October/November 2008 (Volume 34, Number 2)

Air District Announcements

Advocates Walk for Lung Health

In order to create awareness about the impact that unhealthy air has on people’s lungs, the American Lung Asssociation of California and the Air District will host a Healthy Air Walk on Saturday, October 11 around Lake Merritt in Oakland. Participants will walk three miles around the lake, earning money from donors that will go toward research, education, and advocacy to fund and find cures for lung disease. Check-in for the event starts at 9 a.m. at the gazebo near Children’s Fairyland.

This event will be one of eleven such walks around the state scheduled through next May. To sign up as a walker, a donor, or a volunteer, call (800) 586-4872.

Breathmobile Rolls into the Bay Area

A unique vehicle that has been helping asthma patients in Southern California for 12 years has started making the rounds in Northern California. The Breathmobile — a clinic on wheels equipped with educational resources to promote self-management of asthma, and staffed by medical professionals specializing in diagnosis and treatment of the disease — has begun visiting schools and community sites in select East Bay communities to provide services free of charge.

The Prescott-Joseph Center for Community Enhancement manages the program, which is being sponsored by the Air District and a coalition of groups representing government and industry. For more details, call (510) 835-8683.

Bay Area Residents Asked to Spare the Air from Wood Smoke

The June/July 2008 Monitor revealed that the Air District was considering enacting regulation to protect people in the Bay Area from the public health impacts of fine particulate matter in wood smoke. The agency has since followed through on the idea by passing a rule that makes it illegal to burn wood or firelogs in household fireplaces and woodstoves on days when wintertime Spare the Air health advisories are issued. This provision of the rule goes into effect November 1, and in addition to its stipulations on wood burning, the rule also bans the sale and installation of non-EPA-certified wood-burning devices in new construction or remodeling work. For more information, visit www.baaqmd.gov and look for coverage in the next issue of the Monitor.