01/13/99
Editor's note: Ohio University researcher Kevin Crist, students at Koebel Elementary School and a representative from the Ohio EPA will be available for interviews at 10 a.m. Friday, Jan. 15, at the school, 2521 Fairwood Avenue, Columbus.
Contacts: Melissa Rake, (740) 593-1891; Kevin Crist, (740) 593-4751; Randy Hock, Ohio EPA, (614) 644-3619
ATHENS, Ohio -- Ohio University researchers and nearly 150 elementary students from across the state are combining hard science with youthful curiosity in a comprehensive study on how pollutants affect the health of children.
Fourth- and fifth-graders at two schools in the Columbus area and one school in Athens are helping researchers track pollution levels near their schools by wearing backpacks containing air monitors and measuring their lung capacity daily to see if pollution affects their respiratory health.
The study, supported by Ohio University and a $200,000 grant from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency, was prompted by stricter federal standards on emissions of fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone. Ohio University is one of several institutions throughout the nation conducting studies on emission levels under the new standards, which go into effect in 2003.
The project is important because Columbus -- as well as other urban areas in Ohio such as Cincinnati, Cleveland and Toledo -- likely won't meet the new standards, says Kevin Crist, assistant professor of health sciences and leader of the study. "Columbus probably will be the all-American city in that it met the old standards but it probably won't meet the new ones," Crist says. "Through this study, we'll get some strong scientific data about emission levels and begin to understand the health implications of these emissions." In addition to their work with Crist, Ohio EPA officials began monitoring particulate and ozone levels this month at 36 different sites across the state, mostly in urban areas such as Columbus, Cleveland, Dayton and Toledo, says Randy Hock, Ohio EPA air monitoring section manager. The results from Crist's project should make the agency's analysis more comprehensive, Hock says.
"Kevin actually is doing measurements inside and outside schools to find out how pollution affects children's health, and he's doing them in an urban, suburban and rural setting," Hock says. "We're only measuring outdoor emissions, and we're not tracking health problems. This will add to our data."
In December, Crist and his team of graduate students installed $60,000 worth of air monitoring equipment at Koebel Elementary School in southeast Columbus, New Albany Schools in New Albany and East Elementary School in Athens. Students began tracking levels of fine particulate matter and ground-level ozone earlier this month using the air monitoring equipment.
Fine particulate matter is a complex mixture of very tiny solid or liquid particles composed of chemicals, soot and dust produced by the combustion of fuel by power plants and automobiles. Fine particulates can travel deep into the lungs and have been linked to premature deaths, chronic bronchitis and asthma.
Ozone, a colorless gas, is a natural part of the environment formed both in the upper atmosphere and at ground level. In the upper atmosphere, chemicals called chlorofluorocarbons deplete ozone, which protects the earth from exposure to harmful ultraviolet rays. At ground level, the problem is too much ozone. Emissions from vehicles and industry increase the formation of ground-level ozone, causing health problems and reducing crop yields.
To see if these emissions pose health problems to children in Ohio, students at the three schools are charting their lung volume by blowing into peak flow meters, instruments that measure the rate at which people can exhale air from their lungs. Pollution often hinders air flow, especially in children and senior citizens, the two groups most susceptible to pollution-related respiratory problems.
For the study, Ohio University researchers are collecting nearby hospital emergency room records from 1992 to present and comparing cases of respiratory problems in children to past and present pollution levels.
Koebel Elementary Principal Steven Stone is excited that his students are part of such an important project.
"This gives students a chance to do real science that is relevant to their lives," he says. "Air quality is an important issue in America, and this helps children and their families living here take an abstract concept and make it real."
Once the results are analyzed, Crist hopes to share the air quality information with students, parents and teachers in the three communities. Preliminary results could be available in a month, he says. Crist is collaborating on the project with Ann Fingar, associate professor of family medicine, who is handling the health data, and Bruce Carlson, associate professor of psychology, who is analyzing the air quality results.
Crist holds an appointment in the College of Health and Human Services, Fingar holds an appointment in the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Carlson holds an appointment in the College of Arts and Sciences.