Cal Iaq

ALA-LAC School-based Mentor Program. During the initial stage of the Mentor Program, ALA-LAC formalized its collaboration with the Southern California section of the American Industrial Hygiene Association (SCAIHA) to recruit and train mentors. The Lung Association developed and conducted a 1½-day training for twenty persons in August of. Fourteen mentors were trained, and seven were subsequently matched with Southern California schools implementing the Environmental Protection Agency Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools (IAQ TFS) Action Kit. Further, several presentations on IAQ Tools for Schools were conducted reaching over 150 school officials, staff and business groups.
K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A. Child Health Champion Campaign. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has chosen the city of Los Angeles as one of eleven Child Health Champion Campaign communities. This program is designed to empower local communities to take steps toward protecting their children from environmental health threats. The program is a collaborative partnership between local government agencies, public health organizations, and community-based organizations to Keep Improving Control of Kids' Asthma (K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A.). In striving to serve an inner-city, economically disadvantaged community, the Los Angeles Child Health Champion Team has targeted an area in East Los Angeles, specifically the neighborhoods of Boyle Heights, City Terrace, and El Sereno.

The overall goal of the K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A. campaign is to:

Focus on building capabilities within the community for addressing the problem of asthma by providing resources, education and training
Create a model program for childrens asthma education that can be replicated in other parts of the country.

K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A. community-specific goals:

Decrease school absenteeism due to asthma related illness by teaching two school-based programs: Open Airways For Schools and Huff n Puff.
Increase adoption of measures to decrease environmental triggers through school-based education and in-home trainings that will help parents learn to control asthma triggers found most frequently in the homes (e.g, tobacco smoke, dust mites, cockroaches, mold and household cleaning products).
Increase community awareness regarding environmental hazards and asthma through the use of a Toll-Free Information Number, (1 800-9ASTHMA), and an Asthma Community Resource Center that will allow community members to receive appropriate information and referral services.

Currently, the partners forming the core team include the American Lung Association of Los Angeles County, City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department, Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center, and Mothers of East Los Angeles- Santa Isabel. The Community Champion Team also includes local school district representatives, representatives of the medical profession working within the community, elected government representatives, local business representatives, and other local residents, community organizations and agencies. This Team will be expanded as the campaign progresses. Go to top of page

Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Idea for Thought and Discussion. BAAQMD has several public service campaigns via radio, TV, etc. related to air pollution. The summer-season program, called Spare the Air, alerts people of upcoming days of forecasted photochemical air pollution, due to temperature inversions that prevent adequate atmospheric mixing. The program asks people to curtail polluting operations during those periods and identifies things people can do to help, e.g., not use paint, not use bbq, and not use gasoline-powered lawn and garden equipment. The idea is to limit reactive organic and NOx emissions, precursors to ozone formation. In the winter-season, the program, formerly Don't Light Tonight, is now called Spare the Air - Tonight. It alerts people of upcoming nights with temperature inversions that also prevent adequate atmospheric mixing and are likely to cause a build-up of pollutants. The program asks people to not use wood burning equipment, e.g., fireplaces.

Mike proposed starting discussions among CIWG-IAQ members about linking these established public service programs with IAQ issues and problems, e.g., molds, asthma, etc., to develop a unified outreach. Would this give an outcome like "the sum is greater than the parts", i.e., would the public become better educated and likely to follow more environmentally sound practices, if a more logical and seamless set of IAQ/OAQ information was provided to it?

One area of indoor and outdoor air pollution interface relates to activities in the house emitting pollutants that can directly affect house residents in their more concentrated state before they leave the house and add to the outdoor emission burden. Painting with organic-based paints or using solvents in a house is an example where there is a health risk to the user. Cans containing these materials have the caution to use adequate ventilation, which more quickly sends the organic vapors to the outside where they can take party in photochemical reactions. Of course even with minimal ventilation, the volatile material will eventually get to the outside, by more typical means - open doors and windows, "leaky" houses, etc.

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

ARB staff reported on recent activities, including (a) ARB's release of a public warning on indoor carbon monoxide poisoning: (b) staff's review of materials on the development of state standards for unvented gas fireplaces, and (c) participation in a National Research Council advisory panel to review methods used by the military to monitor pollutant exposures of deployed military personnel overseas. Go to top of page

California Department of General Services / Real Estate Services Division (RESD)

Green Building Charter Team. RESD has formed a charter team whose purpose is, "To develop and implement processes to incorporate green building measures and energy efficiency into project development within RESD, consistent with applicable laws, regulations, and customer requirements." One of our immediate needs is a quantifiable definition of "green building" and "sustainable building measures" and even IAQ in so far as it can be defined or measured beyond 15 CFM or 20 CFM of outside air per person in an office building per code or ASHRAE standard respectively. Our final report is targeted for early1999, and the team is open to input. Please send your comments to me by e-mail. Go to top of page

California Department of Health Service / Environ. Health Investigations Branch

Staff Presentations

Sandy McNeel attended the Third International Conference on Bioaerosols, Fungi and Mycotoxins held Sept. 23-25, in Saratoga Springs, New York. Presentation session topics included Health Effects/Epidemiology, Exposure Assessment/Analytical Methods, Microbiology, Applied Research, Mitigation & Control, and Public/Occupational Health Issues.
Deborah Gilliss spoke at the annual meeting of the California Conference of Directors of Environmental Health (Sept. 22) on the role of county & state public health officials in assisting California residents with indoor mold problems and potential health effects.
Sandy McNeel spoke to the Southern and Northern branches of the California Environmental Health Association on health effects and risk assessment of indoor mold contamination (Oct.16 & 22).

Consultations on Mold. EHIB staff continue to provide phone assistance to California residents with concerns about indoor molds. During the months of Sept.- Dec., staff consulted with personnel from 3 schools across the state that had experienced water damage and mold contamination in classrooms.

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California Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section Jed Waldman

Controlled Environment Chamber: Work continues on a newly (re)constructed, controlled environment chamber at the DHS Laboratory. All the customized components have been fabricated, and these will be assembling these components the next few weeks. We anticipate having this chamber fully operational in the near future. The chamber will be initially used for the EHLBs vacuum cleaner testing program for a HUD grant and protocols for VOC emissions testing of building materials, as part of IAQ modeling for the DHS Richmond Laboratory Facility under construction.
DHS Richmond Laboratory Facility. IAQS staff are continuing to work with the design team (DHS and DGS project staff and the design firms, NBBJ and Earl Walls & Associates) to ensure that our new laboratory facilities will meet our needs. Construction for Phase II will start next year, and move-in is anticipated by late-. The new lab is being designed to contain a new Controlled Environmental Chamber.
Unvented Gas Heater - Standards Development. The contractor (Greg Traynor) submitted his draft report entitled: Evaluation of Technical Literature, Indoor Air Pollutant Modeling, and Options for California Standards. The Advisory Group met on December 2 to provide comments. Currently, revisions are being prepared, and a plan is to prepare a Notice of Proposed Action for February review.
Staff Presentations. Joey Zhou presented a paper on GIS application in epidemiology at the 1^st International Health Geographic Conference (October) in Baltimore.
Expert Panels. Jed Waldman participated in the Environmental Law Institute workshop on State & Local IAQ programs (October) in Washington, D.C. Dr. Zhou attended the U.S. EPA-sponsored meeting on Multi-Media Radon Mitigation Program (October) in Washington, D.C.
Research Grants & Proposals. Leon Alevantis is PI on a Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program proposal: The effectiveness of designated smoking rooms in relation to AB 13 . This project is a collaboration with LBNL staff, and is a re-submission of our previous proposal to TRDRP, addressing the concerns of the reviewers. In addition, IAQS is collaborating with DHS Tobacco Control Section to include questions in the State tobacco surveys about smoking areas in the workplace.
Local Assistance. Janet Macher met with Christine Martin, San Francisco Dept of Public Health Childhood Lead Program, along with Deborah Gilliss and Sandra McNeel (EHIB), to discuss how the SF program can expand to cover mold in homes and other IAQ issues related to children's health.
Assistance Line and Web Site. The California Indoor Air Quality Program Assistance Line continues to respond to 10-30 calls each week. The majority of callers are affected by problems of mold contamination. The relevant IAQ Info sheets are now posted on California IAQ Program web site: Check it out.
Staff Publications.

J. M. Macher and J. Rosenberg.. Evaluation and Management of Exposure to Infectious Agents. In: Handbook of Occupational Safety and Health, Second Edition, L. J. DiBernardinis, Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, NY, pp. 287-371.
Bioaerosls: Assessment and Control, Janet Macher, Editor, is finally available. Consult the ACGIH web site.

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California Department of Industrial Relations (Cal/OSHA) Les Michael

Editors Note: Les is retiring in early -- thanks, Les, for all your help, and good luck. If you have any question about Cal/OSHA activities.

Respirators & Standards. The Office of Administrative Law approved regulations on Aug. 25, ; see Title 8 CCR Section 5147. The effective date will be May 22,.
Bloodborne Pathogens. Emergency revisions to the Cal/OSHA bloodborne pathogens regulation took effect January 22,. This came about as a result of approval by the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) on January 22 of the final version of the regulation adopted by the Cal/OSHA Standards Board on January 14,. For more information, refer to their web site on Cal/OSHA Bloodborne Pathogen regulations.

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ASHRAE Committee. The committee responsible for Standard 62, Ventilation for Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, is creeping toward the first revisions of the standard. Several small addenda were approved by the committee and sent forward for publication. The public appeals period may find some objections from representatives of the tobacco industry, among others.
ASTM Subcommittee D22.05. A standard guide was adopted for D4470-99, Standard Guide for Developing Methodology for Evaluating the Ability of Indoor Materials to Support Microbial Growth Using Static Environmental Chambers. Dr. Karin K. Foarde of Research Triangle Institute was the lead author. The committee will meet April 19-21, in Seattle, WA. There will be a one-day workshop on emissions testing and exposure assessment.
Indoor Air and Health Conference. NSF International will sponsor a three-day conference, May 3-5, in Denver, CO. The conference will focus on indoor air and health. Many well-known authorities will be keynote or plenary lecturers or commentators, among them Peggy Jenkins of CARB and Bill Nazaroff of UC Berkeley. You can request information from .

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

The OEHHA's Green Building Committee for the Elihu Harris State Building is combining with the Relocation Committee to form the Oakland OEHHA Building Team. The Team main objective is to ensure a safe and healthy working environment. It will provide the liaison between employees and management on building related issues. It will work on preventive measures such as the use of less toxic cleaning products and integrated pest management and provide OEHHA Sacramento with required information on the to-be-constructed Cal/EPA building.

A statistical users group has recently being formed. It is meeting regularly in the Elihu Harris State Building. The scope of the user's group includes all statistical software (e.g., S Plus, SYSTAT, SPSS, STATA, BDMP, SAS). Some purposes discussed in the last meeting:

a forum for people to bring current statistical problems
possible group rates for attending statistical trainings
on-site trainings.

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San Bernandino County Superintendent of Schools Office / Safety & Loss Control

This office has prepared a number of training manuals addressing the school personnel. He shared a copy of Industrial Hygiene in Educational Environments, which includes background on common hazards and services provided, prepared for the Inland Empire Schools Insurance Authority. Go to top of page

San Diego County Department of Environmental Health

Quality Ventilation Program. Within the County of San Diego government, this program is a joint effort between the Departments of Environmental Health (DEH) and the Department of General Services(DGS). When County employees are concern about the indoor air quality (IAQ) of their facility, the first response is by a DGS Building Maintenance Engineer (BME). The BME has been trained on the basics of IAQ problems and checks out the ventilation system to make sure it is functioning properly. The BME has instrumentation to measure temperature, relative humidity, and carbon dioxide levels. If the BME can address the problem, corrective action is taken, case closed. If biological contamination (usually from water intrusion) or chemical usage are suspected, or the problem is not resolve by the BME, then DEH gets involved. We have a wide array of instrumentation to assess the situation. We quite frequently do not find excessive airborne levels of bioaerosols or chemicals. We have had the best success resolving these types of problems when the affected individuals are seen by an Allergist. Once we know what the person is sensitive to, we have been able to design control strategies to minimize the exposure below levels that cause symptoms. This is our standard IAQ practice, nothing is new. Go to top of page

Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC)

The Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center (SCEHSC) is funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and is a consortium of the University of Southern California (USC), the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), and the California Institute of Technology. The Center focuses on using epidemiologic methods to study effects of the environment on human health, especially with regard to the multiethnic populations of California and the Pacific Rim. Listed below are some IAQ-related activities:

Community Team to Address Asthma in East Los Angeles. SCEHSC is a partner in K.I.C.K. Asthma L.A., a new collaborative effort designed to empower a community on the eastside of Los Angeles to protect its children from environmental health threats, especially asthma. The Center has played a leadership role with Mothers of East L.A., the American Lung Association of Los Angeles County and the City of L.A.s Environmental Affairs Department in forming a community team that consists of representatives from SCEHSC, community based organizations, the L.A. Unified School District, local government agencies, public health organizations, and businesses, along with elected officials, community residents, students, student nurses, and others.
Training for School Nurses. As part of its outreach efforts, and as a partner under an NIEHS Environmental Justice grant to Communities for a Better Environment (CBE), the Center organized and co-sponsored two continuing education workshops on asthma and its environmental triggers. The Center and CBE targeted its outreach at school nurses, with great success. More than 150 school nurses attended the workshops, entitled Managing Asthma in Todays Environment offered on January 23 and February 6, 1999. The 8-hour workshops focused on the role that environment plays in causing or exacerbating asthma and practical ways to control environmental asthma triggers. Sessions included: Epidemiology/Diagnosis/Treatment of Asthma; Asthma Management in School Settings; Asthma, Community Health and Environmental Justice; Environmental Triggers of Asthma; Community Resources; and Improving Air Quality in Public Buildings.
New Childrens Environmental Health Center. A team of scientists from two major Los Angeles universities -- USC and UCLA recently has joined forces to create a new Center which will investigate the impact of pollutants on childrens respiratory health. Dr. Henry Gong, Professor of Medicine and Preventive Medicine at USC School of Medicine, will direct the Center, with Dr. John Peters, Professor of Preventive Medicine, USC School of Medicine, as co-director. The new Center for Children's Environmental Health will undertake research to better understand how environmental factors affect childrens respiratory health and how personal factors may change the way children respond.
Research Studies. The Center scientists are engaged in several air pollution-related research studies.

a ten-year longitudinal study of children exposed to differing levels of air pollution in Southern California and looking at respiratory effects. Project leaders: Jon Peters and Ed Avol.
an asthma intervention study that involves reducing asthma triggers in homes of children seen at a Mobile Asthma Clinic Program offered at their schools. The major goal of this study is to determine whether a comprehensive environmental health education program, enhanced by least toxic integrated pest management for cockroach control, will result in reduction of dust mites or cockroaches in children's homes and improvement in asthma. Project leaders: Craig Jones and Rob McConnell.

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U.S. EPA Region IX / Indoor Environment Team

Asthma Report. The report, "Asthma and the Environment: A Strategy to Protect Children" has been released by the Presidents Task Force on Environmental Health Risks and Safety Risks to Children. This is part of a cross-agency executive strategy regarding asthma and childrens health. A significant portion of the requested FY2000 implementation budget would go the U.S. EPA Indoor Environments Division (IED), some of which would enhance regional capacity. Copies of the report are available by calling (202)260-7778.
New BAQ Action Plan. U.S. EPA has released a new accompaniment to the ever-popular EPA/NIOSH document, "Building Air Quality: A Guide for Building Operators and Facilities Managers." The new 31-page brochure is called "Building Air Quality Action Plan (EPA 402-K-98-001, June). Copies are available from IAQ INFO, and like most U.S. EPA/IED fact sheets and brochures can be downloaded from the EPA web site.
NAS Committee on Asthma & IAQ. The National Academy of Sciences project, An Assessment of Asthma and Indoor Air Quality has added Dr. Harriet Burge of the Harvard School of Public Health to the project committee.
IAQ Training Workshops. We provided a series of IAQ training workshops January/February in S.F., Walnut Creek, and Los Angeles. A two-day "Orientation to IAQ" revised for residences was provided by Terry Brennan and Richard Shaughnessy, and was well-attended by a group which included housing officials (as intended!). Another new offering, IAQ for Facilities Managers and Building Administrators primarily attracted public sector attendees, despite targeted private sector marketing through the Building Owners & Managers Association (BOMA). The three successful L.A. presentations focused on aspects of moisture/mold and cleaning for a healthy indoor environment, and had a significant core of people who attended all three days.
IAQ Mentoring Class Project. An IAQ Tools for Schools workshop provided at our offices on January 22, attracted over 100 people, and served as a signal to us that the IAQ/schools issue is no longer just taxing, but may be ready to take off in some districts. To facilitate this, the Indoor Environments Team (indoor air and radon program) has revived the IAQ Tools for Schools Adopt-a-school program, the U.S. EPA Region 9 CLASS PROJECT, an effort first attempted three years ago when sufficient groundwork hadn't yet been laid. In addition to the large number of CA school districts which have now received training, we now have the advantage of being able to adapt the excellent mentoring protocol developed by David Berger at the American Lung Association (ALA) of L.A. County.

We Encourage CIWG-IAQ Members to Join in the "Class Project" Effort. The time has come for pilot implementation at individual school sites. (Currently, approximately 2,000 schools throughout the country are said to be using the Kit.)

Additional Workshop on School IAQ. To continue the momentum on IAQ Tools for Schools, an additional training workshop will be provided by the ALA of San Francisco/San Mateo (Karen Licavoli) on May 7,, with a focus on pilot implementation schools and their mentors (folks like you!).
School IAQ Management Policies. We are working closely with San Francisco Unified School District (USD), which last August adopted an indoor air management policy. The District co-sponsored the 1/22 school IAQ workshop, and is working with us to identify pilot implementation schools in addition to the two which already received a guided "walk-through" by Richard Shaughnessy. While the troubled Oakland USD will be more challenging on this issue, about 17 of their School Nurses and one of their new IHs attended the 1/22/99 workshop.

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WORKING GROUP COMMITTEES

Indoor Environmental Quality of Schools Jed Waldman

Report Status. The committee has finalized its report entitled: Indoor Environmental Quality in Schools: Critical Needs. In August, the report was submitted for the DHS director to forward to other departments and the Governors office. Unfortunately, there was little action resulting, because of the pending election. With a new administration takes office in, there has been renewed interest in the Report. We have forwarded the request for release approval to the new Secretary of Health Human Services, Grantland Johnson; the Departments new Director has not yet been named.
IAQ in Schools training programs. The U.S. EPA IAQ Tools for Schools training program has reached well over 200 school districts in California. With the burgeoning concern about IAQ in schools, the private section is responding with programs to address various components of the larger topic. One such program, Indoor Air Quality: Fundamental Improvements, has gotten favorable comments from some districts (e.g., talk to Bret Breton, Safety Coordinator for Ventura Schools Self-Funding Authority, ). It is generic educational video-based training program targeted at facility maintenance staff. The program is strictly educational and does not try to sell products or promote any companies. It includes 2-h of "hands-on" video tapes that explain to building maintenance workers how to recognize and minimize problems. The company offers a no-cost trial of the program materials. Information is available at their web site: or at .

Building Design and Operations

Proposed Sustainable Building and Indoor Air Quality Measures for the Capitol Area East End Complex. As was reported at the last meeting, Leon Alevantis and Jed Waldman made numerous phone calls to RESD staff (DGS) to assist them in developing indoor air quality criteria for this project. A response was received on October 30,, from Richard Teramoto, Project Director at RESD. This response addresses primarily sustainable building measures and very few indoor air quality issues. Richard Teramoto stated in his cover memo that additional indoor air quality measures based on our previous memo may be included at a later time. The subcommittee decided to comment on the existing draft and ensure that all indoor air quality issues are addressed now. A response will be drafted by the subcommittee chairman and will be emailed to the committee members for comments.
Green Building legislation (AB 2432, Bowen). This Bill was vetoed by Governor Wilson on September 30,. However, it may be re-introduced. The vetoed version included very little language on indoor air quality-related issues. The subcommittee decided not to take any action on this item at this time. However, the subcommittee will discuss it if the Bill is re-introduced.
John Kaschak (DGS/DSA) reported that his office is working in measures similar to those described under Item 1 above. However, these measures will not be project specific as in the case of the East End Project. John is looking for input from our subcommittee in the near future. Obviously, the East End Project can be used as a test case on what measures DGS is willing to consider implementing.

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FUTURE MEETINGS

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

March 10 Harris State Office Bldg,, Conference Room A, 1515 Clay Street, Oakland
June 9 CARB Headquarters, L Street, Sacramento
September 8, Irvine (location to be announced)
December 8,, DHS Laboratory,

MEMBERS PRESENT/AFFILIATIONS Leon Alevantis / CA DHS IAQ Program

David Berger / ALA of LA County

Bret Breton / Ventura Schools Self-Funding Authority

Ken Dudash / San Bernandino Co. Supt. of Schools

Arlene Feingold / IH Consultant

Cynthia Harding / LA County Tobacco Control

Sheri Henderson / ALA of Orange County

Robert Hupe / self

Andrea Hricko / So. Cal Environ. Health Sci. Center

Philip Jacobs / LA Co. Dept. Health Services - Tox. Epi. Prog.

John Kaschak^* / CA DGS Design Services

Richard Lam^* / OEHHA ATES

Cole Landowski / LA Co. Dept. Health Services - Occ. Health

Janet Macher^* / CA DHS IAQ Program

Sandra McNeel / CA DHS Environ. Health Investigation

Les Michael / Cal/OSHA - Standards

Tom Phillips / CARB Research Division IAQPEP

Bill Redden / Riverside Co. Dept Environ. Health

Stuart Salot / CTL Environmental Services

Barbara Spark / U.S. EPA Region IX

Daniel Tappen / San Diego Co. Dept. Environ. Health

Scott Trimingham / Indoor Air Project

Steve Uhlman / Riverside Co. Dept Environ. Health

Jed Waldman / CA DHS IAQ Program

^* connected by phone

Jed Waldman chaired the meeting, which lasted from 10 am to 12:30 pm

file: E:\DISK\PROJECTS\CIWG-IAQ\Minutes\MIN_9812.WPD

printed: February 10, (3:06PM)

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