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HealthLink's PRESS RELEASE: 2/5/04
What's in our Air?
Marblehead, MA, 1/14/04- A local grassroots environmental group, HealthLink, just received a $50,000 grant from EPA's Healthy Communities -Community Air Toxics Program to answer that very question. After working for years to understand and reduce the emissions of the Salem Harbor Power Plant (the largest industrial air polluter in Essex County), the group plans to expand local knowledge about other toxics that are in the local air, where they come from, and what can be done to reduce air pollution. The project is called North Shore Air Inventory Report (or North Shore AIR) and will involve both local High School students and Salem State College students in the research and education parts of the project. The project will focus on air pollution sources in the towns of Beverly, Salem, and Marblehead and will be taking place in the upcoming spring semester. "We are very excited to be providing a 'real-life' learning experience that allows our future leaders to better understand their local environment" says Dr. Ann M. Papagiotas, Principal of Salem High School - one of the first schools to come on board. Salem State Nursing students will also review existing health statistics, reports, and surveys for the area to determine what health issues are found on the North Shore and if such issues may be related to air pollution. "This EPA funding will be enormously helpful in helping students on the North Shore gather environmental information about their communities, which can then be used to identify opportunities for reducing exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollutants," said Robert W. Varney, regional administrator of EPA's New England Office.
What's in our air may be impacting our health. Essex County has been graded an "F" by the American Lung Association's State of the Air: 2003 report. The entire North Shore of Massachusetts is ranked in the top 95 percentile country-wide for highest lifetime cumulative Cancer and Non-Cancer Risk from Toxic Air Pollution according to EPA. In addition, there have been several studies conducted by the Department of Public Health in this area, and high incidence of Melanoma, Oral, Leukemia, Prostrate, Ovary, Lung/Bronchus, and Breast cancers have been recorded in these towns with Lung/Bronchus cancers being the leading cause of cancer deaths. Increased cancer rates, along with the similar trend the country is seeing in increased asthma rates is cause for concern. "We hope that by working in a cooperative manner within the community, the information gathered can be used by local companies to reduce emissions where possible, by local planning boards when determining distribution of air pollution impacts, and by health officials to assist with pollution-related health affects" said Cindy Keegan, from Compliance Integration, a Beverly-based environmental consulting firm, whom HealthLink has contracted to manage the project and assist the schools with data research and public education of the findings of the study. There will be a presentation of results to date at the annual Earth Day event at Salem State on April 12, 2004 where the public is invited to learn more.
For additional information or a sample copy, Contact:
Cindy Keegan
HealthLink/ Compliance Integration
978-821-4714 (Cindy Keegan direct line)
781-639-8636 (HealthLink Office)
781-639-8667 (HealthLink Fax)
complianceintegration@comcast.net
www.healthlink.org
HealthLink is a community based grassroots organization formed in 1998 whose mission is to protect and improve public health by reducing and eliminating pollutants and toxic substances from our environment through research, education, and community action.
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References
American Lung Association's -State of the Air: 2003- Report: http://lungaction.org/reports/stateoftheair2003.html
EPA Ranking for cumulative Cancer and Non-Cancer Risk from Toxic Air Pollution: http://www.epa.gov/ttn/atw/nata/maprisk.html
Cancer Risk: http://www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/broker?geo=STMA&pol=_
&rsk=c&city=1&typ=r&_service=nata&_program=nata.scl.xrmap.scl&_debug=2&nata2=1
Non-Cancer Risk: http://www.epa.gov/cgi-bin/broker?geo=
STMA&pol=_&rsk=n&city=1&typ=r&_service=nata&_program=nata.scl.xrmap.scl&_debug=2&nata2=1
Department of Public Health Cancer Registry Data:
Cancer incidence by Towns: http://www.state.ma.us/dph/bhsre/mcr/99/supplement/tables.htm
Leading Cause of Death
http://www.state.ma.us/dph/bhsre/mcr/99/mcr99.pdf (page 7)
http://www.state.ma.us/dph/bhsre/mcr/00/doc/state96_001.doc
EPA's Press Release: 2/10/04. Bay State Communities Receive $240,000 of EPA "Healthly Urban Communities" Grants
Additional Weblinks of Interest:
HealthLink (the environmental group that is sponsoring this project) www.Healthlink.org
EPA (where you live info): http://www.epa.gov/epahome/whereyoulive.htm (Here you can find info about a company, or simply enter your zip code and find out about air, water, hazwaste, etc in your area)
EPA High School Curriculum Site: www.epa.gov/highschool
DEP (State agency website): http://www.state.ma.us/dep/dephome.htm
TURI (State semi-agency) Data submitted by companies on chemical usage: http://www.turi.org/turadata/
Watch group that links to multiple agency resources: www.scorecard.org
American Lung Association: http://www.lungusa.org/index.html
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