Building State Capacity to Address Childrens Environmental Health

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Building State Capacity to Address Childrens
Environmental Health Leah Ann Lamb Director,
Office of Planning and Public Affairs
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Coordination within UDEQ
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Coordination with Other State Agencies
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Coordination with Local Governments and Other
Agencies
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Coordination with Federal Agencies
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Core vs. Voluntary Programs

• All core programs protect human health and the
  environment.
• Need to consider the specific needs of children.
• Voluntary programs (non-regulatory, pollution
  prevention, leadership) share the same goals.
• Voluntary programs must be incorporated into
  core programs. They cannot be another layer.

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Building State Capacity

• Leveraging existing FTEs
• Establishing a Single Point of Contact
• Identifying and owning problems
• Collaborating to find solutions
• Implementing solutions
• Evaluating progress and making adjustments
• Reporting results

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Utah Examples

• Hosted Childrens Environmental Health Regional
  Summit, Fall 2004
• Created Childrens Health Web Site
• http//www.childrenshealth.utah.gov/
• Established Utah Partnership to support the
  National Childrens Study (U of U Vanguard
  Center)
• Sponsored ECOS Resolution Supporting Funding the
  NCS
• http//www.ecos.org/files/1924_file_Copy_of_Resol
  ution_06_6.pdf

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Utah Examples

• Childhood Asthma
• Tools for Schools
• Hawthorne School Partnership
• Cache Valley

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HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY STUDY

• Who In 2004, DEQ teamed up with the Utah
  Department of Health, the University of Utah and
  the State Office of Education to study the air
  quality and its effects on childrens respiratory
  health.
• What School officials want guidance on when to
  keep kids inside during recess. Current standards
  show air unhealthy when fine particles reach 35
  micrograms per cubic meter of air during a 24
  hour period.

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HAWTHORNE ELEMENTARY STUDY

• Results DEQ placed air monitors inside and
  outside the schools. Data collected during the
  winter of a two-year study showed air quality
  inside the school was three times better than the
  outdoors on winter inversion days.
• How Pediatricians measured the lung function of
  26 students for three months but did not draw any
  significant conclusions so expanded it to Cache
  Valley.

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GREENVILLE ELEMENTARY STUDY

• Who In 2006-07, DEQ and its partners expanded
  the study to 100 children, ages 7 to 12, at
  Greenville Elementary in Cache County. Half of
  them had asthma.
• What Participants blew into a spirometer that
  measured their ability to breathe before recess,
  then after recess, looking at the effects of a
  15- to 20-minute exposure to measured outdoor
  levels of air particulates.

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GREENVILLE ELEMENTARY STUDY

• Results The findings showed no notable effect of
  a 15-20 minute outdoor recess on asthmatic and
  non-asthmatic childrens abilities to breathe,
  even on days when the air quality wasnt very
  good.
• Significance Pediatricians and school officials
  are finding the current practice of keeping
  children indoors when air quality is
  deteriorating appears to be at least protective
  of childrens lung health and gives school
  officials some room for variation when deciding
  at which point children should be kept indoors
  during recess.

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GREENVILLE ELEMENTARY STUDY

• What now More studies are needed to determine at
  what air quality condition (level of
  particulates) it is unhealthy for children to be
  outside.

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Utah Examples

• Get the Mercury Out
• Schools
• Homes
• Statewide collections 2006 379 pounds Hg
• 2,000 digital thermometers distributed for
  exchange
• http//www.deq.utah.gov/Issues/Mercury/get_the_mer
  cury_out.htm
• School Chemical Clean Outs
• Two High Schools
• www.deq.utah.gov/schools

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Utah Examples

• Choose Clean Air
• Tips for kids on Bookmarks
• 17,000 Bookmarks distributed through the PTA
• www.cleanair.utah.gov

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What Works

• Single Point of Contact
• Leveraging Resources
• Issue Ownership
• Partnerships
• Good Science
• Plan Development and Implementation
• Measuring and Adjusting
• Celebrating Success