Death of noted IAQ researcher, Greg Traynor. Greg Traynor passed away on June 9, 2006, after battling pancreatic cancer for six months. Greg was a longtime researcher in the Indoor Environments Department at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He made significant contributions to the characterization of indoor sources of combustion aerosols and modeling of indoor contaminant behavior. He was recognized nationally as an expert on combustion appliances, and he was the key consultant helping us under the SB798 (1996) statute for DHS to develop standards for unvented gas-fired heaters (which, thankfully, were never issued). He leaves behind his wife, Jeanna, daughter Chelsea (~14), and son Jared (~11). Greg was just 50 years old and will be greatly missed. http://www.phmsa.org/current/news.htm#Traynor

ARB Chairman’s Seminar Series: This seminar series offers a forum on various air quality topics. On Thursday, August 3, 2006, Mark Mendell, Ph.D., Indoor Environment Department, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, presented on Indoor Residential Chemical Emissions as Risk Factors for Children’s Respiratory Health. On September 8th (Friday), Susanne V. Hering, Ph.D. will present on A Low-Cost, Ultra-Fine Particle Concentration Monitor. See announcement at http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/seminars/seminars.htm.

IAQ Bills Pending in California Assembly

In the current session, there are two Assembly Bills that address indoor air quality issues:

AB 3018 (Lieber) would give California Air Resources Board (CARB) authority to set emission standards for indoor pollutants that pose the human health risks, etc. The bill’s sponsor is the American Lung Association of California, attention Bonnie Holmes-Gen, (916) 442-4446 x11 or BHGEN@alac.org .

AB 2276 (Pavley) is currently in the Senate0020Appropriation’s suspend file. This bill would direct CARB to adopt regulations to prohibit the sale of ozone-generating indoor air-cleaning devices. A fact sheet on the bill is posted at http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a41/factsheet/AB2276.pdf.

Symposium on Persistent, Bioaccumulative, Toxic Chemicals during the ACS National meeting in San Francisco, September 10-14, 2006. For further info, contact Myrto Petreas (Mpetreas@dtsc.ca.gov)

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

None

AGENCY REPORTS ON CURRENT IAQ ACTIVITIES

American Lung Association of California http://www.californialung.org/

-- Bonnie Holmes-Gen (bhgen@alac.org)

Check their web site (above).

Bay Area Air Quality Management District http://www.baaqmd.gov/

-- Elinor Blake, eblake@igc.org

-- Saffet Tanrikulu, STanrikulu@baaqmd.gov

Check their web site (above).

California Air Resources Board / Indoor Air Quality & Personal Exposure Assessment Program http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/indoor.htm

-- Peggy Jenkins (mjenkins@arb.ca.gov)

May Board Presentation on Ozone Generator Report. Staff presented its new test results on ozone generator performance to the Board at their May meeting (see http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ozone.htm). These devices are so-called “air purifiers” that purposely emit substantial amounts of ozone. Recent testing by ARB staff of four models of ozone generators showed all four models can produce room ozone concentrations above the one-hour state standard of 90 ppb and the FDA standard of 50 ppb for medical devices. Contact: Tom Phillips, tphillip@arb.ca.gov

Ozone Generator Outreach and Fact Sheet. Our ozone generator outreach program has started with letters to local California health officers and environmental health officers, as well as California air pollution control officers. Staff plan to contact a number of other health and professional groups in the next few months. Our fact sheet is available on the web at http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ozone.htm, and we have color copies available in quantity for distribution. Contact: Jim Behrmann, jbehrman@arb.ca.gov

Chairman’s Briefing on Indoor Air and Formaldehyde ATCM. On July 25, we briefed our new chairman, Dr. Robert Sawyer from UCB, on indoor air quality, and Stationary Source Division staff briefed him on the Air Toxics Control Measure (ATCM) they are developing to limit emissions of formaldehyde from composite wood products. The briefing went well, and afforded staff an opportunity to update Dr. Sawyer on the findings of the AB 1173 report (http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/indoor/ab1173/ab1173.htm) to the Legislature on indoor air, as well as on new information on the health effects of formaldehyde. The ATCM Board hearing has been postponed to January 2007. Contact: Peggy Jenkins, mjenkins@arb.ca.gov

Underwriters Laboratories, Inc. Confirms Plans for Revising Ozone Emissions Test Protocols for Air Cleaners. Underwriters Laboratories’ project managers recently confirmed their schedule for revising the UL test protocol for ozone emissions from electrostatic air cleaners (Section 37 of UL Std. 867) and combining that standard with UL 507, which currently applies to other air cleaners. ARB staff are serving on UL’s ad hoc (non-voting) committee for revising UL Std. 837. UL expects to forward the proposed minor changes to Std. 867 for review by the full committee by early August, and the proposal for the fully revised standards by the end of August. For the new combined standard, UL is planning to change from a chamber test method that includes measurement of room air concentrations to an emissions test protocol that measures emissions in the output stream and requires subsequent modeling to estimate the resulting room concentrations. Contact: Peggy Jenkins, mjenkins@arb.ca.gov

New Home Field Study and Acrylonitrile Monitoring. The summer field portion of the CEC-ARB sponsored study of ventilation and indoor air quality in new California homes is now underway. A total of 108 homes will be studied across northern and southern California, with about 20 homes having mechanical ventilation that purposely and continuously brings in filtered outdoor air. CEC will consider the results to determine whether mechanical ventilation systems or other measures for indoor air quality need to be required in all new California homes. ARB will use the information obtained to update exposure and risk estimates for VOCs, including formaldehyde, and for other indoor pollutants, and to provide advice to the public. ARB is providing steel sampling canisters to obtain samples of acrylonitrile in a subset of the homes and their garages, in order to determine whether indoor concentrations pose a serious risk, and to help identify potential sources of acrylonitrile. Contact: Tom Phillips, tphillip@arb.ca.gov, or Mike Robert, mrobert@arb.ca.gov

Indoor PM Health Effects Study. An ARB-funded study of the potential toxicity of particulate matter (PM) from indoor sources of PM began in April. UC Davis Professor Fumio Matsumura and colleagues will use in vitro human cell models to systematically investigate toxicities of indoor sources of PM, as well as associated vapor-phase components. UCD will evaluate the following indoor PM sources for toxicity: 1) cooking, 2) candle burning, 3) incense burning, 4) firewood burning, and 5) vacuuming. UCD will use human cell lines consisting of the two main target cell types for PM: macrophages and lung epithelial cells. This study is designed to develop methods and make a preliminary assessment of which indoor sources of PM are responsible for the greatest toxic impact. The resulting toxicity data should help guide future health effects studies, and help assess the health risk from indoor sources. Contact: Ralph Propper. rpropper@arb.ca.gov

Johns Manville Formaldehyde-free Insulation. Representatives from Johns Manville (JM) briefed ARB staff in May on the status of production and sales of their formaldehyde-free insulation products. The company has put together an impressive array of low-emitting products that are enjoying some solid marketing success. Their formaldehyde-free residential insulation product, for example, is the exclusive choice of California Home Depots. The JM representatives indicated that the philosophy of their company changed after their historical asbestos problem: they now strive to develop products that are ahead of their time and as environmentally safe as possible. Contact: Peggy Jenkins, mjenkins@arb.ca.gov

Final Report on Cleaning Products. The indoor use of certain common cleaning products and air fresheners can cause an increase in indoor concentrations of gaseous and particulate pollutants. A final report that explored this topic, Indoor Air Chemistry: Cleaning Agents, Ozone and Toxic Air Contaminants, by Dr. Bill Nazaroff of UC Berkeley, has been completed and released. Findings indicate ethylene-based glycol ethers, a toxic air contaminant, were present in 6 of the 21 products tested, at levels ranging from 0.8% to 9.6% by weight. Twelve of the products tested contained ozone-reactive compounds at levels ranging from 0.2% to 26% by weight. When cleaning products were used in the presence of ozone, investigators observed a high degree of reactive chemistry. Measured reaction products from the terpene-ozone reaction included formaldehyde, ultrafine particulate matter, and hydroxyl radicals. Levels of formaldehyde and secondary organic aerosols produced from the reactions were significant when compared to health-based guidelines. An individual’s proximity to these pollutants and 2-butoxyethanol in some cleaning products may lead to unhealthful exposures. The report is available for download at on-line: http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/apr/past/indoor.htm. Contact: Dorothy Shimer, dshiimer@arb.ca.gov

California Department of Education / School Facility and Planning Division

-- Michael O’Neil (MOneill@cde.ca.gov) http://goldmine.cde.ca.gov/facilities/

Check their web site (above).

California Department of Health Service / Environmental Health Investigations Branch http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ehib/

-- Sandra McNeel (SMcNeel@dhs.ca.gov)

Asthma Strategic Plan 2007

California Breathing Program

The California Breathing Program (CB) implements asthma awareness programs in several target populations across the state via the Disparities Mini-Grantee Program. Several of the 2004 and 2005 mini-grantees have focused on educating different audiences on the link between indoor air quality and asthma exacerbation.

· American Lung Association of San Francisco and San Mateo Counties (2005) East Palo Alto, CA: Recruited and trained 49 child care providers on the “All About Asthma” curriculum which emphasizes classroom environmental management of asthma.

· La Clinica de La Raza (2005) Pittsburgh, CA: Conducted in home assessments for 24 patients who have pre and chronic asthma symptoms; a total of 41 individuals were educated on triggers which affect indoor air quality, how to use asthma medications and equipment, and the importance of asthma action plans.

· Mid-City Community Advocacy Network (2004) San Diego, CA: Educated asthma advocates who targeted East African, Southeast Asian, and Latino populations on indoor air quality and healthier housing and clean neighborhoods by holding local education forums and community meetings. This program led to the formation of the successful Healthy Homes project.

· Sonoma County Asthma Coalition (2005) Sonoma, CA: Delivered “Healthy Living” workshop to 207 low income families and Head Start Staff with a focus on environmental trigger management of asthma.

For more information on California Breathing’s Disparities Mini-Grants Program, please contact Bindi Gandhi at 510.620.3605 or bgandhi@dhs.ca.gov

California Asthma Partners (CAP). CAP is planning a series of housing and asthma symposia, beginning in the fall. They are currently looking for (a) help in planning these meetings, and (b) information about additional local housing and asthma work currently taking place in California. CAP is a statewide partnership of California non-governmental organizations, agencies, institutions, coalitions, collaboratives, and other programs working to implement the Strategic Plan for Asthma in California. CAP sponsored a series of three regional meetings across California, primarily to raise local awareness of CAP and to identify key policy issues that local and regional groups would like to see addressed at the state level. Since healthy housing emerged as a critical issue, the CAP Steering Committee is planning a series of housing meetings that will bring together a range of stakeholders and public officials. The overall focus of these meetings will be:

· Articulate key issues related to asthma and housing

· Highlight solutions and strategies from other regions

· Begin a dialog among housing inspectors, code enforcers, asthma experts, and possibly CA apartment owners, insurance companies, and community members.

· Determine next steps for action by identifying gaps and discussing strategies for California

In order to reach the above goals, the CAP Steering Committee decided to conduct two housing and asthma meetings in Sacramento, one in fall 2006 and the other in early 2007.

· 1^st Meeting: Invite counties/cities/coalitions already working on housing and asthma (teams of housing inspectors, asthma experts, tenants, etc). At this meeting, we will share with each other innovative practices and determine common themes. Potential teams include: San Diego, Long Beach, Sonoma, San Francisco, Los Angeles, San Mateo. We are looking to identify groups in the Central Valley and Sacramento.

· 2^nd Meeting: Conduct a “train the trainer” strategy session (building on strategies identified in meeting #1) on how to implement asthma and home inspector programs with other counties/cities/coalitions interested in developing asthma home inspector programs.

If anyone from the Interagency Working Group on Indoor Air Quality would be interested in participating or could tell us about local housing and asthma efforts, please contact Debbie Shrem at dshrem@dhs.ca.gov or 510.620.3645.

Presentations

Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health (MCAH) Action, the organization of California’s county MCAH Directors and Coordinators, held an educational meeting on May 25, 2006 focused on "The Environment and the Impact on Children and Families". Sandy McNeel presented "Health Effects of Indoor Dampness and Mold on Infants, Children and Adolescents" and Rick Kreutzer discussed asthma surveillance in California children and adults.

California Department of Health Service / Indoor Air Quality Section

-- Jed Waldman (JWaldman@dhs.ca.gov) http://www.cal-iaq.org/

Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS). The CHPS Technical Committee is in the process of revising the 2005 Best Practices Manual Volume III (Criteria), and it has issued several beta versions for public comment. DHS-IAQ staff sit on several sub-committees, as well as chair the IEQ sub-committee. The comment period for the 3^rd Public Review draft extends to August 18^th. See http://chps.net/.

IEQ subcommittee: The IEQ subcommittee completed its first review for the December 2005 draft revision, as well as provided responses to public comments and made follow-up changes through July. The key changes in the forthcoming revision include:

o New credit for increased ventilation effectiveness through thermal displacement ventilation;

o Revise credits for Low-emitting Material Selection. It will now employ an expanded list of materials including cabinetry, teacher pupil desks and chairs and composite wood products;

o Require a 14-day flush-out (i.e., 24/7 maximum outdoor air) for all new construction and modernization projects, plus 4-day following touch-up work

o Clarify several HVAC design issues (conformity to Title 24; air intake requirements; provisions for natural ventilation), and source control measures.

The CHPS Policy subcommittee refined the credit for district resolution and provided clarification on what the scope needs to be for a resolution to qualify for the point. In the forthcoming revision, a district must pass a board-level resolution to mandate all new construction projects meet or exceed the CHPS qualifying threshold; all school additions (classrooms and other instructional areas) must incorporate appropriate CHPS best practices; and all modernization projects (i.e. projects that affect the building system-envelope, mechanical system and electrical system) must meet or exceed the CHPS qualifying threshold.

Massachusetts CHPS. We reviewed and provided comments on the Massachusetts CHPS BPM including their low emission credit. We are talking about working with them in more detail on CSI specification language for template use in school projects and how to collaboratively join together to promote low-emitting material databases.

Green Action Team (GAT) Schools Workgroup. Schools work group is working on a School Tour event to showcase successful schools that have used CHPS Best Management Practices and to encourage other schools to take similar actions. The workgroup has drafted an invite list that includes the Governor and other high profile representatives. The team has selected three schools for the tour. Communications director Ken Hunt,Green Team Communications, California Department of General Services is working with the group to develop media and talking points for the event.

U.S. Green Building Council. The US GBC Indoor Environmental Quality Technical Advisory Group (IEQ TAG) has agreed to include the California Section 01350 low-emitting materials criteria into the LEED for Schools Application Guide.

Schools Roundtable. Toni Stein and Deborah Moore (Green Schools Initiative www.greenschools.net) have been actively organizing a Schools Roundtable focused on improving health and safety in California schools. The group is presently working on the following two primary issues:

o Outreach materials on Health and Safety issues. The goal is to educate stakeholders on how to achieve good Health and Safety conditions in existing and new schools including good IAQ and reducing asthma triggers. These efforts include identifying and evaluating EXISTING outreach materials that are being used throughout CA by different agencies, non-profits, school officials, and other stakeholders through a survey. This work is intended to assess the effectiveness and find gaps and to identify target audiences for outreach. The survey results will be used to establish a new strategy to generate a wave of outreach and improvements in existing and new schools

o Identifying, improving, repairing and preventing, health and safety issues in schools. The goal is to help identify H&S problems in schools. This includes assisting in the development and promotion of a statewide school inspection checklist and companion guidance document for identifying and making needed repairs in schools. Such a tool is envisioned to help standardize and make the process easy. Presently, the State has an Interim Evaluation Instrument used for school assessments in allocating state repair funds (http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/opsc/Forms/Worksheets/IEI.pdf). The work aims to expand upon the IEI and offer an easy-to-use checklist for Statewide use. This will also be used to identify particular conditions that cause poor IAQ, asthma triggers, and other health or safety problems for assessment of "good repair" of California schools.

Green Schools Symposium. On June 27, 2006), Toni Stein spoke on issues of IAQ and Health & Safety on a panel moderated by Claire Barnett, Healthy Schools Network. The symposium was an outgrowth of the Clinton Global Initiative launched by Global Green USA. The symposium was co-sponsored by USGBC and Turner Corporation to promote sustainable design and construction in the K-12 and higher education sectors. It was well attended with over 250 attendees.

Health School Environmental Assessment Tool (HSEAT). US EPA has asked DHS and other agencies to provide input on their HSEAT tool to tailor the assessment modules for California specific laws, regulation, and guidance. No specific progress has been made on this task however a meeting at the Richmond Laboratory with Rich Sextro from LBL demonstrated a software module for building security that is envisioned to possibly be integrated as an optional add on package.

GAT EPP Workgroup. Because the state is engaged in many new construction and modernization projects and is committed to building LEED silver projects, we suggested that it would be very beneficial for the workgroup to seek out and contact the state bodies involved in purchasing of these materials and coordinate a strategy to provide them with standard EPP guidance to aid in selection of green building materials such as composite wood. Some of the constraints of doing this were discussed. Despite these, Rita Hamilton, DGS-PD was supportive and open to exploring the suggestion.

The EPP Best Practices Manual was posted on-line on July 26, 2006. http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/Introduction/default.htm There are 42 Sections and 30 have been released. CDHS served as subject matter experts on the following chapters: “office equipment -Copy machines” http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/OfficeMach/copiers.htm, Cleaning Products, http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/building/cleaning.htm, and the Garbage and Recycling http://www.green.ca.gov/EPP/building/garbage.htm,

Additionally the CA Gold Carpet Standard also was posted on DGS GAT website, http://www.documents.dgs.ca.gov/green/epp/standards.pdf, and a DGS Management Memo was put in place to implement use of the standard.

State of California Office Furniture Workstation Bid. March 10^th, 2006 DGS Procurement Division (PD) issued its Invitation-to-Bid for a 3-year “competitive” bid for contract of open office panel systems totaling ~$60 M. The prior bid specifications were written in 2000. The 2006 IAQ specification took 3 months to develop and included the following changes from the previous version:

o VOC limits: The new specification moved from specifying VOC category sums (i.e. aldehydes, aliphatics, etc.) to limits on each of the individual VOCs identified and quantified by testing. The specification specifies not-to-exceed concentrations for all of the air contaminants with health-based exposure limits. The limit for formaldehyde was reduced from 25 ug/m3 down to 16.5 (1/2 the crel). Additionally no first year allowance to not meet the formaldehyde limit was included. Additionally the new specification incorporated a provision to meet the LEED VOC requirements to assure harmony.

o Emission Test Protocols: The 2006 specification moved away from requiring full workstation emission testing in the large chamber according to an EPA RTI ETV test protocol to the option to test the primary workstation components (work surface, panels, and storage units) in small or medium chambers using the CDHS standard practice, or the BIFMA FES M7 standard test.

o Ventilation Rate: The 2006 IAQ specification was updated to incorporate the most recent 2005 Title 24 room ventilation rate parameters from the 1999 values for concentration calculations for meeting the limits.

o Component disclosure: The 2006 IAQ specification required all bidders to disclose the materials and processes used in the offered product line. This was not required in 2000.

o Data submission requirements: In 2000 all bidder were required to report the identified chemicals of concern, the 2006 bid requires bidders to provide proof that they comply with the LEED requirements and only the awardee to provide compliance proof for the individual VOCs.

o Laboratory reporting: Companion to the 2006 specification a standardized automated electronic worksheet was distributed and required for reporting. The worksheets required input of laboratory measured chamber emissions and automatically calculated the resulting room concentrations for comparison to the cRELs.

After the initial bid was released, bidder questions were received by DGS; CDHS responded to ten IAQ questions. Clarification was provided to explain that the specification gives bidders flexibility to use a variety of testing options. It was clarified that any of the following testing protocols were acceptable testing methods for obtaining the US GBC LEED criteria: BIFMA M7.1 2005 test protocol, California DHS Standard Practice, Environmental Technology Verification Test Protocol, Greenguard testing, or Indoor Advantage testing. Furthermore, it was clarified that Greenguard testing could be used as an option to show compliance to the California VOC acceptance criteria. Clarification was made to documents showing that the offered workstations are certified as meeting “EQ Credit 4.5 Low-Emitting Materials, Systems Furniture and Seating” under US GBC LEED CI were required at the time of bid submittal. The acceptance criteria and quality assurance provisions were amended to delete pre-delivery airing-out. The bid due date has been extended several times, and currently the due date is August 16^th.

Green Building Products Forum. At the 2006 IEQ Conference in Research Triangle Park, NC, a Green Building Products Forum was held July 19th. U.S. EPA’s Bob Thompson was the chair of the meeting. The Forum's goals and anticipated outcomes were given as:

To begin developing a roadmap for harmonizing the development, testing and certification of green building products

o A collective vision of what harmonization will look like in 5 years

o Articulation of the critical issues/questions that stakeholders must pursue to achieve that vision

o Identification of the specific steps that stakeholders will take to pursue these issues

A presentation on related California activities was given by Jed Waldman; other presentations were given by Bruce Tichenor (consultant to U.S. EPA), Marilyn Black (AQS), Randy Carter (BIFMA), and Laureen Burton (U.S. EPA). DHS and CalEPA hosted video-conferencing sites for West Coasters to participation in discussion with the NC attendees. Local attendees included Toni Stein (CDHS-IAQ), Tom Lent (HCWH), Jan Stensland (Kaiser), Kirsten Ritchie (SCS), Dana Papke (CIWMB), Peggy Jenkins and Dororhy Shimer (ARB), and Obed O (CEC). Discussions by California participants will be summarized and sent to the Forum organizers to compile with the breakout section notes.

CRI Adhesives Test Program. Toni and Jed met with Frank Hurd (CRI) to discus issues surrounding the CRI Adhesives Testing Program relative to the current California 01350 Standard Practice. Evaluation of their program for conformity to our Standard was started and indicates that their test program uses the same maximum allowable exposure limits as the CA 01350. However, further evaluation has been continued until September when their program’s detailed test protocol will be reviewed and evaluated for further discussion. CRI has agreed to compile and send their test protocol documentation prior. This work complements DHS’s efforts on “wet products” testing, i.e.,. defining a test protocol tailored to wet products addressing both long term emissions as well as short term (“drying off” period) emissions.

BIFMA Sustainability Standard. Toni is on the Ecosystems and Human Health Subcommittee and helping to develop a Target list specific to the Furniture industry, and issues of verification for their low-emission credits. BIFMA will be transitioning this standard development to NSF, and balloting may occur around April 2007.

Harmonization with Greenguard Environmental Institute. Greengaurd has asked CDHS, CARB, and OEHHA to consider adopting an MOU to establish equivalency of GEI’s Standard for Children & Schools certification to the CDHS standard practice used for the CHPS criteria.

Technical Assistance to ARB on Composite Wood Rulemaking. DHS-IAQ is providing guidance and technical support to ARB related to formaldehyde emissions testing of composite wood products. ARB staff from its Stationary Source Division (Jim Aguila and Lyn Baker) and Monitoring Lab Division (Mike Poore and Russell Grace) and the Enforcement Division (Chuck Beddow, Elizabeth Miller, R.C. Smith, and John Oback) visited the DHS-IAQ laboratory to view our large chamber and laboratory facilities.

DHS IAQ website. We recently updated our web pages on Indoor Mold with links to the latest guidance. In addition, we posted a Spanish translation of the current version “Mold in My Home: What Do I Do?” (in Spanish: ¿Moho en mi casa: que hago?). See

http://www.cal-iaq.org/cal-iaq%20mold%20in%20your%20home.htm

Janitorial Products. The State of New York has developed of a new janitorial product EPP emission standard, and we have been dialoging with Ed Horn (NY State Department of Health) and Jack Geibig (University of Tennessee).

Building Security. Rich Sextro of LBNL visited the CDHS Richmond Campus to demonstrate LBNL’s “Building Vulnerability Assessment & Mitigation Program (BVAMP). The tool is very useful for preparation for shelter in place.

http://securebuildings.lbl.gov/BVAMP.html

Pilot Study on Cleaning Product Exposures Associated with Asthma in Health Care Settings. We are collaborating with the Occupational Health Branch (Jennifer Flattery) on a pilot study to characterize exposures in health care settings from selected janitorial products containing chemicals associated with asthma. We plan to partner with several large health care facilities to conduct a 3-month pilot project to measure general cleaning/janitorial product exposures associated with asthma. The purpose of the project is to better understand chemical exposures in the workplace so that prevention strategies can be developed. Also helping on the project is Weldon Hall (chemist) and XimenaVeraga (IH). Alicia Culver (EnviroSpec) has been hired as a consultant on green cleaning products.

Tire Derived Flooring Study. Laboratory analyses for all materials tested have finally been completed. The schedule is that our Final Report (draft) will be updated and sent in mid-August for review by the project’s Advisory Group. Then the report will go out for public review in October. We anticipate finalizing the report by December 2006.

NIOSH Novel Personal Bioaerosol Sampler

Commissioning the DHS-IAQ Environmental Chamber.

California Department of Health Service / Occupational Health Branch

-- Liz Katz (Ekatz@dhs.ca.gov) http://www.dhs.ca.gov/ohb/

Molds in Indoor Workplaces – HESIS Fact Sheet

Translation into Spanish

Emerging Nanotechnology Hazards to Workers And The Environment

California Department of Health Service / Radon Program

-- George Faggella (GFaggell@dhs.ca.gov) http://www.dhs.ca.gov/radon/

Check their web site (above).

California Department of Health Service / Tobacco Control Section

Joanne Wellman-Benson, RDH, MPH (jwellman@dhs.ca.gov) http://www.dhs.ca.gov/TCS

Smoke-free Multi-unit Housing. A campaign to move forward the issue of smoke-free multi-unit housing was initiated in September, 2005. Representatives of TCS-funded agencies who are working in this area met for a one-day meeting to develop objectives and activities. The workplan’s goal is to get ten communities to adopt laws that would require new and existing multi-unit rental housing to designate a percent of units as non-smoking by 2010. The provisions would include smoke-free indoor and outdoor common areas, balconies and/or patios, landlord disclosure, and declaring secondhand smoke a nuisance. Workplan activities include the development and/or modification of fact sheets, brochures and power point presentations for tenants and owners/managers, radio/tv, and print ads for the general population and apartment industry professionals, tool kit, model smoke-free multi-unit housing ordinance, incentives for developers to adopt smoke-free housing through insurance, taxes, etc., establish relationships with state housing agencies, and evaluation/surveillance activities which wou