA trailer
has sheltered tens of thousands of Gulf Coast residents left homeless by
Hurricane Katrina. But there is growing concern that even as it staved off
the elements, it was exposing its inhabitants to a toxic gas that could pose
both immediate and long-term health risks.
The gas is formaldehyde, the airborne form of a chemical used in a wide
variety of products, including composite wood and plywood panels in the
thousands of travel trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency
purchased after Katrina to house hurricane victims. It also is considered a
human carcinogen, or cancer-causing substance, by the International Agency
for Research on Cancer and a probable human carcinogen by the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency.
Air quality tests of 44 FEMA trailers conducted by the Sierra Club since
April have found formaldehyde concentrations as high as 0.34 parts per
million - a level nearly equal to what a professional embalmer would be
exposed to on the job, according to one study of the chemical's workplace
effects.
And all but four of the trailers have tested higher than the 0.1 parts per
million that the EPA considers to be an "elevated level" capable of causing
watery eyes, burning in the eyes and throat, nausea, and respiratory
distress in some people.
Becky Gillette, co-chair of the Mississippi chapter of the environmental
group, said that representatives also have heard from numerous trailer
inhabitants who say they began experiencing health problems ranging from
headaches and runny noses to chronic respiratory problems and nosebleeds as
soon as they moved in.
As a result of its testing and such accounts, the Sierra Club is pushing for
a congressional investigation of the potential health hazards posed by the
trailers.
"It's simply wrong that the government would spend billions of dollars to
poison people in these toxic tin cans," Gillette said.
Pediatrician saw unusual illnesses
Dr. Scott Needle, a pediatrician in Bay St. Louis, said he noticed some
unusual and persistent health problems among his patients living in the
trailers well before the possible link to formaldehyde exposure surfaced.
"I was seeing kids coming in with respiratory complaints - colds and sinus
infections - and they were getting them over and over again," he said.
".Almost invariably, these families were staying in the FEMA trailers."
A class-action lawsuit also has been filed in Louisiana, naming the federal
government and trailer manufacturers as defendants and alleging that "the
temporary housing is unsafe and presents a clear and present danger to the
health and well-being of plaintiffs and their families."
Despite the Sierra Club tests - and air quality testing by the Occupational
Safety and Health Administration in November that detected formaldehyde
levels at FEMA trailer holding stations on the Gulf Coast as high as 5.0
parts per million, or 50 times the EPA's "elevated" level - FEMA says the
trailers are safe and there is no need for it to conduct its own air-quality
testing.
"FEMA stands confident in using travel trailers for emergency sheltering,"
said agency spokesman Aaron Walker. ". To put it in perspective, we have
almost 115,000 trailers out right now, and FEMA has received just over 20
complaints total."
Better ventilation recommended
Walker said those experiencing any adverse reactions to the trailer
environment can likely resolve the issue by increasing ventilation.
"We encourage families living in the trailers, if they're worried, to take
steps to air out their trailers," he said. ". If a family is uncomfortable
with their trailer, they're welcome to call our trailer hot line (and) we
can come out and test their trailer and have a look at it."
Trailer manufacturers contacted by MSNBC.com declined to comment on the
issue because of the pending litigation and directed inquiries to the
Recreational Vehicle Industry Association.
RVIA spokesman Kevin Broom echoed Walker in saying that the gas in the
trailers poses no health threat.
"The industry uses low-emitting materials, so formaldehyde has not been an
issue for 15 or 20 years at least," he said.
Broom acknowledged that the high heat and humidity in the Gulf Coast could
increase the rate of formaldehyde "outgassing" from wood products trailers,
but added that ventilation should quickly take care of any problem.
"You can get it to dissipate very easily if you just ventilate it," he said.
"People may just need to be shown how to open the windows."
Mary DeVany, an industrial hygienist from Vancouver, Wash., who has studied
the formaldehyde issue, agrees that the high heat and humidity in the
hurricane-ravaged zone exacerbate the problem. But she believes that the
higher-than-usual readings in the FEMA trailers could be the result of the
rush to manufacture the trailers in the wake of Katrina.
"Typically with these plywood and particleboard materials . before assembly
they're put in ovens that heat them to 130 degrees," she said. "This sets
and bakes off the formaldehyde in the glues and resins. ... I'm not sure
that happened in this case because the trailers were made so fast."
The RVIA's Broom disputes that notion, saying such "baking" is performed by
the manufacturer to reduce the formaldehyde leakage.
"That's not something the RV industry would do," he said of the process.
"They would be buying certified low- emission materials."
A patchwork of standards
Any effort to determine whether the formaldehyde levels present in the
trailers pose a health threat is exacerbated by the patchwork of standards
in place to regulate exposure to the chemical - none of which apply to
travel trailers or recreational vehicles.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development limits the use of
formaldehyde-emitting products in manufactured homes -- setting a standard
of 0.2 parts per million for plywood and 0.3 parts per million for
particleboard materials. But the agency does not regulate travel trailers or
motor homes, probably because it was never anticipated that people would
spend long periods of time living in them, said the Sierra Club's Gillette.
The lack of an exposure standard reflects a bigger issue, said Dr. Norman
Edelman, chief medical officer American Lung Association.
"The real problem is we haven't done for indoor pollution what we've done
four outdoor pollution and set national standards," he said. "There are no
indoor air quality air standards and I really think Congress should empower
the EPA and NIOSH (the National Institute for Occupational Safety and
Health) to set standards."
Nor is there agreement on the long-term health risks from exposure to
formaldehyde.
The International Agency for Research on Cancer, part of the World Health
Organization, classified it as "carcinogenic to humans" in June 2004 after
reviewing 40 human studies, including a National Cancer Institute study
linking exposure to an elevated risk of rare nasopharyngeal cancer.
California cracking down
The California Air Resources Board has identified formaldehyde as a "toxic
air contaminant" after state experts concluded that, based on current
research, there is "no safe exposure threshold . to preclude cancer." The
agency is currently developing regulations aimed at sharply reducing the
amount of formaldehyde products used in the state by 2010.
But no U.S. health or environmental agencies have followed the IARC in
declaring the chemical to be a human carcinogen, saying more research is
necessary. And the industry groups have sponsored research that they say
shows the potential risk associated with exposure has been overblown.
"All of the available and still-emerging human health research data is
demonstrating that if formaldehyde exposure is kept below levels that
produce chronic irritation and overt target tissue damage, the risk of
cancer is essentially zero," according to the Formaldehyde Council, an
industry group.
The debate is far from academic for Katrina survivors who are nearing their
one-year anniversary living in the trailers.
DeVany, the industrial hygienist, said that children and the elderly are
most at risk, the former because they have higher respiration rates than
adults and the latter because they are likely to be exposed to the fumes
more than those who work and only return to their trailers at night.
"A year from now, the formaldehyde will be gone, but the permanent and
lasting effects from these exposures will not," she said.
Fumes forced couple to flee
Sounding a similar warning, though one born from personal experience, are
Paul and Melody Stewart of Bay St. Louis, who say formaldehyde forced them
out of their FEMA trailer and into their truck.
The couple said that even though they had a friend air out the Cavalier
trailer and run the heater before they arrived, the smell when they walked
in was overpowering. And Melody said she had a nosebleed the first night
they stayed in it.
"(The smell) was really bad, but we went and ahead and went to bed," she
said. "Within hours, I woke up to the smell - it was that strong - and I was
gasping for fresh air. I ran to the window."
The couple continued to ventilate the trailer and also tried removing
composite wood panels from beneath the bed and table bench and replacing
them with solid wood, but nothing seemed to help.
Finally, when their pet cockatiel took ill, they decided they had to do
something.
"We got up one morning and the cockatiel was lethargic, wouldn't move, was
losing its balance," said Paul, a police officer in neighboring Waveland. ".
(Later), the vet told us unequivocally, 'Look, you either get the bird out
of that environment or he's going to die.'"
The Stewarts complained to FEMA and received two replacement trailers - the
first of which also smelled of formaldehyde and a second that had swathes of
mold and a stove top that looked like it had been "used at a Waffle House,"
Paul said.
Fed up, they called FEMA and told the agency to come take the trailer away,
then spent five days living in their truck before using their last $50,000
in savings to buy a "fifth-wheel" trailer devoid of any formaldehyde odor.
"We took what resources we had left, and what we really should have used to
rebuild our house, and went out and bought our own camper," Paul said.
Since then, the Stewarts have granted numerous media interviews, intent on
spreading word of the possible hazards.
"We're here because there are so many people at risk (and) they're in the
shadows," Melody said. "You've got Christians, hard-working people that have
lost their jobs and retired people who have paid their dues to society, and
we're putting them at risk by letting them stay in these campers."
© 2006 MSNBC Interactive
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Jonathan Bennett
Public Affairs Director, New York Committee for Occupational Safety and
Health
______________________________________________________________________
7/22/06
DAILY NEWS, JULY 22, 2006
Abandoned heroes
Mayor must face WTC health crisis
12,000 brave souls who worked in this toxic cloud after Sept. 11 are sick.
Officer Steven Mayfield patrolled Ground Zero for more than 400 hours.
Now he has sarcoidosis, shortness of breath, sinusitis and sleep apnea. "My
lungs are damaged; they will never be the same," he says.
City Health
Commissioner Thomas Frieden won't complete his WTC health registry until 2007 —
six years after the terror attack.
Former city Health Commissioner
Neal Cohen inexcusably failed to issue Trade Center medical guidelines. They
rallied for New York and America in the terrible hours after the World Trade
Center collapsed - and ever since, thousands have paid with their health.
Some have given their lives.
Forty-thousand-strong, they labored at Ground Zero under miserable
conditions in a time of crisis, working 10 and 12 hours a day to search for the lost,
extinguish underground fires and haul off 2 million tons of rubble. As a
direct result, well over 12,000 are sick today, having suffered lasting damage to
their respiratory systems.
In increasing numbers, they are the forgotten victims of 9/11. The toll has
risen steadily over the past five years, yet no one in power - not Gov.
Pataki, not Mayor Bloomberg, not the state and city health commissioners, not the
U.S. government - has acknowledged the epidemic's scope, much less confronted
it for the public health disaster that it is.
They cough.
They wheeze.
Their heads and faces pound with the pressure of swollen sinuses.
They lose their breath with minor exertion.
They suffer the suffocation of asthma and diseases that attack the very
tissues of their lungs.
They endure acid reflux, a painful indigestion that never goes away.
They are haunted by the mental and emotional traumas of having witnessed
horror.
Many are too disabled to work.
And some have died. There is overwhelming evidence that at least four Ground
Zero responders - a firefighter, two police officers and an Emergency
Medical Service paramedic - suffered fatal illnesses as a consequence of inhaling
the airborne poisons that were loosed when the pulverized remains of the twin
towers erupted seismically into the sky.
The measure of how New York and Washington failed the 9/11 responders starts
with the fact that after a half-decade, no one has a grip on the scope of
the suffering. The known census of the ill starts at more than 12,000 people
who have been monitored or treated in the two primary medical services for
Ground Zero workers, one run by the Fire Department, the other by the World Trade
Center Medical Monitoring Program based at Mount Sinai Medical Center.
In the Fire Department, more than 600 firefighters - soon to be 700 - have
been forced into retirement because they were deemed permanently disabled.
Most suffer from asthma that disqualifies them from battling blazes. And fully
25% of the FDNY's active fire and EMS forces have lung-related conditions more than 3,400 people in all.
At the Mount Sinai program, where physicians are monitoring the health of
16,000 cops, construction workers and others, Dr. Stephen Levin estimates that
from half to two-thirds of the patients are similarly sick. That works out to
at least 8,000 people and pushes the tally of the ill over 12,000.
The count goes up from there among the thousands of responders who are not
enrolled in either program. How far up, nobody knows. But doctors are all too
aware that the general prognosis for the sick is not good. While treatment
has helped many to improve, few have regained their health.
"I think that probably a few more years down the road we will find that a
relatively small proportion will be able to say, 'I am as good as I was back on
Sept. 10, 2001,' " said Levin.
Typical is the case of NYPD Officer Steven Mayfield, who logged more than
400 hours at the perimeter of what became known as The Pile and suffers from
sarcoidosis, a disease that scars the tissues of the lungs; shortness of
breath; chronic sinusitis, and sleep apnea. "My lungs are damaged; they will never
be the same," said Mayfield, 44.
Still more frightening: Serious new conditions may soon begin to emerge. Top
pulmonary specialists say lung-scarring diseases and tumors generally begin
to show up five to 20 years after toxic exposure, a time frame that's about
to begin.
Some responders have received excellent care. The FDNY's medical service,
led by Dr. Kerry Kelly and Dr. David Prezant, has delivered first-rate
monitoring and treatment to more than 13,700 active and retired firefighters and EMS
workers. But the rest of the Ground Zero responders have not been nearly so
well served.
Most of them - from police to construction workers - are eligible for
monitoring and treatment through the Mount Sinai program. The center's leaders, Dr.
Robin Herbert and Levin, are among the world's experts in occupational
health, but they have been badly hobbled by a lack of funding. The wait for
treatment is four months, and doctors are able to schedule followup appointments
less frequently than they would like.
In even worse shape are an estimated 10,000 federal workers who participated
in the Ground Zero effort. The government promised to create a program
specially for them, and then reneged. The federal workers are on their own.
The big lie
The betrayal of the 9/11 responders began with a lie that reverberates to
this day.
When the twin towers collapsed, the remains of 200,000 tons of steel,
600,000 square feet of window glass, 5,000 tons of asbestos, 12,000 miles of
electric cables and 425,000 cubic yards of concrete crashed to the ground and then
spewed into the air. To the mix were added 24,000 gallons of jet fuel burning
as hot as 1,300 degrees.
At The Pile, the air was "darker than a sealed vault and thicker than pea
soup," in the description of one deputy fire chief. But officials pronounced
that would-be rescuers were safe.
As then-U.S. Environmental Protection Administrator Christie Whitman put it
in a press release on Thursday, Sept. 14, 2001: "Monitoring and sampling
conducted on Tuesday and Wednesday have been very reassuring about potential
exposure of rescue workers and the public to environmental contamination." Two
weeks later, Mayor Rudy Giuliani said rescue workers faced minimal risk because
the air quality was "safe and acceptable."
In truth, those who rushed to the scene were at the epicenter of "the
largest acute environmental disaster that ever has befallen New York City,"
according to a 2004 analysis by several dozen scientists in the journal
Environmental Health Perspectives. In truth, every breath at Ground Zero was noxious to
health and even to life.
A cauldron of toxins
The Environmental Health Perspectives report cited the presence in the air
of highly alkaline concrete dust, glass fibers and cancer-causing asbestos, as
well as particles of lead, chlorine, antimony, aluminum, titanium,
magnesium, iron, zinc and calcium. The flaming fuel and burning plastics released
carcinogens including dioxins, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, polychlorinated
biphenyls and polychlorinated furans.
Almost immediately, the toxic cloud began burning the lungs of the
responders because most were not provided with, or did not wear, proper respiratory
protection. Hundreds soon started coughing up pebbles and black or gray phlegm,
and, for most, symptoms steadily worsened.
The false assurance of safety and the failure to adequately equip the
workers has opened the city and its construction contractors to potentially huge
liability. More than 8,000 responders have joined a lawsuit that has targeted a
$1 billion federal insurance fund established after 9/11 to facilitate the
recovery work. So the lawyers, not the doctors, have taken charge.
The city's chief attorney, Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo, says, for
example, that he is confident Ground Zero workers have been provided with
appropriate medical attention and disability benefits. This may be wise to argue
for the purpose of limiting liability, but it's destructive denial as a public
health strategy.
Never did the state health commissioner, Dr. Antonia Novello, or the city
health commissioner - Dr. Neal Cohen in the days immediately after 9/11, Dr.
Thomas Frieden since January 2002 - step forward to lead a crusade that
marshaled the resources of New York's vast public and private health systems.
Nor did Cohen or Frieden ever issue protocols advising physicians on
recognizing and treating syndromes generated by World Trade Center exposures.
Inexcusably, Cohen failed to disseminate advisories at a time when the Giuliani
administration was declaring all was safe at The Pile, and Frieden's staff is
only now getting around to completing its first bulletin.
Nor did the Police Department establish a system for tracking the prevalence
of illnesses such as asthma among the thousands of cops who worked at The
Pile. The police surgeon, Dr. Eli Kleinman, says he believes there hasn't been
more than "a blip" in lung-related ailments - which would be a truly
remarkable outcome compared with the 25% of the Fire Department that is counted as
having 9/11 aftereffects.
The city Health Department in 2003 did establish the World Trade Center
Health Registry, inviting people who worked at Ground Zero or lived in the area
to report their health conditions. More than 71,000 provided information, and
the department is in the midst of conducting a followup survey. The data are
likely to prove highly valuable when the department finishes crunching the
numbers. But that milestone is planned for next year, astonishingly long to
wait when the unaddressed needs of the sick have been building since 2001 and
are so large at this very moment.
Frustrated by the response to 9/11-related illnesses, Reps. Carolyn Maloney
and Vito Fossella in February won the appointment of Dr. John Howard as
federal Ground Zero health coordinator. Howard's valuable presence should be taken
as a rebuke to all the local officials who allowed this health crisis to
fester for half a decade.
But Howard is hardly the solution. As director of the National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health, the doctor has a schedule that is quite
booked. Nor does Howard have the capacity to do a great deal. He has no special
budget and no special staff, and he can only study and recommend. Far more is
required.
A cry for leadership
What's urgently needed is dynamic leadership by someone with the muscle and
brains to tackle the World Trade Center health crisis on all fronts medical, legal, social, political and more. The person who best fits the bill today
is Michael Bloomberg.
As the 108th mayor of the City of New York, Bloomberg commands vast
municipal resources, occupies an unparalleled bully pulpit from which to prod other
levels of government, has a deep, long-standing commitment to public health
and, most important, knows how to get things done. And it is simply
inconceivable that he would not act were he to inquire deeply into the facts.
Were the mayor to ask Herbert and Levin, he would find out that Mount
Sinai's doctors succeeded only this year in getting the okay for the first federal
funding for treatment, that patients frequently arrive at Mount Sinai after
being misdiagnosed or improperly treated by family physicians and that Ground
Zero responders are seeking help in increasing numbers because they haven't
gotten better with time or have developed new illnesses.
Were the mayor to speak with Dr. Alison Geyh, assistant professor at his
namesake Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, he would
learn that a program aimed at tracking the health of Ground Zero's
"invisible" recovery workers - heavy equipment operators, sanitation workers, truck
drivers and laborers - stopped for lack of money after less than two years.
"It took a year to get this labor-intensive project up and running, only to
have its funding stream cut off 18 months later," said Geyh. "It's been
frustrating and a lost opportunity."
Were the mayor to talk to Kelly and Prezant at the Fire Department, or to
Herbert and Levin at Mount Sinai, or to their colleague Dr. Alvin Teirstein, an
eminent lung specialist, he would hear calls for long-term monitoring for
cancers and other diseases that could emerge among Trade Center responders in
the coming years.
And, were the mayor to spend time with any of the 8,000 responders who are
suing the city, he would hear the voices of fury and fear. Their anger is well
grounded in that they were lied to, but it is far less clear that each of
their illnesses, among them brain and blood cancers, is attributable to Ground
Zero exposures. Still, lacking authoritative, trustworthy information, they
live under agonizing shadows.
It is vitally important for Bloomberg to take charge.
To take the full measure of this growing epidemic.
To devise appropriately funded treatment programs so that all 9/11
responders have access to the quality of care provided to firefighters.
To establish monitoring systems that can detect swiftly the emergence of new
diseases or improved treatments.
To create a clearinghouse that would inform workers and physicians about
illnesses and proper treatments, and keep them up to date on the latest
developments.
To begin to acknowledge that service after 9/11 did, in fact, cause
fatalities, rather than let city officials keep insisting that there is no absolute,
total scientific proof that anyone died from illnesses contracted at Ground
Zero.
To galvanize the federal government into supporting long-term monitoring and
treatment programs.
To review disability and pension benefits afforded to 9/11 responders with
an eye on eliminating gross inequities. While firefighters and cops have been
granted extremely liberal, even overly liberal, line-of-duty retirement
benefits, thousands are trapped in a workers' compensation system that is
ill-suited to treat them fairly.
When the call came, the instant the first hijacked jet knifed into the north
tower of the World Trade Center, the Ground Zero recovery army surged to the
aid of their fellow human beings without a thought as to their own safety.
After the buildings collapsed, they worked long and hard to bring New York
back from the worst attack on U.S. soil. But they were lied to and they were
badly equipped, and then, when they became sick, as many physicians predicted
they would, far too many were abandoned.
Decency demands better.
TOMORROW
The fatalities among the forgotten
________________________________________________________________________
7/18/06
UK-- The Scotsman:
Tue 18 Jul 2006
Childhood asthma linked to chemicals in swimming pools
LYNDSAY MOSS HEALTH CORRESPONDENT
SOARING rates of childhood asthma in the UK could be linked to exposure to
chemicals from swimming pools, researchers believe. Cases of asthma have
increased steeply in the past 30 years, with one study showing Scotland has
the worst rates among children aged 13 and 14 in the world.
Now research involving almost 190,000 teenagers from 21 European countries
has found that more visits to indoor swimming pools may be part of the
reason for the rise in asthma cases.
The researchers, from the Catholic University of Louvain in Brussels,
analysed rates of wheezing, asthma, hay fever and other allergies compared
with the number of indoor chlorinated swimming pools per 100,000 of the
population.
The UK had the most pools - about five per 100,000 people, compared with
about three or four in countries such as Spain, Germany and France. In
eastern Europe, with much lower rates of asthma, there was just one pool per
300,000 people.
The researchers, led by Professor Alfred Bernard, found that the rate of
wheezing increased by 3.39 per cent for every extra indoor swimming pool in
a country, while rates of asthma rose by 2.73 per cent.
Writing in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, they
concluded that the rise of asthma in western Europe could at least be partly
due to children being exposed to the byproducts of chlorine in the air and
water of indoor pools.
Prof Bernard said the study had also probably underestimated the
availability of swimming pools in the UK, where children have increased
access to pools in school.
It is estimated that the UK has about 2,300 school pools compared with 1,700
public ones. In other European countries children tend to use public pools.
Prof Bernard said: "Sometimes privately managed pools are not as
well-managed as municipal pools."
The researchers said they had been surprised by the association they found
between asthma and public pools and that it was important to study this
further.
Prof Bernard also highlighted the importance of ventilation.
"In a well-managed pool with good ventilation there should be hardly any
chlorine smell. There can be some smell but not the kind that has irritating
effects. But ventilation is very, very expensive. My concern is that it will
become increasingly difficult to afford such costs in the future," Prof
Bernard said.
Ian Wakefield, of the Institute of Sport and Recreation Management, said
that as long as pools were properly managed there should not be a problem
with chlorine and asthma. But he said there might not always be proper
ventilation.
"There are plenty of pools that don't follow the guidance and it is a
message that we need to get across to the industry," he said.
A spokeswoman for the charity Asthma UK said: "Swimming is an excellent form
of exercise for children with asthma as the warm humid air in the swimming
pool is less likely to trigger asthma symptoms.
"We do recognise, however, that the chemicals present in heavily chlorinated
pools may be important in making the airways more irritable and further
research is needed to understand this association."
This article: http://news.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1041842006
Last updated: 18-Jul-06 02:08 BST
________________________________________________________________________
7/17/06
NO REST FOR THE SWEATY:
CITY LAGS IN PUBLIC POOLS
A survey of large cities shows NYC in last place in public swimming pools
per capita.
By Dorian Block
As July temperatures climbed into the steamy range last week, Susana Garcia,
9, found her own solution to beat the heat -- a cold bath and a turn in
front of the fan that cools the one-bedroom apartment she shares with her
parents and two brothers.
"It's summer, it's so hot," said Susana, dripping with sweat after playing
with her brothers near the abandoned McCarren Park Pool in Brooklyn. "We
should have a cool place to get relaxed, please."
New York City ranks last out of 12 high-density cities for the number of
public swimming pools per 100,000 residents, according to a report completed
this summer by the Center for City Park Excellence, a division of the Trust
for Public Land. New York also ranked last in the Center's report six years
ago.
Cities such as Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington D.C., and Chicago all have
about four times the number of public pools per 100,000 residents than New
York, which has 63 public pools for 8.1 million people, according to the
rankings.
Top-ranked Philadelphia has 87 pools for 1.4 million people. Los Angeles has
61 pools, two less than New York, but for less than half the population. The
numbers were self-reported by the cities and include everything from
Olympic-size pools to "mini pools."
While thousands of New Yorkers from the Bronx to Queens, especially
children, crowded into the city's pools when they opened last month, others
resorted to opening hydrants or, like Susana, staring at empty, abandoned
swimming pools.
Pools like McCarren, which is now being used as a concert facility, and the
W. 59th Street Recreation Center Pool in Manhattan, which houses a lifeguard
training building in its center, are cracked, coated in graffiti and
eyesores to their communities.
Parks and Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe shrugged off criticism of
the state of New York City parks and recreation facilities last month,
however, calling them "better than ever" in response to a critique by the
New York City Park Advocates group.
Regarding the Trust report, Parks Department spokesman Philip Abramson
wrote, "We plan on spending almost $1 billion on improving and growing our
parks system over the next 12 months. ... Our spending per person increases
dramatically this year and puts us in the top tier."
The city parks budget includes funds for one new pool. It's under
construction at Flushing Meadows Corona Park -- the first new pool
construction project the city has taken on in 40 years.
Beyond heat relief, recreation advocates also point out that swimming can
help prevent diabetes and control asthma, common problems in New York. Of
the city's 63 pools, just over half have a depth of three and a half feet or
more. Learning how to swim in the other, more shallow pools is nearly
impossible. The lack of deep pools and a shortage of swimming lessons also
make the water that surrounds New York City more dangerous, they say.
"People in a lower socioeconomic group just don't have access to
after-school programs. They don't have access to private pools even though
we have water on all sides," said Geoffrey Croft, founder of New York City
Park Advocates, which is conducting a citywide assessment of the city's
parks and recreation facilities. "And with the problems of obesity and
asthma, [this] activity is so important."
In colder weather, the city can only accommodate several hundred people in
its indoor pools. There is one indoor public pool in the Bronx, one in
Queens, three in Brooklyn and six in Manhattan. There are no public indoor
swimming pools on Staten Island.
Croft says he does not understand why the Parks Department is not asking the
city for a larger portion of the budget for its own operating budget, when
many cities have spent as much as double what New York does per resident on
its parks.
"The city has pretty much pulled back on its obligation to recreation,"
Croft said. "It is treated as a cultural institution, not an essential city
program."
So, while the city looks for an extra $42 million to rebuild the McCarren
Park Pool, abandoned in the 1980s, Mexican immigrants Pablo and Transito
Garcia look forward to their annual trip to Coney Island with Susana, and
her brothers Eddie and John, 12 and 7.
Pablo, 32, says the United States has provided exceptional opportunities for
his family -- steady income from his job as a short order cook and health
care and education for his children. But he says it would be nice if his
three kids knew how to swim.
"Honestly it is sad. Here in the city we are more free and have more
opportunities, but there is no water," Garcia said from a picnic blanket he
shared with his wife on a recent visit to the park. "We go to the beach once
in a while, but in New York City you have to work, you have to learn, you
have to do many things, we are just starting here. It's really hard to have
time and money to go somewhere. Especially in the summertime we really need
a pool."
- Dorian Block
HSN NOTE: AND HOW MANY CHILDREN ARE IN CLASSROOMS WITHOUT
A/C THIS SUMMER?
TRYING TO IMPROVE WHICH TEST SCORES?
_______________________________________________________________________
7/15/06
Review and Assessment of the Health and Productivity Benefits of Green
Schools: An Interim Report.
_http://fermat.nap.edu/catalog/11574.html_
(http://fermat.nap.edu/catalog/11574.html)
(National Academy Press, Washington , 2006)
Details findings and recommendations of a National Research Council study
that discovered a lack of evidence-based studies on the benefits of green
schools, a large number of confounding factors and variables complicating the
research, a need for more attention to moisture control in green school
guidelines, considerable evidence concerning the effect of indoor air on occupant
productivity, inconsistent results on the association between daylighting and
student performance, and a link between decreased noise levels and increased
student achievement. Includes 146 references. 80p. ISBN-0-309-65769-5
______________________________________________________________________
7/7/06
from Public Education Network listserv
WHO REALLY BENEFITS FROM SCHOOL SODA CONTRACTS?
Exclusive contracts with soda companies are one of the means many school
districts have used to replace loss of funding. But when cash-strapped
schools make deals with beverage companies, schools and students lose out,
says Nicola Pinson in an article in the summer issue of Rethinking Schools
magazine.
A public health advocacy organization looks at the contracts with school
districts in Oregon, and finds the schools gained very little financially
from the deals. Beverage companies not only earned profits, but gained
exclusive access to build brand loyalty among youngsters in their formative
years. A new policy announced in May by the American Beverage Association
may increase the number of healthier beverages, but issues of advertising in
schools and binding obligations still remain.
http://news.publiceducation.org/t/5220/95085/133/0/
_________________________________________________________________
7/6/06
Silicosis-Working with Cement Roofing Tiles: A Silica Hazard DHHS (NIOSH)
Pub. No. 2006-110
A new NIOSH educational brochure, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2006-110
describes measures that can be taken to reduce roofers' exposure to silica
dust, including steps for implementing a respirator program. NIOSH has
measured respirable silica levels up to four times the recommended exposure
limit around roofers cutting cement products, such as when roofing tiles are
cut during the installation process.
_______________________________________________________________________
7/6/06
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children at Work and Play
NIOSH and partners will cosponsor Noise-Induced Hearing Loss (NIHL) in
Children at Work and Play October 19-20, 2006 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
The conference will focus on the issue of NIHL in children who sometimes
begin working as early as age 10-12 years, often in noisy occupational
environments, such as construction, agriculture, entertainment and
landscaping. Other cosponsors for the conference include the National
Hearing Conservation Association, Oregon Health and Science University, the
Marion Downs Hearing Center, the University of Northern Colorado, and the
National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. More
information on the conference is available at
http://www.hearingconservation.org/conf_childrenconf.html.
7/5/06
NATIONAL POSITION STATEMENT ON HEALTHIER SCHOOLS/2006.
WELCOME NEW SUPPORTERS
JULY 1, 2006
_________________________________________________________
FROM THE ORGANIZATIONAL SPONSORS
American Association on Mental Retardation, American Federation of State,
County, and Municipal Employees, Alliance for Healthy Homes, American Lung
Association, American Public Health Association, Beyond Pesticides, Center
for Health Environment and Justice, Children's Environmental Health Network,
Children's Health Environmental Coalition, Connecticut Foundation for
Environmentally Safe Schools, Environmental Defense, Funders Forum on
Environment and Education, Healthy Kids: The Key to Basics (MA),Healthy
Schools Network, Illinois Healthy Schools Campaign, Improving Kids
Environment (IN), Institute for Children's Environmental Health, Learning
Disabilities Association of America, Marin Golden Gate Learning Disabilities
Association (CA), Massachusetts Healthy Schools Network, National Center for
Environmental Health Strategies, National Education Association, National
Education Association/Health Information Network, National Environmental
Education and Training Foundation, National PTA, Natural Resources Defense
Council, New Jersey Work Environment Council, New Jersey Environmental
Federation, Oregon Environmental Council, Physicians for Social
Responsibility, Public Education Network, Stuyvesant High School Parents
Association (NY, NY), Twenty-first Century Schools Fund, State of Washington
Healthy Schools Roundtable, West Harlem Environmental Action, and League of
Conservation Voters, Washington, DC, National Clearinghouse for Educational
Facilities, National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners
NEW SUPPORTERS ADDED TO THE POSITION STATEMENT
ORGANIZATIONS
Alison Design Company, Los Angeles, Ca
Be Well Wellness Consultation, Spanaway, WA
Biobased US, Cape Coral, FL
Bio-Clean Services, Yonkers, NY
Committee for Advancing School Structures, Taylor, MN
ENG Information Service, Coxsackie, NY
Future Data Inc, Lakeway, TX
Green Clean Inc., Westlake, OH
Liberty Healthy Schools Healthy Kids, Liberty, NY
Massco, Norwood, MA
Moms Exec, Orlando, Fl
New York State School for the Blind, Batavia, NY
Next Generation, Portland, OR
Next Generation Choices Foundation, Pittsburgh, PA
Product Awareness Consulting, Eugene, OR
Racine Industries, Inc., Racine, WA
SimplePureClean, Short Beach, CT
SJ Environmental Justice Alliance, Camden, NJ
Toxics Action Center Campaigns, Boston, MA
US Metro Group, Inc., Dallas, TX
World Tai Chi Association, Walla Walla, DC
INDIVIDUALS
Lilian Avak, Glendale, CA
Terri and Charlie Barbuti, Liberty, NY
Natalie Benoit, Oak Creek, WA
Michael Botts, Markle, IN
Sharon Cline, Jasper, TN
Lesley Constable, Madrid, NM
Linda Countryman, Stillwater, MN
Shana Cumberworth, Owings Mills, MD
Debra D'Angelo, Gulfport, MS
Debra Dowd, Hampton, NH
Ashley Drake, West Sand Lake, NY
Polly Ernest (Vancouver School District) Vancouver, WA
Louis Esteves, Farmingville, NY
Shelia Evans, Germantown, TN
Brad and Sarah Folkens, Sugar Grove, IL
Lori Frances, (PENN State University) University Park, PA
Gail Gaillard, Springfield, MA
Mary Beth Germann, RN, Herkimer, NY
Paula Greene, Cambridge, NY
Joan Haff, Auburn, NY
Linda Hamann, Blissfield, MI
Miriam Heilbrun, Brooklyn, NY
Allison Heyden, Port Charlotte, FL
Lisa Hielscher (Wilmette School District 39) Northfield, IL
Christi Howarth, Long Beach, CA
Jeffrey Jones, Albany, NY
Patricia Joseph (PTA, fmr CEC member), Brooklyn, NY
Audra Keppel, Glendale, AZ
Chrissy King, Ferndale, MI
Kathy King, Westborough, MA
Maureen La Bryer, Poinciana, FL
Adrienne Losh, Washington, DC
Kathy Malone, Brighton, MI
Kirsten Martin, Coweta, OK
Rhonda Martin, Concord, NH
Larry Michelson (Florida International University), Hialeah, FL
Melissa Morazan, Danville, CA
Jeanie Moseley, Sedalia, MO
Joan Patterson, Mineapolis, MN
Kathleen Pfeiffer (Fort Ann School) Fort Ann, NY
Lisa Pierce, Vancouver, WA
Maria Vittoria Pitzalis, Greenville, NC
Helen Propersi, Larchmont, NY
Laura Rivera, Iansdale, PA
Susan Rollins, Aberdeen, MD
Elizabeth Sanford, Chestnut Ridge, NY
Lynn Shansky (Leggett Valley USD), Leggett, CA
Ona May Slauson, Bethany, CT
Terry Snell, Derby, CT
Tara Sullivan, Red Hook, NY
Valerie Tuck (Azalea Gardens Middle School), Norfolk, VA
Roland Vogel, Lake Forest, IL
Raleigh Wolpert, Minnetonka, MN
AND A WELCOME FROM ALL OTHER ENDORSING GROUPS, INDIVIDUALS
GROUPS
Advanced Environmental, Torrance, CA
Alliance for Sustainability, Minneapolis, MN
American Lung Association of Maine
American Occupational Therapy Association, Bethesda, MD
American School Health Association, Kent, OH
Apollo Alliance for Good Jobs & Energy Independence, Washington, DC
Boston Urban Asthma Coalition, MA
Bowdoin Street Health Center, Dorchester, MA
Buckeye Environmental Network, Grove City, OH
California Safe Schools, Toluca Lake, CA
Californians for Alternatives to Toxics, Eureka, CA
Cancer Awareness Coalition, Inc., New Paltz, NY
Cancer Prevention Coalition of Los Angeles, Malibu, CA
Cancer Prevention Coalition OC, Laguna Hills, CA
CAPS, West Hartford, CT
Center for a New American Dream, Takoma Park, MD
Center for Research on Aiotoxin Associated Illnesses, Pocomoke, MD
Center for School Mold Help, La Mesa, CA
Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Program/MI Dept. of Community Health
Chong Partners Architects/Stephan Castellanos, Sacramento, CA
Citizens Environmental Coalition, Albany, NY
Clean Air Council, Philadelphia, Pa
Coalition to End Childhood Lead Poisoning, Baltimore, MD
Coalition for Environmentally Safe Communities, Rockville, MD
Coalition for Environmentally Safe Schools, WA
Collins & Aikman/Tandus, NY, NY
Collins+Scoville Architects, P.C., Albany, NY
Community Toolbox for Children's Environmental Health, CA
Connecticut Education Association
Copper Ridge Elementary PTO, Scottsdale, Arizona
C/S Group, Muncy, PA
Davis Joint Unified School District, Davis, CA
ECO-Action, Atlanta, GA
EcoSchools USA, San Francisco, CA
ECO-VAP, INC, Montclair, NJ
Education Law Center, Newark, NJ
Embracing Your Life, LLC, Louisville, KY
Environmental Advocates of New York State
Environmental Association for Great Lakes Education, Duluth, MN
Environmental Health Watch, Cleveland, OH
Fulton City (NY) IAQ Task Force
Global Green, Santa Monica, CA
Glynn Environmental Coalition, Brunswick, GA
Greater Newark Conservancy, NJ
Health and Environmental Issues, Glenwood, MD
Healthy Building Network, Washington, DC
Healthy-Communications.com
Healthy Children's Organizing Project/Consumer Action, San Francisco, CA
Healthy Homes Network of Greater Kansas City
Health Impact, Seattle, WA
Healthy Living Foundation, Jupiter, FL
Herndon (VA) High School Students Against Global Abuse-HHS SAGA
Illinois Caucus for Adolescent Health, Chicago, IL
Informed Choices, Slidell, LA
Isles, Inc., Trenton, NJ
Jordan Institute, Inc., Concord, NH
KEMA, Inc., Oakland, CA
Kids for Saving Earth, MN
KMI Supplies, Inc., Elk Grove Village, IL
LDA of WNY, Kenmore, NY
League of Conservation Voters, Washington, DC
Learning Disabilities Association of Maine
Literacy for Environmental Justice, San Francisco, CA
MADSEN/OCHOA Architecture & Interior Design, Chicago, IL
Maryland Association for Environmental and Outdoor Education, Westminster,
MD
Massachusetts Association for the Chemically Injured
Massachusetts Association of Special Education Parent Advisory Councils,
Sharon, MA
Massachusetts Coalition for Occupational Safety and Health
Massachusetts PTA
MIKROKleen USA, Inc., Mandan, ND
Minnesota Children's Health Environmental Coalition, Hopkins, MN
Mississippi 2020 Network, Jackson MS
Montana Environmental Information Center
National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities, Washington, DC
National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners, Cherry Hill, NJ
New Jersey Citizen Action
New York Committee on Occupational Safety and Health, NY, NY
New York State Association of School Nurses
New York State PTA
New York State United Teachers
Nutrition and Kids, Laguna Beach, CA
Office of Environmental Health Assessments, Olympia, WA
Ohio Help End Lead Poisoning (Ohio HELP)
Ohio Fair Schools Campaign, Athens, OH
Orange County Public Schools, Orlando, FL
Parents for Nontoxic Alternatives, Washington, DC
Partnership Effort for the Advancement of Children's Health (PEACH), Durham,
NC
Peckham & Wright Architects, Columbia, MO
PublicsRightToKnow, Malibu, CA
R&D Supply, Inc., Auburn, WA
Reflections of Nature, Flowery Branch, GA
ReSource for Health, Louisville, KY
Retec Group, Inc., New Haven, CT
Safe Minds, Tyrone, GA
Safer Pest Control Project, Chicago, IL
Seaway Supply Co., Melrose Park, IL
School Mold Help, La Mesa, CA
Shaw Middle School, Philadelphia, PA
South Bronx (NY) Clean Air Coalition
Tamalpais Nature Works, San Rafael, CA
Toxics Information Project (TIP), Providence, RI
Trenton (NJ) Coalition for Healthy Schools
TRESPA North America Ltd, Leesburg, VA
Turtle Clan Environment Testing, Inc., Stratford, CT
Twin Cities InfoLine, Minneapolis, MN
University of Illinois at Chicago, School of Public Health, Chicago, IL
Valley Watch, Inc., Evansville, IN
Washington Twp- Parents Who Care, Sewell, NJ
Weare Advocacy, Weare, NH
Wellness in the Schools, New York, NY
Western New York Council on Occupational Safety and Health, Buffalo, NY
WorkUSAmerica, Oakland, CA
INTERNATIONAL GROUPS
Brain Gym Arabia, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
Mexico Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU), Enrique
Cifuentes, MD. PhD,
Director, Cuernavaca, Morelos, México
National Toxics Network, Canberra, ACT, Australia
School Health Annual Report Programme, Safdarjung Enclave, New Delhi, Delhi/
INDIA
INDIVIDUALS (organization for identification purposes only)
Darryl Alexander (American Federation of Teachers), Washington, DC
Thomas Angell, Spokane, WA
Sarah Arnold, Navarre, FL
Karla Armenti, Bedford, NH
Stephen Ashkin (The Ashkin Group), Bloomington, IN
Joanne Avoletta, Torrington, CT
Claire Barnett, MBA, Saratoga Springs, NY
Tinah Bazin-Quintana, Burlington, VT
Ralph Bicknese (Hellmuth + Bicknese Architects), St. Louis, MO
Patricia Blakeney-Whack (Anna Howard Middle School), Philadelphia, PA
Stephen Boese, Schenectady, NY
Patricia Boye, Stowe, MA
Bill Brodt, Silver Spring, MD
Frank Burdette, Decatur, GA
Wayne Burkey, New York, NY
Kathleen Burns, Lexington, MA
Maria Calvetti, Silver Spring, MD
Rhonda Campbell, Hermosa Beach, CA
Kevin Carstens, (Advisor-Yahoo sickbuilding support group), Clarkesville, GA
Kimberly Cerra (CK Websites), Langley, WA
Maralyn Chase (Member, State of Washington Legislature), Shoreline, WA
Nancy Chatteinier, Sacramento, CA
Barbara Cheyney, Mount Vernon, WA
Marilena Christodoulou (fmr President, Stuyvesant HS Parent Assn.), NY, NY
Gaylord W. Christopher, AIA (Architecture for Education), Pasadena, CA 91103
Glen Colello, Southport, CT
Mark S. Cooper, Ph.D. (University of Washington), Seattle, WA
Susan Coronis, Alexandria, VA
Linda Countryman, Stillwater, MN
Lea Cullen, Hastings on Hudson, NY
Adam Cumberworth, Nottingham, MD
Nancy Davis, Pepperell, MA
Randy & Judy Dees, Harrison, AZ
Cliff Dimond, Davis, CA
Bob Dolezal, Cambridge, MN
Kathleen Dolezal, Cambridge, MN
Stephanie Dulmage, Orchard Lake, MI
Harry Dunsker, East Greenbush, NY
Monica DuShane, Minneapolis, MN
Amy Fay, Radnor, PA
Kelly Fincher, Denton, TX
Wanda Finney, Salem, NY
Lynda Joan Folk (Little Folk's Music), East Setauket, NY
Alana Franco, Canyon Country, CA
Janet Fraser, Hamilton, ON
Beth Friedman-Romell, Shaker Heights, OH
Arisa Fuller, Brooklyn, NY
Maryann Gasparino, Brooklyn , NY
Elena Gil, Elmhurst, NY
Vonnie Good, Dallas, Oregon
Jennifer Green, Wheaton, IL
Twhanna Green, Ph.D. (Howard University/Dept. of Communications Sciences),
Washington, DC
Nancy Gutknecht, Madison, WI
Mary Hahn, Nazareth, PA
Chip Halverson, Portland, OR
Linda Hall, Harwinton, CT
Susan Hall, Hoboken, NJ
Sue Helback, Corvallis, OR
Candace Hendershot, Findlay, OH
Gail Hiduke, San Clemente, CA
Carol Hill, Rochester, NY
Deborah Hilton, Oswego, NY
June Hiza, Northfield, MN
Laurie Holtan, Springfield, VA
Jeanne Hunt, Jefferson City, MO
Allison Hutchens, Montevideo, MN
Julie Jonas, Girdwood, AK
Mark Jones, Sun Prairie, WI
Kristian Kicinski, Seattle, WA
Jenna Kilt, Brooklyn, NY
Susan Konvit, Cornwall, NY
Sharon Kramer, Esondido, CA
Shelley Kramer, MPH, Malibu, CA
Michael and Melinda Kelly, Brookfield, CT
Cathy Kooy, Ephrata, WA
Ginny T. Lane (Boston Teachers Union), South Boston, MA
Chris Lehmann, Baltimore , MD
Jack Leiss, Cedar Grove, NC
Janet Lenius, Minneapolis, MN
Robert Lesko, NY, NY
Tara Little, Waterbury, CT
Marcy Lynn, NY, NY
Lisa Mahan, Granby, MA
Brenda Marcoux, Leominster, MA
Deborah McCabe, Salisbury, MD
Margie McDowell, Des Moines, IA
Maureen McGovern, NY, NY
Jennifer McInroe, West Linn, OR
Michelle Meyer, Ottawa, ON
Rita Miller (American Cancer Society), Glen Allen, VA
Brenda Morawa, Atlanta, GA
Virginia Mott, Lakeville, ME
Sarah Nicholas, Long Beach, NY
Anne Nicklin, Brooklyn, NY
William J. O'Dwyer (Grandparent), St. Augustine, FL
Erik Olsen, Chicago, IL
Ian Ornstein (innovative formulations, inc.), Tuscon, AZ
Tony Ortiz, San Jose, CA
Ellen Ott, Trempealeau, WI
Devon Paskewich, Balitmore, MD
Deborah Petti, NY, NY
Anna Pollack, Alexandria, VA
Joseph Ponessa, Ph.D., Moorestown, NJ
Georgie Porter (EI, Inc.), Glen Allen, VA
Bonita Poulin, Jordan, NY
Nicholas Rajkovich, Rensselaer, NY
Ashley Randall, Leesburg, GA
Doris Rapp, MD, Scottsdale, AZ
Russell Rapp, Bohemia, NY
Charles Rettiger, Gainesville, GA
Jord Reyes-Montblanc (Community Board #9-Manhattan), NY, NY
Gaylene Richardson, Cherryville, NC
Pam Roberds, Kennesaw, GA
Nicole Rogers, San Antonio, TX
Beth Friedman-Romell, Shaker Hts., OH
Neal Rosenblatt, Louisville, KY
Kathy Rossland-Hulce, Brookfield, CT
Kathryn L. Ryan, RN, BSN, Lakewood, OH
Richard Ryan (Ryan,Saffel & Associates, Inc.), Redmond, WA
Doug Sacra (HMFH Architects, Inc.), Cambridge, MA
Nikki Sajudin, Bartonsville, PA
Marianne Schnall, Woodstock, NY
Tracy Schnell, Prospect, PA
Eiron Schofield (Living Architecture), Ketchum, ID
Susan Schwichow, Evanston, IL
Beth Seabreeze, Kensington, MD
Derek Shendell, Walnut Creek, CA
Ginny Silhanek, Burke, VA
Yalonda Sinde, Seattle, WA
Alexandra Sipiora, Chicago, IL
Stanley Slack, Rising Sun, IN
Dan Smith (Community-Based Communications), Cheverly, MD
Melissa St. John, Madison, NJ
Jeffrey Stone, Irvine, CA
Dennis Stratton, Beverly Hills, CA
Matthew Tanteri (Tanteri + Associates, LLC), NY, NY
Athena Thompson. Lake Oswego, OR
Jack Thrasher, Ph.D., Alto, NM
Toren Turner, Edwardsville, IL
Lissette Velez, NY, NY
Karl von Werther, San Francisco, CA
Nancy Waldman, Orlando, Florida
Lucy R. Waletzky, MD, Pleasantville, NY
Robert and Jeanette Walsh, Syosset, NY
Kristin Warfield, Minneapolis, MN
Carol Westinghouse, East Burke, VT
Diane Wetzstein, Hudson, WI
Sherry White, Humbolt, KS
Wayne Wikenheiser, Newport Beach, CA
Cliff R. Wilburn, Flatwoods, KY
Elvira Williams, Boca Raton , FL
Patricia Winckler, Baldwin, NY
Melinda Woiten Woiten, Torrington, CT
Cate Woodruff, West Hurley, NY
Diane Wooldridge, Arlington, TX
Matthew Young, Briarcliff Manor, NY
Virginia Zombek, Canastota, NY