The center for children’s environmental health
Four days before students returned to the university from Winter break, air quality conditions in Kutztown were forecasted as code ORANGE for hazardous particulate matter as indicated by The Pennsylvania Institute for Children’s Environmental Health (PICEH) air quality monitoring station on campus.
The rating indicates unhealthy pollution levels for sensitive people, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), whose standardized air quality index uses colors to report daily air quality.
Continuous poor air quality conditions prompted PICEH to institute a monitoring station, including a fine particle (PM2.5) real-time beta attenuation monitor (BAM), toxic organic gas summa canister sampler, toxic metal Hi-Vol sampler, and an ozone continuous monitor, operated by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, in October 2007.
PICEH increased its visibility at the university by renting office space on-campus in the Kutztown University Foundation Professional Building this month.
Pat Dong, administrator for PICEH, said of the move, “We want to become a greater part of student activity and environmental science.”
The public does not need to visit the campus to access real-time pollution data which is available anytime online at www.PICEHAIR.org.
Craig Hafer, chairman of PICEH, said “PICEH is the only stand-alone institute focused solely on children’s environmental health.”
A Pennsylvania Department of Health Study cited air-quality conditions in Berks County have been in violation of national air quality standards for carbon dioxide, ozone, lead, particulate matter, and sulfur dioxide since 2004.
The EPA projects Berks County to be one of only two counties in the Northeast U.S. in the year 2015 to still be classified as PM2.5 “nonattainment”, meaning the county will not meet air quality standards.
Such particles classified as PM2.5 have been shown to collect in the deepest part of the human lung causing long-term respiratory concerns. Smaller than 2.5 microns thick or one-thirtieth the thickness of a human hair, the particles contribute to health problems in many people, especially the elderly, people suffering from respiratory conditions and children.
A report by the EPA stated “children eat, drink and breathe more per pound than adults. When food, water or air is polluted, children are more affected by that pollution when compared to adults.”
Unfortunately, most air quality levels are based upon a healthy, 170 lb. adult male, and Hafer said, “Children are not just little adults.”
EPA also notes that, “infants and children also have a greater body surface -area-to-body-weight-ratio than adults. The ratio is more than two times greater in an infant, this difference is important when evaluating safety of chemicals absorbed through the skin.”
Hafer aims to make a significant impact on the health of children in the U.S. with data provided by the clean air monitor. But, said Zong, “It’s not our role to confront people.” Said Hafer, “We are not an activist group; we’re a research group, a science group and an educational group.”
Funding for the equipment utilized by PICEH is provided by the Advanced Education Advisory Board (AEAB), responsible for incorporating educational initiatives at KU, and by the state of Pennsylvania.
Representatives from PICEH declined to share the amount allocated by the university; however, the PICEH – AEAB Grant Program at KU presented four grants to professors in 2009.
The grants were offered to faculty hoping to incorporate children’s environmental health topics into courses that can eventually serve as a model for children’s health programs.
Hafer believes the presence of PICEH on campus will “demonstrate KU’s leadership abilities, encourage research, education and the broadening of understanding.”
“This issue is what global warming was in the 1970’s. This is where all the action and research is and students should have the opportunity to do something no one is doing anywhere else.”
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