air - The Environment Report

Little Relief for Asthmatics

This commonly-prescribed albuterol asthma inhaler will soon be a relic of America's medical past. The federal government fears the device's chlorofluorocarbon-based (CFC) propellent harms the ozone layer. (Photo by Shawn Allee)

We usually expect environmental
regulations to make us healthier in the
long run. Well, there’s one coming down
that some people aren’t so sure about.
Reporter Shawn Allee says it has to do
with propellants in asthma medicine:

Transcript

Maureen Damitz struggles with asthma.

She’s got it and two of her kids do, too.

But fighting it is also a career.

Damitz is with the Respiratory Health Association of Metropolitan Chicago – it’s the
nerve center for asthma issues in her area.

She says recently, pharmacies have been running out of a familiar asthma inhaler.

“Our phones started ringing off the walls months ago. All of a sudden patients
started getting these new inhalers, and no one was prepared for that.”

The old-standby has been the albuterol inhaler – it’s for quick relief.

Damitz says there is a cheap generic, but it’s got a propellant with Chloro-fluoro-carbons
or CFCs.

And, the government’s banning CFC albuterol inhalers.

Damitz says some patients will miss them.

“When you’re spraying it, it comes out with quite a blast.”

(puff, puff)

“People mistake that as, ‘it forces it into my lungs’; it doesn’t, it’s just the type of
propellant.”

Three new inhalers have the same medicine but a different propellant, known as HFA.

“The new HFA comes out much softer and its warmer when it comes out. They
mistake that as, ‘Oh, my medication doesn’t work.’”

Damitz says studies show the new inhalers work just as well or better than old ones, but
some patients report just the opposite.

Regardless, no one will have a choice soon. By January, no pharmacy can sell albuterol
inhalers with CFC propellents.

Why?

“Originally it arose from the concern that CFC’s were damaging the atmosphere.”

Dr. Nicholas Gross is an asthma specialist.

He says CFCs used to be in many things – refrigerators, air conditioners, and asthma
inhalers.

But CFCs deplete the ozone layer in the upper atmosphere. That lets more solar radiation
through and causes skin cancer.

The government banned CFCs in most products.

But drug companies got exemptions and were slow to develop alternative propellants.

In 2005, the government asked a medical panel to speed things up.

“They were concerned nothing much was changing. It looked like companies were
going to keep claiming exemptions indefinitely, so they asked what we would
recommend they should do about that.”

Gross and other panelists found three competing albuterol inhalers with new propellents.

So, they recommended a ban start next year. Now, Dr. Gross regrets that ban.

“One thing I don’t think anybody paid enough attention to was the fact that it was
going to be much more expensive in the HFA version than the CFC version.”

CFC-based albuterol inhalers cost about thirteen bucks a pop.

New HFA ones cost three times that.

There won’t be a generic inhaler with the new propellant until 2010.

Dr. Gross worries some patients will go without.

“I think it’s very difficult for the FDA to turn around and rescind itself. It means
somebody made a mistake and in government that’s not something you’re allowed
to admit.”

But, the FDA is sticking with the ban.

One asthma expert is more at ease with the transition.

He’s Paul Greenberger – head of the Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology.

He says if patients puff through new, expensive albuterol inhalers quickly – there might
be something wrong with how they’re using them.

“We don’t want people using them everyday if they can help it. We have to take a
look at their overall asthma control – do they need better therapy, frankly than
these albuterol inhalers?”

Of course, that might mean a doctor’s visit and new meds.

Dr. Greenberger says all of this is expensive, but he still supports a ban on CFC albuterol
inhalers.

He says if patients get treatment that’s also better for the atmosphere, well, that’s
priceless.

For The Environment Report, I’m Shawn Allee.

New Pcb Chemical Found in the Air

One study found PCB-11 in 90% of the air samples from Chicago (Photo by Lester Graham)

A potentially toxic chemical called
PCB-11 has been found all over the air in a
major city. That’s surprising, because people
thought the chemical hadn’t been used in years.
Gabriel Spitzer reports regulators could start
looking in other cities:

Transcript

Keri Hornbuckle says not much is known about PCB-11.

That’s because no one really expected to stumble on it.

“This finding is important, and I think it’s alarming. We should find out what the
health effects are for this chemical.”

Hornbuckle is a University of Iowa professor.

She looked at air samples from all over Chicago, and found the chemical in about 90% of
the samples.

She says the source is a mystery, though it might come from paints breaking down.

“Now, it could be that in all those places where we would expect to see the other
PCBs, we’d also see this one. But it’s a surprise, because no one thought it would be
produced.”

Hornbuckle says she found PCB-11 using a new, detailed way of analyzing air samples.

Other PCBs have been linked to cancer and neurological problems.

For The Environment Report, I’m Gabriel Spitzer.

Living Near the Polluting Fastlane

Researchers have found that breathing the air near busy streets can actually be markedly worse for your health than the air that's even just 200 yards away from that busy street. (Photo by Karen Kelly)
Cyclists take the scenic route along the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, Canada... and their lungs thank them. (Photo by Karen Kelly)

A lot of people like to wake up with a morning run.

But where you choose to exercise can have a big impact on

your health. Karen Kelly has the story:

Transcript

A lot of people like to wake up with a morning run. But where you choose to exercise can have a big impact on your health. Karen Kelly has the story:

In downtown neighborhoods like mine, in Ottawa, Canada, most people walk to work.

And there are two ways to get there – take one of the main drags like Elgin Street…

(sound of traffic)

Or, take the foot path along the Rideau Canal – just two blocks away.

(sound of quieter path)

Now, if you’re in a hurry, you might choose the busier, more direct route. But researchers at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario have found if you do that, you’ll be sucking in a lot more pollution.

Brian McCarry is an air quality expert who led the study.

“If you’re back from a major road – typically 200 yards from a major road – then the air pollution is about 10 times less than if you were on that major road.”

Now, it sounds like common sense – you’re near traffic? You’re going to breathe in exhaust.

But McCarry says they were surprised by the difference in pollution between the busy street and a quieter street even one or two blocks away.

“I think what we’re really surprised by is the impacts of cars and trucks along major roads, and how quickly that impact, or the concentrations, disperse. When you are actually driving around seeing this, you go ‘wow, that’s amazing.’”

Now, usually instruments that measure pollution are stuck in one place. What’s different about this study is that they piled their instruments into a van and measured the air quality while they were driving. So they saw the number of particulates surge on the highway – those are tiny particles that come out of our tailpipes – and then quickly drop off when the van goes into a quiet neighborhood.

McCarry says those particulates, along with oxides of nitrogen, are bad for our lungs and our heart, and can be deadly for someone who already has health problems.

“It’s not just the dying, but there are many people who do show up at their doctor’s complaining of not feeling well, of having headaches, shortness of breath, and then there are a number of people who don’t show up at their doctor who just simply don’t go to work because they don’t feel very good during these high ozone events.”

And for those of us driving on highways?

McCarry says the air quality there is horrible. He says keep your car windows closed and use the recirculate button to avoid bringing in more pollution.

The same goes for people who live near these roads: close your windows during rush hour.

I talked to some commuters who live in my neighborhood and asked them if pollution influenced their decisions.

“Even though I live right downtown, what I tend to do is find a route that actually skirts the city completely.”

“If I can avoid main streets, I will go out of my way to do that. It’s not necessarily first and foremost an environment thing but I do appreciate good air quality and I also like the scenery of the canal and the pathways in Ottawa.”

These findings on air pollution have led to some changes.

In Hamilton, Ontario, they passed a no-idling law and plan to build future bike paths away from major roads. Plus, they and Toronto replaced their old street sweepers –
that kicked up toxic dust – with new ones that remove dust completely.

That’s attracted interest from some American cities.

But while there are many changes that cities can make, researcher Brian McCarry says these findings can help all of us make healthier choices.

For the Environment Report, I’m Karen Kelly.

Airports Ask for Bailout

Fuel costs are skyrocketing. That means air carriers are cutting back on routes... and airports say they're losing revenue as a result. (Photo courtesy of Boeing)

The airport industry says high fuel prices are

threatening the stability of the entire system. Rebecca

Williams reports the industry wants its fuel needs to be

given top priority:

Transcript

The airport industry says high fuel prices are threatening the stability of the entire system. Rebecca Williams reports the industry wants its fuel needs to be given top priority:

Fuel is a big deal for the airline industry. The industry says for every dollar increase in the price of a barrel of oil – fuel costs go up 465 million dollars for the airlines.

So they’ve been cutting back… stopping service on more than 400 routes since March.

And for airports… that means losing their main source of revenue.

So they want the federal government to bail them out if fuel keeps going up.

Sean Broderick is with the American Association of Airport Executives.

“Petroleum based products are what make airplanes fly, period. And while industry and aircraft manufacturers are working on alternatives there is no equivalent to wind power.”

The group wants the government to allow airlines to borrow from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve… or be given subsidies for jet fuel.

For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Coal: The Comeback Kid

Memorials to miners and past mining disasters dot the public spaces in rural parts of southern Illinois. This granite obelisk is in honor of mining near West Frankfort, which is in the heart of Illinois coal country, and close to several operating mines. In 1980, Illinois had 18,000 coal miners - now, the workforce is less than 4,000. Mining experts say new digging permits, new hires and new investment in Illinois coal signals a comeback, though it's unclear mining employment will reach former heights. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
John Mead directs the Center for Clean Coal Research at Southern Illinois University. Mead says the probable comeback of Illinois' coal industry hasn't fully materialized yet, but he agrees with industry experts who say cleaner-burning coal-fired power plants are creating a new market for the state's high-energy resource. By the way, the coal nugget in his palm is the only coal he could find in his office. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
The exit at an operating mine near Galatia, Illinois. (Photo by Shawn Allee)
This coal fired power plant sits at the corner of the SIU campus in Carbondale, Illinois. It's built sulfur scrubbers and other technology that allow it to use Illinois coal. (Photo by Shawn Allee)

America has a love-hate relationship
with coal. We burn coal to make half our
electricity, but we’re always fighting coal’s
air pollution. Some regulations decimated
the coal industry in one key state. Shawn
Allee reports miners there are caught
between a slow comeback and another round of
regulation:

Transcript

Coal was once king of the Southern Illinois economy, but no longer.

Nathan Threewitt lives in the area. He explains mining jobs evaporated.

Nathan Threewitt: “Eighteen years ago, give or take a couple, people went from
making a nice, upper-class living to nothing at all. Couldn’t find work, everybody
had to move.”

Shawn Allee: “Did you have that happen in your own family?”

Threewitt: “Yep. My dad’s got ten brothers and sisters. They went from, everybody
had clothes for school, everybody had food to eat, to, we don’t know how the hell it
was gonna happen.”

Even though Threewitt has a tough history with coal – he’s actually trying to get into the
industry.

In fact, I find him while he’s taking a break from a coal mining training class at Rend
Lake College.

I know at one time, classes like these had been canceled.

I track down instructor David Colombo to see what’s changed.

David Colombo: “This room is where I train miners for the most part.”

Shawn Allee: “What’s this?”

Colombo: “Ugh. This is a high voltage cable.”

Allee: “This is almost as thick as your arm.”

Colombo: “This isn’t the biggest of the bigs, either.”

Right now, only about four thousand Illinois miners need to be familiar with equipment
like this.

But Colombo gets calls from mining companies in the area who need trained workers.
So, his school’s growing to keep up.

Shawn Allee: “Why have faith that you’re going to need space for miners to be
trained?”

David Colombo: “With the mining permitting that’s going on, is the highest it’s been
in thirty years.”

Colombo: “Gentlemen in this afternoon’s class will start sinking a mine within the
next week or two. Right now it just employs ten people, but in a year from now, that
same mine’s probably going to employ a hundred and ten people.”

People use words like rebound and comeback when they describe the Illinois coal
industry. To understand what happened, you have to dial back a little.

“It was really the effect of Clean Air Act amendments of 1990.”

This is John Mead. He heads coal research at Southern Illinois University.

He says Illinois coal is blessed with high energy, but it’s cursed with sulfur that caused
acid rain and lung disease. The amendments aimed to cut that.

“Most utilities were able to switch to lower-sulfur coal, and that’s just what they
did.”

In fact, utilities opened new mines out West where the coal has less sulfur.

As for an Illinois coal turn-around?

“Today, sulfur and other materials in the coal can be controlled pretty effectively
with technology.”

So, now Illinois coal can better compete with lower-sulpher coal.

But here’s the thing. There could be another pollution clamp-down in the works.

You know about global-warming, right? Well, carbon dioxide’s a big cause, and coal
produces carbon dioxide in spades.

Scientists say cutting coal emissions would be a quick way to cut carbon.

So, miners in Southern Illinois get mixed messages – the country wants their coal again,
but maybe not for long.

Miner-to-be Nathan Threewitt says he’s thought this through.

Nathan Threewitt: “Well, if anybody looked at the economics of it, it’s gonna go
back. Coal used to be fifteen dollars a ton, it’s now 65 dollars a ton. You’re gonna
have these coal companies with coal left in the ground, it used to not be worth it to
get the money out, now it’s worth it.”

Shawn Allee: “You like those odds.”

Threewitt: “Yeah, I do. I’m rolling the dice on it.”

Threewitt figures, he’s got time to build a career from coal, while America makes up its
mind just how clean it wants its coal-fired electricity.

For The Environment Report, I’m Shawn Allee.

Turbines and Bats: A Deadly Combo

Many bats are being killed by wind turbines (Photo courtesy of the US Fish and Wildlife Service)

The wind turbine industry has made
changes to reduce the number of birds killed
by the spinning blades. But scientists are
finding that more bats are being killed.
Rebecca Williams reports one research team
thinks it now knows why:

Transcript

It’s been a mystery why bats are getting killed by wind turbines. They’re
usually great at avoiding collisions because they sense moving objects
even better than still ones.

A team from the University of Calgary looked at dead bats near
turbines. They found that 90% of the bats had internal bleeding.

Erin Baerwald is the lead author of the study. She says there’s a sudden
drop in pressure near the tips of the turbine blades. And when bats fly
close enough, the pressure drop makes their lungs over-expand and
burst. She thinks the bats are attracted to the turbines.

“Maybe they see these tall turbines as trees.”

That’s because most of the bats that are getting killed are tree roosting
bats.

Baerwald says researchers are looking at ways to change turbines to
avoid killing bats.

For The Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

Power Plant Pollution From Plug-Ins?

Some people get a little concerned about more electrics and electric-hybrid cars. That’s because 50% of electric power in the U.S. comes from coal-burning power plants. And, just about every state wants to build more power plants to meet peak demand. (Photo by Ed Edahl, courtesy of FEMA)

The big automakers are working on
coming up with plug in hybrids. By the
end of 2010, G-M and Toyota plan to have
cars you can plug in to charge up batteries,
backed up with small gas powered engines.
Lester Graham reports there are concerns
about whether pollution from power plants
will be any better than pollution from tailpipes:

Transcript

I was out the other day with a guy who converted his Saturn four-door into an all electric
vehicle. Did it all himself.

His name’s Bob Gurk. He’s one of a lot of people who think there’s a better way, and
they want you to see for yourself.

Bob Gurk: “Here are the keys.”

Lester Graham: “I’m drivin’?”

Guys like Bob Gurk think the big automakers should have come up with electrics and
plug-in hybrids a long time ago.

Lester Graham: “Unplug here?”

Bob Gurk: “Yeah.”

(sounds of driving)

Bob Gurk says, sure, he spent a lot converting his car to electric. And there are some
sacrifices: no air conditioning, he can only go just a little over 50 miles without a charge,
but then, he’s not paying close to four-bucks a gallon for gasoline now.

Bob Gurk: “I figure it’s about three cents a mile.”

Lester Graham: “Three cents a mile?”

Bob Gurk: “Yeah.”

Lester Graham: “As opposed to gasoline, which is?”

Bob Gurk: “Ten cents a mile, I’d say. At least.”

Some people get a little concerned about more electrics and electric-hybrids. That’s
because 50% of electric power in the U.S. comes from coal-burning power plants. And,
just about every state wants to build more power plants to meet peak demand.

A guy who’s supposed to know something about electric cars is Andy Frank. He’s at
the University of California Davis. Some call him the father of the plug-in-hybrid. Andy
Frank says we don’t use all the power that’s available right now.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that the grid actually has excess capacity. The
reason why is there has to be enough capacity to satisfy the peak draw in the middle of
the day. But, at night everybody turns off their lights and that draw goes down to about
anywhere between a half and two-thirds of what is required during the peak of the day.”

So, the idea is you could plug in your plug-in hybrid overnight.

“And then the question is how many cars could you charge with that idle capacity on our
existing grid? About 75 to 80% of cars in our entire fleet in the U.S. could be charged
with that excess capacity that we currently have.”

That’s assuming most people would only plug in at night, during the off-peak hours. If
most of them did, that would be a lot of cars that would not be emitting pollution from the
tailpipes.

But that also means some power plants will be burning more coal at night, billowing out
pollution, including greenhouse gasses.

Dustin Dwyer reports on automotive issues for Michigan Radio and he’s covered this
issue.

“One of the benefits, the power companies will tell you, is that if you have millions of
tailpipes out there spewing emissions, it’s much more difficult to capture those emissions
or manage those emissions than it is to manage coming out of one smokestack at the
power plant.”

But, you do end up shifting some pollution upstream to the power plants. And that
would pollute rural areas more, because that’s where they build the power plants.

The experts say that’s why we ought to start building parking lots with car ports covered
in solar panels, put up more wind turbines, and find other ways to use energy better – to
power all those electric and plug-in hybrids that are coming.

For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

Chicago Looks to Beijing for Green Olympics Lessons

This is not your typical diesel-burning bus. Beijing now boasts the world’s largest fleet running on compressed natural gas. (Photo by Violet Law)
Beijing already has a water shortage. For the Olympics, workers planted trees and flowers and added thirsty landscaping all over the city. (Photo by Violet Law)

The Olympics in Beijing are into its final week. The city has delivered blue skies and
taken other steps to make the games environmentally friendly. Meanwhile, the City of
Chicago is bidding to host a green Olympics in 2016. The bid committee members are at
the games to observe. Violet Law is in Beijing and has this report:

Transcript

(sound of a bus pulling up and announcing the stop)

As more Chinese are getting richer they are driving more. But most still catch the bus to
the Olympic venues, because there’s no parking for spectators. Officials have added
special bus routes to take people to the games – for free.

(sound of a bus pulling away)

But this is not your typical diesel-burning bus. Beijing now boasts the world’s largest
fleet running on compressed natural gas. That means less pollution and CO2 emissions.

Doug Arnot is in Beijing. He oversees the planning of operations and sports venues for
Chicago’s bid for the 2016 Olympics. He says Chicago can do even better if it gets to
host the games.

“We believe that by 2016 all of our buses and all of our vehicles in the Olympic fleet will
be alternative energy or hybrid vehicles. That will have a huge impact on the
environmental imprint if you will of the Olympic Games.”

(sound of an English-language announcement of an Olympic venue stop on Beijing
subway and the noise of the train speeding through the tunnel)

Beijing has had to tackle a host of environmental problems. Most people know about the
city’s massive efforts to clean the air. But it also opened five new subway lines just in
time for the Olympics. Its added wind power generators.

But hosting the Olympics might have made one problem worse.

(sound of water fountain)

Beijing already has a water shortage. For the Olympics, workers planted trees and
flowers and added thirsty landscaping all over the city. New parkland and an urban forest
form the bulk of the Olympic Green.

‘Friends of Nature’ is the country’s oldest grassroots environmental group. Zhang Boju is
the head of research. He’s torn over seeing all this greenery.

“We think this grassland and man-made forest is a very, very important part of greener
Beijing, but it also has some problems. Is this fit for Beijing, a city which has limited
water resource?”

Hosting the Olympics has spurred the government to open up new facilities to recycle
water.

Achim Steiner heads the United Nations Environmental Programme. Steiner says he’s
pleased to see that China has seized the opportunity. His agency will issue a report
assessing the environmental impact of the Beijing games by the end of this year.

“What the Olympic Games provided was an opportunity to showcase and create a
platform to demonstrate what is possible if you’re determined to address these issues. A
great deal has been done and shown in the last seven years. What we are looking for here
is what kind of long lasting improvement the Games have brought.”

Beijing will take advantage of all these improvements. All of the newly built venues will
stay. Some, including the iconic Bird’s Nest and Water Cube, will be converted into
commercial use. The wind power generators will produce enough energy for 100,000
families.

There are also small things that show how hosting the Olympics has made Beijing a
greener city. Doug Arnot of the Chicago bid committee is taking notice.

“Every event you go to sometimes it’s not the big idea that you see, but the smaller idea
that you see. One of the things I’ve noticed is the staff and volunteers and the way they
have addressed green issues. They’re very conscious of where the recycling waste
baskets are. That may seem to be a small issue. But when you have tens of thousands of
people at your venues on a daily basis, it is very important.”

And Chicago is hoping both the small things and the big changes in its environmental
approach will win it a chance to host a green Olympics in 2016.

For The Environment Report, this is Violet Law.

Pollution and Classroom Performance

Researchers at the University of Michigan are looking to see if air pollution is a factor in school kids’ health and academic performance. (Source: Motown31 at Wikimedia Commons)

Scientists are investigating whether
air pollution is affecting how well students
perform. Lester Graham reports:

Transcript

Scientists are investigating whether
air pollution is affecting how well students
perform. Lester Graham reports:

Researchers say we might be building schools in the wrong places. We build them
near interstates full of polluting cars and trucks, and we build schools downwind of
factories. Kids might be getting a big dose of air pollution everyday they’re at school.

Researchers at the University of Michigan want to look at whether it’s actually
affecting kids. Paul Mohai is the lead researcher.

“School-aged children are particularly vulnerable because their bodies are growing.
They’re considered a vulnerable population and that’s all the more reason we should
be looking at the toxic burden that they may face, both in the schools that they go to
and where they live.”

Mohai and his colleagues will look at all the social and economic issues, and then air
pollution to see if it’s a factor in school kids’ health and academic performance.

For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

New Regs for Cement Kilns

Later this year the Environmental Protection Agency is going to set court-ordered standards for mercury pollution from cement kilns. (Source: LinguisticDemographer at Wikimedia Commons)

The Environmental Protection
Agency is late in setting standards
for some smokestack emissions. Lester
Graham reports:

Transcript

The Environmental Protection
Agency is late in setting standards
for some smokestack emissions. Lester
Graham reports:

Maybe you’ve never seen a cement kiln. That’s where limestone and other materials
are baked using coal to make cement, used in concrete.

Later this year the Environmental Protection Agency is going to set court-ordered
standards for mercury pollution from cement kilns.

“It’s about time, isn’t it? I mean, the standards were due more than ten years
ago.”

That’s Eric Scheaffer. He’s with the Environmental Integrity Project.

The EPA had relied on self-reported estimates on mercury pollution from the cement
kilns. Turns out, after the EPA actually checked a few of the kilns, a lot of those
mercury pollution estimates were a little low.

“They’re now saying about 23,000 pounds a year. And that’s double the
previous estimates from EPA. So, the numbers are growing.”

Most states have issued advisories about mercury contamination of fish. Mercury
can cause neurological and developmental problems with fetuses and young
children.

For The Environment Report, this is Lester Graham.

Tag: air

Little Relief for Asthmatics

Transcript

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New Pcb Chemical Found in the Air

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Living Near the Polluting Fastlane

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Airports Ask for Bailout

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Coal: The Comeback Kid

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Turbines and Bats: A Deadly Combo

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Power Plant Pollution From Plug-Ins?

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Chicago Looks to Beijing for Green Olympics Lessons

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Pollution and Classroom Performance

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New Regs for Cement Kilns

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