Cal Iaq

 

California Interagency Working Group on Indoor Air Quality


 

Meeting Notes

December 11

 

Department of Health Services Laboratory Facility

 

 

GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

SPECIAL PRESENTATION

 

AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES

California Air Resources Board / IAQ & Personal Exposure Assessment Program

California Department of Health Service / Environmental Health Investigations Branch

California Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section

California Department of Health Service / Occupational Health Branch

California Department of Health Service / Tobacco Control Section

California Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA)

California Research Bureau

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / Indoor Environments Program

Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment / Indoor Air Risk Assessment Group

U.S. EPA Region IX / Indoor Environment Team

 

 

FUTURE MEETINGS

 


GENERAL ANNOUNCEMENTS

 

ACOEM Position Paper on Indoor Mold Health Effects. The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) issued a position paper entitled, Adverse Human Health Effects Associated with Molds in the Indoor Environment. The paper is listed on ACOEMs Evidence-Based Statements, and its stated goal is to discuss the state of scientific knowledge as to the nature of fungal-related illnesses while emphasizing the possible relationships to indoor environments. Particular attention is given to the possible health effects of mycotoxins, which give rise to much of the concern and controversy surrounding indoor molds. The paper can be found on-line at the ACOEM web site at

 

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SPECIAL PRESENTATION

 

Laboratory Measurements of the Fundamental Performance of Household Vacuum Cleaners (HVC) in Lead Dust Removal from Real World Flooring Surfaces

by

Stephen Wall, Ph.D.

Chief, Outdoor Air Quality

DHS Environmental Health Laboratory

 

A laboratory study was conducted as part of a research study to investigate the use of inexpensive household vacuum cleaners (HVCs) to remove and retain lead dust from hard surface floors in order to achieve EPA-established clearance levels <40 ug/ft2. Lead cleaning performance for inexpensive canister, shop, and upright HVC models was compared with an expensive High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter vacuum, and wet-wash treatment. Airborne lead dust emissions from the HVCs was measured to assess the necessity of employing the more expensive HEPA filter vacuum to prevent lead inhalation exposure. The laboratory study evaluated HVC design features which determine lead dust cleaning efficiency. Over 20 candidate HVC were screened for laboratory testing based on suction flow performance measured by a new portable field evaluation device. HVC models were chosen for the Field Study based on direct measurements of cleaning efficiency conducted in an environmental chamber, using real-world test dust deposited on worn vinyl flooring with a sonic dust aerosol generator. The best performing HVCs were determined to be a Royal canister, Craftsman (16 gallon) shop, and Hoover upright.

 

The primary predictor of vacuum performance proved to be the mechanical action of the floor tool brush, as seen it the superior performance of the canister and upright HVC, which breaks the adhesion of the lead dust with the flooring. Although lead dust was found to accumulate on the floor tool brush of the canister HVC, presenting an exposure hazard, simple water rising was an effective in brush cleaning. Suction air velocity at the floor tool face was of secondary importance in predicting performance, as evidenced by the poor performance of the shop and HEPA models without floor tool brushes. Regular changing of the HVC filter bag was identified as an important service procedure to maintain maximum air velocity at the point of cleaning.

 

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AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES

 

California Air Resources Board / Indoor Air Quality & Personal Exposure Assessment Program

-- Peggy Jenkins (>)

 

Indoor Air Chemistry: Cleaning Agents, Ozone, and Toxic Air Contaminants. Work began on this study in July. Twenty different cleaning products, selected based on their reactivity, potential for emissions of Toxic Air Contaminants, and presence in the marketplace, have been selected for testing, and screening measurements of their emissions are now underway. The next phase of the project will involve application of the cleaning products in full-size chambers to evaluate primary emissions under realistic circumstances.

 

Monitor Development Project. ARB is collaborating with the California Energy Commission and the State of New York to promote the development and commercialization of low cost, easy-to-use monitors for indoor and outdoor air quality. Sixty-eight pre-proposals have been received in response to a solicitation for proposals, and 19 respondents were further invited to submit full proposals. These full proposals are due to be received in December. Barring any changes due to the state budget situation, it is anticipated that about 3-5 awards will be made from the $1.5 million offering this year. For more information, see .

 

ARB Press Releases. ARB issued press releases to warn Californians of the hazards of indoor CO and indoor cooking emissions, and how to reduce those hazards. A press release on woodburning is planned for late December. (click on hyperlinks above or and .

 

Cal OSHA IAQ Advisory Committee. ARB staff participated in a meeting of this committee in November to discuss needed revisions to the Cal OSHA regulations for HVAC systems and exhaust ventilation (Title 8, Sec. 5142 and 5143). Additional workshops will be held in. A summary of the California Energy Commissions proposed building standards for ventilation design and construction was also presented and discussed.

 

Characterization of Personal, Indoor, and Outdoor Particulate Exposures. In November, Helen Suh from Harvard University presented the results from this recently completed study of the composition of particulate exposures of 15 individuals with COPD living in Los Angeles, CA. The draft final report for this study is currently being reviewed; the final report should be available in Summer. Data from an additional study of healthy individuals in Los Angeles using real-time instrumentation are being analyzed and results are expected to be available in Fall.

 

California Population Indoor Exposure Model, Version 2. Arlene Rosenbaum of ICF Consulting demonstrated the California Population Indoor Exposure Model (CPIEM), Version 2, at an ARB Chairmans Air Pollution Seminar in November. The work funded by the ARB updated and refined the previous version of the CPIEM. This tool for estimating Californians exposure to air pollutants has new calculation capabilities, including uncertainty analysis, and improved functions and utility due to the development of a Windows interface, superior graphic outputs, and an updated database. A PPT may be accessed at .

 

AB 1173 (Keeley) requires Indoor Air Quality Report. ARB staff and management met regarding implementation of AB 1173, Keeley, which was signed by the Governor and takes effect in January, . The bill requires ARB to prepare a report to the Legislature on all aspects of indoor air quality in California, to obtain peer review of the report, and to include options for mitigation of indoor pollution in the report. Staff anticipates beginning work on the report in early. The final bill can be viewed at

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California Department of Health Service / Environmental Health Investigations Branch -- Sandra McNeel ()

Technical Assistance: Staff provided assistance to the Health Officer and Environmental Health Director of Kings County regarding an elemental-mercury spill in a local high school due to a broken barometer. At the time of the spill the amount of mercury released was unknown. A private environmental consultant estimated that they recovered approximately 2 pounds of mercury from several classrooms during cleanup efforts. Following consultation with colleagues from the Environmental Health Laboratory (EHLB), the California Air Resources Board (ARB), the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA), and the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC), EHIB staff made recommendations for assessing student exposure and environmental contamination and determining appropriate sampling instrumentation and clearance testing. Staff also advised the county health director regarding mercury biomonitoring methods and their applicability in this specific situation. DTSC offered the services of their School Site Unit to consult and provide oversight of the remediation effort.

 

Presentations: Staff gave presentations on the current status of building dampness and indoor mold-associated health effects to county health officers and directors of environmental health at their recent combined annual meeting, November 1, as well as to DHS staff in the Local Public Health Service Section at their annual educational symposium October 9,.

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California Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section

-- Jed Waldman ()

 

Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) Study. The final phase, a field study in an office building, is being conducted this week in Las Vegas. In addition, we are planning to analyze the and CATS and CTS data. The analysis of the CTS and CTS data has been completed. .

 

Emissions of Building Materials With High-Recycled Contents. The CIWMB funded DHS to conduct a study to measure emissions of building materials with high recycled -content compared to "standard" products. The study includes phases on products used in school classrooms, state office buildings, and tire-derived [flooring] products. The final report is due in March.

 

Federal OSHAs e-Tool for Legionnaires Disease. IAQS is receiving funding from Federal OSHAs Salt Lake Technical Center to evaluate existing information on the topic of Legionnaires Disease (LD) at the OSHA e-Tool website. Currently the information for LD is in a 42-page technical document that users can download and read. The overall goal is to provide OSHA with a review of their current web-product and provide guidance in future content, appearance, and use.

 

Sierra Radon Surveys: Final report on the California Sierra Radon study, conducted in the Foothill region) is in draft review. The report contains monitoring results of the residential radon survey and two elementary school surveys Contact: Feng Tsai, .

 

U.S. EPAs BASE Study Analyses: New funding received from U.S. EPA for the second year of BASE bioaerosol analysis. Plans include working on the summary statistics of finalized dataset and collaboration with LNBL on the association of dampness and bioaerosol (LBNL study entitled Symptoms among U.S. office workers and moisture-indicating microorganisms in the EPA BASE Data) Derek Shendell will join IAQS as a research associate to assist on these analyses.

 

Workshop on Ethical Frameworks. DHS Division of Environmental & Occupational Disease Control held an all-day workshop on November 18, for program managers and many of the research staff in all five DEODC branches, plus guests from OEHHA-ATES. The term Ethical Frameworks is intended as shorthand for ways in which research projects produce information that supports the various stakeholders, e.g., utilitarian, libertarian, social justice, etc. The goal of the workshop was to help staff to become more aware of how their work can legitimately involve stakeholders and how its design, transparency and the format of its products can fit the informational needs of stakeholders who adhere to different interests and ethical frameworks. Questions on the workshop can be directed to Christine Arnesen, .

 

Presentations.

        Science and Policy- Development of Californias Ambient Air Quality Standards for Particulate Matter by Feng Tsai at the International Aerosol Conference, Taipei, Taiwan, Sept. 8-13,.

        Bioterrorists Know Microbiology Shouldn't You? by Janet Macher: A review for aerosol scientists at the AAAR meeting, Charlotte, NC, Oct. 7, and a review for environmental health scientists at So. Cal AIHA,Long Beach, CA, Oct. 24

        Ventilation Standards and Secondhand Smoke by Leon Alevantis for the Tobacco Education & Research Oversight Committee (TEROC), Los Angeles, CA, Nov. 7,.

        Indoor Air Exposure Research and Reducing Indoor Air Exposures in California by Jed Waldman (and Peggy Jenkins, ARB) and Californias Sustainable Building Efforts in State Government: Indoor Air Quality Specifications for Office Furniture Systems and Building Materials by Leon Alevantis (and Hal Levin, Anthony Bernheim, SMWM, and Arnie Sowell, SCSA) at The Role of Human Exposure Assessment in Urban Air Quality Management Workshop, Bonn, Germany, Oct. 14-15,. Organized by the World Health Organization European Centre for Environment & Health; European Commission Joint Research Centre; and European Collaborative Action

 

Designing Healthy Buildings Course. Jed Waldman (DHS-IAQS) and Rick Diamond (LBNL-IED) will again offer Arch 249x: Designing Healthy Buildings as a 2-credit elective in UC Berkeleys School of Architecture. The class will meet on Tuesdays, 11 am to 1 pm in Wurster Hall, starting January 21 . Information and course materials will be posted on the web at https://www.cal-iaq.org/CLASS/.

 

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California Department of Health Service / Occupational Health Branch

-- Jim Cone (), and Liz Katz ()

 

From Sept.

Departure of Branch Chief. The Occupational Health Branch (OHB) bids a reluctant farewell to Dr. Jim Cone on September 20. Chief of OHB for 5 years, Dr. Cone conducted indoor air research and investigations in aircraft, schools, hospitals, offices and other workplaces in his capacity as occupational health physician. Dr. Cone leaves to start directing the Office of Environmental and Occupational Epidemiology at the New York City Department of Health. Dr. Barbara Materna, Chief of the Occupational Lead Poisoning Prevention Program within OHB, has been appointed Acting Chief of the Branch.

 

Newsletter Tracking Workplace Injuries & Illnesses. OHB has a new publication called Occupational Health Watch: Tracking California Workplace Injuries & Illnesses. The first issue (Summer) reports on many workplace health and safety issues. The 12-page newsletter can be downloaded at .

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California Department of Health Service / Tobacco Control Section

-- Joanne Wellman-Benson ()

 

Notes from Sept.

National Conference on Tobacco or Health. The National Conference on Tobacco or Health will be held in San Francisco from November 19-21, at the Hilton San Francisco. The seven program areas the conference is organized around are: Comprehensive Tobacco Control Programs or Combined Strategies, Evaluation and Surveillance, Cessation, Nicotine, and the Science of Addiction, Increasing Diversity/Eliminating Disparities, Public Policy and Advocacy Strategies, Media and Communications Strategies, and Tobacco Use Prevention Among Youth. For more information, go to

 

Secondhand Smoke Workgroup. The Secondhand Smoke workgroup will be developing a Secondhand Smoke campaign that will gather existing information on secondhand smoke and compile it for use for TCS-funded programs. The information collected will cover indoor air quality as well as outdoor tobacco smoke. The campaign will include issues such as health effects, policies, bar surveys, smoke-free cars/homes, smoke-free apartments, ventilation, child custody, outdoor entertainment venues, economic data, college/university settings, the military, legal opinions, liability, etc. The Workgroups first meeting to determine the course of the campaign will be held on September 26,.

 

Outdoor Smoking Law. Governor Davis signed into law AB 1867, which prohibits smoking within 25 feet of playgrounds and tot lots. This is an amended version of last years bill, AB 188, which prohibited smoking only within the boundaries of the playground or tot lot. This bill also increased the penalty for each violation from $100 to $250.

 

Campus Smoking Policy. The California State University (CSU) trustees are considering a resolution giving CSU presidents the authority to establish smoking policies on their own campuses. Currently, policies could only be set by the Board of Trustees, as established by state law, which curtailed the adoption of policies developed by students and TCS-funded programs at several of the 23 CSU campuses. State law prevents smoking within 5-feet of building doorways. The advocacy group COUGH (Campuses Organized and United for Good Health) is spearheading the effort, with the goals of having at least a 20-ft smoke-free doorway policy, adoption of a phase-in policy to be smoke-free by August, and to prohibit tobacco sales on all CSU campuses.

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California Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA)

- Bob Nakamura ()

 

Revision of the Sanitation standard, GISO 3362. The new subsection (g), now in effect as of September 4, is as follows:

 

Title 8, Calif. Code of Regulations; General Industry Safety Orders: Article 9 Sanitation

3362. General Requirements.

 

(g) When exterior water intrusion, leakage from interior water sources, or other uncontrolled accumulation of water occurs, the intrusion, leakage or accumulation shall be corrected because of the potential for these conditions to cause the growth of mold.

 

IAQ Advisory Committee. The Division is planning to review IAQ issues. When the first Advisory Committee completed its work, the intent was to await the Federal OSHA standard on IAQ. However, Federal OSHA recently removed IAQ from its long-term agenda. Consequently, the Division plans to review the recurrent issues relating to enforcing regulations that apply to indoor air quality situations. Hence, Cal/OSHA recently reformed its IAQ Advisory Committee.

 

The first meeting of current committee was held on November 20, in Oakland. The meeting included a presentation by the California Energy Commission on the proposed changes to the California Energy Code regarding Demand Control Ventilation. The latest draft proposal would make it mandatory for some classrooms and additional assembly occupancies, and would raise the carbon dioxide set point from 800 to 1100 (or 700 above outside CO2). A discussion of the potential effect of utilizing DCV in school buildings followed. CEC has been preparing the proposed changes for the formal rulemaking process that will begin in early. Possible revisions to General Industry Safety Orders 5142 and 5143 were discussed by the Division representatives later in the meeting. Another meeting is tentatively planned for February of.

 

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Airborne Contaminants: 8CCR 5155. The Division is continuing to review Threshold Limit Value changes proposed by the ACGIH. The first meeting of the advisory committee was on May 4, . Another meeting will be scheduled soon. The Division coordinator is Bruce Wallace who can be reached at .

 

Laboratory Fume Hoods: 8CCR 5154.1. The Division has convened five advisory committee meetings to evaluate two different petitions requesting the Standards Board to reduce ventilation rate requirements and establish a performance standard in place of the existing regulation that relies on face velocity measurements. The last meeting was on August 8th in San Francisco. Another draft proposal was presented and discussed by the attendees but no final proposal was adopted. A revised proposal has been circulated to the members of the committee. The Division coordinator is Bruce Wallace who can be reached at .

 

Heat Stress Standard. The Division has held three advisory committee meetings to review the need and issues involved in proposing a standard for heat stress. The last meeting was on February 15, in Oakland. A draft proposal was reviewed at the meeting, and revisions will be forthcoming based on the outcome of the meeting.

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California Research Bureau

-- Pamela Davis ()

 

AB 284: Mold Research Update & Stakeholders Forum Information. The commentary draft of the AB 284 mandated review on the effects of mold is in the final stages of preparation for release. Due to an unfortunate computer error (that resulted in the loss of some sections of the draft document), the early December release date has been postponed until the end of the month. The 30-day comment period will begin on the day the draft is released to the public. All comments, including those presented at the stakeholders' forum in January, must be provided in writing.

 

The stakeholders' forum will take place as originally scheduled on January 13-14, (tentative agenda below) at the downtown Sacramento Convention Center. Each session will open with an overview of the corresponding section of the report by the author, Pamela Davis, followed by a critique of the section by various Scientific Review Panel (SRP) members.

 

Interested stakeholders will then be invited to present their comments; up to 10 minutes will be provided to individual to present an overview of their written comments. Actual time allowed will depend on the total number of stakeholders requesting presentation time. If necessary, the start times of the various sections may be adjusted to allow for more presentation time during high demand sessions. Stakeholders' making presentations must provide 15 copies of their written testimony on the day they deliver their overviews. Commentary must be scientifically based and relevant to the subject matter.

 

Individuals and Organizations interested in attending the forum are asked to RSVP to Pamela J. Davis at by December 31, with their intent to attend.

 

Please RSVP with the following information:

 

1. Name of individuals who will attend

2. Organization name (if applicable)

3. Contact information for each participant

4. Please specify if you would like to attend one or both days

 

Once the draft has been released, stakeholders interested in making presentations during the forum must notify Pamela J. Davis () by January 9, to receive space in the schedule. A notice will be sent to all participants via e-mail on January 10, notifying them of any changes stakeholder participation may have on the timeframes in the schedule.

 

Written comments on the report will be accepted at anytime during the 30-day comment period and should be sent directly to Mrs. Davis (.)



The tentative agenda for the January forum is as follows:


Monday, January 13 : Health Effects, Building Science, Prevention and Control


7:45 a.m. Doors open, participants must sign in

8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Introductions and Issue Overview

9:00 noon Health Effects: Consensus and Non-Consensus

Noon 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own

1:00 3:00 p.m. Moisture Issues in California Buildings

3:00 3:15 p.m. Break

3:15 5:15 p.m. Prevention and Control of Indoor Mold Growth

 

Tuesday, January 14 : Assessment and Remediation

7:45 a.m. Doors open, participants must sign in

8:00 8:30 a.m. Welcome back and brief introductions

8:30 10:15 a.m. Sampling and Identification

10:15 10:30 a.m. Break

10:30 12:15 noon Remediation

12:15 1:00 p.m. Open Comment Period

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Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory / Indoor Environments Program

-- Mike Apte ()

 

The IED is involved in a wide array of ongoing research projects relating to IAQ. Program information is available at the web site.

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Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment / Indoor Air Risk Assessment Group -- Richard Lam ()

Hot Spots Document. OEHHA has reviewed the public comments received on the draft document, Air Toxics Hot Spots Program Guidance Manual for the Preparation of Risk Assessments. It included comments from workshops held in June in Oakland and Diamond Bar. This Guidance Manual developed by OEHHA, in conjunction with the Air Resources Board, is for use in implementing the Air Toxics Hot Spots Program (Health and Safety Code Section 44360). The draft Guidance Manual combines the critical information from the four Technical Support Documents onto a guidance manual for the preparation of health risk assessments. The final document has been approved by the Scientific Review Board and will be available in OEHHAs website in the near future. The draft document can be downloaded at:

 

Proposed Public Health Goals for Drinking Water Contaminants. OEHHA announces the availability of the revised draft technical support documents for a proposed Public Health Goal (PHG) for each of the following eleven (11) chemicals in drinking water: asbestos, barium, beryllium, chlorobenzene, 1,1-dichloroethane, diethylhexyl adipate, ethylene dibromide, hexachlorobenzene, silvex, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, and toxaphene.

 

The PHG technical support documents provide information on the health effects of contaminants in drinking water. The PHG is a level of drinking water contaminant at which adverse health effects are not expected to occur from a lifetime of exposure. The California Safe Drinking Water Act of, amended, requires OEHHA to develop PHGs based exclusively on public health considerations. PHGs published by OEHHA will be considered by the California Department of Health Services in setting drinking water standards (Maximum Contaminant Levels, or MCLs). Chemicals present in drinking water can impact indoor environments due to their use in cleaning and washing (baths, showers, dish washings, etc), laundry, and other activities. These documents are available at:

 

East Bay Children's Respiratory Health Study. OEHHA has finalized the outdoor air pollutant measurements and is working on refining the analysis models that were presented at ISEA/ISEE meeting in August . More details will be available later.

 

GIS Users Group. OEHHA now has a GIS Users Group composed of staff that use or intend to use GIS in their work. The primary role of the GIS User Group is to facilitate the coordination of the development of GIS activities within OEHHA and promote the shared use of GIS software, hardware and data resources. For over a year OEHHA has maintained representation at Cal/EPA GIS Work Group meetings in an effort to coordinate with the GIS activities within the agency.

 

Registered Environmental Assessor (REA) Program.  Effective January 1, the REA Program will transfer from OEHHA to the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC). The transfer involves no change to the REA program other than the department in which the program resides.  REA program requirements will not change. 

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U.S. EPA Region IX / Indoor Environment Team

-- Barbara Spark () & Shelly Rosenblum

 

HQ Division Director moves on. Mary Smith, Director of the Indoor Environments Division for the past seven and a half years, has been appointed as the new Director of the Engineering and Analysis Division in the Office of Science and Technology in the Office of Water, effective February 1,.

 

Grants. On January 24, IED published and Request for Applications (RFA): "Indoor Air Quality: Communication, Education, and Outreach Programs: Announcement of Availability of Funds and Request for Applications," with applications due February 28. These grants are for national organizations only, as described in the document. Also, a new rule requires that our program, both nationally and in the regions, compete virtually all of the kinds of grants which our program provides, even the small ones which we usually award for IAQ in Region 9. This new situation has led to significant delays our awarding local grants since October 1,.

 

California Assembly Asthma Hearing, Feb. 19. Barbara Spark has been invited to speak on the IAQ Tools for Schools program during the Improving Air Quality panel at the February 19 California Assembly Committee hearing: Asthma: Why Californias Children Cant Breathe. The hearing is sponsored by the California Assembly Committee on Health, Chair Dario Frommer, California Assembly Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials, Chair John Laird, and California Assembly Select Committee on California Children's School Readiness and Health, Wilma Chan Chair. Information is posted at

 

Media. Barbara Spark was interviewed by KRON TV-4 San Francisco for a 9PM news segment for which viewers "vote" for the topic they want to see addressed. The topic on 10/30 was "Is Sick Building Syndrome Real?" Barbara discussed EPA's approach to SBS, as well the syndrome's recognition by other cognizant authorities. The segment ended with a display of a number of our guidance materials, including "IAQ Tools for Schools.

 

IAQ Tools for Schools

        M.O.U. with California Association of School Business Officials (CASBO). A USEPA/CASBO memorandum of understand formalizing our cooperative partnership to promote implementation of the IAQ Tools for Schools program has been signed by our Regional Administrator Wayne Nastri, and CASBO Executive Director Kevin Gordon.

        Fresno Unified School District. The project to implement the IAQ Tools for Schools (IAQ TfS) program at all schools in the Fresno Unified School District was officially launched at a large (130 person) training workshop on November 13, in Fresno. This project, led by Shelly Rosenblum, is notable not only for the fact that FUSD is the fourth largest district in California (and in an area with very high asthma rates), but that the this endeavor is a full partnership between the district, the Teachers Union (FTA), and EPA, with an signed MOU pledging that all parties will work cooperatively together to improve the indoor environment for students, teachers and staff. About one-half of the people attending the Nov. 13 event were teachers union site representatives, and the other half came from district operations administration or field work (HVAC techs, Enviro. H & S, etc.). Richard Shaugnessy and Shelly Rosenblum were the primary trainers. EPA Region 9 Air Division Director Jack Broadbent presented a Great Start award to the district Superintendent Dr. Santiago V. Wood and teachers union President Sherry Wood.

        Workshop for Asthma Coalitions - An all day workshop focusing on programmatic and marketing aspects of IAQ TfS was presented by Barbara Spark to representatives of asthma coalitions in eight counties at the annual meeting of the Central California Asthma Project, October 11,. In Shelly Rosenblums absence, Barbara was ably assisted by Sue Cox, Risk Manager of Visalia USD, and Adina Neale, IAQ Coordinator at Saugus USD. Also attending was David Nunez, MD, Chief of the California Asthma Public Health Initiative. Thanks in part to substantial grants from the California Endowment (CAFA grants), increasing numbers of asthma groups are addressing indoor (as well as outdoor) environmental issues related to asthma, including implementation of the IAQ Tools for Schools program.

 

RAMP/Schools - A retreat of the Advisory Committee of the Regional Asthma Management and Prevention Initiative (RAMP) (Barbara Spark is an Advisory Group member), identified asthma in schools as one of four areas of key concern for new hands-on work groups. On a parallel track, Shelly Rosenblum and Barbara Spark have met with a RAMP "schools" sub-committee" looking into the feasibility of an asthma-friendly schools initiative in the five SF Bay Area RAMP counties, with IAQ Tools for Schools as a first project.

 

Mold Miscellany:

        Roundtable. Barbara Spark gave a presentation on the evolution of EPAs (IEDs) program and policies related to mold at a West Coast meeting of the Environmental Policy Advisory Committee of the Real Estate Roundtable, Nov. 6, . (The roundtable describes itself as: the organization that brings together leaders of the nation's top public and privately-held real estate ownership, development, lending and management firms with the leaders of major national real estate trade associations to jointly address key national policy issues relating to real estate and the overall economy. A number of California real estate interests organizations participated. EPA Region 9 Administrator Wayne Nastri was the key speaker.

        ICMA Webcast. Barbara Spark gave the introduction, and hosted a national webcast on mold for the International City/County Management Association in October.

        Toxic Mold Litigation Conference. Barbara Spark spoke on EPAs mold guidance and program at a mold litigation conference provided by the American Conference Institute in San Francisco in October. Attendees primarily were defense attorneys and insurance companies. The luncheon speaker was the Judge in the $32M Ballard case in Texas.

 

New on the Indoor Environments Division National IAQ Web Page:

        "IAQ Tools for Schools Program: Benefits of Improving Air Quality in the Indoor Environment." [EPA-402-K-02-005, October] This full-color, 20 page brochure pulls together a compelling set of endorsements about a range of positive outcomes from the Tools for Schools program based on feedback from school districts across the country. Sure to be a very useful marketing and outreach tool, the brochure is currently available only as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file (1.8MB file size). The printed brochure will be available from the IAQ INFO Clearinghouse in early spring of this year. (Posted on home page, or click on Schools.)

        Presentations from the 3rd Annual IAQ Tools for Schools Symposium, held in Washington, DC August 8-10, have been posted on the national EPA Indoor Environments Division web page (click on Schools).

        CIAQ Minutes - Minutes and meeting schedules of the Federal Interagency Committee on Indoor Air Quality (CIAQ) beginning with the January quarterly meeting, are now posted on our national web page. (click on meetings schedule), or

        Three checklists from the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit (building maintenance; 2) waste management; and 3) food service are now available in Spanish.

        A Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home" [EPA 402-K-02-003] , initially published on the web, is now available in print.

     Asthma Research Strategy - In October, EPA and the American Lung Association announced a new research strategy. A link to EPA's Office of Research and Development's National Center for Environmental Assessment's Asthma Research Strategy is provided on our Asthma page.

 

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FUTURE MEETINGS

Upcoming meetings of the CIWG-IAQ are scheduled as follows:

o       March 12, CalEPA Building, 10th & I St., Sacramento

o       June 11, Department of Health Services, Berkeley, Oakland or Richmond

o       September 10, CalEPA Building, 10th & I St., Sacramento

o       December 10, Department of Health Services, Oakland or Richmond

 

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