The Modesto Bee
April 29, 2005
By Michael G. Mooney
Schools throughout Stanislaus County soon will hoist color-coded "air quality" flags as a way to alert students, parents and staff of air pollution risks.
Flags of four colors will be used:
"By raising these flags," said Dr. Wallace Carroll, a Modesto allergist, "we hope to raise awareness and change routine behavior to help prevent or reduce the severity of asthma attacks."
Announcement of the flag program came a day after the American Lung Association gave failing grades to Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolumne, San Joaquin and Calaveras counties in its "State of the Air 2005" report.
The report lists Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin among counties with the worst air in the nation for smog and particle pollution.
Carroll, chairman of the Stanislaus County Asthma Coalition, said three of the county's 245 schools will begin flying flags in May. The 242 remaining schools are expected to start raising the flags by fall.
"If it's a bad air day, perhaps we can delay mowing the lawn or lighting the fireplace," Carroll said. "There's a lot we can all do to help reduce missed school and work days due to asthma."
The colors of the flags will be based on an air quality index that provides daily information about pollution and is issued by the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
Similar programs are used at schools in Merced, Mariposa, Tulare and Fresno counties.
MedicAlert of Turlock is picking up the $20,000 to $25,000 cost in Stanislaus County.
About 12 percent of San Joaquin Valley children have asthma, Carroll said. That's one of the highest rates in the country.
In Fresno County, Carroll said, one in every six school children carries an inhaler.
An estimated 22,000 adults and 12,000 children in Stanislaus County have asthma. About 5,000 people have emphysema and more than 14,000 have chronic bronchitis.
Carroll estimated that about half of all school absences are due to asthma.
Ozone air pollution is a powerful irritant that can cause chemical burns on lung tissue, according to the Lung Association.
Ozone triggers asthma attacks
Studies have found that ozone triggers asthma attacks, the Lung Association contends, and increases the need for emergency room visits and hospital admissions.
Particle pollution is a mixture of microscopic solids and aerosols that, according to the Lung Association, can take months to years off a person's life.
With children, the elderly and those with asthma, other lung diseases or heart disease, the Lung Association report adds diabetics to its list of groups most at risk from particle pollution.
Derek G. Shendell, an environmental public health scientist, is a booster of the flag program. Shendell also serves as interim executive director of the statewide Community Action to Fight Asthma Initiative.
"The outdoor air quality flags program is an excellent example," he said, "of how science-based environmental education and visual risk communication can reduce children's exposures to known environmental asthma triggers, namely ozone and particles, outdoors as well as inside the school."
For more information about the flag program, contact the Stanislaus County Asthma Coalition at 558-8858, MedicAlert at 669-2412 or Community Action to Fight Asthma at 510-622-4444.