Websites:
Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League
Letter from DR. Moench of Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment regarding the proposed Dutra Asphalt Plant and its health risks and air quality.
Children and Ozone Air Pollution Fact Sheet
Findings: Excesses of leukemias and other cancers among children were found near the following kinds of industries:
- Factories making bitumen (a British term for asphalt, crude petroleum and tar), oil refineries, major oil storage installations, and railside oil distribution terminals. (See full length study for the rest of the list).
The findings for leukemias and for other cancers were the same. Among children who had changed addresses between birth and death, the cancer hazard could only be seen near the birth address, implying that exposure to pollutants shortly before or after birth caused the cancers.The authors say they are sure their techniques can now identify cancer clusters at the neighborhood level.
This latest study
takes these techniques the next step and links the cancer clusters to nearby
sources of pollution, particularly those involving large quantities of
petroleum.
The authors conclude that childhood cancers cluster around two general kinds of facilities: producers, refiners, distributors, and industrial users of petroleum fuels and volatile petroleum products; and manufacturing processes using high temperature furnaces, kilns, and combustion chambers.
The authors of the study say there may be three mechanisms by which childhood cancers are caused: Gases and volatile organic compounds reaching children or their pregnant mothers directly; Parents' germ cells being harmed during occupational exposures, giving rise to children who are predisposed to cancers; Occupational contamination carried home on clothing, skin, or breath.
Of the three mechanisms, the authors say they believe direct exposure of children or their pregnant mothers is the most likely. Childhood cancers could be caused by at least 3 mechanisms: Pollutants damaging the inherited genetic material (DNA) in cells; Pollutants damaging the immune system which would otherwise prevent cancer cells from surviving; Pollutants damaging mechanisms of cell division. (Cancer is?uncontrolled cell division.)
Conclusion: This was a ground breaking study which links childhood cancer and pollution in clusters sources of pollution including asphalt factories.
Effect of Prenatal Exposure to PAHs (Read Full Length Study):This is the 1st human study which evaluates the effect of prenatal exposure to airborne PAHs on child development, and was published 8/21/06. This study links prenatal exposure to PAH and the delays in the neurodevelopment in the first 3 years of life among inner-city children. The results of this study showed that high prenatal exposure to PAHs was associated with lower mental development index at age 3. High prenatal exposure of PAH also shows significantly greater cognitive developmental delays. General estimated equation analysis showed a significant age x PAH effect on mental development which confirms the age-specific regression findings. The results suggest that environmental PAHs at levels recently encountered in New York City air may adversely affect children’s cognitive development at 3 years of age with implications for school performance.
Food For Thought: This study was done on children with high exposure from the air in New York City. We need to protect our City's air.
Sonoma County Asthma in Our Schools Report
Asthma in Sonoma County Synopsis (Sonoma County Asthma Profile Study):
The California Breathing Sonoma County Asthma Profile July 2008 reports there is a total of 80,000 children and adults who have been diagnosed with asthma. There is a total of 108,804 children in Sonoma County aged 0 to 17 years old. This Asthma Profile further reports:
1 in 5 children in Sonoma County ages 0 to 17 years old are diagnosed with asthma
20.2% of children in Sonoma County aged 0-4 years old are diagnosed with asthma
22% of children in Sonoma County aged 5-17 years old are diagnosed with asthma
Data on air pollutants: The air pollutants in this report are from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Aerometric Data Analysis and Measurement System (ADAM). In Sonoma County, there are four air monitors that measure ambient concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and two air monitors that measure ambient concentrations of ozone. Please note that the placement of air monitors is determined based on regulatory purposes, not public health purposes. For more information on outdoor air pollutants or to find the location of air monitors please visit www.arb.ca.gov.
Particulate Matter:
PM10: Annual Average for 2007 = 17.1 Ug/m3 Maximum 24-Hour Average for 2007 = 43 Ug/m3
PM2.5: Annual Average for 2007 = 7.6 Ug/m3 Maximum 24-Hour Average for 2007 = 3 2Ug/m3
Ozone: Maximum 8-Hour Average for 2007 = 0.067ppm
Cost of Health Care: The state of California is the 2nd state with the most people treated for asthma (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality).
California spent an estimated $67,956,677 Medicaid spending on asthma for White eligibles. This is the 2nd highest. The first is the District of Columbia. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality http://www.ahrq.gov/qual/asthmacare/asthmaappb.htm
The estimated annual cost of treating asthma in those under 18 years of age is $3.2 billion. (American Lung Association)
Emergency Room Visits: Children 0-4 = 320, Rate of 114.7 which is significantly over the average for California. (California Breathing Sonoma County Asthma Profile July)
Sonoma County Asthma Coalition also reports that 1 in 5 students in Sonoma County have asthma which translates into 14,600 students. As many as 19% of students are likely to have asthma in Sonoma County. These students are missing school, exercising less and having more visits to the emergency department than their peers without asthma.
Air Pollution and Childhood Respiratory Allergies in the United States
Association between Air Pollution and Lung Function Growth in Southern California Children
University of CA Pediatric Environmental Health Asthma in Children Report
Polluted Children, Toxic Nation-A Report on Pollution in Canadian Families
Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) Fact Sheet
Asphalt Plant Pollution: A Public Health Hazard
Asphalt Plants Contaminants of Concern
Traffic pollution causes genetic changes in the womb which increase a child's risk of developing asthma, research suggests. |
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News Articles:
Petaluma Mayor Torliatt's Article-Wrong Place for an Asphalt Plant (Petaluma360 and Press Democrat 2.11.09)
San Rafael Quarry Project Would Foul The Air (Marin Independent Journal 2.22.09)
New Study Reveals Asphalt Plant Dangers
Our Community’s Finest Hour (s) We Stand United Against the Dutra Asphalt Plant Proposal
Letters to Petaluma360 and Petaluma Argus-Courier: Park Docents and Dutra by Docent Bob Dyer and Opposed to Asphalt Plant by Matt Maguire (Two time City Councilman and Resident), County Officials' Inconsistency by Sheri Chlebowski
