Air Health Our Health

What would happen in terms of our health and wealth if we started only purcashing electric vehicles by the year 2030? Today on the podcast I talk to Will Barrett of the American Lung Association about the new analysis the ALA has commissioned called the Road to Clean Air. We recorded this with sky high levels of PM2.5 outside due to wildfires worsened by climate change, and it was an analysis that gave me some hope on the dual benefits of addressing climate change and decreasing particulate matter. Furthermore, Will is hopeful that we can actually achieve these goals. Listen to the podcast today for a dose of hope, then take action for healthy air in your own life. What Can You Do? 1- Speak up about the health of clean air- you can sign the ALA’s petition to your local Governor to focus on healthy air here. Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Post about the importance of clean air with the #Standupforcleanair. 2- Ask your representatives at all levels of government, including your state legislature to incentivize electric vehicles. Ask your state, town or county to only purchase electric vehicles- frequently a municipality has bulk purchasing power and can invest in infrastructure that makes electrification more possible for individuals and businesses. 3- Donate to the ALA here- show support from the Air Health Our Health community! 4- Are you considering purchasing a new car soon? Choose electric! Or a plug-in hybrid with a decent range if you’re not ready to go full electric. Consumer Reports estimates a typical EV owner can save $800-$1000 on fuel costs especially if they charge at home, and lifetime savings of $4,600 on vehicle maintenance, oil changes, etc. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- See the blog post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website.

Join for a conversation with Dr. Farzad Moazed, MD, who has studied the impacts of tobacco on the Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS), which is the dreaded fulminant respiratory failure that can be seen from severe viral illnesses like influenza and COVID19. Listen and learn! What Can you Do? 1- Support people to quit smoking and vaping- do this in every way you can. If you smoke, go to the Tobacco and Veterans post to learn more about how to quit. If you don’t, donate to the ALA or the Campaign for Tobacco Free kids (on Invest part of site). Wear a T-shirt telling people not to light things on fire and breathe them into their lungs. 2- Support tobacco taxes- honestly, I generally vote for tobacco taxes, even if I don’t like the design, because I will take anything that helps get this scourge out of people's lives. The best ones go only to funding cessation programs and healthcare, and I think Measure 108 in Oregon fits that bill. Learn more about its design in my conversation with Cyreena Boston Ashby, and by going here. If nobody is working on one in your state or community, or if there is a carve-out for vaping, be the person in your community who works on it. We can stop when it is $16/pack or higher, or everyone just quits smoking. Twitchy Airways Club Members- 1- if you smoke, please get help to quit. You can find resources here, and support and motivation from my conversation with veteran Brandy Carpenter. Also feel free to get in touch with me via the website or Instagram if you need more resources or have questions. 2- use your voice as someone with lung disease to talk about the importance of healthy air! You can learn more at the Tobacco & Vaping section. 3- Speak up for your own health- if someone is smoking or vaping around you, you can ask them to make choices that preserve healthy air for you. If you are willing to share that you have lung disease, you can, or you can just remind them that healthy air is good for everyone ---- Visit blog post for more information, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website.

Like many in the West and other parts of the world increasingly affected by fire, I think often of the hard work and heroism of our wildland firefighters. “Los bomberos” have been regularly mentioned in our family prayers before meals and bedtimes, and my children have participated enthusiastically in making thank you cards. As a lung doctor, I worry frequently about the health of frontline workers. One person who is an expert in evaluating and protecting high risk occupations is my podcast guest today. Dr. Alya Khan is an occupational medicine physician at the University of California Irvine, and directs the Occupational Medicine Residency program there.  In addition to a Master’s degree in Environmental Toxicology, she holds dual board certifications in internal Medicine and Preventive Medicine.  She works at the Center for Occupational and Environmental Health which provides clinical and preventive services to local and regional employers, conducts worksite surveillance programs, as well as providing toxicology consultations. Earlier this year, she chaired a symposium on wildfires and health risks with a variety of professions, from public health researchers to wildland firefighters and forest management experts. Listen and learn!  Ways to Take Action Thank your firefighters- and make sure you advocate for them to have lifelong high quality health coverage since they are risking their lives and health to keep us all safe. Episode photo of Steelhead Enterprises Firefighters who fought our fires here in Oregon. Donate to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation- Charity Navigator Score of 93.91, and participate in the Tribute to Fallen Firefighters on October 4th Ensure protection for outdoor workers- ensure your state has workplace safety considerations in place for outdoor workers. These can be complex issues, but just because issues are complex, does not mean we should not work on them. One example is here. Check with your local fire department on how to make your home and community more resilient to wildfire Contact your legislators to support increased wildland fire prevention - for example with a pro-active forest management approach with year-round staffing. We need to let the science lead to help us understand which areas are at risk and spend the money to pay people to safely address it. This will also bring good, high quality jobs as well. Want to hear more from Dr. Khan? Check out woema.org/podcasts. ---------------------------- Visit the blog post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website.

This podcast is airing while catastrophic wildfires are raging over the entire West Coast, and many of us have been living in air quality that is beyond the air toxics index. I have never thought so much about my HVAC system and the trade-offs of protecting my home from external particulate matter and needing to ventilate my home. As a lung doctor, it is hard not to think about how much our buildings need to breathe just like we do. One person who makes it his job to study these things is Dr. Elliott Gall, a scientist in the department of mechanical and materials engineering at Portland State University. He obtained his PhD in Civil Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. He studies indoor air quality, including HVAC systems and understanding how air pollution enters and leaves our homes and other buildings where we live our lives. Listen to our conversation today- we cover so many questions, including how to pick and size air filters, pitfalls to avoid, what we can and cannot protect ourselves from with technology, the differences among air quality monitors, etc.  We also address some memes and pseudoscience flying around the Internet and social media, from dangerous ozone-generating air "purifiers" to the rumor that boiling water will clean the air. He actually did some experiments on this today before this podcast to answer the question! Overall, it is hard to not think about the magnitude of the cost of these fires, not only in the toll on human life and property that has already occurred, particularly for those who have lost loved ones and all their possessions directly due to fire, but also in the healthcare expenditures, decreased human potential, lifelong illnesses and economic devastation from those affected by the smoke itself as well as the costs that all of us will have to lay out to prepare our own homes for decreasing air pollution exposure. It has never been so clear to me that healthy air leads to healthy people and a healthy economy. Resources- Follow Dr. Gall on Twitter at @etgall. He sent me so many great references, they actually don't fit in the show-notes! Go to the airhealthourhealth.org post for this episode to see them. I'll keep updating it as I get more.  ---------------------------- Visit episode post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or contact me via the website. -----------------------------

September is usually a time when kids board school buses to start a new school year. In 2020,  we are instead logging into Zoom calls, and  hunkered down in our homes avoiding a pandemic virus and wildfires. Sometimes it is hard to find hope, but there is hope in this episode today! I focus on a very hopeful topic- the massive benefit of cleaning up diesel. While trying to convey the importance of decreasing diesel exhaust, I frequently cite a particular study by my guest Professor Sara Adar. We talk about what happened when Washington State decided to invest money and policy into cleaning up the engines and fuel of school buses for young children.  I love this study, because it gives me hope. Dr. Adar and I also discussed studies in Georgia, where changes to cleaner buses led to better educational achievement in students. We also discussed the many studies that have shown additional healthy life expectancy from intelligent air pollution policy and investing in healthy air. It’s a win-win. Let’s clean up the air.  Take Action-  1- Find out the age of the school buses or other public diesel engines in your area. If they have not been retrofitted or do not have engines from after 2007, find out what your school district or municipality is planning to do and whether they have applied for DERA funding to help improve health and decrease absenteeism. Find out if your local area can obtain funding from the Volkswagen Settlement for cleaning up the fleet.  2- Call or write your Members of Congress and tell them you support a Clean School Bus Act in the next Congress- it’s an investment in the futures of our kids and a future strong economy.  3- Make sure your bus drivers have good health insurance and working conditions.  4- Talk to your local town or city council, your state legislature, and your federal elected representatives about your concerns about air pollution and diesel, and share your thoughts about the economic benefits of healthy air. TLDL (To Long Didn't Listen)- Diesel exhaust makes kids sick, and cleaning up diesel school buses decreases sick days and helps kids do better in school. Let's invest in our kids! ---------------------------- Visit episode post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or contact me via the website. -----------------------------

Today's episode is a brief one outside the regular two week schedue. It is recorded in the setting of the wildfires engulfing the West Coast. I focus on the health effects of breathing wildfire smoke. I also provide some steps that we can take in response.  TLDL (To Long Didn't Listen)- Climate change is driving wildfires which will lead to astronomical costs in human and economic health. We need to do something.  Things you can do:  Donate Money-  Donate to World Central Kitchen- working to feed firefighters and those on the frontline  Donate to Pacific NW Red Cross- fund organized by KGW news  Donate to California Fire Foundation- supporting families of fallen firefighters, firefighters, and their communities  Donate to the NorCal Wildfire Relief Fund- helps Latino-lead organizations get critical financial assistance, rehousing support, and emergency translation for Latino and immigrant families affected by the fires  Take Action-  Demand your elected representatives take climate change seriously and fund programs to decrease carbon emissions and mitigate climate change effects, including catastrophic fires.  Thank your firefighters. Donate to organizations above to support them. Ensure they have adequate PPE, health care coverage and support for their families.  Recognize that many of those who need to flee fire are climate refugees. Expand your compassion to those around the world who also need to flee drought and heat to find better lives. We are all in this together.  Twitchy Airways Club- If you are a member of the Twitchy Airways Club and suffer from asthma or COPD, make sure to follow the air quality reports from airnow.gov or other local public health websites and pay attention to recommendations for sensitive or vulnerable groups.  - Make sure to carry a rescue inhaler with plenty of doses, and if you have worsening symptoms, talk to your doctor about whether you need increased maintenance medication as well, and what your emergency control plan is.  - Consider using an N95 mask outside to decrease your particulate matter burden.  - If considering an air filter, avoid one that generates ozone. More information on this post.  -------------------------------------------------- For more information, go to airhealthourhealth.org.  Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or contact me via the website.

Dr. Lewis Ziska, PhD is an extraordinary plant physiologist who joins me today to discuss pollen and allergens in our air. He had a 24 year career at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and is currently at the School of Public Health at Columbia University. He has contributed to International Panel on Climate Change reports with respect to food security as well as to National Climate Assessments regarding public health and air quality. His most recent book is: Agriculture, Climate Change and Food Security in the 21 st Century: Our Daily Bread. Listen to our discussion today about how climate change affects pollen.  We also cover more recent science suggesting that climate change is changing the nutritional content of our food, and may be affecting food allergies as well. He also shared more about the political interference with science that forced him to decide to leave the USDA, a place where he has served under Republican and Democratic administrations. As someone who works as an ICU doctor on the COVID19 frontline, it was sadly familiar to hear the current Administration ignoring life-saving science to feed a simple political narrative.  As a climate scientist, he also discusses the zoonotic origins of COVID19 and what we can expect regarding future pandemics and how we can prepare as a society and scientific community.  TLDL (To Long Didn't Listen)- Climate change is leading to more allergenic pollen, in greater amounts, for longer pollen seasons! Science saves lives!  Want to Take Action?  1- Twitchy Airways Club Members- see the post for this episode for ideas on adding up the costs of your allergies or asthma and how to use those to communicate the tangible costs of climate change.  2- Share your knowledge gained from this episode with your family, aquaintances, and on social media.    3- Consider donating to the National Resources Defense Council to work to mitigate damage from climate change and preserve clean air.  4- Write a comment in the iTunes store or wherever you listen to encourage others to discover the podcast and learn more about healthy air.  ----------------------------  Visit episode post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org.  Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or contact me via the website.  -----------------------------

Under our homes and schools a silent killer often rises from the earth. . . radon. Join me in a lively discussion today with Curtis Cude of the Oregon Health Authority to discuss radon and you. He and I have both had to take action to decrease radon in our own homes, and we discuss the landscape of radon testing, homes, schools, mitigation, and barriers to reducing radon levels. Think you're protected because your neighbor has low radon or you're in new construction? What does it mean to have radon resistant construction? Does that mean you don't need to test your home? Listen to this episode to find out about how you can protect yourself, your home, and your community. Want to take action? 1- At home- make sure your home has been tested for radon. Test yourself if you aren’t sure. Order a kit from and test in winter with doors and windows closed 2- At school- find out whether your school has been tested for radon and whether the level is above 2 pCi/L (consider action) or above 4 pCi/L (action definitely advised) 3- Your community- Consider contacting your elected representative to express your concern about the high health costs of radon. Diagnosing and treating lung cancer is expensive, not to mention the devastation it can cause an individual or their family. It is likely worth supporting programs to help people test and mitigate their homes. It certainly seems a wise idea to ensure that our children are not breathing radon at school. 4- Consider donating to the American Lung Association, who provides outstanding radon education and outrearch resources. ---------------------------- Visit blog post for more information and references, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website. -----------------------------

Today I am joined by Dr. Jeffrey Gotts, MD, PhD. Like me, he is a lung and ICU doctor trying to navigate all the valid questions his patients and community have about e-cigarettes, vaping, etc. He is also an expert on the science regarding vaping. We discuss what that science tells us about e-cigarettes, as well as exploring the hope that many have felt that these devices may represent a path towards freedom from conventional cigarettes. As always, the tobacco industry is pressing their agenda of killing people for profit (or not caring that people die for their profits), as well as addicting children for financial gain. Despite that downer of a fact, this is an engaging episode to help understand the science behind e-cigarettes/vaping, and how it affects our immune responses in our lungs. Since both Dr. Gotts and I are working on the frontline in the COVID 19 pandemic, that can’t help but enter our conversation as well. And, as always, Big Tobacco is out spreading doubt and uncertainty and risking lives in the process. It’s like they are racketeers or something…. Wait. I think we already decided that. Visit blog post for more information, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website.

Today I am joined by Dr. Linda George, PhD of Portland State University. When I started medical school, I never really thought that I'd be interviewing an atmospheric chemist. However, my experience as a physician treating patients who have been heavily exposed to diesel or have grown up breathing polluted air has led me to look at the world in a different way. We dive into that extensively on the podcast today, talking about how inequities have led to the delayed evaluation of the air toxics at Harriet Tubman Middle School (a public school located only 50 feet from a freeway), to how bicycle lane design can decrease cyclist exposure to ultrafine particulate matter, and whether you should drive with or without the recirculated air in your car. Visit blog post for more information, or go to airhealthourhealth.org. Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram. Record a question or comment on the Anchor podcast site or send an e-mail via the website.