Something In The Air

Something In The Air

More than 150 students from Biology and Chemistry classes at San Diego High School conducted air monitoring and counts of truck traffic in the San Diego neighborhoods of Barrio Logan and Logan Heights in February and March, 2001.

During their truck counting exercises, students tallied an average of 100 trucks an hour passing at the corner of Crosby and Main streets and observed the levels of ultrafine particles in the air increase dramatically as each truck passed.

Diesel particulate is considered a Toxic Air Contaminant by the State of California. Crosby Street is a primary truck route, and parents at the 144-unit Mercado Apartments already worry when their children cross Crosby Street to go to school.

These field exercises were part of a special one-week course in which SDHS students investigated air pollution and air toxics and their impacts on the health of children and families in San Diego neighborhoods.

The Environmental Health Coalition developed the course in conjunction with the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Center, a center with scientists from the University of Southern California and University of California Los Angeles.

The course is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEH). The Institute funds the EHC-University program to educate students and community residents about environmental health and environmental justice — the rights of all residents to live, work, play, and learn in a safe and healthful environment.