 Tools
for Schools
Help improve the air in your school through the Tools for Schools
action kit.
The Tools for Schools kit shows schools how to carry out a practical
plan of action to prevent and resolve indoor air problems—and
create a healthier environment for children and staff.
The number of children with asthma increased by 60 percent during
the 1980s, and poor indoor air quality can trigger asthmatic episodes.
Over half of the schools surveyed found at least one environmental
problem which affects indoor air quality, according to a recent
government report.
Good indoor air quality contributes to a favorable learning environment
for students, productivity for teachers and staff, and a a sense
of comfort, health, and well-being for all school occupants. These
combine to assist a school in its core mission—educating
children.
For more information about Tools for Schools, just call 1-800-LUNG-USA
to be connected automatically to your local American Lung Association
office.
MAKING A DIFFERENCE:
Program Offers Tools for Improving Indoor Air Quality at Schools
(Breathe Easy Magazine, Spring/Summer 2000)
At Dr. George Washington Carver Elementary school in San Francisco,
the numbers looked bad: One out of five children was diagnosed
with asthma. That meant a large number of absences due to asthma
episodes and more little ones lined up outside the principal's
office waiting for their asthma medications.
But through the efforts of the American Lung Association, concerned
individuals and community members, the number of asthma episodes
has dropped and indoor air quality has improved at Carver.
The school sits in an industrial area with aging buildings in
the southeast area of San Francisco, known as Bayview Hunter's
Point. Older buildings are at greater risk of having outdated
materials containing toxics and other indoor air pollutants like
mold in aging ventilation systems.
Tools For Schools, a project of the Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and the American Lung Association, helps schools
identify potential indoor air quality problems by working with
administrators, nurses and maintenance staff. Poor indoor air
quality negatively impacts asthma and other lung dieseases.
The American Lung Association is working to bring Tools for Schools
to schools throughout California because poor indoor air quality
negatively impacts asthma and other lung diseases. The program
provides schools with free, ready-to-use kits that include a checklist
to determine sources of indoor air pollution and ways to remedy
it, plans for organizing and communicating with school staff,
and a video.
Indoor Air Pollution Takes a Toll on Children
In 1996, the problem reached a peak at Carver Elementary School.
"Kids were getting sicker and sicker. We didn't know what
to do," says Marie Howmke, RN, school nurse for the San Francisco
Unified School District.
The school started using the American Lung Association's Open
Airways For Schools curriculum, which helped children learn to
manage their asthma.
"We knew that a vast majority of students were diagnosed
with asthma before kindergarten. Some of them had asthma triggered
at the school site. We wanted to make sure that the facility was
not part of the problem," says Howmke, who has 30 years experience
as a school nurse.
Organizations Convene Task Force to Address Environmental Health
Issues
The American Lung Association of San Francisco & San Mateo
Counties joined other organizations in establishing a task force
to address the environmental health issues at Carver school.
Shelly Rosenblum, an environmental engineer at the EPA and the
Tools for Schools coordinator says that indoor air pollution ranks
among the top four environmental health risks.
In schools, poor air quality and subsequent asthma attacks can
be affected by molds, diesel bus fumes wafting inside, aging ventilation
systems, personal care products, solvents, marker fumes, chalk
dust and pesticides.
Pesticides are a Serious Problem in Agricultural Areas
While in more urban areas where Carver school is located, pesticides
are less of a problem, in agricultural areas they pose a serious
health risk to school children.
"At Alisal High School in Salinas, pesticides are being
sprayed a mile away," says Jeanette Donald, assistant director
of Lung Health and Air Quality for the American Lung Association
of the Central Coast.
Carver Team Looks for Problems and Finds Solutions
About four months after the problems identified by the inspection
team were fixed, Howmke noticed fewer kids in her office.
"We do not have anything near the number of asthma episodes,"
she says. "That's because of the Tools for Schools program."
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