Japan Seeking China's Cooperation to Cut Air Pollution

By Liz Noh
Tokyo
25 September 2007

Japan is trying to enlist China's help to fight air pollution around East Asia. Some environmental experts in Japan believe their country's problem with declining air quality can be traced to its giant neighbor. But, as Liz Noh reports from Tokyo, assigning blame is a politically sensitive issue.

Officials with Japan's Environment Ministry say their counterparts in China have agreed to cooperate in the fight against air pollution.

Japanese officials say former Environment Minister Masatoshi Wakabayashi and China's environmental protection head, Zhou Shengxian, reached a verbal agreement in late August. But, the details of such potential cooperation have not yet been worked out.

Earlier this year, Japan experienced high levels of ozone pollution, also known as "photochemical smog", which is caused when sunlight reacts with emissions from cars and factories.

Komichi Ikeda is the deputy director of the privately funded Environmental Research Institute. She says the current smog problems have not been seen in Japan since the 1970s, when the country was still industrializing.

Ikeda says China is now in a similar position.

"And it's another time to watch the photochemical pollution that must be coming from China, because there are very high concentration[s] in China now," she said. "They have industrialized very quickly and there are no specific or enough control[s] of pollution from automobiles and stationary sources.

Ikeda says 28 Japanese prefectures have had warnings for high levels of ozone pollution this year, particularly along the Sea of Japan, across from China.

China's cities have some of the world's worst air quality and the problem is spreading. Pollutants from China have been found in the air in South Korea, Japan and even as far away as the West Coast of the United States.

But finger pointing by Japan at China is a diplomatically unpopular approach.

Reiko Sodeno is deputy director at the global environmental issues division of Japan's Environment Ministry. She says Japan is trying to collect more specific data without accusing China directly.

"Experts pointed out the effects of China. But at the moment, they cannot show concrete contributions from China to Japan," she said. "We notice the effect, but we cannot tell the concrete value or rate of contribution."

That is why Japan is urging cooperative research with China to try to solve the problem.

Sodeno says Japan has suggested the two countries work together to monitor ozone levels, using equipment Japan would provide. Japan is also promoting an easier, less-expensive way to monitor ozone, using simulation models.

However, Japanese officials say since there is no written agreement yet, Japanese and Chinese environment ministries must continue talks to work out the details.

Sodeno says getting China to cooperate in research using simulation models could be difficult.

"The simulation model issue, it's more delicate and sensitive because using [a] simulation model, we can detect where is the source and how it contributes to air pollution in Japan," she said.

Sodeno also says transparency could be an issue and that it could be difficult to get accurate data from Chinese officials for scientific research.

Masako Ogawa is deputy director of the environmental cooperation department at Japan's Ministry of Environment. She is more optimistic about plans for cooperation.

"There may be some bureaucracy and [we] may have some problems, but I understand it's very important to engage them from the beginning to have some discussion or dialogue," she said.

Ogawa says the Chinese government is anxious to tackle the problem, particularly because China has committed to cleaning up its air before the Beijing Olympics next summer.

Beyond the Olympics, China has a five-year plan to reduce energy consumption and pollution.

Ogawa says Japan's efforts to help clean up China's air are part of a long commitment to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, which are thought to contribute to global warming. The emissions are chiefly the result of burning carbon-based fuels, such as coal and oil.

Japan is working to get the international community to agree on a new framework to limit greenhouse gas emissions that would replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012. Drafted a decade ago, the Kyoto Protocol sets mandatory emissions cuts for developed nations, but does not require mandatory cuts by developing countries, such as China.

Ogawa says that, although discussions with China may lack detail now, Japan sees them as an important step to engage China on environmental issues in a broader, global context.

Road sand eyed in air-pollution reduction

By Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun
12:01 a.m. PT Sep 25, 2007

First, the Town of Truckee targeted old wood-burning stoves in an effort to improve the air quality of the mountain community.

Now, road sanding may be next air-quality threat in the town's cross hairs.

Truckee's seventh annual Particulate Matter Air Quality Report shows improving trends in particulate air pollution as a result of the town's woodstove change-out program. Newer stoves reduce the amount of fine particulates (under 2.5 microns) discharged into the atmosphere.

But while the town has reduced the amount of fine particles in the local airshed, Truckee exceeded national and state standards for coarse particulates of 10 microns or greater from 2004 to 2006.

The courser particles are generated primarily by road sanding, according to the town report.

In its proposed plan to reduce dust from road sanding, the town would ask the California Department of Transportation to modify its operations on Interstate 80 and local highways, according to the Truckee Air Quality Management Plan Control Strategy.

Typically, Town of Truckee road crews put down about 1,000 tons of sand on local roads a year, depending on conditions, said Dan Wilkins, town engineer and public works director.

"The sand is swept up between storms, and we typically spend one-and-a-half months to two months in the spring on comprehensive cleanup," Wilkins said.

Between 75 and 80 percent of the sand is recaptured, then hauled to either Teichert Aggregates for recycling or to Tahoe Sierra Disposal site for landfill sealing, he said.

Wilkins said recaptured sand can't be used on roads again because it becomes too fine to be effective.

The town has also attempted to reduce its use of sand in the winter by limiting it to school bus routes and applying sand only when needed, Wilkins said.

The equipment used also has filters to reduce the amount of course dust escaping into the air, he said.

"Our current practice is to only use as much as necessary, clean it up as soon as possible, and use the best equipment," Wilkins said.

The threat to air quality in mountain regions posed by road sanding can be glimpsed by the enormous amount of sand that Caltrans uses to keep local highways open during the snow season. In 2005-06, state transportation crews put down 24,450 tons of sand along Interstate 80 alone from Auburn to the state line of Nevada, including on and off ramps and overpasses, said Caltrans Spokesperson Shelly Chernicki.

While Caltrans keeps tabs on how much sand it recaptures in the Tahoe Basin, it only has figures for what it removed from drainage infrastructure on I-80, Chernicki said. In 2005-06, that amounted to 434 tons.

In the same period, Caltrans used 9,502 tons of sand in the Tahoe Basin on Highways 28, 50, 89 and 267, Chernicki said. Of that, the agency recovered 53 percent, or 5,053 tons, although late spring storms hindered the effort.

"In past years we've done between 80, 90 and 100 percent recovery," Chernicki said. "But with those storms, we lost two months of work."

She expects the recovery rate will be higher for the winter of 2006-07. Caltrans uses both "dustless" sweepers and six Vactor trucks, which vacuum up road sand, to reduce dust in the air, she said. The state agency also tries to offset any air quality impacts by using the highest grade (lowest dust) sand in the area, she added.

"It's a balancing act, we are trying to deal with water quality, trying to deal with air quality, and at the same time trying to keep the roads open and safe for motorists and commerce," Chernicki said.

Road sand eyed in air-pollution reduction

By Greyson Howard, Sierra Sun
12:01 a.m. PT Sep 25, 2007

First, the Town of Truckee targeted old wood-burning stoves in an effort to improve the air quality of the mountain community.

Now, road sanding may be next air-quality threat in the town's cross hairs.

Truckee's seventh annual Particulate Matter Air Quality Report shows improving trends in particulate air pollution as a result of the town's woodstove change-out program. Newer stoves reduce the amount of fine particulates (under 2.5 microns) discharged into the atmosphere.

But while the town has reduced the amount of fine particles in the local airshed, Truckee exceeded national and state standards for coarse particulates of 10 microns or greater from 2004 to 2006.

The courser particles are generated primarily by road sanding, according to the town report.

In its proposed plan to reduce dust from road sanding, the town would ask the California Department of Transportation to modify its operations on Interstate 80 and local highways, according to the Truckee Air Quality Management Plan Control Strategy.

Typically, Town of Truckee road crews put down about 1,000 tons of sand on local roads a year, depending on conditions, said Dan Wilkins, town engineer and public works director.

"The sand is swept up between storms, and we typically spend one-and-a-half months to two months in the spring on comprehensive cleanup," Wilkins said.

Between 75 and 80 percent of the sand is recaptured, then hauled to either Teichert Aggregates for recycling or to Tahoe Sierra Disposal site for landfill sealing, he said.

Wilkins said recaptured sand can't be used on roads again because it becomes too fine to be effective.

The town has also attempted to reduce its use of sand in the winter by limiting it to school bus routes and applying sand only when needed, Wilkins said.

The equipment used also has filters to reduce the amount of course dust escaping into the air, he said.

"Our current practice is to only use as much as necessary, clean it up as soon as possible, and use the best equipment," Wilkins said.

The threat to air quality in mountain regions posed by road sanding can be glimpsed by the enormous amount of sand that Caltrans uses to keep local highways open during the snow season. In 2005-06, state transportation crews put down 24,450 tons of sand along Interstate 80 alone from Auburn to the state line of Nevada, including on and off ramps and overpasses, said Caltrans Spokesperson Shelly Chernicki.

While Caltrans keeps tabs on how much sand it recaptures in the Tahoe Basin, it only has figures for what it removed from drainage infrastructure on I-80, Chernicki said. In 2005-06, that amounted to 434 tons.

In the same period, Caltrans used 9,502 tons of sand in the Tahoe Basin on Highways 28, 50, 89 and 267, Chernicki said. Of that, the agency recovered 53 percent, or 5,053 tons, although late spring storms hindered the effort.

"In past years we've done between 80, 90 and 100 percent recovery," Chernicki said. "But with those storms, we lost two months of work."

She expects the recovery rate will be higher for the winter of 2006-07. Caltrans uses both "dustless" sweepers and six Vactor trucks, which vacuum up road sand, to reduce dust in the air, she said. The state agency also tries to offset any air quality impacts by using the highest grade (lowest dust) sand in the area, she added.

"It's a balancing act, we are trying to deal with water quality, trying to deal with air quality, and at the same time trying to keep the roads open and safe for motorists and commerce," Chernicki said.

Hearth and health

With clean air a priority, officials take aim at fireplaces that go snap, crackle and pop
By Dawn Bonker, Special to The Times
September 23, 2007

IN the model home dubbed "The Pioneer," a rambling house tucked into a Corona subdivision springing up among the last dairy farms of Riverside County, is a fireplace unlike anything the early settlers ever gathered around on a chilly night.

Sleek glass doors front a metal insert that holds ceramic "logs." Built-in gas jets stand ready to send up flickering flames. And, in the most dramatic departure from tradition, a deep transom display shelf and window span the area where a chimney normally would be.

For regional air-quality officials, it's one example of what they may allow in newly built homes and in permanently installed patio versions as part of a stepped-up effort for cleaner air. But to new-home buyer Frances Macias of Chino Hills, the trend away from wood-burning fireplaces is a slightly sad fact of modern life.

"I like the smell of natural wood fires," said Macias, while browsing the John Laing Homes model one recent weekend. "Oh, I guess they have their reasons from a health standpoint. But it's too bad."

Health and air pollution were exactly what the South Coast Air Quality Management District had in mind early this summer when the agency proposed regulations that would have forced no-burn days on the region's smoggiest areas and put wood-burning-fireplace restrictions on remodels and new homes.

After the plan sparked a public outcry, officials last month backed off from any rules that would affect existing homes -- at least for now. A subcommittee is studying options including incentive programs that would cough up cash or utility rebates for homeowners who scrap old wood-burning stoves or modify traditional hearths to include permanent gas fixtures.

The fireplace rules are a small part of a comprehensive plan that tackles all of the region's sources of air pollution -- from restaurant charbroilers to automobiles -- in an aggressive effort to meet a Federal Clean Air Act deadline set for 2014. To help meet that goal, more restrictive rules will likely be imposed on new home construction, AQMD officials said.

But the district is not expecting the new-construction restrictions to be hugely controversial, said Laki Tisopulos, assistant deputy executive officer for planning rule development and area sources.

Indeed, say developers in the South Coast AQMD, whose jurisdiction includes all of Orange and most of Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the proposals largely reflect what homeowners already prefer and what other California air districts have adopted. A fireplace is an amenity desired by 90% of consumers, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders. Whether that fireplace is gas or wood-burning is less of an issue, developers say.



What's in that smoke"The idea of wood-burning fireplaces tends to be a little more romantic in nature than reality," said Les Thomas, president of Shea Homes California.

Most homeowners don't have the inclination to buy and store wood and sweep up ashes, said Colleen Dyck, vice president of sales and marketing for John Laing Homes, which switched to gas-fireplace inserts in almost all of its homes about eight years ago.

Wood-burning fireplaces "are messy, and they make your carpets smell," Dyck added. And there's the spider thing.

"I grew up in Upland, and we kept our wood outside, and I was panicked about having to go out there and bring logs in," Dyck said. "You know, it's California and there are black widows out there."

But it's poisonous air that makes AQMD officials cringe. Wood smoke contains gases and tiny particulates that contribute to poor air quality and are small enough to lodge in lungs and cause a host of respiratory ailments, from asthma to lung cancer, air regulators say.

The fireplace rules were a relatively small part of the massive plan, but they roused considerable attention.

"Anywhere we go to present our plan, people zoom in and we hear, 'Stay away from my fireplace!' or 'Stop the insanity and stop burning wood!' " the AQMD's Tisopulos said. "There's nobody in the middle. It's one extreme or the other."

Kurt Lorig was among those who wanted the district to reconsider the wood-burning rules. Lorig owns Anaheim Patio & Fire and has sold hearth supplies for 51 years. Most people opt for the convenience and ever-increasing variety of gas-fireplace logs available for new and older homes, he said. But why deny a few, maybe 5% of his customers, who love the homey crackle of embers and aroma of wood smoke? The health concerns of wood smoke are overblown, he said, when compared to the pollution spewed out daily on the region's roads and highways.

"What about all the cars?" Lorig asked, pointing toward the busy Santa Ana Freeway near his Irvine store.

Most of the comprehensive plan does address vehicle and industrial sources of air pollution. But the region has just seven years to meet a federal deadline for healthier air, so officials say no source of pollution is too small to chase.

Tisopulos said he is confident the subcommittee can satisfy both camps and craft a compromise plan. It's likely, though, that the final proposals will recommend only EPA-approved fireplace fixtures in new developments, he said.



Rules in effect elsewhereMeanwhile, dedicated gas fireplaces, which typically feature gas flames burning around an arrangement of ceramic, pumice or lava logs housed in a permanent insert, are the norm in most new homes. Models meeting EPA standards are common throughout the San Joaquin Valley, San Luis Obispo County and the Bay Area, where air districts have already adopted burning restrictions. Wood-smoke reduction rules also are in effect in parts of New Mexico, Idaho, Oregon, Washington and Montana.

"In Southern California, we're one of the last ones to get with the program," said Don Bowker, Riverside division manager for Fireside Hearth & Home, a Minnesota-based supplier for home builders. Five years ago, 75% of its business was in wood-burning fireplaces, Bowker said. Now 60% of sales are gas-only products.

Still, Melvin Rosenbaum hasn't noticed a downturn in firewood sales at his lot, Rosenbaum Ranch in San Juan Capistrano. But he does know that new homes are shunning traditional hearths.

"You can't beat a wood fireplace, but it is a lot of work," Rosenbaum said.

With new-style fireplaces not requiring chimneys, architects can get creative. The fireplaces are vented outdoors by small openings similar to those attached to gas dryers, and everything from shelving to big-screen televisions gets popped into the spot above the fireplace.

At "The Pioneer" in the Steeplechase development, the area above the fireplace is dominated by windows. Another model includes a gas fireplace that almost functions as a room divider, with open shelving above. No chimneys dot the neighborhood roof lines.

Frances Macias may be nostalgic for the wood fires of her childhood in San Gabriel, where a fire was a real treat on the occasional chilly night. But she looks forward to using the gas one in her new house, just a few blocks from the model home she was prowling for decorating ideas.

So as wood-burning fireplaces go the way of front-door mail slots, will traditional brick chimneys and fireplaces typical in established neighborhoods take on a certain cachet or become a special selling point? Possibly for some buyers, but not for most, said John Hickey, president of the Pasadena-Foothills Assn. of Realtors and an agent with Dilbeck Realtors in La Cañada Flintridge.

"There really aren't that many consumers that would make that the final deciding point of their decision," Hickey said.

"For some people, the imagined benefits of the roaring fire and the Christmas yule log and the notion that they can't have that is something they couldn't get past. But most people will be able to."

Trucks, trains targeted in agreement on cutting air pollution in Southern California

10:00 PM PDT on Friday, September 21, 2007

By DAVID DANELSKI
The Press-Enterprise

State and Southern California air pollution officials announced Friday they will target pollution from trucks, locomotives and construction equipment in an attempt to meet a 2015 federal clean-air deadline.

The agreement, though short on specifics, ends a contentious year in which the officials often clashed over how to cut diesel soot and other fine-particle pollution, blamed for as many as 5,000 U.S. deaths each year.

Officials with the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Air Resources Board said their plan would slash emissions of oxides of nitrogen -- a key component of fine-particle pollution -- by 76 tons per day by upgrading old engines and setting tougher standards for new ones.

"This is a giant step forward that will lay the foundation that will allow us to get to clean air in Southern California," Barry Wallerstein, the South Coast district's executive director, said Friday in a telephone interview.

The strategy will require new regulations that will be developed and approved separately. Regulations affecting truckers are expected next year. Money to help make the changes happen could come from bonds, vehicle registration fees and other sources and would depend on support from lawmakers, officials said.

Under the most significant provision, trucks in California in 2014 would have to meet emissions standards of trucks that are new this year. That would require truck owners to modify their pre-2007 models with pollution-control devices -- or replace them.

Mary Nichols, Air Resources Board chairwoman, said the state would try to find ways to help truckers pay for such retrofits. A revenue source could be fees on cargo shipped through Southern California. Legislation may be required to impose such a fee, she said.

The strategy announced Friday is part of an air quality management plan that must be submitted to the U.S. Environment Protection Agency every three years.

As part of the agreement, the air board and South Coast district will lobby the federal government to reduce locomotive emissions by 2014 or provide California money to cut pollution some other way. Neither California agency has jurisdiction over railroads.

The strategy also would place newly developed smog-reduction equipment on Metrolink commuter trains.

In addition, off-road construction equipment used in the Southern California air basin and other high-pollution areas would face stricter emissions regulations than equipment used in other parts of the state.

The agreement also would target pollution from fireplaces and restaurant charbroilers.

Nichols said the strategy announced Friday focuses strongly on diesel trucks because most other polluting industries already are stringently regulated.

"It's time for them (the trucking industry) to step up to the plate and do their fair share," Nichols said.

Gregory Owen, the former president of the California Trucking Association and owner of Ability-Trimodal trucking company in Carson, was taken aback by Nichols' statement.

"We've been stepping up to the plate for 15 years," he said.

Since the early 1990s, California-based truckers have paid higher prices for cleaners fuels required by the state air board. Meanwhile, their competitors buy cheaper fuels out of state, said Owen, whose fleet has about 100 trucks.

Stricter rules will be most costly for smaller companies and independent truckers, he said.

The plan would also take advantage of measures California is developing to reduce global warming. For example, truck refrigeration units would be plugged into electrical outlets during loading and unloading, rather than relying on the idling truck engine to keep the unit cold.

The South Coast district has been demanding that the state air board seek tougher regulations for diesel trucks and other pollution sources that fall under state jurisdiction. Catherine Witherspoon, the air board's executive officer until recently, argued that tougher regulations would "break the bank" of the affected industries.

Witherspoon and air board Chairman Robert F. Sawyer left the agency during the summer.

Sawyer was replaced by Nichols, a UCLA law professor, who said the air board staff worked hard and creatively to reach agreement with the South Coast district.

"It was a high priority when I was appointed to break the logjam and have the two agencies working together," Nichols said in a telephone interview Friday.

Friday's announcement drew praise from environmental groups that have been pushing the Air Resources Board for cleaner trucks and trains.

"Mary Nichols deserves credit for reinvigorating a can-do attitude in the ARB," said Tim Carmichael, policy director of the Coalition for Clean Air, which represents health and environment groups.

Air Freshener Report Makes Retailer Take Positive Action

Walgreens Pulls Potentially Risky Air Fresheners from Shelves

NEW YORK (September 20, 2007) – A study revealing that some air fresheners contain chemicals that may affect hormones and reproductive development has spurred Walgreens to alter the content of their air freshening products. The study, released yesterday by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), found that various common household air fresheners – including Walgreens products - contain phthalates, which may be pose a particular health risk to babies and young children. Walgreens announced that it will take proactive steps to protect their customers, including pull these potentially harmful products from their shelves, conducting independent safety testing on them, and making phthalate-free versions available in their stores soon.


Statement from Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC scientist, regarding Walgreens Decision:

“Pulling these air fresheners from their shelves is a conscious choice on the part of Walgreens to put their customers first and take the lead on product safety. This is a wonderful example of corporate responsibility and also shows how companies and health groups can work together to find solutions.”

“Hopefully other companies will follow Walgreens’ lead. And we also hope that the federal government will step up and protect citizens further by taking closer look at the risks of phthalates and requiring companies to test for these chemicals and properly label their products.”


The Natural Resources Defense Council is a national, nonprofit organization of scientists, lawyers and environmental specialists dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Founded in 1970, NRDC has 1.2 million members and online activists, served from offices in New York, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Beijing.

To Fight Pollution, China Orders Cars Off Road For A Day

Vivian Wai-yin Kwok, 09.18.07, 11:28 PM ET

HONG KONG - The government is trying to turn back the clock on China’s auto boom this week. It is asking people in 108 cities to walk, bike and ride on public transport instead of driving cars. Then on Saturday, the government won’t be asking – it will be an order.

On "No Car Day," one or more special zones in the 108 cities – including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin – will be open only to pedestrians, bicycles, taxis and buses from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The environmental campaign, initiated by the Ministry of Construction, aims at saving 33 million liters of gas, cutting 3,000 tons of emissions a day and, above all, raising environmental awareness, state-run China Daily reported Monday.

The weeklong campaign will be repeated every year around the same time, Qiu Baoxing, vice minister of the construction authority, told China Daily.

Once a rarity, there are currently about 50 million vehicles galloping across . They accounts for a third of the country's fuel consumption and the proportion is estimated to hit 57% by 2020, making auto emissions the main source of air pollution in China, followed by coal.

In the first eight months of this year, 5.69 million motor vehicles were sold nationwide, 25% more than the same period last year. In August alone, passenger vehicle sales were up 27% from the same period last year to 481,300 units.

Big cities such as Beijing and Shanghai are the biggest polluters. There are 100,000 new vehicles hitting the streets a year in the capital, and about 30% of commuters there now drive every day.

The four-day citywide partial vehicle ban trialed by Beijing’s government last month reduced air pollution levels by 20%.

The central government is drafting a timetable to impose taxes on gasoline, diesel and kerosene, China Business News reported earlier this month, citing an unnamed official at the Ministry of Finance.

New Study: Common Air Fresheners Contain Chemicals That May Affect Human Reproductive Development

Environmental Group Calls for Additional Testing, Consumer Awareness to Prevent Risky Exposure


NEW YORK (September 19, 2007) – An analysis of more than a dozen common household air fresheners found that most contain chemicals that may affect hormones and reproductive development, particularly in babies, the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said today. The federal government does not currently test air fresheners for safety or require manufacturers to meet any specific safety standards. The study offers both consumers and officials new information on the risks certain air fresheners pose.

“More than anything, our research highlights cracks in our safety system,” said Dr. Gina Solomon, NRDC senior scientist.

“Consumers have a right to know what is put into air fresheners and other everyday products they bring into their homes,” Solomon added. “There are too many products on the shelves that we assume are safe, but have never even been tested. The government should be keeping a watchful eye on these household items and the manufacturers who produce them.”

NRDC tested 14 different brands of common household air fresheners and found that 12 contained the hormone-disrupting chemicals known as phthalates. Only two, Febreze Air Effects and Renuzit Subtle Effects, contained no detectable levels of phthalates. The products that tested positive included ones marketed as “all-natural” and “unscented.” None had phthalates in the list of ingredients or anywhere else on the label. The three with the highest level of phthalates were Walgreens Air Freshener, Walgreens Scented Bouquet, and Ozium Glycolized Air Sanitizer.

While consumers should be concerned about the chemicals, NRDC stressed that there is no cause for panic. The chemicals pose their greatest risk over long term repeated exposure.

In conjunction with the study, NRDC, along with the Sierra Club, Alliance for Healthy Homes and the National Center for Healthy Housing, are filing a petition to the EPA and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) today. The petition calls for the EPA and CPSC to start assessing the risk air fresheners pose to consumers by comprehensively testing all air freshener products on the market.
NRDC said it also looking forward to working with the air freshener industry to find ways to eliminate phthalates from their products.

Air fresheners are now a $1.72 billion industry in the United States – a 50 percent increase from 2003 – with an estimated 75 percent of households using air fresheners. Despite the industry’s size, it is minimallyregulated, not having to meet any standards specific to their products. Air fresheners are not tested for a variety of chemicals, including phthalates, because the government does not require it.

“Manufacturers are getting away with marketing products as ‘natural’ when they’re not, and that’s because no one is stopping them,” said Mae Wu, an attorney in NRDC’s health program. “Our research suggests this could be a widespread problem in a booming industry that – so far – has been allowed to do what it wants.”

The tests, believed to be the first in the United States, cover only a fraction of the air freshener market. Tests included aerosol sprays, liquids that emit a continuous scent and a solid. The phthalates in the air fresheners may be inhaled or absorbed through the skin.

“There are plenty of good alternatives,” Dr. Solomon said. “The best way to avoid the problem is to simply open a window instead of reaching for one of these cans.”

Phthalates are hormone-disrupting chemicals that can be particularly dangerous for young children and unborn babies. Exposure to phthalates can affect testosterone levels and lead to reproductive abnormalities, including abnormal genitalia and reduced sperm production. The State of California notes that five types of phthalates—including one that we found in air freshener products—are “known to cause birth defects or reproductive harm.” Young children and pregnant women should be especially careful to avoid contact with these chemicals.

NRDC recommends that consumers who purchase air fresheners be selective and purchase those that have the least amount of phthalates.

NRDC also suggests consumers first try to reduce home odors by improving home ventilation. Since fresheners only mask odors rather than address them, tending to the root cause of the odor is a first step to tackling the problem.

Polluting Ports Break Clean Air Promises, Fail to Curb Deadly Pollution

LOS ANGELES (September 20, 2007) - The Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach get a failing grade for slipping behind in the implementation of their landmark Clean Air Action Plan, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). In November 2006, the ports adopted a joint plan to reduce air pollution from their operations over the course of five years. However, since then they have missed several critical milestones.

“Adopting the plan was admirable, but that was the easy part,” said David Pettit, director of NRDC’s Southern California Air Program. “The implementation is where you show commitment and, unfortunately, the ports are slipping further and further behind.”

Under pressure from environmental and community groups to stop the public health crisis caused by freight pollution, the ports created the Clean Air Action Plan, which set forth a number of deadlines:

The ports committed to adopt, by the first quarter of 2007, an implementation plan for reducing emissions from port trucks. The ports broke that promise.
The ports promised to adopt, by spring 2007, “San Pedro Bay Standards,” limits that would commit the ports to reducing air pollution to levels that would help the region attain federal air quality standards. The ports broke that promise.
The ports promised to evaluate, by the second quarter of 2007, the use of “tariffs” to require port tenants to use cleaner marine fuels. The ports broke that promise.
The ports agreed to bring before their boards, by the third quarter of 2007, any appropriate tariff for adoption. The ports broke that promise.

“Many supported the plan because we believed it was more than just another bureaucratic exercise,” said Adrian Martinez, NRDC project attorney. “We thought the ports were moving away from a business-as-usual approach that compromises people’s health.”

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are the single largest fixed-source of air pollution in Southern California. Pollution from the ports is responsible for more than 100 tons per day of smog and cancer-causing nitrogen oxides, more than the daily emissions from all 6 million cars in the region.

“The ports have met some of their targets, but they are failing to achieve several important milestones that will result in a noticeable improvement in the air we breathe,” said Melissa Lin Perrella, NRDC staff attorney. “The ports need to explain how a pattern of inaction and delay will ever lead us to clean air.”

Air pollution triggers blood clots: study

Thu Sep 20, 2007 5:04pm EDT

By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Tiny particles of air pollution -- less than one tenth the width of a human hair -- can trigger clotting in the blood, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a finding that helps explain how air pollution causes heart attacks and strokes.

Large population studies have shown pollution from the exhaust of trucks, buses and coal-burning factories increases the risk of fatal heart attacks and strokes.

But researchers have not understood how these microscopic particles actually kill people.

"We now know how the inflammation in the lungs caused by air pollutants leads to death from cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Gokhan Mutlu of Northwestern University in Chicago, who studied the effects of air pollution in mice.

Lungs inflamed by pollution secrete interleukin-6, an immune system compound that sparks inflammation and has been shown to make blood more likely to clot.

The research appears in the Journal of Clinical Investigation. It follows a study last week in the New England Journal of Medicine that found breathing diesel fumes interfered with heart attack survivors' ability to break down blood clots.

Mutlu got a clue about the clotting issue two years ago when he was studying the effects of air pollution on heart failure in mice. Mice who had been exposed to pollution bled significantly less.

"They were forming blood clots," he said in a telephone interview.

In the latest study, he and colleagues exposed mice to particles of air pollution collected by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. These were mixed with a saline solution and injected into the lungs of mice.

Mice exposed to pollution showed a 15-fold increase in interleukin-6 just 24 hours later. That time frame is important because some studies have shown a spike in air pollution can boost heart attacks with 24 hours.

Mutlu and colleague Dr. Scott Budinger said they were able to prevent this clotting by suppressing immune cells in the lungs called macrophages that attack foreign substances and secrete interleukin-6.

Mice with suppressed immune responses did not show increased blood clotting. "This suggested that interleukin-6 was the driving force," Mutlu said.

He said most people understand that high levels of air pollution can make lung diseases such as asthma worse.

"The same thing is not known for patients with coronary artery disease or congestive heart failure," Mutlu said. "I think we need to increase the awareness of this link among those individuals."

The researchers now plan to study whether aspirin can counteract the clotting effect in mice. Low-dose aspirin helps thin the blood and is already recommended for people with heart problems.

Fun with particle pollution

Posted on Sun, Sep. 16, 2007

Smear a little Vaseline on an index card, weigh it, stick it up in the air and leave it there. Take it down a day later and weigh it again, and that gives you an idea of how much particulate pollution's in the air. The tiny particles stick to the card.

Neat, huh? Doing nifty science experiments like that is just one of the advantages to having air so polluted that it's exceeding federal air quality standards. Another advantage is that when local leaders learn the federal government's about to force us to clean up our air, they try to clean it up first.

That's what happened in the late 1990s when folks here heard the Columbus area was exceeding the limit on ground-level ozone pollution: They formed a task force and came up with ways to get businesses, governments and average residents to reduce ozone pollution.

But then the weather changed locally while nationally the feds imposed new regulations on major ozone producers, and ozone readings dropped. That got the feds to back off, so everyone quit worrying about ozone and slacked off.

The good news is our air's now so polluted that we're finally going to have to do something about it, again, and the bad news is it's polluted with tiny particles.

The difference

Ozone typically is a problem only in the summer, on bright sunny days when the air is stagnant and chemicals from fuels and car exhaust float up and cook in the sunlight to form ozone molecules. Each ozone molecule's made of three oxygen atoms. Unlike the stable oxygen molecule of two oxygen atoms, ozone's very unstable, and goes around looking for ways to ditch its extra atom. Breathe it and it can damage lung tissue.

Particulate pollution hangs around all year long. It's made of microscopic particles that drift in the air and cause all sorts of problems.

The airborne particles the feds limit are 2.5 microns, about a hundredth the diameter of a human hair. Unless they're in a cloud of larger particles, like wood smoke, you don't notice them usually, but you can breathe them deep into your lungs. That can lead to heart and respiratory ailments, and that's why the feds limit particulates.

Now what?

So now the air in Columbus and Phenix City is over the particle limit, and if we don't do something about that, the feds are going to say we have failed to attain their air quality standard. That's called "nonattainment." Once you're in nonattainment, just about anything you do that could increase air pollution -- like recruit a major industry or build a big road -- invites federal oversight for the next 20 years.

That scares local business and government leaders. A road project now takes about seven years to finish. In nonattainment, it would take longer as the feds reviewed its effect on air quality, and it might not happen at all. A major employer might be unable to expand. An industry thinking of coming here might decide to go elsewhere.

In December 2008, the feds are to decide who's in nonattainment and who's not. Between now and then, they want us to prove we're working to clean up our air. If we can show we're making an effort, that can keep us out of nonattainment.

DENR urged to junk $1.3-M air pollution monitoring project

By ARTEMIO DUMLAO
The Philippine Star

BAGUIO CITY – Environment Secretary Lito Atienza was urged Friday to abandon a $1.3-million air pollution monitoring project proposed by his predecessor, now Energy Secretary Angelo Reyes.

Clemente Bautista Jr., environmental group Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment national coordinator, said the Ambient Air Pollution Monitoring Project of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and Guam-based Emissions Technology Inc. (ETI) has failed to produce credible data on Metro Manila’s state of air pollution.

“Hence, it should be terminated,” he said.

Bautista said the level of air pollution in Metro Manila is reportedly hitting record-highs and yielding silent but deadly effects on the people’s health and the environment.

“What’s atrociously unfortunate about the Ambient Air Monitoring Project is that the defective data it produced will not help in creating policies that can mitigate or reduce current levels of pollution in Metro Manila,” he said.

Bautista warned that at least five thousand Metro Manilans are dying each year from the effects of such unmitigated air pollution.

Thousands more are getting sick with respiratory diseases exacerbated by exposure to various pollutants in the air, he added.

Bautista said they want to rebut Atienza’s claim that the Letter of Undertaking submitted by ETI president Robert Wilson to Reyes on July 16, 2007 only means that the DENR basically showed the “intention to proceed with the contract.”

“But on the contrary, the LoU expressly states that the DENR-EMB shall pay ETI the full amount of $1,314,776.49 within five days after ETI posts a performance bond of only $44,000,” he said.

Had the project not been exposed to the public earlier, the DENR might have handed ETI the full payment for their air pollution monitoring stations around Metro Manila, Bautista said.

Ten air monitoring stations were set up throughout Metro Manila to measure ambient air (or air outside and surrounding an air pollution source location) and pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, ozone, particulate matter and total suspended solids.

Tips for those with respiratory conditions

September 12, 2007 – 8:16 PM

• Don't exercise along roads with heavy truck or bus traffic.

• Exercise in the early morning or in the evening, when air pollution levels generally are lower.

• If your commute is on a heavily congested road, wait several hours before exercising.

• Exercise indoors whenever possible.

• Check the federal air quality index site for pollution levels:

• If you have chest pain or trouble breathing while exercising, stop and contact your doctor or go to a hospital

Pollution: Dangerous to Joggers

Wednesday, Sep. 12, 2007 By ALICE PARK

Living in a bustling, vibrant city can certainly expose you to a lot of things, not the least of which is air pollution. Tiny particulates in the air have always been a risk for the lungs, setting off respiratory illness like asthma and emphysema, and researchers from Scotland now report that the heavily contaminated air in urban areas could also be hazardous to the heart.

Led by Dr. Nicholas Mills of the University of Edinburgh, the Scottish team found that during exercise, heart patients who inhaled as much diesel exhaust as is typically found in heavily trafficked cities (about 300 mcgs of particulate matter per cubic meter of air) increased the stress on their hearts by threefold, compared with control patients who exercised in cleaner air. In addition, patients who breathed the exhaust showed a drop in blood levels of the protein t-PA, or tissue plasminogen activator, which inhibits the formation of blood clots that can trigger heart attacks. "This suggests that patients exercising in a polluted area might be putting their heart under additional strain," says Mills, "We also found that even six hours after the one-hour exposure to air pollution, there are still adverse effects on the way blood vessels respond."

Previous studies have shown that breathing in particulates in pollution can trigger potent inflammatory reactions in the body, which can in turn lead to the destabilization of fatty plaques in heart arteries; if the plaques rupture, they can block blood flow and cause a heart attack. In addition, says Mills, because diesel exhaust particles are so small — in the nanometer range — they may be passing directly from the lungs into the blood and aggravating plaques and blood vessels. Mills chose to focus on diesel particles since diesel engines spew out as much as 100 times the pollutants as petroleum based car engines.

And he isn't the first to reveal the damaging effects of pollution on the heart. A recent U.S. study reported that exposure to polluted air boosts the risk of death from heart disease by 76%, while a trial in Germany found that heart attack rates in a group of people sitting in traffic — in a car or bus, or riding a bicycle — rose in the hour after they had been exposed to the exhaust fumes. A series of studies from countries around the world has also documented that heart attack rates are higher on days when air-pollution indices rise. "There is growing evidence that there is a relationship there," says Dr. Murray Mittleman of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

So, is jogging along a city street out of the question? Not quite. Most, but not all, studies have found a detrimental relationship between pollution and the heart. More importantly, a fear of city smog shouldn't keep you from working out. "People should exercise where and when they can," advises Mittleman. "If your only choice is exercising in a setting that is not perfectly protected from air quality, then you will probably get more benefit from exercise than risk. On the other hand, if you have a choice, it's probably better to exercise away from traffic when you can." You may not actually get anywhere on a treadmill, but at least you'll be keeping your heart safe from some extra stress.

On the waterfront: Air pollution still rising at Port

By Kristopher Hanson, Staff columnist
14/09/2007

It's a case of economic growth outstripping environmental initiative at the Port of Long Beach, as a new survey shows air pollution volumes rising by double-digit levels in recent years, despite the best efforts of industry and regulators.

Between 2002 and 2005, volumes of smog-forming pollution from ships, trains and trucks visiting the port jumped by between 11 and 15 percent.

Growth in pollutants would probably have been worse if not for the increased use of cleaner fuels and new engines by port industry, as the number of containers handled in Long Beach increased 48 percent during the same timeframe.

The survey, conducted by port environmental engineers and coming on the heels of a similar survey by the Port of Los Angeles, showed total diesel particulate matter (DPM) rising by 11 percent and nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide by 15 percent.

The rise in diesel particulate matter, which includes a very fine soot capable of lodging deep into human lungs, is probably the most disturbing because of its impact on the people who work and live near the port complex.

Health studies have linked this pollution to increased risk of asthma, cancer and heart disease. Communities around San

Pedro Bay already have among the highest rates of childhood asthma in California.
The neighboring Port of Los Angeles on Sept. 7 released a similar survey showing increases in fine and ultra-fine particulate matter, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

In coming years, authorities in both ports hope to reverse pollution impacts to year 2000 levels by negotiating "green leases" with terminal operators, implementing a rapid turnover of drayage trucks, encouraging the use of dockside electricity and low-sulfur fuels by ships and replacing many of the port complex's dirty diesel trains.

Eye of the storm

Screenings of a new documentary on the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) drew several thousand people, including many political leaders, to San Pedro's historic Warner Grand Theater on Friday and Monday.

"Eye of the Storm," produced by the union and directed by award-winning filmmaker Aimee Williams, explores the 2002 labor battle between shipping companies and West Coast dockworkers, which included a 10-day lockout that nearly crippled the U.S. economy.

The 59-minute film is punctuated by informative and often colorful interviews with key players and negotiators, many of which were recorded at the height of the crisis in September and October of that year.

The film also documents the union's history, from its birth in the bloody waterfront strikes of 1934 to its evolution through industry mechanization, computer technology and beyond.

The union is making tens of thousands of DVD copies for members and the public free of charge.

To obtain a free copy, visit www.ilwu.org.

Kristopher Hanson can be reached at kristopher.hanson@presstelegram.com or (562) 499-1466.

8:48 a.m. -- Yellow air quality alert issued for Treasure Valley today

Statesman Staff - Idaho Statesman
Edition Date: 13/09/07


The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality has issued a yellow air quality alert.
This forecast may be revised this afternoon should smoke impacts worsen in the Treasure Valley.

All open outdoor burning is prohibited in Ada and Canyon County by municipal and county ordinance.

Hot temperatures, wildfire smoke, and vehicle emissions are creating high levels of PM 2.5. and ozone.

Sensitive individuals may want to consider postponing strenuous activities until air quality improves.

People are asked to consider taking some of the following actions to reduce air pollution during this period:

• Limit driving.

• Combine trips & errands.

• Don't burn outdoors.

• Fill your tank and mow your yard in the evening after temperatures cool down

Study: Pollution Raises Exercise Risks

Study Says People With Heart Disease Should Exercise Indoors to Avoid Breathing Polluted Air


By LINDA A. JOHNSON Associated Press Writer
Sep 12, 2007 (AP)

People with heart disease may want to steer clear of heavy traffic when exercising or simply take their workout indoors to avoid breathing polluted air.

Exercising in areas with high levels of diesel exhaust and microscopic soot particles is especially risky for people with heart disease, according to the first study in which heart patients were directly exposed to pollution.

European researchers found that brief exposure to diluted diesel exhaust during exercise reduced a key anticlotting substance in the blood and worsened exercise-induced ischemia, or insufficient flow of blood and oxygen to the heart changes that can trigger a heart attack and even death.

"We now have evidence that being exposed to diesel fuel during exercise will cause cardiac ischemia and that if you have heart disease, it can only make things worse," said Dr. Abraham Sanders, a lung specialist at New York-Presbyterian Hospital who was not involved in the study.

The results have big implications: About 16 million Americans have heart disease, according to the American Heart Association. In addition, people with asthma, bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also should use caution and avoid polluted air when exercising, Sanders recommended. But heart and respiratory patients should keep exercising regularly because it is so beneficial to overall health, doctors stress.

Numerous studies have shown a link between short-term and long-term exposure to air pollution and higher rates of hospitalizations and deaths due to poor blood supply to the heart, abnormal heart rhythms, gradual heart failure and stroke.

This study adds to that knowledge about how air pollution harms people and aims to show what pollution is doing in the body, information that might eventually give clues for preventing such problems, said Dr. Howard M. Kipen, director of clinical research at Rutgers University's Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute.

"It's quite amazing, what they found," but not a surprise, he said. Still, "most doctors aren't aware that little bits of pollution can cause heart attacks."

Electrifying public transport seen helping cut deadly pollution

The Philippines' first electric-powered jeep (L) running on a test drive side by side with a traditional jeepney (R) during rush hour in the Makati financial district in Manila. The e-jeepneys, as they are known, need to be capable of running on the mean streets of the Philippines where overloaded vehicles, potholes, reckless driving and even the occasional flood are all part of any normal day for the standard jeepney.(AFP/File/Romeo Gacad)

by Mynardo Macaraig
Thu Sep 13, 3:34 AM ET



MANILA (AFP) - In the Philippines, the smoke-belching "jeepney" that has been the backbone of commuter transport for half a century is also said to be one of the biggest contributors to air pollution.

In Manila, a city of 12 million people, commuters spend hours packed like sardines inside jeepneys breathing in the toxic air.

Some 2,000 people die each year in the Philippines, most of them in Manila, due to the effects of air pollution and more than 9,000 suffer from chronic bronchitis, a 2002 World Bank study found.

The cost to the economy in days lost through sickness ranges from 170 million to 430 million dollars, according to World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB) estimates.

A local company backed by the environmental group Greenpeace thinks it may have a solution to help ease the air pollution problem -- electric jeepneys powered by a "bio-digester plant" that generates electricity from household waste.

Solar Electric Co. Inc. sees the electric jeepney as a way of reducing both pollution levels and household garbage at the same time.

Despite the environmentally friendly approach to the transport problem the electric jeepney still has to prove itself and win over the powerful jeepney drivers.

The e-jeepneys, as they are known, need to be capable of running on the mean streets of the Philippines where overloaded vehicles, potholes, reckless driving and even the occasional flood are all part of any normal day for the standard jeepney.

The jeepney first emerged just after World War II when a battle-ravaged Philippines was short of motorised transport.

Clever entrepreneurs bought up US military surplus jeeps, extended their chasses to allow them to carry more people, put roofs on them and turned them into low-cost commuter mini-buses, serving routes that bus or rail companies ignored.

Orlando Marquez, president of the Jeepney Association of the Philippines, an umbrella group of jeepney operators, says there are about half a million registered jeepneys plying the roads today and about an equal number of illegal jeepneys which operate without government permits.

An ADB report released in December 2006 said: "The transport sector is the most significant source of pollution in Metropolitan Manila."

Robert Puckett, president of Solar Electric, says electric jeepneys could help cut pollution levels. Made in China the e-jeepney costs some 550,000 pesos (11,956 dollars) and can cover 100 kilometres (62 miles) before needing to be recharged, which takes between eight and 10 hours.

With a maximum speed of about 40 kilometres (24.8 miles) an hour they can carry 14 passengers -- about the same number as a regular jeepney -- and cost about 150 pesos a day in electricity, says Puckett, compared to around 700 pesos per day for diesel.

In recent weeks, three e-jeepneys have been used as shuttles at a Manila university and in the central city of Bacolod but they cannot roam the streets freely until transport officials give their approval.

Greenpeace International energy campaigner Athena Ronquillo says the transport agencies have indicated they may give their approval before the end of September.

When that happens, five e-jeepneys will get a test run in Manila's Makati business district and in Bacolod for two to three months.

If the e-jeepneys prove viable, the Makati City council will lease 40 and establish the biodigester plant that will generate power for them, says Joey Salgado, spokesman for Makati city.

While no one believes the e-jeepneys will change pollution levels overnight, Ronquillo said they "will show there are climate-friendly alternatives to the current polluting modes of public transportation in the Philippines".

Air pollution causes bigger, more destructive hail

by Marlowe Hood
Wed Sep 12, 3:57 PM ET



TRIESTE, Italy (AFP) - Air pollution hugely increases the size of hail, and thus the amount of damage it can cause to crops and property, according to a study presented Wednesday at the European Conference on Severe Storms.

The interaction of man-made particles with airborne ice could also interfere with the way heat is distributed in the earth's atmosphere, with possible consequences for climate change, one of the study's authors told AFP.

Like tornados, hail is generated by small-scale storms that are difficult to track, and thus almost impossible to forecast. While they rarely last more than a few minutes, they can be devastating.

The most destructive European hail storm on record hit Munich, Germany in July 1984 with egg-sized rocks of ice, injuring hundreds and causing 1.5 billion euros (two billion dollars) in damage, according to German re-insurer Munich Re.

It lasted all of 20 minutes.

To see how pollution affects hail formation, researchers at The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ran a computer simulation of another, less severe storm that pelted Stuttgart, Germany last summer with a volley of hail the size of golf balls.

Because it is impossible to do controlled experiments in the atmosphere, explained Daniel Rosenfeld, numerical modelling was the only way to measure the varying impact of different densities of particle pollution.

"Clean air comes in from the ocean after a week or so with about 100 particles per cubic meter," he said. "Most air over central Europe has more than 1,000, while over a very polluted city, the concentration is up to 10,000."

Comparing the impact of 100 and 2,500 particles per cubic metre, he found that pristine air produced far less hail, especially when humidity was high.

It had been widely assumed that large hail formed inside updrafts, columns of air moving vertically through storms at speeds of 30 to 40 meters per second, giving the ice stones time to grow.

But observing an anomaly in the tropics in Brazil led Rosenfeld to speculate that the cause may lie elsewhere.

"We compared clouds that appeared in the smoke emanating from forest fires" -- which generate large quantities of particle pollution -- "to pristine clouds nearby," he said.

The smoke-laden clouds produced hail over the rainforest, an "unheard of" phenomenon.

"The ice microphysical structure of clean and dirty clouds are dramatically different, especially when it come to hail," said Rosenfeld.

The hail inside clouds formed in dirty air starts at higher levels and fall through the whole cloud, collecting droplets along the way.

The result are rock-like ice stones about 10 times the mass of hail formed in clean, pollution-free clouds. The kinetic energy -- that is, the force of impact -- of hail falling on the surface from dirty clouds was 30 to 50 times higher.

The findings could be useful to forecasters, Rosenfeld said, in regions where air pollution rates vary on a daily basis, especially nearer the coast.

The area around Trieste -- where a couple hundred meteorologists are meeting this week to compare notes on severe weather -- is subject to frequent hail storms, which cause severe damage to vineyards. Several European countries seed clouds in an attempt to prevent hail from falling.

Whether the impact of pollution on hail formation influences global warming is unknown, Rosenfeld said.

"But it is definitely relevant to the energetics of the climate system because the energy that is absorbed by the earth's system from the sun uses mainly evaporating water," he said.

"Climate change is not only about rising temperatures, it is also about changing the circulation systems, and the storm tracks and intensity, and the amount of precipitation."

Indoor air pollution widespread in Asia

HANOI, Vietnam - Luong Van Inh is among a neglected group of Asians threatened by an environmental hazard rarely considered: indoor air pollution. Caused by burning wood, coal or other cheap fuels in kitchens, it kills about 1.5 million people worldwide each year.

Inh's wheezing gasps and the gritty soot covering his tiny kitchen are testament to the damage caused from decades of cooking over a wood fire with no chimney to draw out the billowing smoke. He has lived in the stilt house in the impoverished northern mountain town of Dien Bien Phu since birth.

"I have had asthma since I was young, but the problem has been getting worse," said Inh, 70, who shuns cigarettes but has hovered over the kitchen stove preparing meals for his family since his wife died 25 years ago. "When it rains and it's humid, I find it hard to breathe if I cook."

Up to 3 billion people around the world rely on solid fuels such as wood, coal, crop waste or animal dung for indoor cooking and heating. The resulting smoke ranks as the fourth-biggest health risk in the poorest countries, yet it is typically overlooked.

The Lancet medical journal highlighted the problem this week in a series on energy and health. One article stressed that improved stoves with chimneys could reduce exposure to indoor smoke by 30 percent to 50 percent.

"Most people would not be able to imagine what it's like to live in a smoky hut," said Eva Rehfuess, of the World Health Organization's Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. "It's 10 times worse than the most polluted cities."

She said even WHO was surprised by the magnitude of the problem. It was first addressed in the 2002 World Health Report, that ranked it after water and sanitation as one of the biggest environmental health risks in the developing world.

Earlier this year, the WHO for the first time estimated the effects of indoor air pollution on health within individual countries. In 2002, nearly two-thirds of all global deaths linked to burning solid fuels were in the Asia-Pacific region.

Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh had the highest percentage of death and disease linked to indoor air pollution in Asia, followed by India and Laos. Combined, more than half a million deaths occur annually in those countries alone.

Women and children are the hardest-hit because they are at home the most. Mothers in many developing countries cook with their babies strapped to their backs, exposing their infant lungs to the smoke.

Indoor air pollution has received scant attention even though it kills up to 800,000 children each year, mainly from pneumonia. The smoke has been linked to everything from lung cancer to cataracts and respiratory diseases.

"This affects only the poorest, so it's easy for the decision makers who no longer live in this type of community to not even see it," said John J. Mitchell, of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Partnership for Clean Indoor Air. He attended a household air pollution workshop in Hanoi last month.

Pollution levels recorded in some Bangladesh and Indian kitchens were up to 40 times higher than the WHO's recommended levels over a 24-hour period. During peak cooking times, those rates spiked even more.

Using improved stoves and cleaner fuels are the best way to attack the problem, but cost remains a barrier.

China started the world's largest stove modernizing effort in the 1980s, handing out up to 180 million new units, all with chimneys, over 15 years. The driving force was not health, but fuel efficiency, as farmers were running out of cooking fuel by the end of the year.

Kirk Smith, a leading expert on indoor air pollution from the University of California, Berkeley, said better stoves reduce smoke but don't eliminate it.

"In the longer run, you need to move to cleaner fuel, and there are prospects for making cleaner fuel" out of local resources, said Smith, a co-author of one of the Lancet papers.

Several countries are converting animal and farm waste into clean-burning biogas. Smith said new technology is also available to prevent stoves from polluting, but it also is out of reach for the poor.

"In one sense you might say the problem is poverty," he said. "By the time everyone was able to afford cleaner fuel, you'd be talking another 50 or 100 years."

___

Associated Press reporter Vu Tien Hong contributed to this report from Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam