This excellent news release was in this morning’s inbox. The University of Southern California (USC), which has contributed several participants to the Moving Forward Network, is doing amazing work.
Two things struck me:
USC’s ground breaking research on LAX particulate matter air pollution (PM), Emissions from an International Airport Increase Particle Number
Concentrations 4‑fold at 10 km Downwind, shows that the environmental health impacts of the airport on Los Angeles residents are much worse than had been assumed. It seems likely that other major airports in cities around the country have similar effects. State and local governments should provide the facts on air pollution high risk zones, so affected residents can protect themselves and their children, and everyone can make informed decisions when selecting housing.
The “Collision of Best Intentions” workshop (agenda here) was an eye-opener. As Andrea Hricko shows in her presentation What Do We Mean by the Collision of Best Intentions, sites for transit-oriented development projects, schools, low-income housing, and industrial facilities are often made with little consideration for public health, with potentially disastrous consequences. By bringing together public health experts and planners in a collaborative event, the workshop educated participants and encouraged more consideration of health impacts in urban planning. This will almost certainly lead to better decisions for future projects in Southern California. Might a similar event improve decision making in other regions?
USC Environmental Health : NEWS RELEASE: Research raises new concerns about air pollution impacts at Los Angeles International Airport (and 3 articles)
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Posted on: Thursday 29 May 2014 — 18:47
Study shows air quality from ultrafine particles extends further than demonstrated by previous researchPRESS COVERAGE: Los Angeles Times , Daily Breeze LOS ANGELES — For the first time, research conducted by scientists at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) shows that airliner activity at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) worsens air quality over a far larger area than previously assumed. The study, to be published Thursday in the journal Environmental Science and Technology (ES&T) and conducted with University of Washington (UW) researchers, found a doubling of ultrafine particle number concentrations extended east more than 10 miles downwind from the airport boundary over a 20-square mile area, encompassing communities including Lennox, Westmont, parts of South L.A., Hawthorne and Inglewood, and, in certain wind conditions, areas south of LAX. “Our research shows that airport impacts extend more than 5 times further than previously assumed,” said Scott Fruin, D. Env., lead researcher and assistant professor of preventive medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. “Effects from planes that are landing appear to play a major role in this large area of impact.”
“LAX may be as important to L.A.’s air quality as the freeway system,” said Fruin. “The impact area is large, and the airport is busy most hours of the day. That makes it uniquely hard for people to avoid the effects of air pollution in affected areas.” Most previous research on the air quality impacts of airports focused on measuring air quality near where jet takeoffs occur. Takeoffs produce immense plumes of exhaust but only intermittently, and pollution concentrations downwind have been observed to fall off rapidly with distance. The assumption has been that total airport impacts also fall off rapidly with distance. The new research finds that this assumption is wrong. The study found that concentrations of ultrafine particles were more than double over 20 square miles compared to background concentrations in nearby areas outside the area of LAX impact. Also, ultrafine particle number concentrations four times higher than background extended a distance of six miles. “Given the existing concern about the possible health effects of urban ultrafine particle levels, living in an area with two to four times the average L.A. levels of ultrafine particles is of high public health concern,” said first author Neelakshi Hudda, Ph.D., research associate in preventive medicine at the Keck School. Ultrafine particles are currently unregulated, but are of concern because they appear to be more toxic than larger particles on an equal mass basis in animal and cellular studies, and because they appear able to enter the bloodstream, unlike large particles that lodge in the lungs. The research team used vehicles equipped with special measurement devices to capture data not available using traditional fixed monitors. The team was able to take moving measurements for more than 5 hours under consistent wind conditions to fully capture the extent of the impact boundaries. “Other airports generally have less steady wind directions, which would make these measurements more difficult,” said Hudda. “Similar impacts are probably happening, but their location likely shifts more rapidly than in Los Angeles.” “The on-shore westerly winds cause this impact regularly in communities east of LAX, because the impact’s location corresponds to the wind direction,” Hudda added. “In the winter months, when the winds were different, impacts were measured south of the airport during northerly winds.” UW researchers included Tim Larson, Ph.D. and Tim Gould, Ph.D. in the Department of Civil Engineering, and Kris Hartin, Ph.D. in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. UW researchers included Tim Larson, Ph.D. and Tim Gould, Ph.D. in the Department of Civil Engineering, and Kris Hartin, Ph.D. in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences. ###
Hudda, N., Gould, T., Hartin, K. Larson, T.V., and Fruin, S. A. (2014). Environmental Science and Technology,Published online May 29, 2014; dx.doi.org/10.1021/es5001566
ABOUT KECK MEDICINE OF USC Keck Medicine of USC is the University of Southern California’s medical enterprise, one of only two university-owned academic medical centers in the Los Angeles area. Encompassing academic, research and clinical entities, it consists of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the region’s first medical school; the renowned USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center, one of the first comprehensive cancer centers established in the United States; the USC Care Medical Group, the medical faculty practice; the Keck Medical Center of USC, which includes two acute care hospitals: 401-licensed bed Keck Hospital of USC and 60-licensed bed USC Norris Cancer Hospital; and USC Verdugo Hills Hospital, a 158-licensed bed community hospital. It also includes outpatient facilities in Beverly Hills, downtown Los Angeles, La Cañada Flintridge, Pasadena, and the USC University Park Campus. USC faculty physicians and Keck School of Medicine departments also have practices throughout Los Angeles and Orange counties. The Keck Medicine of USC world-class medical facilities are staffed by nearly 600 physicians who are faculty at the renowned Keck School of Medicine of USC and part of USC Care Medical Group. They are not only clinicians, but cutting-edge researchers, leading professors and active contributors to national and international professional medical societies and associations. For more information, go to www.keckmedicine.org/beyond
NEWS RELEASE CONTACT INFORMATION: Contact: Leslie Ridgeway at (323) 442-2823 or lridgewa@usc.edu USC Health Sciences Public Relations & Marketing |
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Posted on: Wednesday 28 May 2014 — 22:25
 Five Southern California groups are excited to announce a new partnership to jointly sponsor an inaugural Environmental Justice Summer Institute (EJSI):
This five week, 14-session summer program will begin on June 26, 2014. ESJI was created to engage a diverse group of 15 local high school youth from Lennox, Hawthorne and Inglewood, around environmental health and environmental justice issues. This EJSI curriculum is focused on educating, engaging, and empowering the youth to be agents of change in their own neighborhoods. Curriculum to be covered: Stay tuned for more exciting details of this pilot program! Search #EJSIFellows on Twitter to keep up on the latest developments, photos and more. The EJSI is partially supported by USC’s Children’s Environmental Health Center, which is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Environmental Justice Summer Institute partner organizations on Twitter: |
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Posted on: Thursday 22 May 2014 — 22:21
This post looks back over the past couple of months and highlights members of our Centers who have been featured or quoted in the news…
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Community Forum – “The Collision of Best Intentions: Public Health, Smart Growth and Urban Planning”
Posted on: Friday 23 May 2014 — 23:24
 On April 9, 2014 the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC), SC-Children’s Environmental Health Center (SC-CEHC) & National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) hosted “The Community Forum: The Collision of Best Intentions.” This 2.5 hour event was attended by approximately 150 individuals representing Los Angeles area community-based organizations (CBOs) and environmental justice (EJ) groups, NIEHS (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences) center directors from around the U.S. and staff of NIEHS Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC) programs, appointed park and planning commissioners, graduate students from UCLA’s Master’s in Urban Planning program and UCLA’s Community Scholars program, and interested community members. The forum brought together stakeholders around environmental health issues, particularly concerns about air pollution’s impacts on health and the epidemic of childhood obesity. Through a series of short presentations, a foundation was set to help attendees understand:
Presenters and their topics included: Welcoming comments: Dr. Linda Birnbaum, Director of the NIEHS What We Mean by the “Collision of Best Intentions:” Andrea Hricko, Director of the Community Outreach and Engagement Program of the SCEHSC and Professor of Preventive Medicine at USC Why Different Perspectives are Colliding: Maria Cabildo, co-founder and president of East LA Community Corporation, L.A. Planning Commission Near Roadway Air Pollution, Asthma and Obesity: Challenges for Urban Planning: Rob McConnell, Deputy Director of the SCEHSC, Director of the SC-CEHC and Professor of Preventive Medicine at USC Introduction to Case Studies from the Community: Kafi D. Blumenfield, president emeritus of the Liberty Hill Foundation and member of the Los Angeles City Recreation and Parks Commission No Mitigations or Solutions are Perfect; Here are Some Approaches: Doug Houston, Assistant Professor of Planning, Policy & Design at the School for Social Ecology, University of California, Irvine As primary organizers of the event, Andrea Hricko and Carla Truax of the SCEHSC & SC-CEHC invited 16 CBOs to participate in a Poster Session that showcased the work that each group is doing around environmental health issues in the greater Los Angeles area. Midway through the event’s schedule, all participants were invited to view the posters which further engaged attendees and presenters in dialogue around these issues. The following southern California organizations participated in the poster session: The Community Forum sponsors thank The California Wellness Foundation and The Kresge Foundation for additional funding. by Wendy Gutschow
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