Toolkit for Parents

As of September 30, 2011, the unofficial end of smog season, the metro Atlanta region has seen 39 violations (code orange days) of the federal standard for ground-level ozone set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA,) Macon has had six, Augusta had three and Athens two. Unfortunately, the number of days when ozone reached unhealthy 8-hour concentrations, according to the conclusions of EPA's scientific advisory team, is actually much higher. This team, known as CASAC, recommended over four years ago that the federal limit for ozone concentrations be re-set at a level between 60 and 70 parts per billion (ppb). If CASAC's LEAST PROTECTIVE recommendation were in place, Atlanta would have had 65 violations this smog season. View our summary of 8-hour ozone and PM2.5 violations during Georgia's 2011 smog season.

Read our September 29 'End of Smog Season" AJC OpEd Bad Summer for Smog.

We can reduce children's health risk from air pollution by making simple changes in the timing and location of their physical activity. Please share the appropriate guidance document with your child’s caregivers to ensure that each is receiving smog alerts and moving outdoor activities indoors or to a different time of day as recommended by health experts. In addition, bookmark the Georgia Environmental Protection Division's smog forecast web site where the following day's forecast is detailed every afternoon.

• Guidance for Georgia Schools: Outdoor Air Quality & Physical Activity
• Implementation Recommendations for School Guidance on Smog
• Guidance for Georgia Coaches (NEW!)
• Guidance for Georgia Childcare Providers
• Guidance for Georgia Summer Camp Providers
• Guidance for Georgia Families
• Brochure version of Smog Guidance for Families
• SPANISH language version of Smog Guidance for Families
• Detailed resource: Health Advisory: Outdoor Physical Activity & Smog

Good news for athletes-- for the first time ever, the 2011 Sports Medicine Handbook from the National Federation of State High School Associations includes guidance regarding outdoor air quality and exercise. The NFHS handbook includes the following statement about athletes and air quality:

While air pollution has been decreasing in the U.S. in most urban centers in recent years, air quality is still a significant concern in athletics. Athletes are at special risk of inhaling air pollutants for the following reasons:

• Increase in respirations during exercise result in the intake of 10 to 20 times the normal volume of air per minute.
• A larger fraction of air is inhaled through the mouth during exercise, bypassing nasal filtration.
• Increased velocity of respirations forces air deeper into the lungs.

The handbook goes on to offer the following recommendations for athletics directors and coaches, very similar to what the Air Quality Health Advisory Task Force convened by Mothers & Others for Clean Air developed in 2008:

• Distance runners should avoid running next to busy roadways.
• Ozone exposure can be lessened by early morning workouts.
• Athletes with asthma must be carefully monitored when the AQI is above 100 and a rescue inhaler should be readiy available (see asthma chapter). Asthma symptoms may not worsen until the following day after exposure to air pollution.
• Practices and contests should be modified or moved indoors when the AQI is above 100 and consideration given to rescheduling or moving them when the AQI is greater than 200.

The handbook that contains these statements on air quality was distributed to all 20,000+ high schools in the U.S. Mothers & Others for Clean Air applauds NFHS for addressing this importance health concern for high school athletes.

Is your/your student's high school coach adjusting practice on code orange days? Let us know!

• School Air Quality Index Flag Program Flyer: Share it with your local school today!
• M&O Resources for Georgia Schools: Download this flyer describing our school-based initiatives

AQI FLag School List is Growing:

Cenntennial Place Elementary, Neighborhood Charter School (elementary and middle school campuses) and Coretta Scott King Young Women's Leadership Academy (Atlanta Public Schools); Parklane Elementary (Fulton County Schools); Renfroe Middle (City Schools of Decatur); McCall Primary, King Springs, Hayes and Milford Elementary Schools and Cooper Middle (Cobb County Schools); and Arabia Mountain High School (DeKalb County)... Who's Next??

Atlanta Neighborhood Charter School's nurse Leigh Hicks put together this great bulletin board display highlighting the school's use of Mothers & Others for Clean Air's AQI tools (ANCS flies the flags, as well) to reduce air pollution exposures and also its success implementing Clean Air Campaign's carpool idling reduction program.

September 9, 2011: Ms. Carrier's sixth grade science class and school nurse Ms. Adair at Cooper Middle School in Austell put up a green flag for the first time and identify the best locations in the school for the AQI poster. The class also decided to post color-coded cards in the cafeteria to communicate the day's AQI to students who do not see the flagpole because they use the school's rear doors.

Hayes Elementary School nurse Margaret Hayden shows off the school's new AQI poster that will explain the flag colors to school staff and parents. Margaret says about 125 of the school's 1100 students have been diagnosed with asthma, so she welcomes the opportunity to implement the AQI flag program and make sure the entire school community is aware of daily changes in air quality.

A yellow flag flies above Centennial Place Elementary School on Luckie Street in Atlanta on August 16. School nurse Sharon Williams is publicizing the program through the school's active PTA and the communication folders that reach every child's home.

City of Atlanta's Fire Station #9 Joins M&O AQI Flag Program

June 30, 2011: Captain Scott Seely and Randy McCord attach and hoist an orange flag to alert the NPU-H community to the day's air quality index. Additional City of Atlanta fire stations may implement the AQI flag program, as well.

New Tools for Childcare Centers Keep Young Children Safe in Summer Smog

Many childcare centers are without flagpoles but want to participate in the Mothers & Others Air Quality Index (AQI) flag program. To meet this need, we now have available 9" x 12" table-top flags in sets of four-- green, yellow, orange and red. In addition, we are happy to provide large posters with AQI guidance information, clear plastic holders with color-coded card inserts for the front door (a good way to make sure all parents and staff see the day's AQI color), and flyers about the AQI flag program to share with parents. Contact us to participate!

August, 2011: A young child is introduced to the AQI flags at the Clifton School's Clairemont Campus, where the teachers use the flags to talk with the children about the importance of healthy air, as well as a monitoring system designed to reduce their exposure to air pollution.

Smyrna, May 11: King Springs Elementary School staff, parents and students kick off the Mothers & Others for Clean Air AQI flag program at their school. Students at King Springs announce the AQI on the morning news show at school each day, and the school nurse, Margaret Jourdan, makes sure all staff members and families receive M&O's Guidance for Georgia Families:Outdoor Air Pollution and Physical Activity.

Why an AQI flag program?
Many school nurses, principals and teachers are concerned about high rates of asthma among students and faculty. They welcome the flag program as a way to ensure all staff, as well as parents who see the flag when dropping off their children, are aware when air pollution concentrations are high. Flying a flag that corresponds to the day’s air quality index—green, yellow, orange or red—makes air quality forecasts highly visible to the school community, including parents, faculty, staff and children. In addition, the flags are flown daily, in contrast to the smog alert system that only comes into play if the air is unhealthy. As a result, while taking precautions when the flag is orange or red, teachers and coaches can celebrate green days and use the green flag as a visual cue to get active outdoors when air quality is good.

Mothers & Others for Clean Air is expanding the AQI flag program to other Georgia schools as we head into the 2011 smog season. Contact us if your school is interested in participating.

Greening Existing Schools – A recipe for savings and good indoor air quality
by Leesa Carter, Executive Director, U.S. Green Building Council - Georgia Chapter

Last fall, the U.S. Green Building Council-Georgia (USGBC-Georgia) launched its High Performance, Healthy Schools Program to help Georgia schools overcome obstacles to achieving their sustainability goals.  Obstacles often include: financing, training, and tools for implementing sustainable programs.

By supporting the greening of all schools - new or existing – USGBC-Georgia can make a tremendous impact on student health, test scores, teacher retention, school operational costs and the environment.

The average green school can save an estimated $100,000 per year in operational & maintenance costs.  That is sufficient savings to provide two teacher salaries, buy 200 new computers or purchase 5,000 new textbooks.  Green schools are healthy for kids and conducive to their education, because they encourage:

• daylight and views
• high quality indoor air
• excellent acoustics
• thermal comfort

Numerous studies of green school buildings have demonstrated direct benefits to student health and performance, including:

• daylight improves performance
• good indoor air quality improves health
• improved acoustics increases learning potential
• comfortable indoor temperatures increase occupant satisfaction

One of the requirements for greening an existing school is building renewal – meaning building repairs, upgrades, and systems replacements.  Any project that can generate savings possesses a unique opportunity to include and pay for a broad range of sustainability initiatives as part of the project.  Moreover, the reduction in utility costs (from renewal efforts) typically pays for the entire greening project quickly.

USGBC-Georgia has partnered with several companies in Georgia to offer schools a special energy efficiency upgrade program for HVAC and Lighting.   This program helps schools reallocate EXISTING energy bills into PAYING FOR energy efficiency upgrades.  Typically, energy efficiency upgrades, such as HVAC systems, also dramatically improved the indoor air quality of the school.

When structured correctly, such programs allow the school system to dedicate savings to other sustainability upgrades, or to simply save on their operating costs.  Visit www.usgbcga.org for more details.

Idling Reduction 

Most school systems are taking steps to reduce school bus idling because of the rising cost of diesel fuel, but some parents still report they see drivers idling school buses—and exposing children to toxic diesel exhaust—when unnecessary. In addition, many schools have carpool lines where long periods of idling are common.

Georgia’s Department of Education (DOE) created Idling Guidelines for school bus drivers and integrated idling reduction strategies into the training provided to all drivers in 2009.  DOE asks that parents who witness school bus idling record the bus number and location and time of the idling and contact the school system’s transportation director, rather than approaching the driver. 

Indoor Air Pollution Resources

While the focus of Mothers & Others for Clean Air is improving outdoor air quality, indoor air quality also is a concern for some schools. The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a tool kit to help schools prevent and address conditions that contribute to poor indoor air quality. Tools for Schools has helped hundreds of schools implement indoor air quality improvements and is available free of charge.

The Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at Emory University provides local support for schools about creating and maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment. PEHSU is developing a set of training modules for schools that includes a module on indoor air quality. Contact PEHSU for information about participating in this training program as a pilot school or with specific questions about a particular issue or concern regarding environmental health at school.

Clean Air Schools

Find out how to make your school a Clean Air School through the Clean Air Campaign.

Captain Planet

Explore cool games and find links to many environmental web sites for kids.