Part 1/2 in Protecting Your Child From Common Asthma Triggers

If you have a child with asthma, you are not alone. About 20 million Americans have asthma, and it is the leading cause of long-term illness in children. Reducing allergens and irritants that are common in homes is one way to help your child breathe easier. Three common triggers are secondhand smoke, dust mites, and house dust.

Secondhand Smoke 

Asthma can be triggered by the smoke from a burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar and the smoke breathed out by a smoker. Choose not to smoke in your home or car, and do not allow others to do so.

Dust Mites 

Dust mites are too small to be seen, but they are found in every home. They live in mattresses, pillows, carpets, fabric-covered furniture, bedcovers, clothes, and stuffed toys. To prevent dust mites:

• Wash sheets and blankets once a week in hot water
• Choose washable stuffed toys and wash them often in hot water. Dry them thoroughly.
• Cover mattresses and pillows in dust-proof (allergen-impermeable) zippered covers

House Dust

Remove dust often with a damp cloth, and vacuum carpet and fabric-covered furniture to reduce dust build-up. Using vacuums with high efficiency filters or central vacuums may be helpful.

Asthma is a serious lung disease. During an asthma attack, the airways get narrow, making it difficult to breath. Symptoms of asthma include wheezing, shortness of breath, and coughing. Asthma can even cause death. Consult a doctor and reduce asthma triggers in your home. Check out part 2 of this blog, which covers three more asthma triggers: pets, molds, and pests.

Ensuring the San Diego Port Commission reflects the whole community is vital to having a "Port for All"

The position of Port Commissioner is a regionally very important one. The Port not only manages one of the region's premier economic assets, it has primary steward responsibility for the premier environmental asset in the region—San Diego Bay.

We are very appreciative of San Diego Mayor Bob Filner and the City Council for taking some time to look into the best way to seat the City of San Diego's Port Commission appointments. The way it has been done in the past can definitely be improved. Here are EHC's top priorities for improving the City of San Diego's Port Commission appointment process:

1. Increase Diversity of Port Appointments:

We support the clear guidance in the Council Policy 000-13 that aspires to a diversity on Board that 'reflects the entire community'. But, all too often, there is very little ethnic, gender, or economic diversity on the Port Commission. EHC would recommend that the city explore ways to increase the diversity of candidates.

The position is unpaid and time-consuming, so it's hard for most regular people to even consider applying for the Commission. To help alleviate the time burdens of the position, the City can improve staff support and resources to Port Commissioners.

To ensure broad community understanding of the Port Commission, the City should develop and post Port Commission job descriptions, standardize applications, offer more time in the appointment process for community groups to iprovide input, and increase community outreach related to the Port and opportunities to be a Port Commissioner.

The Port and the city would be better served with a diverse Board membership that reflects the community it seeks to serve. Without a concentrated effort to address this issue, the Port appointments will remain an insiders' game—which we do not think is in the highest public interest.

2. Ensure Appointees Have Needed Skill Sets:

In terms of skills that are needed to do the job, the best Port Commissioners are those who can understand, are sensitive to, and can forge agreement among a wider diversity of stakeholders. The city will also be well served if your commissioners are experienced in working with the public and marrying the function of government and public input together.

The Port is also a regulatory agency. It has responsibility as landlord, but it also must enforce those leases and environmental rules like the Regional Storm Water Permit, CEQA, and others. In the past, the failure of the Port to be a strong enforcer has lead to multiple multi-million dollar cleanups of the Bay—a huge economic hit in addition to degrading the health of the Bay and communities around it. Failing to regulate the tenants is NOT good for the Bay, the city, or the economy. Commissioners must be clear on this important role.

3. Consider Appointments within Core Experience Areas:

In terms of selection, since the charter responsibilities are largely around commerce, recreation, and environmental protection, we would recommend that the city seek one Commissioner with skills in each of these focus areas. We agree with the Mayor's vision that Commissioners should be chosen to reflect some core experience areas.

At the end of the day, these adjustments to the process would ensure that the requisite skills and experience needed would be reflected on the Port Commission, in addition to the diversity of the community. Thank you Mayor Filner for your leadership in changing the appointment process to better serve all residents of San Diego. Thank you to the City Council Rules Committee under the leadership of Chair Sherri Lightner for spending the time to develop a clear vision and process for the Port Commissioner selection. We look forward to continued participation with the Mayor and City Council to ensure that our Port is one that reflects and represents our community.

February's implosion of the South Bay Power Plant was a cause for great celebration. South Bay became a different place when the Power plant was built and will be a different and better place, when it is removed. Its removal is a victory for community health, the environment, and for quality economic development.

For the first of a three part series written by Laura Hunter, who led a 20 year effort to stop the South Bay Power Plant from operating, she'll explain why the end of this dirty power plant means the end to decades of damage to downwind environmental justice communities of Chula Vista and San Diego.

Top 10 Ways to Poison-Proof your Home

1. Keep the 24/7, free poison center helpline on you at all times (such as in your cell phone). 1-800-222-1222
2. Be sure that cosmetics, personal care products, prescription and OTC medications, cleaning products, dietary supplements and vitamins, pesticides and lighter fluid, and household plants locked away or out of reach of children.
3. Always keep cleaning products, gasoline, lighter fluid, antifreeze, pain and paint thinners in the containers that they came in.
4. Never put something that it not food in a food or beverage container.
5. Do not store food and household cleaners in the same cabinet.
6. If you are caring for a little one, put purses or bags that may contain above mentioned products where a child cannot reach.
7. Install smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors in the home. Make sure they work and change the battery every 6 months.
8. Never call medicine candy.
9. Do not take medicine in front of children; they love to do what adults do.
10. Objects that use small batteries, like toys or remotes, should be kept out of reach of small children. Disc batteries are both poisonous and a choking hazard.

4 million poisonings occur each year – over half to children. Please take these simple precautions to protect your family.

Originally published in the Equal Voice Newspaper on January 9, 2013

More parks and open space for families and children, and fewer diesel trucks spewing fumes into neighborhoods, were some of the biggest victories for the Environmental Health Coalition last year.

The coalition, works to protect public health threatened by toxic pollution in southern California.

Last year, the Environmental Health Coalition in San Diego, successfully shut down a Barrio Logan warehouse to stop its diesel trucks from polluting the air for nearby residents.

The neighborhood has one of the highest asthma rates, caused primarily, neighbors say, by pollutant-producing industrial businesses that are intermingled with homes, schools and parks.

The coalition also had a significant impact on the Chula Vista Bayfront Master Plan ‒ saving more than 40 percent of the land for parks and open space.

And in November, the California Public Utilities Commission adopted a number of the coalition's recommendations that will expand the reach of energy efficiency programs funded by ratepayers to low-income neighborhoods in San Diego.

The Environmental Health Coalition was started in 1980 as the Coalition Against Cancer. Since then, more information and awareness about relationship between serious health effects and the chemicals used in homes and workplaces has become available.

Thirty years later, Environmental Health Coalition has become a leader in the environmental justice movement and a resource for community-based organizations working on environmental health and justice, social justice, human rights, and environmental sustainability.

PAIR Program 

Portside Air Quality & Improvement Relief

Do you qualify for a free air monitor and purifier in your home?

What is the PAIR Program?

The PAIR Program is a two-year program dedicated to improving the indoor air quality in homes within Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, and West National City. These neighborhoods are known as Portside Communities because they are near the Port of San Diego. Portside Communities are exposed to more pollution than the rest of California because of their closeness to freeways, freight, and industrial activities.

Through funding from the County of San Diego and the Port of San Diego, over 500 Portside homes can receive a FREE air monitor and air purifier to improve air quality in their homes.

The San Diego Air Pollution Control District (APCD) is administering this program and the Environmental Health Coalition (EHC) is conducting outreach and education, handling installation, and processing applications. EHC will also be on call to handle any troubleshooting during the two-year program cycle.

Each participant will receive:

• Free delivery of the air monitor and air purifier with three additional filters to use during the two-year program.
• First home visit by the PAIR Community Organizer to install the air monitor, discuss the benefits of the program, collect their application, offer tips to improve the indoor air quality of their home, and connect the home air monitor to the APCD’s system.
• Second-home visit, 30 days later, to install the air purifier, explain how to replace the filter, and provide maintenance for the equipment.
• Folder with contact information for any troubleshooting needs, bilingual manuals for the equipment, list of local health clinics, and information about SDG&E’s CARE program to offset the costs of running the equipment 24/7.
• $125 stipend will be available for households that need financial assistance to help offset the costs of running the equipment.

Why is APCD monitoring the air in the homes of the participants?

APCD is interested in learning more about the pollutants and levels of pollutants inside Portside homes. This data can be used by the PAIR Program to identify additional resources to reduce the pollution exposure for Portside Communities.

Do you qualify for a free air monitor and purifier?

If you live in the Portside Communities of Barrio Logan, Logan Heights, Sherman Heights, and West National City you qualify to participate in the PAIR Program Communities to receive a free air monitor and purifier. 

How do you sign up?

If you'd like to receive a free air purifier and monitor, call our bilingual PAIR Hotline at 619.603.7758, leave your name, address, and phone number. Supplies are limited.

If you have questions, please contact Laura Benavidez, PAIR Program Community Organizer by email at Esta dirección de correo electrónico está siendo protegida contra los robots de spam. Necesita tener JavaScript habilitado para poder verlo. or through our hotline (619.603.7758). Laura is bilingual in English and Spanish. 

What do you get?

Air Monitor: IQAir Air Visual Pro

• Monitors indoor PM2.5, carbon dioxide, humidity, temperature, weather
• 3-day air quality forecasts and historic air data
• Recommendations on when to turn on the air purifier
• No phone/computer required
• Shows outdoor air quality readings from the closest air regulatory air monitor

Air Purifier: Blueair Blue Pure 311 Auto

• Covers a medium-sized room
• Filters air 5x an hour
• “Auto” feature automatically turns the unit on/off when PM levels are high
• 6-month filter life (when running 24 hrs/day) and includes three extra filters

PAIR Partners

Juneteenth a Celebration of Freedom

More than two years after President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which freed 3 million enslaved people in the U.S, an estimated 250,000 people were still being forced into slavery in Texas. That changed soon after General Granger arrived in the state with his troops.

On June 19, 1865, General Granger delivered General Order Number 3, which read:

“The people of Texas are informed that in accordance with a Proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired laborer."

According to Juneteenth.com, “The reactions to this profound news ranged from pure shock to immediate jubilation.” June 19th became a yearly celebration of freedom for black Americans and was dubbed Juneteenth. It is also known as Emancipation Day. Two days short of its 156 years birthday, President Joe Biden signed a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday.

 In celebration of the emancipation of the more than 3 million enslaved people in the United States, Environmental Health Coalition observes Juneteenth. We also take this moment to remember that it was only 156 years ago that black people were enslaved in our country. While celebrating freedom and all the contributions black Americans have made to the U.S. and the world, we must acknowledge that as a society we have fallen short of equity and equality and reaffirm our commitment to fighting for racial justice.

To learn more about Juneteenth, please visit juneteenth.com. To learn how you can celebrate with your family and friends, or join a celebration, check out the links below.

Happy Juneteenth!

How to celebrate Juneteenth:

9 Way to Celebrate Juneteenth in 2021

This Is How We Juneteenth

Local Celebrations:

'Say It Loud' Celebrates Juneteenth With Local Black Talent

Oceanside tea shop owner plans Juneteenth celebration Saturday

Cooper Family Freedom Festival - NAACP San Diego Branch

Local Events to Celebrate Juneteenth in San Diego County

Did you know that June is Healthy Homes Month? 

During this pandemic year, we should be calling it Healthy Homes & Healthy Office Month. For many of us, chances are that your home is also your office. While we have been cleaning and disinfecting to keep COVID-19 away, a healthy home is much more than that.  A healthy home is well-ventilated, dry, clean, safe, pest-free, contaminant-free, well maintained, and thermally controlled.  For most parents, I know it’s been challenging to keep our homes and offices healthy, especially during this pandemic year.

I invite you (and myself ?) to take this Healthy Homes Month to integrate some simple steps to help our homes and office spaces be and feel healthy.

Check out the flyers to learn how to make your home healthy! 

This year’s Healthy Homes theme is The Power of Partnerships. At EHC, we are grateful to all of our partners that we have worked alongside during our 40 years of fighting for Environmental Justice. Thank you partners for your dedication, support, and leadership in keeping our homes safe, healthy, and affordable. Thank you to:

HUD Lead & Healthy Homes Office, San Diego Housing Commission, City of San Diego Environmental Services Department, San Diego City Attorney’s Office, City of National City Housing Authority, City of National City Community Development, MAAC Project Weatherization Program, Campesinos Unidos, Rebuilding Together, Energy Team, La Maestra Community Health Centers, San Ysidro Health Center

We look forward to getting back to our healthy homes visits. They are an opportunity to visit families and share information about healthy homes, conduct a healthy homes assessment, and provide a free kit with resources and tools that families can put to use right away.  As part of our visit, we provide a customized healthy homes plan and may refer families to lead hazard control programs, weatherization services, code enforcement, and/or to our local clinics to support asthma, respiratory illnesses, lead poisoning. It does take a village!  Again, thank you, partners! 

What’s your favorite Healthy Homes Tip?

• Open Your Windows for Better Ventilation
• Taking 5-minute showers to save water and reduce your energy bill
• Stop Using Pesticides. Use non-toxic methods to get rid of pests. Integrated Pest Management | HUD.gov / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
• Use Non-Toxic Household Cleaners such as EHC’s Multipurpose Cleaning Solution
  • Spray Bottle, Water, 2 Tablespoons of Dishwashing Soap and 2 Tablespoons of Vinegar

This year's theme, "Healthy Housing for All", highlights the importance of safe and healthy living in your home; no matter where you live. Through emphasizing the importance of home maintenance, this month, HUD’s Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes seeks to highlight the connection between your internal environment and your health.

This year's National Healthy Homes Month focuses on:

• Raising awareness of the importance of Home Maintenance and the impact on health.
• Educating the public about free local resources available.
• Encouraging implementation of online activities and events in targeted communities.

The Eight Principles of a Healthy Home

(Images courtesy of: HUD/NHHM)

Rosa Vaquera lives in Barrio Logan and is a single mother of four children. According to CalEnviroScreen, Rosa’s community ranks in the top 25 percent of census tracts for pollution impact, including a high risk for asthma. Rosa and her daughter Ximena both suffer from asthma. Ximena's is an extreme type of asthma that prevents her from playing outdoors as frequently as other children her age. At the same time, Rosa and Ximena's asthma was also being aggravated indoors.

[Learn how to create a healthy home for your family]

Healthy Homes Assessment

In 2018, Rosa attended a community-based EHC workshop on the air quality and monitoring at Perkins Elementary School. After the workshop, she filled out an intake form expressing interest in a Healthy Homes Assessment, and a possible indoor air filter for her home. An assessment of Rosa's home revealed that she did not open her windows for most of the day. This was mainly because of bad odors and loud noises common in her neighborhood.

The practice of keeping windows shut in her area is more accurately a result of air pollution and living in a neighborhood with an outdated community plan. The 1978 Barrio Logan community plan permits mixed land use zoning, allowing polluting industries and businesses to operate in residential areas, often much too close to homes and schools. Rosa and Ximena live next door to such industries.

During the Healthy Homes Assessment, EHC learned that Ximena would have asthma attacks on a monthly basis, often at night. In an attempt to improve air circulation, Rosa would open windows, but only in the kitchen and not in the living room or children's bedrooms. This created poor air circulation, especially in Ximena’s small, shared room where the window always remained closed. Rosa also regularly hired friends to clean her house when her family was not home due to their extreme sensitivity to toxic cleaning supplies.

Living in a Healthier Home

Rosa has implemented many of the recommendations given to her after EHC's Healthy Homes Assessment. These include having most of the windows open to improve air circulation, use of non-toxic cleaning solutions, and turning on her stove fan while cooking. EHC determined that Rosa's home qualified to receive indoor and outdoor air monitors and a Home IQ Air Filter. Both Rosa and Ximena are breathing much better because of living in a healthier home.

EHC is committed to improving the quality of life in our communities by fighting conditions that expose low-income communities of color to environmental hazards. We want Ximena to grow up healthy with clean air, regardless of where she lives.