Healthbeat

Wildfire smoke forces Summer Rising indoors as officials limit outdoor activities

2026-07-17T02:41:49+00:00

This story was originally published in Chalkbeat on July 16. Sign up for Chalkbeat New York’s free daily newsletter to get essential news about NYC’s public schools delivered to your inbox.

New York City officials urged summer school programs to limit outdoor activity on Thursday as wildfire smoke wafted into the five boroughs.

The Education Department’s guidance to principals also asked schools to reschedule outdoor trips.

The city’s summer school program, known as Summer Rising, has slots for about 110,000 elementary and middle school students this year, offering a mix of academics, enrichment activities, and trips.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani warned in a social media post that the “combination of dangerous heat and unhealthy air is a serious threat to New Yorkers’ health.”

Thursday’s pivot indoors marked the latest heat- or smoke-related disruption to the city’s public schools. During a heat wave earlier this month, summer programs were instructed to cancel outdoor field trips on July 1 and July 2, according to an internal email obtained by Chalkbeat. In June 2023, the school system switched to remote instruction for a day due to wildfire smoke (though most students already had the day off).

Education Department officials said they follow Health Department guidelines on air quality to make decisions about whether outdoor activities are safe for children. They did not indicate whether they plan to issue a similar warning for Friday when the smoke is expected to ease.

One Brooklyn principal supervising a summer school site, who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly, said the heat and smoke has led them to limit outdoor activities on about half of the days of this year’s summer program, which began July 1 and ends Aug. 7 for middle school and Aug. 14 for elementary schools.

As a result, students are getting less time for recess, basketball, and soccer, because a larger number of students must rotate through the campus’s air conditioned gym. They’re playing games like “7 Up” instead.

“It’s really not ideal — there’s not as much space for free play inside,” the principal said, noting staying indoors is important because many of his students have asthma.

The principal did not receive the guidance that Education Department officials sent to school leaders in advance of the smoke on Thursday and was “literally going off the [New York City Emergency Management] text alerts I personally signed up for” to make decisions about when to limit indoor activities.

Grace Bodenmann, chief education officer at New York Junior Tennis & Learning, said her organization moved programming indoors at the 26 Summer Rising sites they work with as well as the two full-day camps they run at charter schools. They made the move based on instructions from the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development, which sent out two emails Thursday morning, she said.

“It’s not that fun to be in a school from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.,” Bodenmann said, noting that while Summer Rising sites are required to have air conditioning, not all spaces in a building necessarily have AC, particularly some of the larger spaces such as auditoriums, cafeterias, and gyms. “It’s hit or miss,” she said. “And you can’t open the window.”

Under a recent state law, children are not allowed to be in school spaces that reach 88 degrees or higher.

Students at the New York Junior Tennis and Learning's ACES afterschool program at P.S. 9 in Brooklyn.

Another challenge: Some of the Summer Rising sites have multiple community organizations in one building jostling for space.

But it’s clear that families rely on the program: Attendance was barely down over the past two days, she said. Bodenmann was eager to find out what would happen on Friday, which is when many organizations organize field trips. Rescheduling those trips can be difficult.

Meanwhile, many of the air purifiers the city distributed to every school during the pandemic are gathering dust. Many educators have stopped using them because of concerns that the devices the city bought are noisy and are not as effective as other models. Although the city’s guidance to custodians directs them to keep windows and doors closed when possible and and check HVAC systems, it does not mention using the purifiers.

Some experts previously told Chalkbeat that school systems should think more intentionally about indoor air quality, especially in regions like the East Coast that have less experience responding to smoky conditions.

“On the West Coast, wildfire smoke has just been part of life for a while,” said Patricia Fabian, an associate professor of environmental health at Boston University. On the East Coast, “people have really only started talking about it in the last couple of years.”

Clean indoor air is important for student and staff health, she said. And while she wasn’t familiar with the purifiers New York City purchased for schools, she said that air purifiers can help filter particles and reduce the risk of wildfire smoke.

Alex Zimmerman is a senior reporter for Chalkbeat New York, covering NYC public schools. Contact Alex at azimmerman@chalkbeat.org.

Amy Zimmer is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat New York. Contact Amy at azimmer@chalkbeat.org.

Smoke from South Georgia wildfires drives poor air quality, ER visits in Atlanta

2026-04-24T15:29:08+00:00

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free Atlanta newsletter here.

Wildfires burning hundreds of miles away created a visible haze and poor air quality this week in Atlanta, with some emergency rooms and clinics reporting calls and visits for respiratory conditions exacerbated by the smoke.

A statewide drought that started in mid-September has created ideal conditions for more than 75 wildfires that have burned more than 35,000 acres in the past week. Gov. Brian Kemp has declared a state of emergency in 91 of Georgia’s 159 counties.

The biggest fires are in Southeast Georgia – Brantley County, where homes have been evacuated, and Clinch County – sending smoke into the northern part of the state at times, as winds shifted.

Up to 90% of wildfire smoke contains PM 2.5: particulate matter that is smaller than 2.5 micrometers. The particles are so small that they don’t fall to the ground, which means people can breathe them in, said Colleen Reid, a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies wildfires.

That particulate matter can lodge in the lungs’ small airways (the bronchioles) and even make their way to the bloodstream, said Emory University pulmonologist Dr. Colin Swenson. That can cause health problems, especially for certain at-risk groups.

Atlanta and many other areas of the state have had moderately concerning or worse air quality since Tuesday, according to Airnow.gov, which reports on local air quality conditions. That has driven an uptick in emergency room and clinic visits within the Emory system in Atlanta, Dr. Colin Swenson told Healthbeat.

Wildfires are uncommon in Georgia, where typically high humidity and rainfall protect forests from sparks and allows groundwater and soil to recharge. That didn’t happen this winter, with Atlanta, for example, only getting 54% of the rainfall it normally gets since the start of the year, according to the National Weather Service.

Georgia public health board goes seventh straight month without meeting

The last time the state faced such drastically dry conditions was in December 2016, said Elliot Wickham, the community lead for drought at the National Water Center, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Drought conditions are forecast at least until the end of July, according to the National Weather Service.

Dry vegetation can be ignited in many ways – by power lines, a dropped cigarette, lightning, or even a spark from a broken-down car on the side of the road, said Reid, who offered some advice for Georgians who are not used to dealing with wildfires:

When the air clears, check your home air filters. They may have picked up more pollution than usual.

Here are some other things to know to protect your health amid poor air quality.

Who is most at risk of illness from air pollution?

People with respiratory conditions like asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and bronchiectasis, are especially at risk, Swenson and Reid said.
People with cardiovascular diseases like coronary artery disease and heart failure can also be affected, Swenson said.
Pregnant people are vulnerable as well, Reid said. Wildfire smoke can increase the risk of low birth weight or preterm birth.
Children are more prone to asthmatic flare-ups because their airways are smaller than adults’. Schools and sports groups may cancel outdoor activities or move them inside.
The unhoused, people who work outdoors, and those who lack air conditioning will also face more smoke exposure, Reid said.
People who are in lower-risk groups might experience effects like chest tightening when exercising outdoors.

What can people do to alleviate effects of poor air quality?

Monitor air quality. Swenson and Reid recommend checking airnow.gov for information on the air quality index. The AQI is a good indicator of whether it’s safe to spend time outdoors. If it is yellow (moderate) or above, at-risk people should stay indoors. If it is red or above, then everyone should stay indoors, Reid said.
- Reid recommended checking frequently and getting as local perspective as possible.
- “The smoke plume [can] really change the air quality over short periods of time, depending on how the wind blows and and the intensity of the fire,” Reid said.
Run the air conditioning system and use HEPA air filters, Swenson said. That can help clean indoor air. People who don’t have those should try to find indoor spaces to spend time, Reid said.
Keep windows and doors closed.
Wear a mask. Those who are at risk who must go outside should use an N95 mask, Swenson said. That can help protect against the inhalation of the very fine particulates.
Exercise indoors. If you really want to exercise outdoors, early morning and after dusk are best, Swenson said.
Check your air filters after the fires and change them if needed, Reid said. Make sure building managers at large buildings are doing the same.

How long will health impacts last?

There are short- and long-term impacts, Swenson said. The smoke can set off COPD or asthma exacerbations in near-term. Those can last days to weeks, he said. It can also increase the risk of heart attack or cardiac injury for people with underlying conditions.

Over the long term, the smoke can set off “systemic inflammation that can linger for weeks or even up to a month,” Swenson said.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

To fight heat, NYC sets 2040 tree canopy deadline, with riskiest areas first

2026-04-21T13:24:07+00:00

This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning. Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here.

On a breezy Monday morning on a quiet corner of Queens, 11 leafy new neighbors arrived on a truck, fresh from a nursery in Kansas City.

Elm, red maple, and cherry trees — some with pink blossoms — would be planted next to the sidewalks across a few blocks of Cambria Heights, a suburban-style neighborhood of homes with grassy front lawns.

As workers hoisted a tree out of a bag surrounding its roots, a woman with a phone to her ear leaving a nearby house called out to ask what kind of tree the workers were planting: an elm that would grow to be up to 70 feet tall over the next three to four decades.

“Adding to the family!” she exclaimed, grinning, before getting into a car.

Cambria Heights is among the neighborhoods with the highest risks of extreme heat, where temperatures are hotter than the city’s average and where some blocks lack any trees.

Monday’s tree-planting session came as part of a strategy in its second year that prioritizes putting new trees in the neighborhoods most vulnerable to extreme heat, rather than in response to ad hoc 311 requests, as had been done in years past.

And planting those trees took on a particular significance as the Mamdani administration on Tuesday released a plan to expand the tree canopy to cover 30% of the city by 2040.

“To reach this 30% goal, it’s going to take work from every actor in the entire city,” said Jessica Einhorn, chief of forestry programs at the Department of Parks and Recreation. “This program planting trees, especially in the high [heat vulnerable] neighborhoods, is really critical towards that equity angle.”

In those riskier areas, the tree canopy — or the area of the city currently covered by trees and their leaves — stands at 19%, compared to about 26% in others, city Chief Climate Officer Louise Yeung told the City Council in March. (Overall, tree canopy covers just over 23% of the boroughs, according to the last count in 2021. That was after a net increase of 1.2% since 2017.)

Trees across the city serve more than an aesthetic purpose — they add to the health and resiliency of a neighborhood. Areas with a robust tree canopy and vegetation have shown to be slightly to significantly cooler compared to places where green space is scarce and pavement is plentiful. Trees also help to purify air and can reduce water runoff to mitigate flooding.

And their value as heat-regulators will only increase in the near future.

By the 2040s — the due date for the 30% canopy goal — New York City’s temperatures could be between nearly 3 and 6 degrees hotter due to the effects of climate change, according to the New York City Panel on Climate Change. Heat is dangerous: It contributes to the deaths of over 500 New Yorkers on average each year, with Black New Yorkers twice as likely to die compared to white residents.

The city experiences the urban heat island effect, meaning it’s hotter because of the density, pavement, and tall buildings than elsewhere. But some areas are significantly greener and cooler than others, while other neighborhoods are more vulnerable to heat based on a combination of physical factors — like existing trees — and social considerations, like residents’ income and access to air conditioning.

Cherry blossoms bloom in eastern Queens on Monday.

The Parks Department’s tree-planting strategy, announced in 2024, does away with the system where anyone can call 311 to ask for a new tree — except for the loophole New Yorkers can make a $1,800 donation to do so, as previously reported by THE CITY.

The new system instead divides the city into more than 400 zones, planting trees in every viable place within a zone while removing stumps and dying trees.

Each community board district will have a zone serviced every three years, and Parks plans to hit all zones every nine years. (Here’s a tentative schedule of tree-planting locations.) The most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods are on track to be completed by the end of 2027, Yeung said.

Money grows trees

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan is the first time the city has set a target date for the goal of a 30% canopy. But critically, the money to pay for it has not been committed.

“Many of the actions in the plan rely on existing program budgets and aim to ensure that we are spending smarter,” City Hall spokesperson Jessica Woolford said in a statement. “We are creatively leveraging funds from government and private sources to advance our shared goals.”

City Hall did not offer its own estimate for the cost. But according to a 2022 estimate from a local environmental advocacy group, it would cost about $500 million to plant a million trees and achieve its canopy goal.

“The plan is great, but what comes after is the most critical part,” said Shravanthi Kanekal, a resiliency planner at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. “It’s going to signal a whole lot to see how much they dedicate funding to the plan.”

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Though as a candidate, Mamdani promised to dedicate 1% of the budget to the Department of Parks and Recreation, his preliminary budget this year proposed spending just half of that — cutting nearly $34 million from the department’s budget in the current fiscal year.

“I’m really glad to see the city set a goal of 2040, and I think what we’ve been looking to is how to further accelerate achieving that goal,” said Tami Lin-Moges, director of the cities program at the Nature Conservancy. “But obviously that really relies on increased investments. … Investing in parks and the urban forest is an investment in livability in New York City.”

Greening the city so almost a third of it has tree canopy will require money, manpower, and shoring up interest from New Yorkers, said Simon Skinner, chief of programs and operations at the New York Restoration Project.

He pointed to the successful initiative to plant a million trees that the Bloomberg administration launched in 2007. It took eight years, short of the decade expected.

“It shows it’s possible,” Skinner said. “Everyone was pulling in the same direction because it was such a big initiative coming from City Hall.”

Skinner said several agencies coordinated to prioritize the goal as private landowners got involved, and the government and its partners educated kids and adults on tree planting and stewardship.

Not everyone is happy with new plantings

In Cambria Heights on Monday, interactions with neighbors showed some of the challenges the city may face as it reaches for the goal; not everyone was happy about the newly rooted neighbors.

Derrick Simmons, a long-time resident of a nearby block, stopped by to talk to the Parks workers about the problems he’s had with trees.

“The trees have fallen on different people’s cars. They broke up the sidewalks,” he said. “I know they said that this is supposed to make the neighborhood more beautiful, and I get that. But of course we got 26 trees. We don’t need any more trees.”

A bit later, another neighbor walked by and said the tree roots were messing with his home’s sewer pipes: “I live on the next block. We got tree-lined streets. It sucks!”

Navé Strauss, Parks’ director of tree planting, said, “Our mandate is to plant every available location.”

Einhorn said Simmons and his neighbor’s complaints indicated there was a lot that could be done to “increase the connection between people and their trees.”

“We do as much as we can to care for the trees, but really it’s those blocks where like a property owner or a neighbor will come out and water the tree or maybe plant flowers around that the data shows that those trees are better off than the others,” she said.

To reach the 30% canopy goal, trees will need to be planted on privately owned property, not just in public parks and on streets, Einhorn said — “and more than anything else is preserving our existing tree canopy.”

That maintenance — pruning, watering, cleaning tree beds and removing invasive vines — is important for trees to thrive and for the canopy to expand. All of those tasks require people to do them, which costs money.

“Obviously, it’s sexy and nice to plant a bunch of new trees, but we have to also look after what we already have,” Skinner said. “They have an outsized effect on things like reducing heat and absorbing pollution.”

Samantha Maldonado is a senior reporter for THE CITY, where she covers climate, resiliency, housing and development.

Pollen and ticks on the rise, changes to the Essential Plan, and NY bills to protect vaccines

2026-04-03T17:26:55+00:00

This article originally appeared at Your Local Epidemiologist New York. Sign up for the YLE NY newsletter here. Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here.

There’s a ton going on in the world of New York health, so let’s jump right into it.

Pollen is here. Ugh.

Is anyone else starting to notice the little tree buds and green sprouts starting to pop up? And despite the confusing false spring/second winter chaos weather we’ve been experiencing in New York, daily temperatures have been warming. That means we can expect local pollen counts and allergies to increase over the next several weeks, along with those cute little sprouts.

Most U.S. communities see three pollen waves — trees, grass, weeds. New York is currently in the tree pollen season. This is relevant because individual allergy sensitivity can vary by pollen type.

If you feel like allergies have been starting earlier or lasting longer, you aren’t imagining it. Over the past few decades, allergy seasons in New York have gotten worse, partly due to climate change and warming temperatures. Earlier this month, the 80-degree day we had in New York City was record breaking — the earliest 80-degree day we’ve had on record.

The length of the average allergy season has now grown by over three weeks since 1970, with higher pollen counts.

Longer and more intense pollen seasons can exacerbate allergies and respiratory conditions for New Yorkers. While simply annoying for many of us, seasonal allergies can actually be dangerous for many with asthma — every spring, emergency department visits for asthma spike.

For those with asthma or more intense allergies, it’s a good idea to speak with a health care practitioner about controlling symptoms before pollen season really takes off. There are also many actions we can take to reduce pollen exposure and prevent it from entering your home:

Check local pollen counts.
Leave shoes at the door and change clothes after outdoor activities.
Wipe off furry animals after they’ve been outside.
Shower before bed.
Keep windows closed during peak pollen times (midday).
Run air conditioning or HEPA filters.
Dust and vacuum regularly.

Dr. Zach Rubin, an allergy doctor, joined YLE on the America Dissected podcast last year and gave great tips on managing allergies:

To relieve sinus symptoms, it can help to rinse your nose with saline water (like with a neti pot), but only using distilled or sterilized water. I’ve found neti pots to really help.
For medications, second-generation antihistamines like cetirizine (Zyrtec) tend to have fewer side effects than diphenhydramine (Benadryl). As always, talk with your doctor or pharmacist for more information on medications.

Alpha-gal, aka meat allergy, from ticks is increasing in NY

Alpha-gal syndrome, the red meat allergy caused by lone star tick bites, is rising in New York, and Long Island is a hot spot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 96,000 to 450,000 people in the United States may have been affected since 2010, and cases have been increasing. Suffolk County stands out: CDC data suggest it accounts for about 4% of suspected cases nationwide.

Symptoms can include:

Hives
Stomach pain
Vomiting or diarrhea
In more severe cases, anaphylaxis, which is life-threatening

Reactions can begin 2–6 hours after eating red meat or other mammal-derived products, which can make it harder to link consuming meat with the reaction.

It used to be that alpha-gal syndrome was mostly found in people who spent a lot of time outdoors or in the woods (like hikers, hunters, farmers, and outdoor workers). But now, many communities are reporting it to be more common, even in people who don’t spend much time in rural outdoor spaces.

So how does a tick bite turn into a meat allergy? After feeding on mammal blood, the lone star tick carries a sugar molecule called alpha-gal in its gut. When it bites a person, trace amounts of that sugar slip into the body through its saliva. Because humans don’t naturally carry alpha-gal, our immune system may treat it as foreign and start making antibodies against it (i.e., have an immune response to the sugar molecule). Later, when that same person eats red meat or other mammal products, the immune system recognizes alpha-gal again — and can trigger an allergic reaction, often several hours after a meal.

What else to know:

How long does it last? It’s considered a chronic disease, persisting indefinitely. For some, sensitivity fades after 1–5 years without new tick bites.
Is there a blood test? Yes. A specific blood test can measure IgE antibodies to alpha-gal. It’s the most reliable diagnostic tool available today.
Why is it hard to track? Cases are not nationally notifiable, so public health officials don’t get complete real-time data.

The best protection against alpha-gal syndrome is the same as with Lyme disease: Prevent tick bites in the first place.

Health policy updates

Changes to the Essential Plan and what it means for insurance coverage

But first, where are my “Pitt” fans at?

Remember how earlier this season there was a construction worker (Orlando) who came in with diabetic ketoacidosis after rationing his insulin because he couldn’t afford it? While the acid built up in his blood was life-threatening, he was terrified of what the hospital bill would be. He worked multiple part-time jobs, none of which provided insurance, and he made just above Medicaid’s income cutoff. He was fully employed, but still couldn’t afford health insurance.

This story hit close to home for New York.

New York’s Essential Plan was built for people in this exact situation: those who don’t get insurance through work but earn just over the limit to qualify for Medicaid. It now covers 1.7 million New Yorkers, up from 380,000 when it launched in 2016.

But the program is now shrinking. After budget cuts from the “Big Beautiful Bill Act” (HR 1), New York asked the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for permission to switch the current Essential Plan to an older structure. (I wrote about it last month.) CMS just approved that request last week (which to be honest, was a pleasant surprise). This means that income-based eligibility for the Essential Plan will now drop from 250% of the federal poverty level, to 200% on July 1, 2026. This change preserves Essential Plan coverage for about 1.3 million New Yorkers statewide, but about 500,000 are expected to lose it.

For single adults, this means that the income cutoff falls from ~$40,000/year to ~$32,000/year. For a family of four, that threshold drops from ~$83,000 to ~$66,000. People making just above the new thresholds will now likely be pushed to the marketplace to pay for insurance, where coverage can cost far more ($10,000-$12,000 per year out of pocket) with higher deductibles that many families simply can’t afford.

While this is bad news, it could have been a whole lot worse. If CMS didn’t approve New York’s workaround, the entire Essential Plan could have shut down. This move doesn’t save everyone’s coverage, but it did prevent a total collapse.

Here’s what to do:

Check your pay stubs: If your income is between $32,000 and $40,000 as a single adult or ~$66,000 to 83,000 for a family of four, watch your mail closely.
New York has started notifying affected New Yorkers, and coverage changes will begin July 1.
Visit NY State of Health to explore your options, or call the helpline at 1-855-355-5777.

Something to watch: New vaccine bills in NY

Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York lawmakers are moving forward with two bills that would further protect vaccines in New York, as federal vaccine policy has become unstable.

The first bill focuses on insurance coverage for vaccines. It would require state-regulated insurers to fully cover the costs of vaccines recommended by the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices or recommended by the state’s health commissioner. The goal is to make sure that insurance coverage continues even if federal ACIP recommendations change.

This bill would require private insurers and state-sponsored insurance to cover the cost of these vaccines. So far, it does not make any changes to vaccines covered by Medicaid or the Vaccines for Children program, both of which are still linked only to ACIP recommendations.

The second bill is about broader immunization guidance. It would remove references to ACIP in multiple state laws, like school immunization requirements, the recommended schedule for newborns, and pharmacist vaccine administration rules. Like the first bill, it shifts guidance toward the New York state health commissioner. This could be good, but it could also be risky in the future — politics change, and there’s no guarantee that future commissioners will be as evidence-forward as ours is right now.

The proposed bills build on the executive order Hochul put forward in the fall to preserve vaccine access, and would put those actions into state law. It’s a good step. These bills are also an example of how vaccine access is increasingly becoming a hyperlocal issue. But the bills still need to pass through the state legislature, so they aren’t set in stone yet.

Bottom line

You’re all caught up on New York public health news! Enjoy this weather, and consider stocking up on tissues and bug repellent. :)

Love,

Your NY Epi

Dr. Marisa Donnelly, PhD, is an epidemiologist, science communicator, and public health advocate. She specializes in infectious diseases, outbreak response, and emerging health threats. She has led multiple outbreak investigations at the California Department of Public Health and served as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Donnelly is also an epidemiologist at Biobot Analytics, where she works at the forefront of wastewater-based disease surveillance.

How to win the war of narratives in global public health

2026-03-19T11:00:00+00:00

Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s Global Checkup in your inbox a day early.

Hello from Nairobi.

This week we start with an incisive essay on how global public health might win back the narrative war around vaccines, trust, and misinformation. After that, well… let me just say that I really do try to take the “global” in global health seriously. I know that the United States is not the center of the world.

But several of the most important stories I’m tracking follow the health consequences of Trump administration policies playing out across Africa, the Caribbean, and Iran. So, buckle up for a red, white, and blue edition.

My name is William Herkewitz, and I’m a journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. This is the Global Health Checkup, where I highlight some of the week’s most important stories on outbreaks, medicine, science, and survival from around the world.

With that, as we say in Swahili: karibu katika habari — welcome to the news.

Global public health can win the narrative war

Measles is having a comeback. Vaccine skepticism is rising. And during the global pandemic, millions quickly turned against even basic public health protections. It’s pretty clear that somewhere along the way, public health started losing the narrative war.

The question is, how does the field fight back?

That’s the focus of a fascinating essay by Steve Hamill in Health Policy Watch, one which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about since I read it. Hamill is a senior marketing and comms executive at Vital Strategies, which is a nonprofit focused on global disease prevention.

Part of the problem, Hamill argues, is that for decades public health officials worldwide assumed that rational arguments, data, and scientific evidence would be enough to persuade the public. (And hey, for a time, it was!) But the era of institutional trust “dominated by elite opinion makers driving consensus” is over, he writes. And now, as we face a media landscape “driven by algorithms, influencers, and coordinated narrative warfare,” public health must take a new approach. And that includes borrowing several, highly effective tactics from public health’s worst detractors.

I reached out to Hamill about his essay, and we discussed what the field needs to do differently to win back trust and attention.

In our conversation, Hamill pointed to two realities about the modern media environment that ring especially true to me. One is that “we’re in an era of AI slop, where authenticity and trust in who the messenger is now matters even more than the message.” The other is that many persuadable people increasingly form their views about public health by “following culture, not evidence.”

Accepting those realities means recognizing that the battleground for public health is much less likely to be found in press conferences or government PSAs … and more likely to be found on TikTok, YouTube, or the broader “content creator sector.” And that, Hamill argues, is exactly where public health agencies need to start showing up.

Thankfully, Hamill says that engaging in this ecosystem is actually easier than ever. As advertisers have poured money into influencer marketing this decade, “the content creator sector has become much more formalized,” he says. Today, there are several platforms (like CreatorIQ, for example) that can connect public health agencies directly with a stable of appropriate influencers, at scale.

Now, you might ask: Will YouTubers deliver perfectly calibrated public health messages, the way officials might hope? Of course not. But Hamill argues that perfection isn’t the point. More important is that “we have to trust imperfect messengers who have social capital in the communities that we’re seeking to reach,” he says.

That gets to another of Hamill’s points: Public health organizations worldwide must begin staffing the experts and allocating the budgets needed to compete in this new media environment.

Specifically, that means staffing public health institutions worldwide with staff excelling in “public relations, community engagement, advertising and paid media, digital media production,” among other technical expertise, he says. For a field where “communications is rarely seen as a strategic competency,” that would be an enormous shift.

Hamill’s last point is that, offline, public health must stop broadcasting messages from the top down and start working through trusted voices inside communities. A major effort should be focused on “finding people in the communities that believe in the information that we are trying to propagate and working with them to give them the resources to bring that to scale within their community,” he says.

In many ways, this mirrors a key tactic of the MAHA movement: identifying communities that already share a concern and amplifying those voices until they dominate the conversation. The difference is that Hamill argues public health should use that same approach in service of accurate information and public good.

And crucially, he argues, these voices are in the majority. “There are more moms who are scared that their kids are going to go to school with unvaccinated people than there are moms who are scared that the vaccine is going to give their kid autism,” he says.

A battle over Cuban doctors

The Trump administration has been ratcheting up a pressure campaign on one of Cuba’s most valuable exports: doctors.

Guyana and Jamaica just announced that they will pull the Cuban doctors from their countries this year, the Miami Herald reports.

What’s the context here?

For decades, the Cuban government has sent hundreds of thousands of medical workers abroad through state-run medical missions. These programs have operated across the world but are particularly critical in parts of the neighboring Caribbean, where you can find Cuban clinicians staffing everything from hospitals to rural health clinics. Today, the program has more than 24,000 doctors working in 56 countries worldwide.

Why is the United States concerned about these doctors? Money.

Governments hosting Cuban medical missions typically pay Havana directly, with the Cuban state then passing along only a portion of the salary to the doctors. While the Trump administration is framing the issue partly about “labor exploitation” of the doctors, most observers see the campaign as an attempt to squeeze one of the (financially beleaguered) Cuban government’s most reliable sources of foreign currency.

Last year, the Trump administration began leaning hard on the foreign governments hosting Cuban doctors, threatening to cancel visas for anyone working with or supporting the Cuban programs, alongside other consequences. And the threats are working beyond just Jamaica and Guyana. Honduras also cancelled its program this year, and Guatemala has begun winding down its mission.

But the health care reality is brutal. As Al Jazeera reported last year:

“For many Caribbean nations, the short-term consequences could be devastating. Training local doctors takes years, and trained professionals often migrate to other countries, leaving behind a persistent shortage.”

That reality prompted unusually blunt pushback from Caribbean leaders. The prime minister of Barbados has called the U.S. pressure “unfair and unjustified,” and the prime minister of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines noted, “I will prefer to lose my visa than to have 60 poor and working people die.”

My takeaway?

The reporting suggests that this is a cold, geopolitical pressure campaign applied with little regard for the health care void it will create. (For example, the threats are not being paired with resources to replace those doctors.)

Two things can be true at once: Cuba’s medical missions may enrich a terrible government in Havana, while the Cuban doctors themselves provide lifesaving care to communities that will be worse off without them.

Black rain in Iran

New Scientist is reporting that recent strikes that set oil facilities ablaze near Iran’s capital, Tehran, have produced an unsettling phenomenon: black rain.

These “catastrophic scenes have raised concerns about threats to civilian health in Iran,” with “local people complain[ing] of their throats aching and their eyes burning.”

What exactly is black rain? It’s a byproduct of rain falling through heavily polluted air. Or, as Stanford University atmospheric scientist Mark Jacobson told me, it’s rain drops “filled with health-damaging, toxic air pollutants.” He says the drops themselves appear black because the concentration of “soot particles is so high in Tehran’s rain that no light penetrates” them, which is a sign of just how polluted the air above the city has become. (Keep in mind, this is a city with a population roughly equal to New York City’s.)

Ultimately, the toxic rain itself isn’t actually the biggest health worry for the city’s residents. As the article notes, “the biggest threat may be the smoke rather than the black rain.”

One researcher quoted in the article put it plainly: “If you get raindrops on your skin, yes, there will be some potentially carcinogenic compounds on your skin, but you can wash that off … but very fine smoke particles in the air can penetrate deep into the lungs and potentially get into the bloodstream.”

A flawed flu forecast

Two weeks ago, we talked about the strange annual ritual behind the flu shot. Which is how each year the World Health Organization tries to predict which flu strains will dominate in the upcoming winter, so that vaccine makers can aim for that educated guess.

Well, the Associated Press is reporting new data that shows that last year’s guess was … a bit of a flop.

U.S. health officials say the 2025 to 2026 flu vaccine was only about “25% to 30% effective” in preventing adults from getting sick enough that they needed to go see a doctor. All told, it was “one of its worst effectiveness rates in more than a decade.” For reference, “officials generally are pleased if a flu vaccine is 40% to 60% effective.”

What went wrong?

Oddly, this is actually a bit of good news. The culprit is exactly what we discussed two weeks ago: a fast-spreading branch of “the H3N2 flu strain,” which experts have already updated in next season’s vaccine. So, the problem has already been patched.

One final takeaway: It’s worth noting that even a mediocre flu shot still matters. In the United States, at least 101 children have died so far this flu season. Of the deaths where vaccination status was reported, about 85% weren’t vaccinated. That’s not a coincidence. As Vanderbilt University vaccine expert William Schaffner told the AP, that flu shot may not stop every infection, “but it can prevent people from becoming severely ill and dying.”

Health aid as a cudgel

Sorry folks, not ending on a happy note this week.

Two weeks ago, we covered the state of the Trump administration’ s new “America First” global health deals in Africa. I had spoken with Dr. Paul Spiegel, who directs Johns Hopkins’ Center for Humanitarian Health, who, as I wrote back then, “warned about turning health aid into what is openly described by Washington as a transactional exchange.”

Well, this week the New York Times published a staggering example of what that approach could look like in practice, in Zambia.

According to a draft State Department memo obtained by the paper, U.S. officials are considering withholding HIV assistance to Zambia unless the country expands access for American companies to its mineral sector. (For reference: Zambia is one of the countries most affected by HIV in Africa, with about 1.3 million people relying on daily treatment supported by the United States’ PEPFAR program.)

Here are two quotes from the memo (prepared for Secretary of State Marco Rubio) that really illuminate just how the officials view lifesaving HIV medicines as a raw, political cudgel.

“We will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale” … “sharp public cuts to American foreign assistance would significantly demonstrate to aid-receiving countries the seriousness of our interest in collaboration and our insistence on tangible benefits under our America First foreign policy.”

My takeaway? When we spoke with Spiegel, we talked about why transactional aid deals make for fragile and ineffective public health policy. That’s still true. But beyond the practical consequences for individual programs, he also made a broader point about what we lose when we treat lifesaving programs as bargaining chips: the trust and goodwill that once made global health “one of America’s most powerful forms of soft power,” he said.

I’ll see you next week.

William

William Herkewitz is a reporter covering global public health for Healthbeat. He is based in Nairobi. Contact William at wherkewitz@healthbeat.org.

Lawmakers seek meeting with RFK Jr. over staff shortages, delays at World Trade Center Health Program

2026-03-13T21:43:52+00:00

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A federal agency seeking to treat emergency responders who fell ill after 9/11 is contending with staffing shortages and delays that could have “devastating medical consequences” as the United States approaches the 25th anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks.

That’s according to a group of New York and New Jersey members of Congress who sent a March 6 letter requesting a congressional hearing with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The letter from U.S. Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, whose district includes Staten Island and parts of southern Brooklyn, and eight other Republican members of Congress from Greater New York says they want to meet with HHS and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials overseeing the World Trade Center Health Program. They are seeking to learn more about the “current operational challenges, the steps being taken to address them, and how Congress can continue to support these important efforts.”

They also say 9/11 responders and survivors have been denied admission to the health program and have been waiting for more than a year for their appeals to be heard.

Of particular concern are reports that the agency has fewer staff members than were initially authorized – at a time when it is seeing enrollment grow. Advocates and others blame the shortage on cuts to HHS brought on by Kennedy and the Department of Government Efficiency. The letter refers to a January report that found only 84 people, out of 120 positions authorized by the Office of Management and Budget, are employed at the program.

“These staffing shortfalls have coincided with widespread delays in treatment authorizations, backlogs in claims processing, disruptions in continuity of care, and reduced oversight of contractors,” the members of Congress wrote.

They also note that program staff members working as Public Health Service Officers have been reassigned temporarily to different departments to work on immigration enforcement and at the Indian Health Service, an HHS agency that provides support to members of federally recognized Native American tribes.

“These reassignments further exacerbate the program staff shortage and harmful wait times for patients,” the letter said. “Responders and survivors suffering from cancers and other life-threatening 9/11-related conditions have reported waiting months for appointments or approvals. These delays can have devastating medical consequences.”

Fifteen years ago, Congress passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act of 2010, which created the World Trade Center Health Program in 2011 to provide health care to what has become more than 140,000 responders and survivors nationwide who have fallen ill because of their exposure to the toxic 9/11 attack sites in Lower Manhattan, the Pentagon, and Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Data collected by the World Trade Center Health Program logs almost 53,000 responders and survivors who were diagnosed with some form of cancer, the most common ailment. Others were found to have a persistent nasal inflammation, heartburn, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

“If you have to wait six months to get an appointment and get your cancer certified, that can make the difference between life and death,” said Michael Barasch, an attorney who has been a vocal advocate for responders and others harmed in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, including Zadroga, a New York Police Department detective who died from a respiratory illness that was attributed to exposure to toxins in Lower Manhattan. “People are going to die because this health program is understaffing.”

Spokespeople for HHS and the World Trade Center Health Program haven’t responded to requests for comment.

Trenton Daniel is a reporter covering public health in New York for Healthbeat. Contact Trenton at tdaniel@healthbeat.org or on the messaging app Signal at trentondaniel.88.

New York state to require insurers to cover inhalers. NYC life expectancy rises.

2025-12-05T20:00:00+00:00

There’s a lot to cover and celebrate this week in New York public health. From improving New York City’s life expectancy to a new state law ensuring inhaler coverage, public health and policy are quietly working behind the scenes. But there’s still plenty of work ahead. Let’s jump in.

Insurance has to pay for inhalers in NY

No one should struggle to breathe because they can’t afford it, but that’s been the reality for many New Yorkers with asthma. The cost of inhalers varies widely, from $35 with insurance to over $500 if uninsured, and depending on the type (e.g., daily preventative vs. emergency relief inhaler). Starting in 2027, though, that reality will shift for many. Last week, Gov. Kathy Hochul signed into law a bill that will require state-regulated health plans — including those on the Affordable Care Act marketplace — to cover the cost of asthma inhalers fully.

Why this matters

Nearly 2 million New Yorkers (about 10% of the state) live with asthma. In New York City, the problem is even greater, especially in neighborhoods with higher pollution levels due to heavy traffic and industrial zoning. In the Bronx, for example, the neighborhood of Mott Haven has become known as “Asthma Alley” because of its concerningly high rates of childhood asthma.

Mott Haven has nearly double the rate of asthma-related emergency room visits for kids 5-17 years old (266.2 per 10,000) compared to city averages (143.7 per 10,000). And these are some of the highest asthma-related emergency room visit rates in the country. (For comparison, the national average asthma-related emergency room visit rate is 36.6 per 10,000 for kids aged 0-18.)

New York City asthma emergency department visits (ages 5-17) in 2023 by community district.

Access to free inhalers is more than a convenience — it’s a lifeline. This is especially true for low-income families living in neighborhoods with high air pollution, who are least likely to afford consistent care. Mott Haven is one of these neighborhoods: a community with many families earning low incomes, surrounded by three major highways and industrial warehouses, resulting in higher air pollution.

While this new law is a major step forward for health equity, it’s still a band-aid: It doesn’t address why asthma rates are so high in the first place. Until we tackle the upstream causes, like air pollution, housing quality, and environmental justice, New Yorkers will continue to need more inhalers.

The state has taken similar steps to make treatments accessible for other chronic conditions, such as capping insulin costs under state-regulated plans. Though this piecemeal approach raises a bigger question: Is the best solution to pass drug-by-drug legislation? Do we need individual bills for every lifesaving medication New Yorkers depend on, and that many families struggle to pay for? This approach is reactive, and many experts argue that broader reforms may be more effective at addressing the underlying root drivers of high drug pricing.

New York City just beat its own health goal, 5 years early

In 2023, the city launched HealthyNYC following a dramatic drop in life-expectancy — from 82.6 years in 2019 to 78 years in 2020, mainly due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative aims to raise life expectancy to 83 years by 2030. But according to new data released last week, we’ve already passed that goal: Life expectancy in New York City is now 83.2 years — the highest in our city’s history since we began tracking.

What drove this change?

Covid-19 deaths dropped by over 90% from 2021 to last year. This alone added years back to New Yorkers’ lives. Other leading causes of death, like heart disease, diabetes, suicide, and homicide, also declined.

But not every number went in the right direction. Deaths from screenable cancers (think breast, colorectal, cervical) rose slightly — up 0.7%. These are cancers we can often catch early or prevent through routine screening, yet outcomes worsened last year in the city.

Additionally, major health inequities persist:

Screenable cancer deaths are still highest among non-Hispanic Black New Yorkers, and especially men.
Heart and diabetes-related deaths are most common in non-Hispanic Black communities.
Homicide and overdose rates disproportionately affect Black and Hispanic communities.

What’s working?

Some of the programs helping to improve life expectancy include:

The Public Health Corps, connecting high-risk communities to care.
Citywide media campaigns and vaccine outreach.
Distribution of 300,000+ naloxone kits and harm reduction services.
New investments in opioid treatment programs like Relay.
Doula and nurse home visiting programs for 20,000+ families.
Action centers focusing on neighborhoods with the highest premature death rates.

With the HealthyNYC initiative codified into law, these efforts won’t disappear with a new mayor or budget cycle — the city will keep working on improving these metrics. But these successes aren’t the finish line. There’s still a big question: How do we not just live longer, but live better? Some city leaders say the next chapter should focus on healthspan — the years of life spent in good health — not just lifespan. It’s also crucial that we continue to double down on closing health inequities across neighborhoods and populations.

Infectious disease ‘weather report’

Flu: Flu continues to increase quickly. The most recent data show that cases and hospitalizations in the state have increased by 117% and 99%, respectively. In New York City, emergency department visits for the flu rose by 142%.

Hospitalizations of respiratory viruses in New York.

RSV: Also increasing across the state and in New York City, mostly in kids under 4. Statewide, hospitalizations increased by 21%, while emergency department visits in New York City went up by 71%.

Covid-19: Cases and hospitalizations are holding steady at low levels in both the city and across the state.

The New York state wastewater program recently launched a helpful update to its dashboard. They now color-code sites by whether they are increasing, decreasing, or stable for Covid-19.

Right now, most sites across the state have either stable or decreasing Covid-19 wastewater values. Sixteen sites, though, are reporting increases, with the largest spikes seen in Seneca and Tioga.

HIV diagnoses have gone up in NYC

A new report shows that last year, 1,791 people were diagnosed with HIV in New York City, up 5.4% compared with 2023. And huge inequities remain: 86% of people newly diagnosed with HIV were Black or Latino/a, and 91% of newly diagnosed women were Black or Latina. Among people newly diagnosed with known transmission category, 65% were men who have sex with men, 82% of whom were Black or Latino.

Upstate updates

If you are looking forward to ice fishing this winter, make sure to check the conditions of the ice before you go out. A minimum of three to four inches of solid ice is the general rule for safety. For more information and to learn about specific fish species in ice fishing, check out the New York Department of Environmental Conservation page.
A raccoon tested positive for rabies in Deansboro. This is a reminder to avoid touching wildlife. If you see any acting strangely (acting mad, shy, getting unusually close, or drooling or foaming at the mouth), stay away, and call your local animal control officer for help. (Find contact information on your city’s website).
Monroe County launched MonroeAlert, an emergency notifications system for residents to get alerts about critical situations in their community. Residents can sign up to receive alerts via text message, email, phone call, or mobile app about emerging issues like severe weather, public safety incidents, travel restrictions, and shelter information.

Bottom line

New York is making real progress, from adding years to our lives to making breathing a little easier for those with asthma. But equity and prevention must stay front and center. Our communities should strive to live better, in addition to living longer.

Love,

Your NY Epi

Global Health Checkup: Chikungunya hits home, malaria’s comeback, and a vaccine for elephants

2025-10-09T11:00:00+00:00

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Hello from Lagos.

I’m in Nigeria this week for a conference with a British development project I’m working with. It’s my first time here, and I can confirm that the food is fiery, the traffic is legendary, and people dress to impress. Even more exciting: Lagos is to Afrobeat music what Nashville is to country music (the warm, pulsating heart), so I’m hoping to hear some live before I fly out.

The traffic in Abuja, Nigeria, was better than in Lagos, but of an entirely different species.

My name is William Herkewitz, and I’m a journalist based in Nairobi, Kenya. This is the Global Health Checkup, where I highlight five of the week’s most important stories on outbreaks, medicine, science, and survival from around the world.

With that, as we say in Swahili: karibu katika habari — welcome to the news.

Chikungunya: from the tropics to Times Square

This week a team of epidemiologists mapped the growing reach of chikungunya virus in the science journal BMJ Global Health, which now threatens up to 35 million people worldwide, The Times of India reports.

Disease breakdown: Chikungunya is a virus first identified in Tanzania in the 1950s and is spread by mosquitoes. Its name means “that which bends up,” a nod to the symptomatic contortions caused by terrible joint pain and fever. Although there’s no cure, death is rare, with fewer than 1 in 1,000 perishing from the illness. The real cost is in long-term pain: chronic arthritis that can last for months or years.

If you’ve never heard of this disease, that’s likely because most cases of chikungunya remain in India, Brazil, and Indonesia. But the virus is increasingly spreading beyond the tropics. China is now seeing its worst outbreak on record, while Italy and France are fighting surges of their own. And last week, a Long Island woman tested positive despite not having traveled abroad. If confirmed, that would be the first local transmission in New York.

What’s going on here? I spoke with Dr. Marietjie Venter, an animal-borne virus researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand, in South Africa. We talked about why chikungunya is spreading, and what this means.

She said the main issue at play is that mosquitoes are moving. The Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus) and the yellow fever mosquito (Aedes aegypti) are the main carriers of the disease. Both have expanded their range dramatically, surviving in places once thought too cold. This comes as humans unwittingly ferry mosquito species across continents and (uh, wittingly) warm the global climate.

“At this stage, chikungunya is really about long-term management rather than eradication,” Venter said. “Once Aedes aegypti or Aedes albopictus mosquitoes establish themselves in an area warm enough for them to survive the winter, it becomes extremely difficult to eliminate them.”

Venter also says that unless we stop warming the planet, today’s situation shouldn’t be seen as a high-water mark for chikungunya, but the new normal. And just as outbreaks are spreading through southern Italy and France, the same could soon happen across the southern United States, where both invasive mosquito species have taken hold. “It’s not something to panic about, but it is something to be aware of,” she said.

Malaria’s comeback in Cameroon

Reuters has a report this week on the death of a 9-month-old boy in northern Cameroon. He’s one of a growing number of malaria fatalities that local officials and aid workers are directly linking to the U.S. pullback in foreign assistance. The story is heartbreaking but straightforward:

“Before the cuts, Mohamat might have been diagnosed earlier by one of more than 2,000 U.S.-funded community health workers who would travel over rough dirt roads to reach the region’s remotest villages … [but] nearly all of the U.S.-funded community health workers are now out of service.”

The core issue is that the Trump administration has cut funding for America’s malaria-fighting program, the President’s Malaria Initiative, by nearly half from recent levels of about $800 million a year. This program once paid the stipends and supplied the drugs for the community health workers reaching families like Mohamat’s. In the story, officials warn that northern Cameroon’s malaria fatality rate may have already erased a decade of progress. It’s worth noting that although U.S. funding cuts triggered this crisis, Cameroon’s government (which earns billions from oil and other exports, but ranks as one of the most corrupt in the world) has failed to step up and provide these basic medical services.

As I wrote two weeks ago, the U.S. government insists its new “America First” health strategy will still reduce malaria cases and deaths, but it doesn’t say how. Ultimately strategies, goals, and promises mean little if the math doesn’t work. For perspective, from 2010 to 2023, the United States contributed roughly 37% of all global malaria funding, according to the World Health Organization. Halving that support while promising the same outcome — without explaining how — seems like magical thinking.

Something’s in the air

We tend to think of air pollution risk in terms of lung damage, like asthma or lung cancer. But The Guardian reports that a new global review of studies across 11 countries has found a strong link between long-term exposure to polluted air and an increased risk of “frailty” in middle and older age. The researchers define “frailty” as a clinical state marked by reduced strength, slowness, and a lower ability to recover from illness.

Context: The type of study here matters a lot. Health reporting has long struggled with how to cover single studies, which can sometimes overstate results or show false findings. That’s not necessarily because of fraud or bad science, but simply because when thousands of studies are run, a few will produce statistical outliers that look exciting by chance alone. It’s how you end up with whiplash headlines: “Coffee/chocolate/wine linked to cancer,” and “Coffee/chocolate/wine shown to prevent cancer.” You know the ones I mean.

But this isn’t a single study. This new review is a “meta-analysis,” meaning it’s a synthesis of data from dozens of studies. That gives it more statistical weight and helps pin down patterns that would be impossible to prove on a case-by-case basis, but hold up across different populations.

What’s the takeaway? The correlation was relevant for developing and richer countries alike, even wealthy countries like the UK. “Since frailty can be reversible,” one independent researcher notes, reducing pollution now isn’t just about preventing disease, it’s about preserving quality of life, “extend[ing] years of independence, and eas[ing] the strain on health and social services,” for millions globally.

Growing drug-resistant infections in newborns

Australian researchers are sounding the alarm on a disturbing rise in drug-resistant infections in newborns across South and Southeast Asia, Newsweek reports. In many cases, standard antibiotics fail, leaving doctors scrambling to treat babies with dwindling options. The story highlights hospitals in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal where “neonatal sepsis” (essentially blood poisoning) is caused by resistant bacteria.

The report links several drivers: overuse of broad-spectrum antibiotics (some given even in advance of any illness), weak infection control in hospitals, and a lack of diagnostic labs to guide medication decisions. In one hospital, a newborn unit saw a strain of bacteria (Klebsiella pneumoniae) resistant to a class of last-resort antibiotics. These infections quickly escalate in fragile newborns whose immune systems barely exist.

What’s the takeaway? “Antibiotic resistance spreads across borders,” one researcher warned. While chikungunya or malaria might never touch most readers directly, drug-resistant infections are increasingly likely to. Once resistance takes hold, there’s no rewinding it, and slowing it down will require serious global cooperation and accountability. Moving forward also means another kind of investment, the researchers say. “With so few new drug candidates in the pipeline, we need a significant investment in antibiotic development.”

Finally, some good elephant news

It’s welcome (if not a bit Dr. Seussian) news this week: Scientists in the UK have trailed the first vaccine in elephants, the BBC reports. The vaccine protects the animals from a deadly virus, called elephant endotheliotropic herpesvirus. The illness is reportedly the largest disease risk for Asian elephants, enough so that “seven baby elephants have died of it over the last decade,” at the Chester Zoo in the UK, where the drug trials took place on six individuals.

Last year, a Houston Zoo elephant received an experimental version of a similar vaccine, which is based on the mRNA vaccine advancements that led to the Covid vaccines. But this marks the first proper trial. (Now, you can almost hear the voiceover: “Ask your zookeeper if Tuskaris is right for you.”)

In all seriousness, this is a rare piece of hopeful science, and not just for a species under siege. Just as mRNA vaccines this decade pushed the boundaries of how quickly we can design and test human vaccines, this work shows how far those advances are spreading — to new tools and new species. It’s also a small but meaningful step toward using modern medicine to help endangered animals fight their own battles to survive.

William Herkewitz is a reporter covering global public health for Healthbeat. He is based in Nairobi. Contact William at wherkewitz@healthbeat.org.

Electric school buses give students a healthier ride. The break from pollution could also help their grades.

2025-07-29T11:00:00+00:00

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As Atlanta students head back to school in the coming days, a fraction of them will be taking electric buses. Those students will be getting a healthier, quieter ride - and research shows they may also perform better on tests and have fewer absences.

Most of Georgia’s school bus fleet is traditional diesel-fueled vehicles, which contribute to air and noise pollution. Replacing them with electric versions is a pricey endeavor at about $300,000 or more apiece, compared to about $100,000 for a traditional bus.

About 124 of Georgia’s 20,000 school buses are electric so far, according to data from the World Resource Institute’s Electric School Bus Initiative.

The transition to electric school buses is in the early stages in the United States, jumpstarted by federal funding during the Biden administration, said Susan Mudd, a senior policy advocate at the Environmental Law and Policy Center. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in 2021 included $5 billion over five years for the Clean School Bus program at the Environmental Protection Agency.

Some Atlanta area districts got funding, but others that applied, like Gwinnett County, did not. And the most recent round of awards under the infrastructure bill has stalled amid changes at the EPA since President Donald Trump took office in January.

Meanwhile, local climate and children’s health advocates are looking for cheaper, interim solutions to ease school bus pollution until more electric buses are on the road.

How diesel-fueled school buses affect students’ health

Traditional diesel school buses create air pollution that can damage children’s lungs, said Sara Adar, a professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health who is an expert on air pollution.

There are several reasons for that, she said, including that children are still developing. They breathe in more air relative to their body size than adults do, and since they’re typically shorter than adults, they are closer to the tailpipes that emit exhaust fumes.

“We’ve found that there are no safe levels of air pollution, so it is of concern to all children,” Adar said. The oldest buses are the least clean, she said. About half of the school buses in Georgia are from 2009 or before, when buses were subject to lower emissions standards, according to the Electric School Bus Initiative.

Electric school buses look like the traditional yellow vehicles, but run quieter and produce less air pollution.

Replacing older school buses with models that pollute less can also bring educational benefits, Adar said. That includes better performance on math and language arts standardized tests, as well as improved attendance.

“The evidence for those associations is really strong,” Adar said.

There are two theories for explaining those links: Kids who ride cleaner buses may perform better because they have better attendance due to breathing cleaner air.

“Their lungs are less irritated. They’re less likely to get sick or to have asthma attacks and therefore be at school more frequently,” Adar said.

Or air pollution could be damaging kids’ brains.

“We also know that air pollution can damage our brain, so on high air pollution days, we know that your brain just is a bit more sluggish than usual, and so it’s possible that the improvements we see in the standardized testing actually have to do with reducing harm to the brain itself,” Adar said.

There can be other community benefits, as well, Mudd said. Some models of electric school buses can store energy and send it back to buildings or the power grid when the buses are not in use, like during school holidays, and during emergencies.

Districts praise EV benefits: cleaner air, cheaper maintenance

DeKalb, Atlanta, and Clayton school districts are among those trying out electric school buses.

Clayton has a total of 467 school buses. Twenty-five are electric, with another 75 slated to arrive within the next year, said Denise Hall, executive director of transportation for the district. While most of the funding came from the EPA grants, the district paid $2.9 million to build charging stations and infrastructure.

“The buses have provided clean air for our scholars and reduced gas and maintenance expenditures,” Hall said.

Neighboring DeKalb has ordered 25 electric school buses for its fleet of 1,005, with plans to order 50 more, using EPA funding, spokesperson Carla Parker said.

Atlanta Public Schools has 25 electric buses purchased through the Clean School Bus fund, said Anthony Ashley, senior director of fleet operations for the district.

How an Atlanta pediatrician deals with climate anxiety – and finds joy in action

“You want to give them the best environment to grow in, and EVs advance that avenue for them, because, for years, kids were exposed to diesel fumes, which have been shown in studies that tend to stunt kids’ growth or their brain,” Ashley said. “We always want the best for our kids, and this is one pathway to advancing that cause.”

Students and drivers also enjoy the quieter environment, Ashley said.

“Kids don’t want to make as much noise as they have in the past, when they have to talk over the engine or yell or scream or whatever. So the environment tends to be a bit more quiet and calm,” he said. That makes for a nicer ride for both students and drivers.

Some APS drivers were initially reluctant to make the switch, but he now has a waiting list of drivers who want electric buses.

Mothers and Others for Clean Air, a local advocacy group, partnered with Georgia Physicians for Climate Action and the Georgia State Medical Association on a campaign to advocate a switch to electric school buses. They have met with district leaders from across the state to educate them about the benefits and how to find funds.

Fulton County Schools has only one electric school bus in its fleet of 930, spokesperson Anne Hamspon Boatwright said. It was bought with funds from the EPA and local taxes.

“We use our bus on a limited basis but have not found it to be practical or effective for our needs. Our green, natural gas-powered buses work very well for us,” Boatwright said.

Natural gas- and propane-powered school buses still pollute, albeit less than diesel, said Tanya Coventry-Strader, executive director of Mothers and Others for Clean Air.

Gwinnett County Public Schools – which claims to be the third largest transporter of students in the country – operates 2,006 buses, but none of them are electric, said Kondria Woods, director of communications. The district applied for federal funds over the past four years but was not selected.

Much of the funding is allocated to eligible school districts through a lottery system, according to EPA materials.

Advocates testing air-cleaning devices on diesel buses

Applications for the fourth year of the Clean School Bus program were due in January, and EPA materials state that notifications to awardees were to be sent out in May.

The notifications have not been sent out, according to a statement to Healthbeat from the EPA press office. The agency will provide an update to applicants “in the near future,” the statement said.

“The good news is that in the BBB [the Big Beautiful Bill signed by Trump on July 4], they did not claw back future rounds of Clean School Bus program” funding, Mudd said.

The EnviroKlenz device monitors and helps clean the air on school buses.

Meanwhile, Mothers and Others for Clean Air in Atlanta is exploring other ways to reduce the impacts of air pollution on children riding diesel buses, Coventry-Strader said.

The group worked with a company called EnviroKlenz to install air-cleaning devices, called Smart Mounts, on four school buses in Atlanta to see whether the devices would reduce air pollution. They found that the filters did reduce air pollution.

Coventry-Strader said that ideally, all Georgia children could travel to school on a non-polluting electric bus. However, that transition could take a long time due to the high cost of the buses.

“The initial test looks really great,” she said of the air filters, which help protect passengers from ambient air pollution that may enter the bus from surrounding vehicles.

She emphasized that electric school buses are a top priority since they protect children and do not emit air pollutants.

“These are a much more cost-effective means to clean the air inside the bus, to immediately affect the health of students and the bus drivers while districts make the switch to electric buses,” Coventry-Strader said. “We know that these diesel school buses are harming our kids’ health.”

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

NY public health update: Wildfire smoke, new Covid variant, diabetes, and a fish consumption advisory

2025-06-05T16:58:07+00:00

There’s a ton going on in the world of public health. This week we’ll cover wildfire smoke in New York, an emerging Covid variant, updates to Covid vaccine eligibility, diabetes in New Yorkers, and an advisory on local fish consumption.

Wildfire smoke in New York

Smoke from wildfires in Canada has made its way down to New York and surrounding states.

Poor air quality from wildfire smoke poses health risks to everyone, but some groups are especially sensitive:

Older adults
Pregnant women
Children
People with pre-existing respiratory and heart conditions

Air quality is measured by sensors that detect the concentration of pollutants in the air. Results are reported as the Air Quality Index, which is a number between 0 and 500. The higher the AQI, the more polluted the air is, and the higher the health risk. When the AQI exceeds 50 (the yellow category), people who are more sensitive to poor air quality should reduce strenuous activity outdoors (like working out). Once the AQI tops 100 (the orange category), everyone should reduce strenuous activity outdoors.

You can easily check the air quality of your local area on some weather apps, like AirNow, or download the EPA’s AirNow mobile app. And for a deeper dive on wildfire smoke, check out our post from last year.

New Covid variant in NYC

A new Covid variant has been detected in international travelers who arrived to New York City airports this month, as well as other airports in the United States. The new variant, NB.1.8.1, is getting some attention because it’s the major variant associated with a surge in Covid cases in China.

The good news is that this variant doesn’t appear to be any more severe than other circulating variants — it’s not meaningfully better at evading the immune system. The reason China may be seeing more Covid cases is not entirely clear, but we do see that this variant grows faster than many other circulating variants in cell culture, meaning it may be more transmissible.

What does this mean for you?

In New York, and the rest of the United States, we can expect another Covid wave this summer, with things likely picking up in the next two to three weeks. We’ve had summer Covid waves the past four summers, so it’s expected at this point.

New York City average SARS-CoV-2 wastewater concentrations. Data from the New York City Wastewater Testing Program.

Wastewater data for New York City is delayed, with the most recent data available as of May 6. The most recent data show that Covid began increasing earlier in May, but it was still at low levels in New York City. I’ll be back with updates once we get more data.

Will the current vaccine be effective against this new strain?

We think so. The new NB.1.8.1 strain seems to evade antibodies similarly to the last two strains vaccines were developed for, JN.1 and KP.2, meaning that the current vaccine should offer protection against severe disease. If you are moderately or severely immunocompromised or over 65, and you got a Covid vaccine in the fall, you can talk to your doctor about getting a second dose. I got the fall vaccine last year, so personally, I am not going to get another shot until this fall. But, I will be paying close attention to the Covid data (and sharing it here) and will likely mask up on the train and in grocery stores once virus activity starts to pick up more.

Covid vaccines will still be available for kids and pregnant women in New York

In last week’s post, we covered new proposed guidelines for Covid vaccines that would make it harder for adults and kids without chronic conditions to get vaccinated if they want to. Late last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released recommendations based on the proposal.

The communication over the vaccine guidelines was a total mess and is still confusing as heck (YLE National covered it here). After it was initially announced that Covid vaccines would not be recommended for healthy kids and pregnant women, the CDC walked that back, and are now recommending that kids, pregnant women, and all adults can still get vaccinated if they and their doctor agree it’s appropriate (called shared clinical decision-making).

Covid vaccine eligibility as of now:

Age 65+: Vaccines are recommended.
Under age 65 with certain health conditions: Vaccines are recommended.
Adults, kids, and pregnant women may get the vaccine if they and their clinician agree it’s appropriate.

This is a win because little kids, particularly those under 6 months old, and pregnant women are still at high risk of severe Covid. Babies continue to make up the most emergency department visits for Covid (even more so than older adults). It also upholds medical freedom and the choice to get vaccinated if one wants to.

The CDC requires insurance to cover kids’ shots that are recommended by shared clinical decision-making. But for adults, insurance coverage is still up in the air. When ACIP (an independent group of advisers to the CDC) meets at the end of June to make their recommendations, they’ll vote on whether Covid vaccines should be recommended for healthy adults, and this will likely dictate insurance coverage.

Diabetes is high in NYC

The NYC Health Department released a report last week showing just how deeply diabetes, one of the most common chronic diseases, affects New Yorkers. In New York City, and the rest of the United States, diabetes is a leading cause of illness, disability, and death.

In 2022, about 11% of the New York City adult population (800,000 New Yorkers) had diabetes. Statewide, it’s similar — 11.4% of New Yorkers have diabetes.

And risk is not evenly spread. Diabetes is highest among older adults, with 26% of New York City adults over 65 having diabetes. The risk of diabetes increases with age — as people get older, the body’s ability to produce insulin declines, muscle mass decreases, and many will have reduced physical activity, all of which contribute to insulin resistance.

Asian/Pacific islander, Black, and Latino New Yorkers have nearly twice the rate of diabetes compared to white New Yorkers. Diabetes risk among racial and ethnic groups is a combination of genetic, environmental, and socioeconomic factors.

Poverty and access to healthy food play a huge role in diabetes risk. NYC residents in high poverty neighborhoods (15%) were almost twice as likely to have diabetes as residents in low poverty neighborhoods (8%). People from lower-income households may not have access to healthy food options (often more expensive) or opportunities to exercise regularly in their communities.

How do we fix this issue?

It’s a complex issue, but more funding and smart investments would help. Diabetes, like many other chronic diseases, is shaped by a person’s environment. Do they have time to cook? Safe spaces to exercise? Access to regular medical care? These are material and environmental conditions, not just personal choices.

Lifestyle interventions, like the National Institutes of Health’s Diabetes Prevention Program (which sadly lost its funding recently) can be very effective. Here’s what we as individuals can keep in mind to reduce risk:

Get regular checkups that include lab work — prediabetes can be reversed with early action.
Strive for a balanced diet — emphasizing protein, fiber-rich carbohydrate foods, and healthy fats.
Stay physically active — exercise benefits blood sugar, insulin sensitivity, and weight management.
Manage weight — if you are carrying excess weight, just losing 5%-10% of your body weight has been shown to have substantial benefits.

New York City’s Health Department has laid out a Citywide Diabetes Reduction Plan that calls for evidence-based programs, such as peer-led education, community health workers, support for healthy food, and self-management services.

Having a plan is great, but the NYC Diabetes Report highlights that the plan’s initiatives are not yet funded at levels needed to reach all New Yorkers who could benefit. We also need long-term solutions that enable people to afford healthier lifestyles. For example, Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement of diabetes prevention and self-management programs, as well as investments in efforts that address the root causes, such as housing, transportation, and food access.

We have the blueprint. Now we need the resources to scale it.

A big thank you to Megan Maisano, MS, RDN, for her expert insight and contribution to this section.

New York advisory on fish contamination

Did you know it’s striped bass season in New York? My dad used to take me fishing when I was little as a way to connect with nature. It’s a great family activity, but some fish can accumulate pollutants from their environment, which can be dangerous if consumed in high amounts.

Last week, New York State Department of Health announced an advisory on which fish from New York state bodies of water are safe to eat, and which ones should be avoided. Some fish in New York have high levels of chemicals that can be harmful, including mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls, and PFAS.

The state is divided into four different water regions, each with its own fish consumption guidelines.

There are different guidelines based on who you are, where you fish, what you catch, and how much fish you eat. Chemicals in fish can have a greater effect on children’s development and babies, so women of childbearing age (under 50) and children under 15 are advised to limit the kinds of fish they eat and how often they eat them. The chemicals from fish can also build up in the body and affect the development of future pregnancies, so women who may become pregnant should limit their consumption of riskier fish.

In addition to the New York-specific guides, the Food and Drug Administration also has recommendations on which fish are safe to eat for women and children.

What you can do

If you fish in New York, look up the guidance for your local fishing spot. Avoid eating the fish listed as not safe to consume. If you are eating out, you can ask where fish was sourced from.

Eating fish can be part of a healthy diet, providing key nutrients like high-quality protein, omega-3 fatty acids, and iron. And not all fish are risky to consume. Fishing can still be a fun activity for the family, but equipping yourself with knowledge of your local environment can help you make healthy decisions about how much fish to eat and from where.

Bottom line

You’re all caught up on New York public health this week. We’ll be back next week with some info on the New York City mayor’s election and how it could influence public health. Stay tuned!

Love,

Your NY Epi

Degraded air quality continues in New York City, posing health risks

2025-06-05T14:56:32+00:00

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Poor air quality continued in New York City and surrounding regions on Thursday, posing health risks to sensitive groups.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation extended an air quality health advisory into Thursday, for New York City, Long Island, and nearby counties from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Young children, elderly people, and those with respiratory diseases like asthma are advised to avoid strenuous activities in the afternoon and early evening. New Yorkers can check up-to-date air quality at AirNow.

The city’s degraded air quality is a result of ground-level ozone, a pollutant, although on Wednesday smoke from Canadian wildfires also created hazy skies, said Dave Radell, a National Weather Service meteorologist.

“The air quality alerts that are in effect through tonight are because of ozone, which is a pollutant that we often see this time of year, once we start getting into the warmer weather and some pretty stagnant like conditions,” he said Thursday.

Ozone can be particularly dangerous for people with asthma, children, older adults,and those who are active outdoors, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Ozone can cause coughing or a scratchy throat, make it more difficult to breathe, and aggravate lung diseases.

In 2023, smoke from Canadian wildfires posed significant health risks for New York City residents, shrouding the city in smoky orange clouds. Public health and environmental researchers later identified an association with the degraded air quality and a spike in emergency department visits in the city for asthma.

Wildfire smoke poses a risk to respiratory health because it is a mixture of water vapor and pollutants like particle pollution — tiny droplets of soot, acids, metals, and other compounds — which can easily seep into homes, according to the EPA. Inhaling particle pollution can result in minor health effects like eye and respiratory tract infections, or more severe ones, like the exacerbation of asthma, or heart failure.

To limit detrimental health effects from wildfire smoke, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene recommends staying indoors with windows and doors closed, if temperatures allow. If the outdoor temperature is higher than 85 degrees, the Health Department recommends using an air conditioner, with the fresh air intake closed to prevent pulling polluted air inside. Those without air conditioners can seek out libraries, public buildings and other cool indoor spaces.

The agency also recommends using a portable air cleaner to filter the air, and wearing a well-fitting N95 or KN95 mask if you need to go outdoors.

The story has been updated with Thursday’s air quality alert and to specify that the ground-level ozone resulted in the region’s degraded air quality.

Eliza Fawcett is a reporter covering public health in New York City for Healthbeat. Contact Eliza at efawcett@healthbeat.org.

BioLab chemical fire update: Where cleanup, investigations, lawsuits stand

2025-06-03T19:03:03+00:00

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Months after a chemical fire released plumes of acrid smoke across metro Atlanta, forcing thousands to evacuate, BioLab has decided not to resume manufacturing at its Conyers plant.

But the company plans to continue to store hazardous chemicals on the site for distribution as efforts to hold it accountable for the Sept. 29 fire – and the cleanup – continue.

“Ultimately, depending on what the long-term health effects are for this community, I don’t know that we will ever be made whole,” said Madelyne Reece, a community leader and founder of the Stand Against BioLab in Rockdale County, Ga., Facebook group.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is still investigating the safety lapses that led to the fire. The state Environmental Protection Division is negotiating with BioLab on a cleanup plan. Rockdale County and a group of residents are seeking compensation through lawsuits.

Here’s where it all stands.

Is BioLab closing? No. But manufacturing won’t resume

Lawrenceville-based BioLab, owned by Kik Consumer Products, announced on May 15 it will not restart manufacturing at its Conyers site. But the facility is not closing and will continue to fill orders with products manufactured at other sites, spokesperson Daniel Hoadley said. As a result, some jobs will be eliminated, but he wouldn’t say how many. BioLab is “providing support to those [employees] impacted as they transition from the business,” he said.

The company will keep about 100 jobs at the facility, according to a Rockdale County press release.

Conyers store owner Chima Ekeke said he wants the company to leave. He lost business in the weeks following the fire as schools and businesses stayed closed, he said.

BioLab fire: Patchwork response exposes shortfalls in emergency planning, environmental safety

“I don’t feel safe that the company [is] remaining in this area. I mean, who knows what will happen again tomorrow, right?” Ekeke said. His store is located about two miles from the BioLab facility in downtown Conyers. “They have to find a suitable place for them to relocate, a lot of neighborhoods and a lot of businesses [are] around here.”

“The problem is those chemicals are still there,” said Cheryl Garcia, a Rockdale resident and community activist. “We want them gone.”

The chemicals stored in the facility included reactive chemicals like trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA), sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCA), and bromochloro-5,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (BCDMH).

The plant had at least three previous fires: one in May 2004 and two in September 2020. BioLab also has a facility in Henry County, according to its website.

What is the status of the investigations?

BioLab announced on May 15 that it had finished “remediation” at the site, and Hoadley told Healthbeat, “The cleanup of the area affected by the fire is complete.”

However, the state Environmental Protection Division said the process is ongoing, and it is working on a formal enforcement action for the BioLab fire.

“On March 5, 2025, EPD proposed a consent order to BioLab. The proposed consent order includes provisions for the development and implementation of a remediation plan. Negotiations regarding the terms and conditions of the order are currently ongoing. As the order has not yet been finalized, additional details are not available at this time,” spokesperson Sara Lips said Monday in an email.

The U.S. Chemical Safety Board released an update on its investigation of the fire in May, though it could take many more months to complete. The independent federal agency can investigate chemical accidents and make recommendations but does not issue penalties.

BioLab was storing more than double the amount of chemicals at the facility – nearly 14 million pounds at the time of the fire – than it had reported for permit application purposes, and it experienced problems with its fire- suppression system in the months before the blaze, the report said. The company set up a 24/7 fire watch in the months leading up to the fire.

Still, there were multiple failures.

“The more we learn about this unacceptable incident, the more disturbing it is,” CSB Chairperson Steve Owens said in a press release accompanying the May update. “This is a stark reminder of the very serious dangers that can occur when enormous amounts of reactive and corrosive chemicals are stored without proper safeguards in place.”

Investigators have not determined where the water that set off the chemical reaction that sparked the fire came from, according to the report.

I’ve lived through three BioLab fires in 20 years. I fear the impact.

There were frequent problems with the facility’s sprinkler system in the months prior to the fire. “Multiple sprinkler system failures” occurred in a part of the warehouse “due to the corrosion of sprinkler system components at the storage warehouse,” the report said.

Hoadley said the company disputes some of the chemical board’s findings, but would not elaborate.

“BioLab has a strong track record of working constructively with regulatory agencies and will continue to cooperate with the CSB’s ongoing investigation, although we disagree with many of CSB’s statements,” Hoadley said.

“The health and safety of the communities within which we operate is a top priority, and we worked collaboratively with first responders and local, state, and federal authorities to complete the emergency response operation in October 2024,” he said.

Has BioLab been penalized for the fire?

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration in late March issued citations for four “serious” violations and two “other-than-serious violations” related to employees’ exposure to toxic chemicals and exposure to respiratory and skin hazards during the fire. Those came with a $61,473 penalty.

The violations included employee exposure to toxic chemicals and fire hazards, inhalation hazards, skin hazards and failure to ensure employees used protective gear and maintain medical records.

BioLab initially contested the findings but recently withdrew the objection, a U.S. Department of Labor spokesperson told Healthbeat.

James Washington, left, and Iffat Walker speak during a community meeting about the BioLab chemical plant fire in February in Conyers, Georgia.

What is being done to track any long-term health effects of the fire?

At least two projects are underway to track how the fire affected residents.

A collaboration between Morehouse School of Medicine researcher James Washington and nonprofit Community Action Now! is focused on tracking the impacts using a community survey.

Rockdale resident Iffat Walker, executive director of Community Action Now!, said the survey queries residents about health and other impacts they experienced in six counties: DeKalb, Gwinnett, Henry, Newton, Rockdale, and Walton.

The survey has collected nearly 400 responses with a goal of 9,000, Washington said.

This summer, they plan to hire college students and interns to visit high-traffic areas like shopping centers, parks, and churches to collect more responses, Washington said.

The project also includes in-depth focus groups to learn more about people’s experiences of the fire and to take a closer look at their medical status since then.

“We want to make sure that the community has what they need to fully recover,” Walker said.

A second study, based at Georgia Tech, is focused on which chemicals were released into the air during the fire. That study is funded by the National Science Foundation.

Principal investigator Greg Lewis told Healthbeat he plans to submit an initial paper this summer. Some of the results will be published publicly, according to a description of the project.

Where do lawsuits against BioLab stand?

At least two lawsuits against BioLab are pending in federal court.

One was filed by Rockdale County and asks the court to order BioLab to pay damages and civil penalties under the Clean Air Act and to close the Conyers plant. The other is a class-action lawsuit that includes local residents and businesses.

Residents have complained that the county has not been transparent in its handling of BioLab. In a December commission meeting, then-Chairman Oz Nesbitt tried to stifle public comment on BioLab because of the pending lawsuit.

“It’s not just a BioLab problem,” Reece said. “We have other manufacturing companies around that this is a giant neon sign to say, ‘Hey, you can get away with anything in Conyers.’”

“If we don’t have that buy-in and that collective thought process from our elected officials, then it’s hard for us as a community, no matter what we do, to make change happen,” Reece said.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

How to avoid ticks and mosquitos this spring in New York City

2025-05-14T12:54:50+00:00

Warm weather is finally here in New York, and it’s the perfect time to get outside. But we’re not the only ones enjoying the sun — mosquitoes, ticks, and pollen are becoming more active, too. A little awareness goes a long way in staying healthy while soaking up the warmer days ahead. But first, some good news.

Good news: New York will provide school meals for all kids

New York just became the ninth state to pass universal school meals. Starting in the fall, 2.7 million students across New York state will receive free breakfast and lunch each day at school. This is an incredible public health victory, propelled by a silver lining of the pandemic: increased knowledge of the importance of school meals for children.

As early as 2015, hundreds of New York City schools began giving free meals to all students, regardless of socioeconomic status. A 2021 study by the Urban Institute found that New York City students who qualified for free or reduced-price meals were more willing to participate in school meals once their school implemented free meals for all, and that there was less bullying and fighting schoolwide. Free school meals for all reduced the stigma and had positive effects for all students, regardless of their socioeconomic status.

This new statewide initiative will open the doors for students across the state and ensure that no kid goes hungry while at school.

Mosquitoes: Why to avoid them and how

From now until roughly November, when temperatures drop, we can expect mosquitoes to hang around. This month, New York City started treating standing water for mosquito larvae, which helps reduce the mosquito population and disease risk. Spraying usually happens later in the summer when mosquitoes are even more active. (We’ll update you when that’s scheduled.)

Most mosquitoes do not carry pathogens that can hurt us. Among those that do, the most common is West Nile Virus. In 2024, 100 human WNV cases were reported across New York state, including in New York City. While most people who get WNV won’t show symptoms, it can be more dangerous for those over 60 years old or who have immunocompromising conditions.

The best thing you can do is avoid mosquito bites:

Wear EPA-approved mosquito repellent outside, especially during peak mosquito activity time: dawn and dusk. If you are using sunscreen, apply sunscreen first and insect repellent second.
Avoid being outside when mosquitoes are most active (the morning and evening)—but this can be really hard.
If it’s not too hot, long sleeves and long pants can protect against bites.
Dump standing water (think flower/plant saucers, buckets, fountains, toys that have been sitting outside, etc.) to eliminate mosquito habitats.

Ticks: Why to avoid them and how

We are in peak tick season in the Northeast, and this season is looking worse than last.

In New York, black-legged ticks (aka deer ticks) are the most common carriers of pathogens. These tiny ticks can transmit Lyme disease and other infections. Cases typically rise in the warmer months, especially from May through August, when ticks are most active.

Lyme disease is the most common tickborne illness in the United States — and New York reports some of the highest numbers in the country with more than 9,000 cases annually. Symptoms usually start with fever, fatigue, and a bullseye rash, though not everyone gets the rash or can see it if skin is darker — thanks, PHunkle, for highlighting this diagnosis challenge!

While rural areas like the Finger Lakes and Central New York have long been hotspots, ticks are increasingly found in parks and green spaces across all five New York City boroughs. Even city dwellers aren’t immune.

Protecting yourself and family means avoiding ticks:

Use repellent that contains 20% or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535 on exposed skin.
Treat clothing and gear with products containing 0.5% permethrin.
Walk in the center of trails and avoid brushing against tall plants.
Do tick checks after spending time outdoors. For kids, especially check under arms, in and around ears, in the belly button, and in their hair.
Toss your clothes in a hot dryer for 10 minutes to kill any hidden hitchhikers.
Treat dogs for ticks. Dogs are very susceptible to tick bites and may also bring ticks into your home.

If you find a tick attached to your skin, remove it promptly with tweezers and monitor for symptoms. Early treatment is key to preventing severe illness.

New York pollen: high

Pollen has struck me this week, and my nose is like a mini Niagara Falls. 🤧🌊 The data confirm what my nose tells me — New York pollen counts are high or medium-high throughout the state this week.

Allergies are a nuisance, but they can also be dangerous for those with asthma. In New York City, emergency department visits for asthma spike when pollen counts increase.

About 1 in 12 children in New York and an additional 1.5 million adults have asthma. For those with asthma, tracking pollen levels and reducing exposure can help with prevention. Talking with your provider about managing asthma symptoms during allergy season is also a good idea.

Dr. Zachary Rubin, an allergist and immunologist, has a helpful post on managing and dealing with allergies.

Bottom line

You’re all caught up! And a belated happy Mother’s Day to all the moms out there — you are deeply appreciated. My own mom, a public school science teacher, inspired my love of science and health, and her unwavering support carried me through. Thanks, Mom!

Love,

Your NY Epi

How to survive peak pollen allergy season: New York public health update

2025-05-07T12:36:16+00:00

This article originally appeared at Your Local Epidemiologist New York. Sign up for the YLE NY newsletter here. Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here.

Today’s Dose covers pollen allergies, 988 crisis line and AmeriCorps funding cuts, and New York City composting.

Peak pollen (and allergy) season is here in N.Y.

My itchy eyes and fatigue confirm the data: We’re at peak allergy season in New York.

Most U.S. locales see three pollen waves — trees, grass, weeds. New York is ending tree season and sliding into grass. Individual allergy sensitivity can vary by type of pollen. I’m a grass pollen girl myself. 💅🏻🌱

Over the past few decades, allergy seasons in New York have gotten worse, partly due to climate change. The average allergy season has grown by over three weeks since 1970, with higher pollen counts. Longer and more intense pollen seasons can exacerbate allergies and respiratory conditions for New Yorkers.

To reduce pollen exposure and prevent it from entering your home, there are a few things you can do:

Check local pollen counts.
Leave shoes at the door and change clothes after outdoor activities.
Wipe off furry animals after they’ve been outside.
Shower before bed.
Keep windows closed during peak pollen times (midday).
Run air conditioning or HEPA filters.
Dust and vacuum regularly.

Dr. Zach Rubin, an allergy doctor, joined YLE on our podcast America Dissected last week and gave great tips on managing allergies:

To relieve sinus symptoms, it can help to rinse your nose with saline water (like a neti pot), but only with distilled or sterilized water.
For medications, second-generation antihistamines like cetirizine (Zyrtec) tend to have fewer side effects than diphenhydramine (Benadryl). Always talk with your doctor for more information.

Funding threats to the 988 crisis line

988 is a free, confidential call, text, or chat line that links people in mental or emotional distress to trained local counselors 24/7/365. Since its launch in 2022, the New York 988 Lifeline has responded to more than 778,000 calls and about 139,000 texts. Counselors provide help for mental health struggles, emotional distress, alcohol or drug use concerns, or just someone to talk to. It’s funded by federal, state, and local dollars. However, funding for this critical safety net is being actively debated in New York City.

There are two looming funding threats:

City cuts: New York City cut ~$12 million from the nonprofit that answers local 988 calls, Vibrant Emotional Health. Without additional support, Vibrant has signaled that it could lay off up to a third of its staff in the coming months.
Federal cuts: A draft federal budget suggests cutting funding for specialized 988 services that support LGBTQ+ youth, a group at heightened risk for suicide. Some 988 counselors are trained to serve these populations and often have similar life experiences. Since 2022, 988 has responded to nearly 1.3 million calls, texts, or online chats nationally from LGBTQ+ people.

Why it matters

No changes have been made yet. 988 will remain a resource and continue supporting and linking those in crisis with trained counselors. There is also a line that LGBTQ+ youth can continue to reach out to outside of 988: the Trevor Project’s helpline.

But if the layoffs in New York go through, callers may wait longer, more may hang up before help arrives, and fewer counselors will be available, especially those trained to support high‑risk groups like LGBTQ+ youth.

AmeriCorps funding cuts

AmeriCorps is a national service program that provides participants with living allowances to serve community needs, mainly in education and public health — kind of like the Peace Corps for our communities. Last week, the federal government abruptly cancelled $400 million in funding for AmeriCorps, roughly 40% of its total funding. New York was hit hard: $30 million was cut from New York programs, leaving 1,200 AmeriCorps workers in New York without income and benefits, and halting programs providing critical resources for New Yorkers. In response, New York Attorney General Letitia James joined 24 other states in suing the federal government to stop the dismantling of AmeriCorps.

Why it matters

AmeriCorps supports more than 24,000 volunteers and members statewide who have provided critical services in vulnerable communities for decades.

The New York programs abruptly cut last week provided:

Community health education
Peer mental health services
Food for unhoused New Yorkers
Disaster preparedness training

AmeriCorps supports many upstream public health needs: nutritious meals that keep chronic diseases in check, tutors who help kids read on grade level (a predictor of lifelong health), and counselors who connect families to benefits before crises snowball. With these cuts, coverage will become even more patchy — some neighborhoods will keep services, while others may lose them entirely. The program also provides young Americans with an experience of serving their communities where their skills are needed most.

What you can do

The litigation may help restore these funds, but if it doesn’t, community organizations will need to fill the gaps. What can help right now is spreading the word, contacting governmental representatives, and if you’re able, donating to or volunteering with affected organizations — they are scrambling for resources.

Composting is so in right now

In a city of 8 million people, how we handle our garbage is a frontline public health service. When garbage and food scraps sit out, they attract rats, roaches, and the pathogens those pests carry. That’s why, every day, the NYC Department of Sanitation carts away roughly 24 million pounds of trash, recycling, and compostables. The city is making it a lot easier for residents to compost our food waste.

There are good reasons to compost:

To prevent food scraps from releasing methane into the atmosphere as they break down, contributing to climate change.
Separating food scraps from other garbage helps fight the city’s rat infestation by removing their food source.
Repurpose food scraps into compost soil that can be used in city green spaces. Residents and non-profits can get free compost soil from compost give-back sites in Queens, Brooklyn, and Staten Island, as well as pop-up sites across the city.

Compost is now picked up weekly on your recycling day — find your collection schedule here.

Starting last month, owners of buildings with four or more units must provide bins for food waste or face fines.

Another option is to use the city’s “Smart Composting Bins,” which can be opened with a QR code. I use this option — we store compost in the freezer to keep it from smelling or attracting bugs, then drop it off in a Smart Bin down the street.

Bottom line

You’re all caught up on New York public health news! See you next week :)

Love,

Your NY Epi

‘Total chaos’: 9/11 survivors left in limbo after federal staffing cuts to World Trade Center Health Program

2025-04-21T16:53:51+00:00

This story was originally published by THE CITY. Sign up to get the latest New York City news delivered to you each morning.” Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free New York City newsletter here.

Layoffs at the federal World Trade Center Health Program have caused “chaos,” leaving members and city agencies alike unsure who to contact when city employees face delays in lifesaving care, according to officials, insiders, and advocates.

The program, which began a decade after the 9/11 terrorist attack, provides medical services to impacted individuals and studies 9/11-related illness. It serves more than 83,000 New Yorkers, and has generally garnered the support of Republican members of Congress from the New York region.

But earlier this month, President Donald Trump approved layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services, including doctors and the longtime director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Dr. John Howard, who helped create the World Trade Center Health Program.

Howard was reportedly brought back after an outcry, but the other layoffs remain. And now people in the city who deal with the WTC survivors program say they’ve lost key points of contact — and faith in its future.

But despite the threats to city workers, Mayor Eric Adams, a retired police officer who also responded at Ground Zero, refused to answer repeated questions from THE CITY earlier this month about the cuts to the program. New York City has the nation’s largest share of 9/11 responders and survivors enrolled in the program.

Lawyer Michael Barasch represents thousands of people across the country who are enrolled in the 9/11 health program. He’s also in it: His office is on Park Place, a few blocks from Ground Zero, and he’s lost two employees to cancer and survived prostate cancer himself.

“It’s total chaos,” he said, with clients calling up unsure of how to access the program’s services. “We don’t know what’s going to happen.”

Barasch told THE CITY that one man called him recently asking, “Will the government keep paying for my chemo?”

People enrolled in the program qualify for free annual exams, which often results in early detection of cancers and other illnesses, he noted.

“They turn them up early, and early detection saves lives,” Barasch said. The program also funds grants to research other potential 9/11-linked illnesses or side effects.

“If NIOSH is eviscerated, who’s gonna finish the studies?,” he said.

John Feal, a Ground Zero demolition supervisor who founded the FealGood Foundation to push for more funding for Sept. 11 survivors and first responders, criticized Adams for not doing more for city workers and residents — especially as a former cop who responded after the attacks.

“I want a mayor who’s gonna care about humanity, who has empathy and who has compassion,” he said in an interview earlier this month on PIX 11.

“This is a man who cares about himself, saving his own butt. He made a deal with this [Trump] administration, so we know where his mind is and especially I know where his heart is, and it’s not with the 9/11 community.”

City agencies in the dark

The upheaval at the federal agency has also affected city agencies, which have lost contacts and await approvals for medical treatment, according to a spokesperson for the mayor’s office who did not want their name published.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s direct contacts to the program were laid off, without any information on what will happen next.

At the FDNY, active and retired firefighters in need of life-saving procedures including chemotherapy and a lung transplant are in limbo, with higher-ups not there to approve them, according to the mayor’s office . And even approval for personnel protective equipment — including respirators — are done through the now-cut federal agency, without any idea of who will handle it.

After Adams dodged multiple questions about the program, a spokesperson sent a statement last week, avoiding any direct criticism of the Trump administration. “New York City is dedicated to providing quality health care to the heroes who responded on 9/11 and the survivors of the most tragic day in America’s history,” the mayor said in a statement.

“Our partnership with the federal government to deliver these services is vital, providing access to life-saving, time-sensitive treatment for every firefighter, police officer, volunteer, and everyday New Yorker who remember that day, and remember what it took to rebuild the next morning. We are reaching out to the federal government about restoring these important resources.”

A spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Brittney Manchester, said in a statement that the programs are continuing but didn’t address the layoffs or concerns about lost contacts.

“Direct patient care is functioning, and program members are being seen by doctors and nurses at clinics,” she wrote.

“All statutorily required programs will remain intact, and as a result of the reorganization, will be better positioned to execute on Congress’ statutory intent.”

Further cuts to the Sept. 11 survivors program could also leave the city on the hook to pay for medical care, advocates note.

There are more than 137,000 responders and survivors living across the country, and more than 46,000 of them sought treatment last year through the World Trade Center Health Program, according to data from Citizens for the Extension of the James Zadroga Act Inc, an advocacy group.

New York state has the largest share of people enrolled in the program, with 83,719 as of last June, data show.

New York City pays 10% of the health care program and victims compensation fund – which has cumulatively awarded more than $15 billion since the program began. But with more than 10,600 enrolled members in union, with many having their usual health insurance paid by the city, further cuts to the federal program could leave the city responsible for subsequent health care costs.

Ben Chevat, the executive director of independent 9/11 Health Watch, told THE CITY that most of the problems spawning from the staff cuts aren’t fully known yet — but will likely get worse.

“The list of the problems these staff cuts have caused is growing,” he said. “Certification of responder and survivor conditions allowing for their care have stopped. New enrollments for those seeking care have stopped. This will cause delays in care, it will also cause delays in compensation for those injured.”

Katie is a reporter for THE CITY and co-host of FAQ NYC podcast. Email Katie at khonan@thecity.nyc.

Public health risks of urban wildfire smoke prompt push for more monitoring

2025-04-08T16:07:32+00:00

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When the catastrophic Los Angeles fires broke out, John Volckens suspected firefighters and residents were breathing toxic air from the burning homes, buildings, and cars, but it was unclear how much risk the public faced. So, the professor of environmental health at Colorado State University devised a plan to get answers.

Volckens shipped 10 air pollution detectors to Los Angeles to measure the amounts of heavy metals, benzene, and other chemicals released by the flames, which burned more than 16,000 homes, businesses, and other structures, making it one of the country’s costliest natural disasters.

“These disaster events keep happening. They release pollution into the environment and to the surrounding community,” said Volckens, who shared his results with local air regulators. “We have this kind of traumatic experience, and then we’re left with: Well, what did we just breathe in?”

Scientists and public health officials have long tracked the pollutants that cause smog, acid rain, and other environmental health hazards and shared them with the public through the local Air Quality Index. But the monitoring system misses hundreds of harmful chemicals released in urban fires, and the Los Angeles fires have led to a renewed push for state and federal regulators to do more as climate change drives up the frequency of these natural disasters.

It’s questionable whether the Trump administration will act, however. Last month, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced what he described as the “biggest deregulatory” action in history, which critics warn will lead to a rollback of environmental health regulations.

A small air quality monitoring sensor can help people understand what's in the air after disasters like wildfires. This AirPen device was dispatched to Los Angeles during the January fires.

While Air Quality Index values are a good starting place for knowing what’s in the air, they don’t provide a full picture of pollutants, especially during disasters, said Yifang Zhu, a professor of environmental health sciences at UCLA. In fact, the AQI could be in a healthy range, “but you could still be exposed to higher air toxins from the fires,” she added.

In February, nearly a dozen lawmakers from California called on the EPA to create a task force of local and federal authorities to better monitor what’s in the air and inform the public. Locals are “unsure of the actual risks they face and confused by conflicting reports about how safe it is to breathe the air outside, which may lead to families not taking adequate protective measures,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to James Payne, who was then the acting EPA administrator. The EPA press office declined to comment in an email to KFF Health News.

Bills would fund more air monitors, study smoke impact

Lawmakers have also introduced bills in Congress and in the California legislature to address the gap. A measure by U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, a California Democrat, and U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley, an Oregon Democrat, would direct the EPA to allocate grant money to local air pollution agencies to communicate the risks of wildfire smoke, including deploying air monitors. Meanwhile, a bill by Democratic state Assembly member Lisa Calderon would create a “Wildfire Smoke Research and Education Fund” to study the health impacts of wildfire smoke, especially on firefighters and residents affected by fires.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District, a regional air pollution control agency, operates about 35 air monitoring stations across nearly 11,000 square miles of the Los Angeles region to measure pollutants like ozone and carbon monoxide.

During the fires, the agency, which is responsible for the air quality of 16.8 million residents, relied on its network of stations to monitor five common pollutants, including PM2.5, the fine particles that make up smoke and can travel deep inside the body. After the fires, the South Coast AQMD deployed two mobile monitoring vans to assess air quality in cleanup areas and expanded neighborhood-level monitoring during debris removal, said Jason Low, head of the agency’s monitoring and analysis division.

Local officials also received the data collected by Volcken’s devices, which arrived on-site four days after the fires broke out. The monitors — about the size of a television remote control and housed in a plastic cover the size of a bread loaf — were placed at air monitoring stations around the fires’ perimeters, as well as at other sites, including in West Los Angeles and Santa Clarita. The devices, called AirPens, monitored dozens of air contaminants in real time and collected precise chemical measurements of smoke composition.

Researchers replaced the sensors every week, sending the filters to a lab that analyzed them for measurements of volatile organic compounds like benzene, lead, and black carbon, along with other carcinogens. Volcken’s devices provided public health officials with data for a month as cleanup started. The hope is that the information provided can help guide future health policies in fire-prone areas.

“There’s not one device that can measure everything in real time,” Low said. “So, we have to rely on different tools for each different type of purpose of monitoring.”

Urban wildfire smoke more dangerous that tree and bush fires

ASCENT, a national monitoring network funded by the National Science Foundation, registered big changes after the fires. One monitor, about 11 miles south of the Eaton fire in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, detected 40 times the normal amount of chlorine in the air and 110 times the typical amount of lead in the days following the fires. It was clear the chemical spikes came from urban wildfire smoke, which is more dangerous than what would be emitted when trees and bushes burn in rural areas, said Richard Flagan, the co-principal investigator at the network’s site in Los Angeles.

“Ultimately, the purpose is to get the data out there in real time, both for the public to see but also for people who are doing other aspects of research,” said Flagan, adding that chemical measurements are critical for epidemiologists who are developing health statistics or doing long-term studies of the impact of air pollution on peoples’ health.

Small, low-cost sensors could fill in gaps as government networks age or fail to adequately capture the full picture of what’s in the air. Such sensors can identify pollution hot spots and improve wildfire smoke warnings, according to a March 2024 U.S. Government Accountability Office report.

Although the devices have become smaller and more accurate in the past decade, some pollutants require analysis with X-ray scans and other costly high-level equipment, said J. Alfredo Gómez, director of the Natural Resources and Environment team at the GAO. And Gómez cautioned that the quality of the data can vary depending on what the devices monitor.

“Low-cost sensors do a good job of measuring PM2.5 but not such a good job for some of these other air toxins, where they still need to do more work,” Gómez said.

UCLA’s Zhu said the emerging technology of portable pollution monitors means residents — not just government and scientists — might be able to install equipment in their back yards and broaden the picture of what’s happening in the air at the most local level.

“If the fires are predicted to be worse in the future, it might be a worthwhile investment to have some ability to capture specific types of pollutants that are not routinely measured by government stations,” Zhu said.

This article was produced by KFF Health News, Healthbeat’s national reporting partner, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

Atlanta allergies: Hardwood trees driving ‘extremely high’ pollen counts

2025-04-04T20:49:34+00:00

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That pollen you see on your car might not be what’s making your eyes water and nose run, an Atlanta allergist told Healthbeat on Friday, the 10th consecutive day of “extremely high” pollen counts.

It’s pine tree pollen that coats Atlanta cars and windowsills in a sunny shade of yellow, but the pollens that fuel allergies here come mostly from hardwood trees like oak, birch, sycamore, and hickory, allergist Dr. Lily Hwang said. The spores are so small that you can’t see them with the naked eye – but many Atlantans are feeling them.

Nurses who are certified pollen counters at Atlanta Allergy and Asthma count the pesky pollen spores daily. The clinic is the only National Allergy Bureau-certified pollen center in Georgia. The nurses put slides of pollen under microscopes to count the tiny particles – and post the results online.

Pine and oak pollen are seen through a microscope from a high-pollen day this week in Atlanta.

They add the tree pollen count to counts for grass and weed pollen – now mostly mugwort – to arrive at a total that changes daily. On Friday, it was 5616, mostly from tree pollen, up from just 33 on March 4, but down from 7067 on Wednesday. The count indicates “the number of grains of pollen or mold spores in a cubic meter of the air,” according to the American Academy of Allergy Asthma and Immunology, which certifies the pollen count station.

Measuring about 25 microns, much smaller than a human hair, tree pollen from hardwoods is “so small you really can’t see it by the naked eye. … The pollen that you don’t see are so small and so fine and so light, it actually is the one that blows around and travels further,” said Hwang, a Chattanooga, Tenn., native who started her career in internal medicine and got interested in allergies after seeing her young nephew struggle with symptoms.

Patients have different kinds of allergies, Hwang pointed out, so knowing the counts for types of pollens is helpful for deciding when and how to treat symptoms, especially since some medicines take two weeks to ramp up. In Georgia, pollen is more of a year-round problem, Hwang said, in contrast to Chicago, where patients get a winter reprieve.

For Georgians, the pollen season appears to be lengthening, Hwang said.

“If I looked at today’s count, I can see that the tree pollen is extremely high, and there’s not a whole lot of grass in the air yet .. grass season comes later in spring,” Hwang said. Meanwhile, weed pollen from mugwort is up this spring, while it’s typically seen in fall, due to warming.

“Our pollen is only going to get worse,” she said, adding that models predict an increase in severity and intensity until 2035. “They show that ragweed is moving more northward. We’re getting longer seasons. All these things are changing as we’re following them.”

The nurses at Hwang’s clinic also count mold, separately from pollen. That rate was also extremely high on Friday.

“Mold is spores that are found in the soil. They kind of are in the air …It’s not just like people think of mold, just like in their homes, but mold spores actually exist naturally, outside, as well,” Hwang said. “Ater the rain, you get nice warm weather. It’s a perfect situation for mold.”

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

How improving air quality in schools would minimize the threat of bird flu spread

2025-03-21T11:00:00+00:00

This is a guest essay for Healthbeat. Public health, explained: Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free national newsletter here.

Experts are growing increasingly worried that bird flu – avian influenza H5N1 – will evolve into a strain that causes widespread illness and death in humans and that the federal government is neither sufficiently containing the epidemic in animals, nor preparing sufficiently for widespread human illness.

While containment, preparedness, and overall response for national epidemics are inherently federal government responsibilities in the United States, there is one critical intervention that states and large cities should take now: Improve indoor air quality in schools and congregate settings.

State of bird flu epidemic: Threat is growing

The number of mammal species that can be infected is growing. While animal illness and deaths have been primarily in those in the wild or raised for food, infections are now spreading to household companions, such as cats, including two recent cases in New York City, and there is concern of infection spreading both human-to-pet and from pet-to-human.

Until now, most humans in the United States have been infected through close contact with an infected animal with only 70 cases (as of Tuesday). It is likely that many more infections have occurred but not been diagnosed and counted. Evolutionary changes in the virus suggest that it has a high likelihood of evolving into a strain that humans can spread to each other through the air.

To date, public concern has largely focused on food prices, food safety, and the health of pets. Experts have been focused on improving biosecurity on farms; improving surveillance in animals, humans, the environment, and food; and development of vaccines for chickens, cows, and humans. Across these discussions, the extreme impact that the Covid-19 pandemic had on all aspects of the country remains front and center.

Harms of virus vs. harms of virus-control measures

Central to the ongoing, intense debate about whether the U.S. Covid-19 response was too aggressive or not aggressive enough is the question: How does government balance the harms of the virus against the harms of virus-control measures? Between those that believe government did too much and those that believe government did too little, there are two areas of broad consensus:

Government should have done more to protect people living in nursing homes and assisted-living facilities from the harms of the virus.
Government should have done more to continue in-person schooling and protect children from the harms of the virus-control measures.

If H5N1 leads to a pandemic, governments will face an extreme challenge again protecting those most vulnerable to severe illness and death and ensuring that in-person schooling continues. Notable, there is one intervention that can substantially help with both: improving indoor air quality.

Why does indoor air quality matter for infectious diseases?

Infectious diseases that transmit through the air have the greatest potential to cause pandemics and impair health and wealth, because one human can readily infect multiple susceptible humans during a single interaction.

NYC Health Dept. warns against raw food after two cats die from bird flu. Here’s how to protect your pet.

Infectious disease control over the past 100 years has focused primarily on developing medical interventions (e.g., vaccines, antimicrobials), or stopping transmission through direct physical contact (e.g., handwashing, gloves, condoms), surfaces and materials (e.g., sterilizing equipment, cleaning surfaces), and consumables (e.g., water, food). Far less has been invested in ensuring that air — particularly indoor air — is made as safe and clean as surfaces, hands, water, and food.

How do we clean indoor air?

There are three general approaches to cleaning air. The first is ventilation: Ensuring that new air replaces old air. One reason infectious diseases do not transmit efficiently outdoors compared to indoors, is because there is a constant supply of new air (i.e., air free from infectious disease particles) to blow away old air (i.e., air that may contain infectious disease particles). In indoor settings, ventilation can be improved by opening windows and ensuring that central air systems pull old air out and push new air in frequently.

The second approach is through filtering air. Air can be blown by a fan through a filter that traps infectious disease particles, and the air that leaves the filter is considered fresh. These filters can either be installed in centralized air systems or in portable air purification devices.

The third approach is to disinfect the air by using ultraviolet energy (known as “germicidal UV”) to inactivate or kill infectious organisms in the air.

Studies performed in laboratories and real-world settings have conclusively demonstrated that all three of these approaches work on their own and synergistically to disinfect air and reduce human infections from airborne viruses (measles, influenza, Covid-19), bacteria (tuberculosis), and fungi.

The most recent comprehensive high-quality review of indoor air quality was conducted as part of The Lancet Commission on Covid-19, which concluded that indoor air-quality improvements can reduce transmission of Covid-19 and other respiratory infectious diseases in schools and congregate settings. In this review, they also highlighted additional benefits to overall health and cognition, beyond preventing respiratory infections, from these interventions.

Invest in indoor air in congregate settings and in schools

Covid-19 demonstrated the critical importance of improving indoor air in congregate settings and in schools. Covid-19 spread wildly through assisted-living facilities and skilled nursing homes and caused over 200,000 deaths. Many infections and deaths in these facilities could have been greatly reduced by improving indoor air-quality measures.

Much of the backlash against Covid-19 control measures focused on the closure of in-person schooling. Without in-person learning, children have impaired social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development, and many lose access to food and nutrition. Parents face difficulty working (either in-person or remotely), which directly impairs the economy.

The backlash against virus control measures in schools crossed the political spectrum and greatly eroded trust in government policies and institutions. Parents were angry at health and school officials; teachers were angry at parents and school officials; students became depressed; and elected officials fomented this anger to advance their political agendas.

Without question, the United States will struggle to implement and maintain an effective all-of-society response against a future H5N1 influenza epidemic unless schools are made as “pandemic proof” as possible. Keeping schools open and safe during a future emergency would greatly improve public trust in health experts and government.

What should states do now?

One of the most important pandemic preparedness initiatives after Covid-19 emerged was the White House Summit on Indoor Air Quality, which led to detailed guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Environmental Protection Agency that never existed before. Industry, expert groups, and academic centers have also published detailed guidance on what governments and building operators can do. In most situations, states and cities will need to enact laws and regulations, and allocate funding for upgrading facilities and monitoring compliance.

The question most people ask is: Why make the investment in new regulations and building upgrades if we are not certain there will be a bird flu epidemic, particularly when there is a movement to shrink the size and budget of government?

The answer is that we know these investments will benefit health and productivity even if there is never a bird flu epidemic. They can help us reduce the spread of routine seasonal airborne flu and Covid-19, as well as outbreaks of measles. They will reduce the impact of allergies and pollution. They will protect people when there are wildfires.

The time to prepare our defenses is now.

Dr. Jay K. Varma is a physician and epidemiologist. An expert in the prevention and control of infectious diseases, he has led epidemic responses, developed global and national policies, and implemented large-scale programs that saved hundreds of thousands of lives in Asia, Africa, and the United States.

‘We’re listening': New project aims to study health effects of BioLab fire on metro Atlanta residents

2025-02-25T18:51:29+00:00

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A community organizer and the Morehouse School of Medicine are launching a project to study the long-term physical and mental effects of a chemical plant fire outside Atlanta that polluted the air for over a month.

About 17,000 Rockdale County residents were urged to evacuate their homes in September after the BioLab chemical plant caught fire, sending plumes of multicolored gas into the air, causing coughs, and skin, throat and eye irritation for some. The fire also prompted the closing of schools and businesses for weeks.

The Conyers facility, which made and distributed stored pool cleaning chemicals, had a poor safety record, with at least three previous fires: one in May 2004 and two in September 2020.

Since the fire, residents have joined class-action lawsuits and rallied to demand that BioLab leave Conyers.

Researcher James Washington of Morehouse School of Medicine and community organizer Iffat Walker, executive director of Community Action Now!, a nonprofit advocacy group, have teamed up to explore the health effects of the fire.

The three-year “Post-Fire Public Health Recovery Project” will focus on Rockdale, Walton, Newton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, and Henry counties, Walker said.

The project will use a “community-based system dynamics” model to incorporate residents’ views, experiences, and concerns into the research.

“There’s no way that you know the community is going to be made whole unless we make sure that this particular project is community led,” Walker said. “That means we’re not dictating the solutions. We’re listening, we’re learning, and we’re collaborating.”

The first step in the project is to collect data from people affected by the fire, Walker said. Organizers plan next month to ask people to fill out a survey. People can sign up to be notified about the survey and other developments on the Community Action Now website.

That initial data will help frame the topics for further research, Washington said.

The project will also include a component to track the medical histories of people who live and work in the target areas.

Mental health will also be a focus. Washington said semi-structured interviews will provide an opportunity for people to share how the fire affected them. “It fills in the blanks of what some of the quantitative research shows. … It tells a bigger picture.”

The project will produce publishable research and easily accessible data that can inform policy, Washington said.

In other BioLab news:

The Rockdale County Local Emergency Planning Committee has started meeting again. It met earlier this month with plans to meet again in early March. The purpose of the committee is to prepare for disasters and chemical accidents. The Rockdale County committee was disbanded prior to the BioLab fire but has been revived.
A lawsuit against BioLab filed by Rockdale County is continuing, with initial fact discovery scheduled for later this year.
Several class-action lawsuits have been consolidated into one case that is proceeding in the U.S. District Court of Northern Georgia.
The Shutdown BioLab coalition had considered pursuing legal action against Rockdale County for issuing a business license to BioLab. The coalition decided not to pursue this for legal reasons, said Paul Glaze, an organizer with the Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund who helps lead the Shutdown BioLab coalition.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

Detroit’s high childhood asthma rate contributes to chronic absenteeism

2025-01-13T16:23:34+00:00

This story was produced as part of a collaboration between Chalkbeat, Healthbeat’s sister publication covering education, and Planet Detroit. Sign up for Chalkbeat Detroit’s newsletter to keep up with the city’s public school system and Michigan education policy. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s free weekly newsletter to keep up with local environment and public health news.

In second grade, Joshua missed two to three days of school per month because of his asthma. He had to repeat the grade.

His mom, Mayra Hernandez, said Joshua was so embarrassed that he had been retained that he wore a hoodie “so that the other kids [wouldn’t] see that he was still in second grade.”

In Detroit, children have especially high rates of both asthma and absenteeism. Chronic absenteeism – when a student misses 10% or more of the school year – is a complex and pervasive problem nationwide, with a variety of causes.

More than 50% of the students who attend district and charter schools in Detroit are chronically absent. In the Detroit Public Schools Community District alone, the rate is nearly 66%. Asthma isn’t the only reason students miss school in the city, but its contribution to absenteeism fuels an attendance crisis that hurts students and their futures, disrupts school improvement efforts, and leaves a majority of students performing at extremely low levels and in a constant state of catch-up.

“We know for sure that [asthma] can be one of the main reasons why kids miss school,” said Dr. Dee Poowuttikul, chief of the Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s allergy center in Detroit. “We can see it firsthand when school starts here in September, October — that’s usually the highest time when we have asthma hospitalizations.”

One in 10 Michigan students with asthma miss more than six days of school each year due to asthma, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services. Neither DPSCD nor any other government agency tracks how many school days students in Detroit miss because of asthma, however, making it difficult to understand the pervasiveness of the problem.

Rates of asthma are worse in Detroit, though, than they are elsewhere in Michigan. A 2021 state report showed 14.6% of Detroit children had asthma, compared to 8.4% statewide. This report also showed differences between Black and white adult residents of Detroit: The rate of asthma hospitalizations for Black residents was more than three times the rate for white residents.

Kids in Detroit also may face multiple barriers to getting the care they need to keep their asthma under control, including lack of access to health care, the cost of treatment and medication, and an inadequate understanding of the condition and how treatment should work.

Asthma gets in the way of school – and kids being kids

All three of Hernandez’s children have asthma and have missed school because of it, she said.

Five-year-old Gael loves to run around, but his asthma used to stop him. He would start coughing and need to sit down, and then his cough would linger, making it hard for him to sleep at night.

He missed half of his preschool year because he kept getting sick and his asthma would kick in. His asthma was more severe than that of his siblings. His 7-year-old sister, Dayami, didn’t miss much school because her asthma was easier to control. Now, thanks to health care providers who have pinpointed the appropriate treatment for all three kids, their asthma is under control, Hernandez said.

Now 10, Joshua is doing much better. But having to repeat second grade was difficult emotionally. “It was really hard because I had to support him and tell him, everything will be fine, you’ve gotta keep going,” Hernandez said. “And here he is now — he knows how to sing the happy birthday song in three languages ... I always tell him, ‘You’re gonna shine, regardless of if you’re behind a grade.’”

Many kids with asthma end up in the emergency room when the condition flares up. Such episodes can result in missed school and disruption for the entire family.

“The act of having to go to the emergency room is something that typically is at least a six-hour, eight-hour experience,” said Dr. Maureen Connolly, a pediatrician and the medical director of the Henry Ford Health School-Based and Community Health Program.

Hospitalizations may increase because kids get viruses that trigger their asthma, or because of ragweed allergies that are prominent in the fall, Poowuttikul said. Allergies often go hand in hand with asthma.

But the right treatment should prevent attacks, doctors say.

Two scenarios are common among Detroit kids with asthma: Child A has an asthma attack and goes to the ER. Child B starts to have asthma symptoms, like difficulty breathing, while at gym class, or playing sports. They stop their activity and their breathing later goes back to normal.

Neither scenario should be accepted as normal, doctors say. “You should actually be symptom-free if your asthma is well controlled,” Connolly said.

Many parents also think that if their kids have asthma, it’s normal for them to be wheezing, or to have an asthma attack, Poowuttikul said. But she explains to them: “I can get asthma to the point that they don’t have symptoms.”

Because of this gap in expectations, patient and parent education is key.

This involves helping people understand their disease process and how to mitigate their triggers, said Kathleen Slonager, a registered nurse and executive director of the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America Michigan Chapter. Often, no one has sat down with the patient and said, “Here’s what it is. Here’s how it presents. And here’s what you can do,” she said.

Mayra Hernandez, center, poses for a photograph with her children, Joshua, back, Gael, left, and Dayami near their home in Warrendale, Michigan.

Hernandez’s three children were diagnosed with asthma when they were babies. But each needed different treatment.

“My kids are really active, so they couldn’t do much of activities like running, jumping, playing soccer — things they love to do — because their asthma was just attacking them,” she said.

Mi’Kah West is a senior at Cass Tech. When she joined the track-and-field team in middle school, she remembers needing to take more breaks than other kids, but she didn’t know why. At a doctor’s appointment when she was 13, her doctor diagnosed her with asthma. Now she plays lacrosse and, when she needs to, uses an inhaler.

“A lot of the girls on my team have asthma,” either sports-induced or set off by seasonal allergies, West said. “I wonder how many girls on my team when I did track and field in elementary and middle school had asthma, and I didn’t even know, because I didn’t know what that was, or I just felt like I was the only one that had that feeling.”

Sometimes, when patients go to the ER or urgent care for asthma, they’re sent home with what’s known as a “rescue” medicine.

But “rescue medicine is not a controller medicine — it doesn’t do anything for the inflammatory process of asthma,” Slonager said, adding that it’s important to help people “get the right medicine and take it the right way,” and understand what triggers their asthma.

Programs improve understanding of asthma, access to care

Both outdoor air quality and indoor air quality can exacerbate asthma — and many Detroit schools are located near highways, contain mold and mildew, or don’t have air conditioning, all of which can trigger the condition, Slonager said.

The Asthma & Allergy Foundation of America is working with partners to install air quality monitors in every ZIP code in Detroit, to “start tracking and trending what’s going on exactly, and how it impacts somebody with asthma,” she said.

Inside families’ homes, using air filters, replacing old carpets, cleaning up mold, and fixing leaks that can cause mold can help keep kids’ asthma from flaring up. AAFA’s HEAL (Health Equity Advancement & Leadership) Asthma program helps Southeast Michigan residents learn about their asthma, their disease process, and lifestyle changes that can help, Slonager said. HEAL provides some tools, such as air purifiers.

Having health care providers in schools can also make it easier for kids to get the asthma care they need. Every DPSCD school has a school nurse. About 90% of kids who go to the nurse can then go back to class, said Alycia Meriweather, DPSCD’s deputy superintendent of external partnerships and innovation. “The 10% of kids that don’t get sent back to class either go to the emergency room or they go home,” so more kids would miss school if they couldn’t see the nurse at school, she said.

Some Detroit schools house their own medical clinics. Henry Ford’s School Based and Community Health Program is a network of school-based and community clinics, including nine inside Detroit schools. These clinics provide integrated care, including primary and behavioral health care, to students and other young people from the community, ages 3-21, at no out-of-pocket cost, regardless of insurance.

Students may go to the clinic because they’re not feeling well, or because they need a physical or vaccines, for example. The clinics aim to “increase wellness in communities and also decrease absenteeism,” Connolly said.

The program sees 100-200 kids with asthma per year, Connolly said. If a student with asthma is having trouble breathing, they can get an albuterol breathing treatment at the clinic and avoid an ER visit. “Having those resources there can be really helpful, and it’s sometimes life saving,” she said.

The clinics collaborate with Henry Ford’s pharmacy. “We can order the medications and have them delivered to the school on the day of the visit,” and at no charge, Connolly said.

At some schools with these clinics and other school-based health centers, DPSCD has begun opening Health Hubs that expand the services offered. This includes a family resource distribution center to help meet basic needs, such as shelf-stable food, and a full-time navigator who helps families address their challenges. “The overall goal of the Health Hubs is to create a tangible, visible response to helping families address barriers that they face,” including asthma, Meriweather said.

Last year, Heath Hubs opened at five schools, and three more will open this year, she said.

Poowuttikul said she’d like to see stock inhalers in schools. Students often have their own inhalers at school, but many schools don’t have inhalers on hand in case someone has an asthma attack and doesn’t have theirs.

It’s similar to having automated external defibrillators available in places like airports, in case someone has a heart attack, she said. “There has been some discussion in medical societies for schools to have this kind of stock albuterol inhaler.”

Twenty-four states have laws or state administrative guidelines that allow schools to stock quick-relief medications for students with asthma. Michigan is not one of them.

Some kids with asthma are getting some treatment but not what they need to keep it under control. “People with asthma should see a specialist at least twice a year,” Slonager said. Asthma specialists, usually called allergists, can provide a baseline management plan and share it with the primary care doctor, she said.

Pediatricians sometimes refer children with asthma to Children’s Hospital of Michigan’s allergy center, where they can get more specialized care. Many families are seeking “medication that they might not be able to access, or getting allergy testing to identify triggers for asthma,” Poowuttikul said. Some newer medications for asthma, like biologics, usually require a specialist’s care, she said.

“The important thing to treat asthma is to prevent asthma,” Poowuttikul said, adding that identifying triggers and learning how to avoid them and use medication properly can control symptoms, so that patients get to what she calls an “asthma remission.”

“It is possible to be in remission for asthma [through] allergy shots and allergen avoidance, and at some point, certain patients might not need to be on daily medication,” she said.

Joshua’s asthma often flares up when the weather changes. So when it does, Hernandez said, “I know I have to be ready with the albuterol and the nebulizer. And in case he’s still having trouble, then I will contact his doctor.”

Hernandez relies on Children’s Hospital to keep her children’s asthma at bay, and that includes medication for seasonal allergies. “Sometimes having great medical support, it’s good because then they’ll be able to tell, OK, that treatment didn’t work, and we have a plan B where we can try an alternative medication. . . . If that helps, then we stick to that plan,” she said.

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BioLab fire: How likely is closure – and more unanswered questions

2024-12-12T21:05:03+00:00

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People living around the BioLab chemical plant in Rockdale County are grappling with fear and anger over whether they will face lingering health effects, or water or soil contamination, from the fire that polluted the area for weeks.

They are filing lawsuits and organizing community forums to demand answers, and to hold the company to account for the Sept. 29 accident. They want compensation for the disruptions that forced thousands to evacuate their homes, closed highways, and shuttered businesses and schools.

And they want to know how the accident happened.

It could be a long wait for answers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initially oversaw air-quality monitoring in the immediate aftermath of the fire. Now the Georgia Environmental Protection Division is in charge of overseeing clean-up and investigation.

The EPD told Healthbeat there is no set timeline, and the next steps lie with BioLab.

The company is responsible for developing its own cleanup plans and submitting them to the EPD. The agency is not conducting its own soil or water sampling, but rather reviewing data submitted by BioLab, spokesperson Sara Lips told Healthbeat.

Here’s the latest information on where it all stands.

What chemicals burned at the BioLab plant?

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) last month issued an update on its investigation. Plant 12, a storage facility equipped with seven sprinkler systems, caught on fire. BioLab had instituted a “permanent fire watch” two to three months before because workers detected “strong odors.”

At least three chemicals caught fire, according to the CSB:

trichloroisocyanuric acid (TCCA)
sodium dichloroisocyanurate (DCCA)
bromochloro-5,5-dimethylimidazolidine-2,4-dione (BCDMH)

The chemicals that caught fire can “release toxic and corrosive products,” like chlorine gas, hydrogen chloride, bromine gas, and hydrogen bromide, the CSB said.

The resulting multicolored plume of chemical smoke in the air prompted evacuation orders for about 17,000 people, and shut down an interstate highway, businesses, and schools. Residents complained of skin, eye, and throat irritation, among other health effects.

BioLab fire: Patchwork response exposes shortfalls in emergency planning, environmental safety

The EPA monitored air quality from Sept. 29 until Oct. 17. The agency rates the severity of exposure to chemicals using “acute exposure” levels rated from 1 to 3, with 1 being the least severe. The threshold levels help determine how officials should respond to the exposure.

Chemical concentrations in the air hit the level 1 threshold during the overnight periods from Sept. 30 to Oct. 1 and from Oct. 1 to Oct. 2, the EPA found.

Has BioLab resumed operations?

Manufacturing has not resumed at the BioLab plant, spokesperson Emma Cloyd said, and “will only be undertaken with approval from authorities and regulators.”

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division is overseeing “BioLab’s investigation and remediation efforts,” Lips said.

The agency is communicating with BioLab to get the company to provide a plan for the investigation of contamination from the fire, she said. Once those results are in, the agency will request that BioLab develop and implement a remediation plan to address any impacts.

There is no set deadline, Lips said. BioLab is “still completing interim actions, soil sampling, and removal of contaminated soil.”

Monica Johnson speaks to Rockdale County residents during a Dec. 3 community forum about the BioLab fire in Conyers, Georgia.

How is the air quality in Rockdale County?

The EPA said chlorine in the air was below actionable levels as of Oct. 17, leading the agency to wind down monitoring.

An EPA website dedicated to the fire said the agency will continue to post data from BioLab’s air-monitoring stations. However, that data has not been updated since Nov. 21. The agency has not responded to a query about the missing data.

Many residents expressed concerns about long-term health effects from the fire during a community forum attended by about 90 people last week.

Their concerns are valid, said Dr. Beatrice Golomb, a professor of medicine at the University of California San Diego who has studied chemical exposure in a variety of settings, including in the aftermath of the train derailment and chemical spill in East Palestine, Ohio.

“The reality is, commonly the case that we will hear reports that every chemical is within safe limits, and then it will prove that lots and lots of people got sick following this kind of event,” said Golomb, who has also studied Gulf War syndrome.

She said there is a lack of information about the health effects of many chemicals and especially about what happens when different chemicals mix together.

Rockdale public health officials criticize poor communication, lack of EPA leadership in BioLab fire response

“It is the case that there could be risk of some people developing chronic health problems,” Golomb said.

Roby Greenwald, a public health professor at Georgia State University who specializes in measuring air pollution, agreed.

“I know from other contexts that simultaneous exposure to multiple chemicals can have adverse effects, even if each individual chemical is below a toxicity threshold, especially if the chemicals are activating the same or overlapping biological pathways,” Greenwald said.

What about soil and water quality?

Rockdale County Department of Water Resources manager Vernoy Murray said the county’s water supply is safe. He said he has no concerns about the quality of the water for drinking, gardening, or other uses.

The status of any soil contamination is unclear. Lips said the EPD is not monitoring soil and water quality, but “will be reviewing the data BioLab collects.”

George Kelecheck, chairperson of the Rockdale Soil and Water Conservation District, said his agency does not have an enforcement role in monitoring soil quality.

The University of Georgia Extension Service has an office in Rockdale County and has several soil and water tests for purchase. However, Amy Smith, an agriculture and natural resources program assistant, said the tests are for routine purposes and aren’t really designed to test for chemicals in the aftermath of a chemical incident.

What are the lawsuits against BioLab seeking?

There are two major legal cases against BioLab.

One lawsuit was filed by Rockdale County, through its county commissioners, at the end of October. The lawsuit asks the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to order the closure of the BioLab plant in Conyers, as well as award compensatory and punitive damages, and other remedies.

Local residents have filed at least 20 lawsuits against BioLab. Those were consolidated by a federal judge last month.

Residents of Conyers, Georgia, and others participate in rally on October 19, calling for BioLab to leave the city.

How likely is a BioLab closure?

Separate from the lawsuits, some residents are calling on the county commissioners to revoke BioLab’s license to do business in Rockdale County. A petition on Change.Org had 413 verified signatures as of Tuesday.

“Simply use the ordinances that you have in responsibility, and that is actually shutting down the business license,” Iffat Walker, founder of Community Action Now, said during a press conference last week.

But the path to closure may not be so straightforward, said longtime Georgia environmental attorney Donald Stack.

“It’s very hard to shut down an existing facility,” Stack said. It’s likely the judge in the county’s lawsuit calling for the shutdown would give BioLab a “schedule of compliance,” requiring certain steps with deadlines, he said. The judge would then assess whether BioLab has met the requirements.

“It’s pretty rare that I’ve ever seen a judge issue a blanket injunction [to close a facility] first go around,” Stack said.

It’s also difficult to revoke a business license, he said: “It’s creative. It’s a good approach. The likelihood of success – I wouldn’t bet my second-to-last dollar to it.”

Stack would advise county commissioners to be cautious. The court of public opinion could be more successful in getting the company to leave, Stack said. Residents can use social media and even pay for a large billboard saying something like “BioLab is not welcome in our community,” he said.

“The way I always tell my clients is, think about a triangular component here. There’s three legs to that triangle, you should be pushing social media, political, and legal,” Stack said.

What community resources are available for those impacted by the fire?

BioLab has established a community resources website where residents can learn about the process for getting reimbursed for the expenses they incurred due to the evacuation and shelter-in-place orders.

There is a dedicated hotline (678-301-2359); the website says calls will be answered 24-7.

BioLab has also set up a local community assistance center at 927 N. Main St. NW. The website states people must schedule appointments. However, no appointments were available for booking via the website during 2025 as of Tuesday.

BioLab announced this week that the deadline for submitting reimbursement claims is Dec. 31.

Some residents are frustrated that their reimbursement claims are not being processed quickly. Krystel Boy was pregnant when the BioLab fire broke out, and her ob/gyn recommended she stay away from the area for as long as possible.

She and her husband left home for nine weeks, incurring over $6,000 in accommodation costs, plus fuel and food costs. She submitted carefully itemized records for those expenses about a month ago and has only received one automated acknowledgement email.

The whole experience has been “very stressful,” Boy said, and she feels sad she missed out on the opportunity to really “nest” as she prepared for her first child, who is due this week.

The chemical fire at BioLab sends a plume of pollution into the air around Conyers, Georgia, on Sept. 30.

What about long-term health tracking?

The Georgia Department of Public Health gathered data on how many people presented to local clinics and emergency rooms for help in the immediate aftermath of the fire. But it is not undertaking long-term surveillance of residents’ health conditions, spokesperson Nancy Nydam told Healthbeat last month.

Several local universities are stepping in to study the effects of the fire.

Greg Huey, a professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Georgia Tech, recently received a grant from the National Science Foundation to study what chemicals were released in the fire.

“This effort will inform local communities near the site who are concerned over the identity and level of chemicals to which they were exposed,” the project description states.

Separately, community organizer Walker said she is working with the Morehouse School of Medicine and other academic institutions “in putting together a framework for both short-term and long-term medical and public health research.”

She expects to be able to provide more information about that in January.

“Health tracking is needed,” Golomb said, not just for those who were exposed to pollution from the BioLab fire, but also for anyone exposed to chemicals in future accidents.

“We really need to put stronger attention into [tracking] because these mixed toxic exposure events are only going to increase,” Golomb said, noting that legacy chemicals from prior exposures will mix with chemicals from more recent exposures, especially given that there there are thousands of accidental or illegal chemical exposures in the United States each year.

This story has been updated to include BioLab’s new deadline for submitting reimbursement claims.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

Rockdale County to Ohio: Residents join to fight for action on chemical accidents in response to BioLab fire

2024-12-03T22:34:05+00:00

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Community groups from Rockdale County, Georgia, are joining forces with those from East Palestine, Ohio, to push for federal action to prevent serious industrial accidents and punish those responsible when they do occur.

In late September, about 17,000 Rockdale County residents were urged to evacuate their homes after the BioLab chemical plant caught fire, sending plumes of multi-colored gas into the air, causing coughs, and skin, throat and eye irritation for some.

Rockdale County organizers see similarities between the fire and a February 2023 train derailment in East Palestine that contaminated the air, soil and water with hazardous chemicals. That train belonged to Atlanta-headquartered Norfolk Southern.

Now representatives of groups from East Palestine, Rockdale County and other communities affected by chemical spills have created a new organization called the Chemically Impacted Communities Coalition.

“This is a shout from the rooftops,” Stand Against BioLab in Rockdale County founder Madelyne Reece told Healthbeat. There are tremendous similarities between the chemical spills in Rockdale County and East Palestine and other industrial accidents, Reece said.

The coalition includes representatives from about 35 communities, Jami Wallace said during a Tuesday press conference at the Georgia Capitol. Wallace lives in East Palestine and is the president of the Unity Council for the East Palestine Train Derailment. She founded the new coalition.

The group wants to prevent future chemical accidents and to serve as a resource for communities when accidents happen, Wallace said.

Tuesday was chosen for the press conference because it is the 40th anniversary of a major gas leak at a Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, India. That accident killed thousands of people (3,800 in the immediate aftermath) and injured hundreds of thousands more.

Wallace said the coalition is not partisan, but is focused on “human health” because chemical accidents can affect all Americans. She called for more money for research about the health impacts of chemical exposures, especially exposure to multiple chemicals at once.

Organizers learn from Love Canal, Times Beach disasters

Reece said she never expected to become a community organizer but was “thrust” into the role when she created a Facebook group to help Rockdale residents affected by the BioLab fire to organize. It has grown to about 1,600 members.

Reece said she has learned from the experiences of organizers who responded to the Love Canal disaster, where families and school children were exposed to carcinogenic chemicals that leached into soil and groundwater over years. The effects were first discovered in the late 1970s. And she’s learned from Times Beach, Missouri, where the hazardous chemical dioxin contaminated an entire town, forcing the evacuation and shuttering of the town in the 1980s.

“We want firmer protocols set around these types of facilities that manufacture these types of chemicals, and we want further repercussions,” Reece said. “It’s a slap on the wrist every time and they’re right back at it.”

Residents point to BioLab’s record of multiple chemical fires at its Rockdale County plant and a similar facility in Louisiana as evidence of its negligence.

“This incident and the substantial potential risk that it posed to the surrounding community was completely unacceptable,” Steve Owens, chairperson of the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, said in a statement accompanying an investigation update released Nov. 22.

The report said the Environmental Protection Agency found elevated chlorine and hydrogen chloride levels in the air from Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 after the Sept. 29 fire. The Chemical Safety Board will issue a longer report, though that could take several years.

Leaders of the groups involved in the new coalition aim to learn from each other about the health impacts of chemical accidents and what steps they can take to push for systemic change.

The companies and government officials involved in responding to such incidents are working from “what looks like a playbook,” Reece said. There’s not enough long-term testing after the incidents, she and others said, and officials try to say as little as possible until the public loses interest.

County urged to revoke BioLab’s business license

Residents of Rockdale County and East Palestine are demanding ongoing health monitoring, compensation, and punishment for the companies responsible for the accidents.

Iffat Walker, founder of Rockdale County nonprofit Community Action Now, called on county commissioners to revoke BioLab’s business license.

Attorneys for Rockdale County filed a lawsuit against BioLab and its parent company Kik International in late October in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. The lawsuit seeks punitive and compensatory damages for the fire, as well as an injunction requiring BioLab to close its Conyers plant.

BioLab says it will reimburse residents for expenses, including lost business profits, with adequate documentation. It has established a community assistance center and a phone hotline to help residents file claims.

BioLab spokesperson Emma Cloyd said Tuesday the company is cooperating with the Chemical Safety Board investigation and remains “committed to making things right for impacted area residents and business owners.” She also said the Conyers plant has not resumed manufacturing operations.

Norfolk Southern earlier this year reached a $310 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice and the EPA. Some of that money will be used to fund ongoing physical and mental health monitoring, environmental clean-up, and improvements to rail safety. The company also agreed to an about $600 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit brought by residents affected by the disaster.

Reece said she would like to see U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, a Democrat who represents Rockdale County, and Georgia’s U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, who are Democrats, sponsor legislation to help prevent such accidents and enforce stiffer penalties when they occur.

Johnson and Warnock were invited to attend Tuesday’s press conference, Reece said, but they did not. The two lawmakers had set a Nov. 13 deadline for BioLab to answer a series of questions about the plant’s safety.

Johnson “will continue to pursue accountability on the federal level for his constituents affected by the BioLab fire, whether that means calling for stricter and stronger regulations for these kinds of facilities handling these kinds of toxic chemicals to calling for permanent closure of BioLab,” spokesperson Andy Phelan told Healthbeat.

Warnock and other Georgia congressional officials have called on the EPA to add the chemical TCCA, which caught fire at BioLab, to a list of chemicals that require detailed risk management plans.

“The senator has remained in touch with local leaders and residents and will do all he can at the federal level to protect the health and well-being of Georgia’s families," according to a statement from Warnock’s office.

Reece is also frustrated with the lack of attention from state officials. Gov. Brian Kemp has not visited the site, although he made a brief statement about the fire during a press conference in October.

“We’d really like to see anything at all from Kemp,” Reece said.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

New York’s fire season: Drought conditions and dry winds increase wildfire risk

2024-11-20T11:48:34+00:00

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I didn’t expect to write this post for our New York community when I moved here from California, where wildfires are common and worsening. Yet wildfires are burning across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, making it important to understand their impact on our health and how to stay safe.

Over the past couple of weeks, multiple fires have ignited across New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

The Jennings Creek fire along the New York-New Jersey border has burned more than 5,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in New York since 2008. (Healthbeat reported on this recently.)
Over the weekend, strong winds led to the voluntary evacuation of 165 houses in Warwick, New York.
Last week, an 18-year-old New York State Parks employee died while responding.
Between Oct. 29 and Nov. 12, the Fire Department of New York City responded to 229 brush fires — the most in a two-week period in city history.
- Brush fires have occurred in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park, Manhattan’s Inwood Park, and Queen’s Alley Pond Park.

With dry and windy conditions expected to continue for the next few weeks, fires may take longer to put out, and additional fires may start.

Tips to prevent wildfires

This fall has been abnormally dry in New York state, making it easier for wildfires to ignite and spread quickly. Because it has been so dry, much of New York state is under a drought warning.

To reduce the risk of new wildfires, Gov. Kathy Hochul recently issued a statewide fire ban until Nov. 30. The FDNY also issued a public service announcement sharing these tips for how to reduce brush fires:

Do not use fire pits, bonfires, campfires, or open cooking fires at least until Nov. 30.
Do not grill outside in New York City. Outdoor grilling is banned in city parks until the end of the drought watch.
- If you are elsewhere in the state and you must grill, be very careful and stay away from dry grassy areas. Keep a bucket of water and fire extinguisher within easy reach.
Dispose of cigarette butts and ashes properly.
If you see a fire, call 911.

Breathing in any kind of smoke isn’t healthy

Poor air quality from wildfire smoke poses health risks to everyone, but some groups are especially sensitive:

Older adults
Pregnant people
Children
People with pre-existing respiratory and heart conditions

Why? Wildfire smoke contains various gasses and particles, but the most concerning are fine particles known as PM2.5. These particles measure less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter (smaller than a human hair), and can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing both immediate and long-term health effects.

Symptoms can range from mild (e.g., eye irritation) to serious health impacts (e.g., asthma exacerbation or heart issues). Recent studies have shown increases in hospitalizations, heart attacks, and strokes during periods of elevated PM2.5 exposure from wildfire smoke. Health risks increase the longer you’re exposed to smoke and the more dense the smoke is.

Monitor the air quality in your neighborhood

Air quality is measured by sensors that detect the concentration of pollutants in the air. Results are reported as the Air Quality Index, which is a number between 0 and 500. The higher the AQI, the more polluted the air is, and the higher the health risk. There are six AQI levels to describe levels of health concern, and what activities should be avoided at each level. When the AQI reaches 50 (the yellow category), people who are more sensitive to poor air quality should reduce strenuous activity outdoors (like working out). Once the AQI hits 100 (the orange category), everyone should reduce strenuous activity outdoors.

Air Quality Index levels of health concern.

The New York Department of Health issued a health advisory last week when the AQI reached over 100. You can easily check the air quality of your local area on some weather apps, AirNow, or download the EPA’s AirNow mobile app.

At a recent glance, air quality is good or moderate in most of New York, but it’s good to check this frequently if there are wildfires around — air quality can change rapidly over the course of a day.

New York Air Quality Index data from Monday.

What can I do to avoid health effects of smoke?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests multiple ways to reduce your risk. These include:

Stay indoors, if possible.
Keep your indoor air as clean as possible. Run an air conditioner if you have one, but keep the fresh-air intake closed.
Use an air filter/purifier. Use a freestanding indoor air filter with particle removal.
Do not add to indoor pollution. Do not use candles, fireplaces, or smoke tobacco. Do not vacuum because it stirs up particles inside your home.
Wear an N95 mask outside. Recent research found that N95s reduced hospitalizations from wildfire smoke by 30%. In other words, it offers some protection, at least in the short term, for example while running to the grocery store. Cloth or paper masks and tissues will not filter out the smoke.

It seems like we are getting more wildfires. Why?

We know that changing climate trends, like warmer temperatures and less rain, are associated with a longer fire season, more frequent fires, and more intense fires that spread farther. The New York City Department of Environmental Protection commissioner reported that this October was the driest in New York City in over 150 years. Higher temperatures and drought conditions have made our region more fire-prone, even into the fall.

Bottom line

With drought conditions and dry winds in New York, wildfire risk is very high. Report any fires and avoid wildfire smoke as much as possible. Stay safe!

Love,

Your Local Epidemiologist

Dr. Marisa Donnelly, a senior epidemiologist with wastewater monitoring company Biobot Analytics, has worked in applied public health for over a decade, specializing in infectious diseases and emerging public health threats. She holds a PhD in epidemiology and has led multiple outbreak investigations, including at the California Department of Public Health and as an Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Marisa has conducted research in Peru, focusing on dengue and Zika viruses and the mosquitoes that spread them. She is Healthbeat’s contributing epidemiologist for New York in partnership with Your Local Epidemiologist, a Healthbeat supporter. She lives in New York City. Marisa can be reached at mdonnelly@healthbeat.org.

As wildfire burns in Orange County, New York officials warn of dry conditions, urge water conservation

2024-11-12T22:06:03+00:00

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With a wildfire burning on the New York-New Jersey border and dry, blustery conditions throughout the state, New York officials urged residents to heed fire warnings and conserve water.

The Jennings Creek wildfire, about an hour northwest of New York City, continued to burn on Tuesday. The wildfire encompasses 5,000 acres — including 2,700 acres in New York state — and is far from contained, Gov. Kathy Hochul said during a press conference. The wildfire is the state’s largest since 2008, she noted.

Recent blazes have thrown the dangers of New York’s dry autumn into sharp relief. On Friday night, about 100 firefighters responded to a brush fire that burned two acres of Prospect Park. The next day, an 18-year-old New York State Parks employee died while assisting with the wildfire response in Orange County. New York City remains under a drought watch and wildfire smoke degraded the city’s air quality over the weekend.

A red flag warning for New York City, the Lower Hudson Valley and Long Island was in effect through 6 p.m. Tuesday. The warning indicates critical fire weather conditions — strong winds, low humidity, and dry fuel — that can create “rapid fire spread if ignition occurs,” according to the National Weather Service.

Under a red flag warning, residents are urged to limit hazardous activities, including lighting campfires, burning leaves, and tossing matches outside, said Nelson Vaz, a New York-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

“Anytime you have winds like today, 35-, 40-mph winds and the dry conditions, that makes it very difficult for the containment, because you get a lot of the embers getting pushed out further by the wind,” Vaz said of the Jennings Creek wildfire.

City officials urge New Yorkers to turn off the tap, take shorter showers during drought watch

New York received just a smattering of rain on Sunday and dry conditions are expected for the rest of the week, he added.

Hochul announced a statewide burn ban Tuesday, prohibiting the lighting of outdoor fires like brush fires, open cooking fires, and recreational fires, until Nov. 30. Describing the dry statewide conditions as “pretty dire,” she also asked New Yorkers to conserve water.

“We don’t know how long this will last,” she said. “This could be an atypical winter. So again, the conservation efforts we’re asking everyone to undertake should continue for months.”

During a press conference at City Hall on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams commended the New York City Fire Department for its response to the Prospect Park fire, which he called “extremely frightening.” Adams recently banned grilling in parks, and he asked New Yorkers to do their part to reduce the risk of fires.

“Never thought we’d be in the city talking about brush fires, but it just really goes to show you how this issue around droughts and the lack of rain and the environmental crisis that we’re facing, how it’s real,” he said.

As the city continues to face drought conditions, Adams urged New Yorkers to conserve water by reporting leaky fire hydrants to 311, taking shorter showers, and not letting faucets run.

“We need rain,” Adams said. “We can’t get any clearer than that.”

Eliza Fawcett is a reporter covering public health in New York City for Healthbeat. Contact Eliza at efawcett@healthbeat.org .

Rockdale public health officials criticize poor communication, lack of EPA leadership in BioLab fire response

2024-11-08T21:50:03+00:00

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The many agencies that responded to the Sept. 29 BioLab chemical fire in Conyers, Georgia, communicated poorly with the public — and each other — and the EPA failed to lead, GNR Health Department leaders said Friday.

It took three days for a joint information center to be established, making it hard to get accurate, timely messages to the media and the public, said Mark Reiswig, director of emergency preparedness for GNR Health, which covers Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties.

“I started asking for that on Sunday,” the day of the fire, he said Friday at Rockdale County’s Board of Health meeting. “Between the groups here, it seemed to be a very challenging lift, and it was frustrating to the public, because the public was not getting the information you want, the public health messaging and press conferences.”

The Environmental Protection Agency’s failure to assume the lead role in the response created confusion, Reiswig said.

BioLab fire: Patchwork response exposes shortfalls in emergency planning, environmental safety

Rockdale health department’s nurses sprung into action to staff the shelters for evacuees. And interim District Health Director Dr. Lynn Paxton explained possible health effects of the fire during press conferences that helped reassure the public, Alana Sulka, chief clinical officer for GNR Health, said at the meeting.

The fire at the BioLab plant spewed multicolored smoke over Conyers, a small town about 30 miles east of Atlanta, forcing thousands to evacuate, shuttering schools and businesses, and causing many residents to seek medical attention for symptoms including cough, burning eyes and throats, or shortness of breath.

Smoke from the fire drifted over parts of metro Atlanta and lingered in Conyers for nearly three weeks.

The EPA created a website that provided updated air-quality data twice a day. Sulka said she asked the agency to translate its findings into common-sense terms but that never happened.

“They speak geek. They don’t speak public,” Reiswig said of the EPA.

“My observation was that everybody was scared to be responsible for sharing information,” Reiswig told Healthbeat after the meeting. “It’s just foolish to say, ‘Well, let’s just not say anything’ because then you’re saying, ‘Somebody else handle the narrative’,” which leads to rumors and false information.

Rockdale County public health officials criticized the response to the September fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers.

The EPA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Reiswig told the board his team considered whether local nursing homes and the Piedmont Rockdale Hospital should be evacuated.

But the fire started on the same day that Children’s Hospital of Atlanta had engaged 65 ambulance teams to transport 200 pediatric patients from the old Egleston facility in Decatur to the new Arthur M. Blank Hospital in Brookhaven as part of a long-planned hospital move.

“Oh my gosh, where are we going to get people to do this?” Reiswig recalled thinking.

Ultimately, the team decided evacuating Rockdale County facilities was not necessary. Instead, the facilities turned off their HVAC systems, Reiswig said.

At Friday’s meeting, Sulka provided an update on the Georgia Department of Public Health’s “syndromic surveillance” of the health effects of the fire.

Syndromic surveillance captures what’s happening in area emergency rooms and other clinics based on keywords in medical records. It doesn’t capture every single case or provide a deep look at what the outcome of each case is but rather provides a snapshot of health trends at a given time, state public health department spokeswoman Nancy Nydam said.

The state found 1,038 total visits to hospitals and urgent care clinics between Sept. 29, when the fire started, and Oct. 30. Most of the visits took place in the week after the fire.

About half came from Rockdale residents, 20% from Newton, and 10% from DeKalb.

Most of the visits — 80%— captured in the surveillance came from Black patients. White patients made up 10% of the patients.

Top symptoms included ear, nose, and throat irritation, cough, and chest pain or shortness of breath. Other symptoms included nausea and vomiting, skin and eye irritation, and headache or dizziness.

The presentation indicated an additional survey was developed and sent to private medical providers, but the agency received no responses.

Rockdale County Commissioner Doreen Williams, who sits on the board of public health, said residents are concerned about the long-term health effects of exposure to the smoke. “A year from now, 10 years from now, are there going to be repercussions?”

The state public health department “is not aware of any studies being conducted or longitudinal tracking systems to monitor individuals exposed to the smoke from the fire,” Nydam said, adding that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or a university might undertake such an effort.

Reiswig said he still has questions about how the fire started and why regulators did not discover and prevent the hazard, especially in light of the company’s track record of fires at the Conyers plant and a facility in Louisiana.

“There’s going to have to be questions answered about why did inspections not pick this up,” Reiswig told Healthbeat. Thousands of companies store unstable chemicals, Reiswig said, “and most of them seem to manage to not have their plant blow up on a regular basis.”

Reiswig and Sulka said the county will be holding an “after action meeting” in the next month to review all the agencies’ responses and to highlight areas of improvement.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

BioLab fire: Patchwork response exposes shortfalls in emergency planning, environmental safety

2024-10-24T15:02:41+00:00

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The people of Conyers are demanding the BioLab chemical plant answer their questions, pay restitution, and leave town nearly a month after smoke from a fire shuttered schools and brought daily life to a standstill.

Rockdale County says it will file a federal lawsuit. U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock has demanded a detailed accounting of the accident from BioLab and its plans to help residents recover.

But questions remain about what steps local and state regulators took to prevent a fire at a facility with a track record of environmental violations, including similar accidents in 2020.

While it’s not entirely clear how the fire started, clean-up this time involved removing 4 million pounds of trichlor, or trichloroisocyanuric acid, a swimming pool disinfectant, Rockdale County Fire Rescue Chief Marian McDaniel said.

“The federal lawsuit is a step in the right direction, but we still have more questions than answers for BioLab and Rockdale County government,” said Madelyne Reece, a resident who runs a Facebook group opposing the facility.

The patchwork response to the accident that sent a plume of chemical smoke over parts of metro Atlanta has exposed shortfalls in emergency response planning, environmental enforcement and public health coordination and communication.

BioLab defends its safety record

BioLab, which manufactures swimming pool and spa products, has had a facility in Conyers since 1973. It employs about 350 people.

State, local, and federal laws govern how companies like BioLab handle dangerous chemicals.

But much of the responsibility for safety rests with the company and its day-to-day practices, experts told Healthbeat.

Companies and institutions working with dangerous chemicals need “failsafe” systems and a “safety culture,” said Sankar Nair, a professor at Georgia Tech who teaches chemical safety.

Georgia facing numerous crises, but Board of Public Health hasn't met since May

“Generally, it is very well known in the chemical safety field that accidents like this don’t just occur randomly due to bad luck,” Nair said. “Usually there’s a pattern of shortcomings in multiple safety aspects.”

The Conyers BioLab facility has had at least three previous fires: one in May 2004 and two in September 2020. The company’s facility in Westlake, Louisiana, also caught fire in August 2020, prompting a lengthy investigation and report from the federal Chemical Safety Board.

“Accidents don’t just happen,” said safety consultant Andrew Gondzur, adding their causes can be identified and eliminated with effective planning.

Safety should be not just a priority but a “a value that can’t be subordinated or discounted or reorganized,” Gondzur said. “It’s not a priority that could be shuffled [to] follow production and profit and quality.”

Environmental lawyers agree.

“This facility has been plagued by repeated failures to comply with environmental laws intended to safeguard the proper handling, storage, and use of the chemicals entrusted to their care,” said Christopher Bowers, an environmental attorney and partner at Stacey Evans Law.

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire, and we’re seeing that play out in Rockdale County,” he said.

Residents of Conyers, Georgia, march around downtown on Saturday and speak about their health fears after a recent chemical plant fire.

BioLab has defended its safety record.

Healthbeat asked the company what it did to rectify safety concerns following the 2020 fires and the resulting 121-page Chemical Safety Board investigation report. That report recommended, among many other things, that BioLab properly maintain and test its fire protection systems.

“Over the years, our company has been rigorous about actioning enhancements to our facilities, policies, and practices,” spokesperson Daniel Hoadley said in an email. He said the Conyers facility has implemented upgrades to safety equipment, enhanced emergency response protocols, and broad training for employees.

Hoadley said the fire in Louisiana resulted from hurricane damage from Hurricane Laura. At the Conyers facility, the company conducted “periodic tests and evaluations of our fire protection systems based on industry standards, as well as walk-throughs with the local fire department.”

He declined repeated requests for a list of dates of fire department walk-throughs.

Local government lacked response plans

Rockdale County officials defended their actions to prevent and plan for fires. But county representatives would not provide a list of dates when the fire department held walk-throughs or made other visits to the facility.

A county committee that could have helped plan for such an accident was disbanded after the Covid outbreak, said Melisa Mims, the county’s public relations director.

Local Emergency Planning Committees are, under a 1986 federal law, supposed to develop emergency response plans, review them annually and provide the public with information about chemicals present in the community.

The committees are meant to include local officials – police, fire, and public health professionals – as well as representatives from local facilities, community groups, and the media.

Conyers shelter-in-place order lifted but health concerns remain

But shortly after the Rockdale County Commission created its committee in September 2018, it was disbanded. Its last meeting was in November 2019.

“I’ve never heard of an LEPC being formed and then disbanded,” said Donald Stack, a longtime Georgia environmental attorney with nearly four decades of experience.

Local emergency planning committees are important because there are thousands of chemical emergencies each year, said Gondzur, who sits on the St. Louis LEPC.

The committees bring together community members who are “working toward a common goal of hazardous chemical planning and safe response,” Gondzur said. “A broad spectrum of members is essential for representation of the various points of view necessary to formulate a truly workable emergency plan.”

Even though Rockdale disbanded its LEPC, the county did take steps to prepare for a fire, Mims said.

“Training, drills, and safety debriefs have been conducted with departments, stakeholders, partner agencies, and public safety agencies,” she said. “The county emergency management agency meetings were attended by members of county departments and agencies, organized support forces, businesses, and public safety agencies.”

A chemical fire at the BioLab plant in Conyers, Georgia, sent a large plume of smoke over the area, prompting an overnight shelter-in-place order for 19 days.

The county has not yet responded to an open records request from Healthbeat for a “pre-plan” document that lays out plans for fighting a fire at BioLab, but it did provide a copy of its Emergency Operations Plan.

That document is not dated. Board of Commissioners representative Pattie Pearson said, “It has been awhile since the plan was updated, and I do know that they are in the process of updating that now.”

Local emergency planning committees do not have the ability to enforce safety regulations, said Timothy Gablehouse, an attorney who serves on the board of the National Association of SARA Title III Program Officials, which includes first-responders and emergency planning officials.

But they can be helpful in making sure diverse voices are included in emergency planning and that local citizens know about risks in their community.

“Is there an emergency planning process in the community that does an adequate job of talking to the public, especially people that are protected by the Civil Rights Act, or people that are protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act?” Gablehouse said.

“You frequently will have a slightly better outcome if members of the public are aware, educated and can take actions to protect themselves.”

Lack of planning reflected in unclear messaging

The public health messaging around the fire was unclear, many residents said.

Officials said at press conferences that exposure to the burning chemicals could cause short-term irritation like cough or a burning throat, but they would not cause any long-term effects.

“After an acute exposure to chlorine type gases such as this, any deficits in pulmonary function generally return to baseline within about one to two weeks,” Dr. Lynn Paxton, interim district health director for Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties, said at an Oct. 17 press conference.

Hans Plugge, an independent toxicologist who heads Safer Chemical Analytics, a consulting firm, and other air-quality experts agreed with that statement.

But residents aren’t convinced — likely because they experienced a traumatic event, Plugge said.

“It is anxiety provoking to see a big black cloud coming at your house,” Plugge said, so it’s understandable people are worried about their health and attributing health impacts to the fire that the science may not support.

“I want to see a complete list of all chemicals we’ve been exposed to, not just the two you’d like to throw out every day. I want full comprehensive testing on the water, air, soil, and debris based on that full list, so that we can finally, as a community, start to make personal decisions about our health, having the full knowledge,” Reece said at a rally on Saturday demanding the BioLab plant be shut down.

“We were told that the chemicals aren‘t hazardous, and yet my phone was buzzing all, every day, ’shelter in place.’ Why am I sheltering in place if the chemicals aren’t happening?” resident Brian Jenkins said.

Gwen Smith, executive director and founder of the Collier Heights Association for Revitalization, Resilience, and Sustainability, speaks at a rally Saturday on Main Street in Conyers, Georgia.

Local leaders needed to do a better job explaining what happened and explaining their decisions, Plugge said.

“This is a message that has to be done multiple times, has to be done in different ways, and it can’t just be a press release,” he said.

“Somebody needs to sit down and actually do that discussion on hazard and risk assessment,” Plugge said, adding that public concerns might have been better managed if people were encouraged to ask questions. “Public health officials are deadly afraid of standing in front of the public once it’s riled up.”

Paxton was critical of the emergency response.

During a Fulton County Board of Health meeting on Wednesday, she cited two major mistakes in the response to the fire:

It was difficult to know who was in charge for the first several days, Paxton said. And it took at least two days to set up a joint information center to manage communication with the media and public.

State officials inspected plant days before fire

The state government is also responsible for many aspects of environmental regulation, said Patrick Anderson, an attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, including enforcing the federal Clean Air Act.

Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division has inspected and issued compliance actions to the BioLab facility in the past, EPA records show.

For example, the Georgia EPD completed what’s called a “full compliance evaluation” under the Clean Air Act on Sept. 23, six days before the fire.

The facility also faced two informal enforcement actions under the Clean Air Act in April 2022 and May 2024.

BioLab received “written informal” enforcement actions in February 2024 from the state for violations of a federal law that deals with the disposal of hazardous waste, called the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.

And the company was fined $1,000 for failing to pay its 2020 Air Quality Act permit fees.

The air in Conyers, Georgia, was heavy with smoke on September 30, the day after a fire started at the local BioLab chemical plant.

Environmental attorneys and advocates say the EPD is stretched thin; it does not have enough funding or staff to adequately enforce the law.

“Agencies like EPD are frequent targets for budget and staff cuts, but events like this show why it is vital that EPD have the necessary resources to conduct frequent inspections and bring corrective action to prevent these kinds of disasters,” Anderson said.

Looking ahead, the agency could take broad enforcement actions against BioLab, even canceling the company’s air permits, which would effectively shut down the facility, Anderson said.

“There’s a provision under the Georgia rules that basically says the director of EPD has authority to implement whatever measures he deems necessary to protect the public health,” Anderson said.

Meanwhile, Conyers residents are urging Gov. Brian Kemp to get involved or even declare a state of emergency.

“I want to know why the governor has not been out here doing anything,” Angela Ausburn said at the weekend rally.

Kemp made a brief statement about the fire but has not visited the town. Other community members said they wanted to rally outside the Governor’s Mansion.

“I would just refer you to EPD or EPA on any enforcement actions. … If there are violations, that’s what they do every day. They don’t need direction from me on that. I tell them to do their job, and that’s what they do,” Kemp said on Oct. 3.

“The state has served in a supportive role to the unified command led by the EPA and Rockdale County government,” Kemp spokesperson Garrison Douglas said this week.

Federal investigation could take years

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is investigating the accident, according to a press release on its website.

But its report could take years; the report on the 2020 fires was published nearly three years later. And the board’s recommendations lack any enforcement power.

For example, the agency has been recommending since 2002 that certain chemicals, including the reactive substances like the one at issue in the BioLab fires, be added to a federal list requiring additional risk-management planning. But the EPA has never adopted that regulation, Anderson said.

Such a regulation might have forced BioLab to develop a risk management plan to prevent and deal with accidental releases of dangerous chemicals, he said.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org. Healthbeat reporter Allen Siegler contributed to this report.

BioLab fire: Conyers shelter-in-place order lifted but health concerns remain

2024-10-18T21:25:40+00:00

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People who live near the BioLab chemical plant in Conyers can finally go outside at night, 19 days after a fire fouled the air, the Rockdale County Emergency Management agency announced.

The decision to lift a dusk-to-dawn shelter-in-place order came Thursday after air- quality monitoring tools found no instances of chemical contamination exceeding concerning levels for 72 hours, Bryan Vasser, on-scene coordinator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said during a press conference.

“All the community air monitoring was pointing that the shelter-in-place could be lifted,” Vasser said.

Noticeably absent from the news conference: BioLab officials, the target of community ire over a lack of communication about the cleanup, the company’s poor safety record in the town and elsewhere, and skepticism about aid.

“Our community has been held hostage for a number of days, a number of weeks,” County Commission Chairman Oz Nesbitt said.

Many businesses closed or reduced hours as the polluted air hung over the town, extending over the metro Atlanta area at times. Rockdale County schools had students attend classes remotely. They will return to in-person learning on Monday.

“We extended an invitation to BioLab to participate in this press conference and, quite frankly, I think it’s a slap in the face” that the company did not participate, Nesbitt said. “Enough is enough.”

On Friday, the company issued a press release, saying, “We are also profoundly thankful to the entire community for enduring what we recognize has been an extraordinarily challenging time, and we are committed to making things right.”

BioLab has established a 24/7 call center and a local assistance center it said would help residents with reimbursements and other claims related to the fire. The phone line has received 7,500 calls and the community assistance center has helped about 300 people, according to a company press release.

On Friday, an online system to set up an appointment at the in-person assistance center showed no available appointments until at least 2027. A message on the website encouraged people to file claims using the 24/7 call center.

A coalition of community groups led by the Georgia Conservation Voters Education Fund has organized a “Shutdown Biolab” campaign that will include a rally at 3 p.m. Saturday.

4 million pounds of acid neutralized in cleanup

Residents remain concerned about the health impacts of the fire.

Fire Chief Marian McDaniel said trichlor, or trichloroisocyanuric acid, was the main chemical involved. Clean-up of the swimming pool disinfectant involved neutralizing 4 million pounds of the chemical and taking it to a hazardous materials waste facility.

Nakita Bravo, who owns two local restaurants, visited an urgent-care facility on Oct. 4 after having difficulty breathing and chest pain. She received a breathing treatment and steroids.

She said Friday she was still worried about air quality.

Her 15-year-old son, who plays soccer, was prescribed albuterol for breathing difficulties after the fire, but he’s had to use it less over the past week. On the other hand, her mother had to go to urgent care for a breathing treatment, Bravo said.

Chima Ekeke, the owner of a downtown convenience store, said this week he began to feel sick, experiencing dizziness and vomiting. He could not work and had to visit urgent care, where the doctor told him his symptoms were due to exposure to chemical irritants. His blood pressure has also increased, he said.

His wife is also continuing to have mild symptoms. Ekeke said he plans to file a lawsuit.

“I have never felt this way before,” he said.

Public health officials monitoring symptoms

The Georgia Poison Center has been keeping a log of people who phoned in with symptoms after the fire, interim district health director Dr. Lynn Paxton said.

And the state Department of Public Health has monitored symptoms related to the fire using what’s called “syndromic surveillance,” agency spokesperson Nancy Nydam said.

Syndromic surveillance is a method of collecting real-time data from emergency rooms and urgent-care clinics to provide data about emerging health concerns.

In this case, the system was coded to look for key symptoms like eye, nose and throat irritation and coughing, along with keywords like BioLab, chemical fire, and Rockdale County, Nydam said.

It may not have captured every case because hospital and clinic participation in the system is not required but “it helped us get a broad picture of what was unfolding as it related to health effects, the severity of the effects, and where people were located who were experiencing them,” Nydam said.

The purpose is to gather “a broad picture of common symptoms and severity of symptoms,” although the system may not capture every case because hospital and clinic participation is not required, Nydam said.

Most of those seeking medical help were adults with mild symptoms like coughing, eye and nose irritation, sore throat and headaches, Nydam said. And they mainly came from from Rockdale County, as might be expected, she said. There were also some reports from neighboring Newton County.

More people sought medical attention in the first few days after the fire with the number decreasing over time, Nydam said.

“In an event like this, that’s what we want to see – decreasing numbers daily," Nydam said.

Even though the findings lined up with common-sense expectations for a fire like this, monitoring is still important Nydam said.

“Had it been otherwise, it might have indicated other mitigation or prevention measures were necessary or possibly more investigation into what was in the plume,” Nydam said.

“What we are doing is we’re looking at it [the data] in the whole to see what has been the number of cases that have come up,” Paxton said. “Is there an indication that it has reached certain levels in different parts of the county?”

Paxton said analyzing the data collected will take more time but she does plan for “careful epidemiologic analysis to give a picture of effects.”

The public health data lined up with experiences at the local hospital, Piedmont Rockdale.

There, the emergency room saw a 15% to 40% increase in patients during the first 10 days of October, following the Sept. 29 fire, spokesperson John Manasso said. Patients came in with symptoms including cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, itchy eyes, headaches, nausea, vomiting and dizziness.

Most didn’t require admission.

“Most exposures in this incident resulted in only minor symptoms,” Paxton said, that shouldn’t last more than a week or two.

People with symptoms, especially those with more serious respiratory conditions like asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, should consult with their medical providers as needed, Paxton said.

Cleanup shifting from fire department to BioLab

Now that air quality has improved and some of the hazardous chemicals have been removed, the onus of the cleanup process is shifting from Rockdale County Fire Rescue to BioLab, Nesbitt said.

“It’s now left up to BioLab and all of the contract services that they’ve hired to come in and continue to do the rest of what they need to,” Nesbitt said.

The fire department would still be involved, and the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration would also have representatives on site, he said.

“Overseen by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, this will include safe waste disposal, remediation of the facility property and nearby retention pod, and debris recovery from residents and the community,” BioLab said in a press release.

Nesbitt promised to ensure the company is held accountable for the fire.

“This board, this administration will be entering and engaging in some very serious conversations with the corporate leadership and management of BioLab,” he said.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

Lost business, uneasy breathing: How BioLab fire is affecting residents nearly 2 weeks later

2024-10-11T21:08:10+00:00

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Nearly two weeks after a fire at the BioLab chemical plant in Conyers, smoke continues to rise from smoldering debris, smothering commerce downtown and piquing the ire of residents who want the facility to get out of town.

People living closest to the plant are still under a shelter-in-place order from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. Rockdale County Public Schools students will continue remote classes until at least Oct. 18, and businesses have reduced their hours.

The BioLab plant, which stores chemicals used in pool and spa maintenance, caught fire on Sept. 29, forcing about 17,000 people to be evacuated. It wasn’t the first time an accident has affected this community, or others where it does business.

County and federal Environmental Protection Agency officials have said the concentrations of chlorine and hydrogen chloride in the air are not concerning for most people, but can cause irritation.

Residents say they are still experiencing symptoms from headaches to runny noses and wheezing.

Emergency room volume at Piedmont Rockdale, the local hospital, increased between 15% and 40% over the last 10 days, but was starting to return to normal on Friday, said spokesman John Manasso.

Patients presented with cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, itchy eyes, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.

Some people have also found debris from the fire in their yards. EPA coordinator Rick Jardine said the debris is not contaminated. BioLab is providing a service to remove it.

Neither BioLab nor public officials have given a timeline for the cleanup.

“I would love to say that this will be over tomorrow, but we’re not at that point … We still have a crisis,” County Commission Chairman Oz Nesbitt said at a press conference on Monday.

Here’s a snapshot of how residents were coping on Friday.

Chima Ekeke, left, and Nnenna Ekeke, originally from Nigeria, have owned Robinson’s Super-ette in Conyers, Georgia, for about seven years. They have had to reduce the store's hours since a fire at a nearby BioLab chemical plant polluted the air.

Reduced hours due to smoke means lost customers at store

Chima Ekeke and Nnenna Ekeke, originally from Nigeria, have owned Robinson’s Super-ette for about seven years. They say they’ve had to enact reduced hours and seen a drop-off in customers since the BioLab fire.

Georgia facing numerous crises, but Board of Public Health hasn't met since May

They’ve been opening late and closing early because of the continuing nighttime shelter-in-place order, and they said their five usually busy lottery machines have gone unused because people don’t want to venture out to the store.

Nnenna Ekeke continues to feel the effects of the smoke, reporting a running nose and watery eyes. She’s wearing a face mask due to concern about the air quality.

Soon after the fire, a customer was having difficulty breathing and fainted in the store, the couple said.

Chima Ekeke estimates their losses at about $200 a day due to reduced business hours.

They are worried about the long-term impacts on their health, too.

Emily Payne and her dog, Hendrix, had to evacuate their Conyers, Georgia, home after a fire at the BioLab chemical plant on September 29, 2024.

BioLab fires force mom to evacuate twice in four years

Emily Payne, her 18-year-old son, and her dog, Hendrix, had to leave their home because of the BioLab fire. It was the second time she’s been forced to evacuate by fires at the plant. The last time was in 2020.

This time, she felt unwell when they left and started to feel better while they stayed in an AirBnb in Jonesboro, around 27 miles away.

Payne’s hoping she’ll be reimbursed for the cost she incurred.

When she got back to Conyers four days later, her symptoms flared up again. Nearly two weeks later, her eyes still burn, and she feels a wheezing in her chest in the mornings.

Payne wants BioLab out of the town where she has lived in for over two decades.

“I’ve been here every time that thing has had a problem,” Payne said.

Julio Ramirez, owner of Julio's Beauty Salon, in Conyers, Georgia, says business has suffered since a September 29, 2024 fire at the BioLab chemical plant.

Salon owner: BioLab ‘really dangerous for the people’

Julio Ramirez has owned Julio’s Beauty Salon for 16 years. He was doing make-up and hair for a client before her wedding photo shoot on the day of the BioLab fire when police and fire trucks started racing by.

He closed up shop because of the smoke.

“People were so afraid,” Ramirez said.

He got on the road, then realized Interstate 20 was closed.

As smoke from BioLab fire lingers, so do questions about danger of pollution

Overhead loomed a giant multicolored cloud of smoke: black, orange yellow, red, and gray.

“I never saw that kind of colors in the smoke,” Ramirez said, comparing it to a BioLab fire in 2004 that forced him to evacuate. That time, the smoke was black.

Ramirez said he’s seen a reduction in business since the fire and doesn’t know how or whether he can seek restitution.

He’s worried about the long-term effect on his health, too. He’s had a headache since the fire — Tylenol helps but doesn’t eliminate the pain — and has sometimes felt nauseous. He plans to see a doctor next week.

He’d like to see BioLab relocate its facility away from a residential area.

“It’s really dangerous for the people,” Ramirez said.

Nikki Hayes and her husband spent five months building out Sugaboo’Tique, a charming clothing and accessory shop in Conyers, Georgia. They were planning a late September or early October grand opening, but a fire at the BioLab chemical plant has forced them to postpone.

Fire forced canceling of downtown shop grand opening

Nikki Hayes had grand plans for this fall. After she and her husband spent five months building out Sugaboo’Tique, a charming clothing and accessory shop, they were planning a late September or early October grand opening.

But the BioLab fire scuttled those plans, and she shut down her shop for a week.

Business owners have been making a concerted effort to get people to downtown Conyers, but on one wants to come to the site of a chemical fire, Hayes said.

The plant sits between the shop and her home.

“The smell was overwhelming,” Hayes said. “It was awful.”

It’s still bad at night, she said. “When that plume sets, it is like no … It is too strong,” Hayes said.

She’s been holding her breath when she drives past the smoldering plant and her husband bought respirators for them at Home Depot.

The couple is considering legal action about what she calls “gross negligence.”

“The system they had in place for if something should catch fire was not sufficient,” Hayes said.

Local officials like the fire marshal should have exercised greater oversight over the facility, she said. “I don’t understand how that got past so many people.”

Hayes said she follows city officials on social media and has also been getting information from television news. But she’s still confused about how the fire started and feels like she’s not getting the whole story.

“You don’t know who to believe,” Hayes said.

‘Overwhelmed’ mom, son get breathing treatments

Nakita Bravo is one local resident who has had to seek medical attention due to the fire. She visited a local urgent care facility on Oct. 4 after having difficulty breathing and chest pain.

She received a breathing treatment and steroids. Those helped but she’s still coughing.

Meanwhile, she’s worried about her two businesses, Chiquto’s Cantina and Grill and The Pointe Tavern. She feels “overwhelmed,” she said.

Bravo’s 15-year-old son, who plays soccer, has also started taking albuterol, a medicine that helps ease breathing. She’s not sure how long he will have to stay on the drug.

“We’re just playing it by ear,” she said.

This story has been updated to correct Nakita Bravo’s last name.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org. KFF Health News reporter Andy Miller contributed to this report.

Boy’s bicycling death haunts a Black neighborhood. 35 years later, there’s still no sidewalk.

2024-10-08T14:34:08+00:00

It’s been 35 years since John Parker died after a pickup collided with the bike he was riding on Cheek Road in east Durham before school. He was 6.

His mother, Deborah Melvin-Muse, doesn’t display photos of him, the second-youngest of six children. His brother’s birthday was the day after the crash — and he hasn’t celebrated it since. An older brother carries a deep sense of guilt because he was looking after John that morning.

And Cheek Road, in a predominantly Black neighborhood, still lacks sidewalks for children to safely make their way to the local elementary school.

This, despite the years community activists and academic researchers have spent pleading with city leaders for safety improvements along the busy thoroughfare with sloping shoulders where John died. Drivers zoom along Cheek Road in the Merrick-Moore neighborhood, which connects downtown Durham to industrial sites and newer suburban developments.

Melvin-Muse moved her family out of the neighborhood after John’s death. “Now when I go down there, I look and see, you know, nothing really changed,” she said. “It still looks the same.”

Cheek Road has been “identified as needing improvements” by a local metropolitan planning board, Erin Convery, Durham’s transportation planning manager, said in an email.

“The infrastructure that exists is not well implemented,” concluded a May preliminary report produced by University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill students who collected data on speeding, noise, and air quality along Cheek Road. “Poorly marked crosswalks and inadequately positioned bus stops show a need for safety and accessibility improvements,” the report said.

Data was difficult to collect because “there were areas we didn’t want to get out of our cars because of the dangerous conditions,” said Ari Schwartz, one of the researchers.

More than three decades ago, a 6-year-old died after a pickup collided with the bike he was riding on Cheek Road in east Durham, North Carolina. For years, community activists and academic researchers have pleaded with city leaders for safety improvements, but Cheek Road still has few sidewalks. Safety advocates say Black neighborhoods often lack sidewalks and have roads with high speed limits.

Lack of sidewalks create public health crisis

In the 1940s, Black military veterans returning from World War II helped establish the Merrick-Moore neighborhood. Since then, residents say they have endured everything from noisy industrial trucks and speeding cars to illegal tire dumping and air pollution that threaten their health and safety.

Pedestrian deaths are highest in formerly redlined areas, neighborhoods where Black people lived because of discriminatory federal mortgage lending practices, research shows. The lack of sidewalks, damaged walkways, and roads with high speed limits are concentrated in these neighborhoods, studies show, creating a little-recognized public health crisis.

Governments invest in roads for people driving through such neighborhoods, but not in safety measures — like sidewalks, crosswalks, traffic circles, and speed bumps — that protect people living in them, researchers and advocates say.

“People will talk about vulnerable communities as if there is a problem with these communities, when in fact it is our systems and policies that have created these failings,” said Darya Minovi, a senior analyst at the Union of Concerned Scientists who studies environmental health and justice.

While the share of Black residents in Merrick-Moore has dropped in recent decades, data show the neighborhood remains more than 80% Black or Hispanic and households there are typically less well-off than in other parts of the city.

“Local government takes money from the neighborhood but does not invest in it,” said Bonita Green, head of the Merrick-Moore Community Development Corporation and a former City Council candidate.

Green said the community group had documented more than 100 auto crashes along Cheek Road during a recent four-year span and at least three pedestrian deaths before 2020. In this fast-growing city of roughly 300,000, students at Merrick-Moore Elementary and others at a nearby high school sometimes walk along the road — where traffic is heavy, drivers are known to disregard the 25-mph speed limit, and the shoulders slope steeply.

A recent photo of Cheek Road in east Durham, North Carolina. The photo is overlaid with an obituary for John Parker published in The Durham Sun in 1989, a news clipping from The News & Observer, which also wrote about his death on Cheek Road, and a photo of his gravestone. KFF Health News obtained the newspaper clips from the State Archives of North Carolina and the photo of the gravestone from Markham Memorial Gardens, where Parker is buried.

When longtime residents like Ponsella Brown see kids walking there or hear about another accident, they remember the death of John Parker, who was in first grade.

“I just cringe,” said Brown, who worked as an administrative assistant at Merrick-Moore Elementary when John died. “Every time it comes up, it’s like really vivid in my mind.”

On the day John died, someone rushed into the office and said a child had been hit by a car on Cheek Road, recalled Brown, who said she ran to the scene.

“I remember the way his head was turned. I remember the spot of blood on his face. Like one speck of blood,” said Brown, who also works for the Merrick-Moore Community Development Corporation and is now a counselor at another school.

School left out of sidewalk project

Traffic on Cheek Road is expected to increase as the population grows in Durham and surrounding areas, according to a separate April report from UNC graduate students. It noted that during the morning school drop-off time, many cars driving on Cheek Road don’t observe the posted speed limits.

Under an equity program meant to reverse the harm done to communities of color, Convery said, Durham officials are considering traffic-calming measures, including traffic circles, speed cushions, and high-visibility crosswalks.

“We’re open to future conversations that will help us achieve zero traffic deaths and injuries,” Convery said.

Yet a 2017 plan that prioritized more than 600 sidewalk projects based on safety, equity, and demand did not include Merrick-Moore Elementary School on Cheek Road, she said.

A strike by Durham school bus drivers this year only heightened concerns about the lack of safe walking routes for the 650 students who attend the elementary school, according to the April report.

Melvin-Muse, now 67, was at work when she got a call that John had been struck by a truck in front of their house. Before she left home that late May morning in 1989, she put her older kids in charge of the younger ones. They passed the time before school riding bicycles near their house, a few blocks from Merrick-Moore Elementary School, when the accident occurred.

It’s been 35 years since Deborah Melvin-Muse’s son John Parker, 6 years old at the time, died after a pickup collided with the bike he was riding on Cheek Road in east Durham, North Carolina. His death, she says, sent her family into a tailspin of grief, anger, and regret.

John died two months shy of his 7th birthday from “massive head injuries,” according to The (Raleigh) News & Observer, which wrote about his death on Cheek Road at the time. John was buried in Markham Memorial Gardens, according to his obituary in The (Durham) Herald-Sun.

Melvin-Muse said his death sent the family into a tailspin of grief, anger, and regret.

“It caused a big rip in the family,” Melvin-Muse said.

Melvin-Muse and John’s father later divorced. She said she paid for therapy for her other kids, but they still got in trouble at school and two of her children ended up living in a home for kids with behavioral health issues. “It was just a bad time,” she said.

Years after the accident, Melvin-Muse said, she worked up the courage to call the driver who had hit her son. When he answered, he didn’t recognize her name, or John’s, fueling her rage, she recalled.

“I wanted revenge. An eye-for-an-eye kind of thing,” she said. “And I plotted to take him out the same way my son was taken out.”

She went so far as to get a job where he worked, the Durham County tax department, only to find he had left a week before she started.

“God knows what was in my heart and what I planned on doing,” Melvin-Muse said. “God moved him out of that place before I got there.”

Renuka Rayasam and Fred Clasen-Kelly are reporters with KFF Health News, Healthbeat’s national reporting partner.

I’ve lived through three BioLab fires in 20 years. I fear the impact.

2024-10-02T17:34:32+00:00

This story was originally published by Capital B Atlanta. Sign up for Capital B Atlanta’s weekly newsletter to follow similar stories. Sign up to receive Healthbeat’s free Atlanta newsletter here.

In the midst of an environmental PR disaster, BioLab is quickly becoming a household name in America for all the wrong reasons, but I and other Conyers residents have long been familiar with the environmental hazards at the company.

I’ve lived in Conyers for nearly 20 years, and for the past eight I’ve known of turmoil at BioLab, the KIK Consumer Products facility that opened here in 1973 to house production and storage space for pool and spa water treatment chemicals.

This past Sunday, our majority-Black town located approximately 30 miles east of Atlanta was shaken when the facility’s sprinkler system malfunctioned around 5 a.m. Sunday, causing a disastrous chemical fire. More than 17,000 residents were ordered to evacuate their homes. An estimated 90,000 others in close proximity were instructed by the Georgia Emergency Management Agency and county officials to close windows, shut off air conditioning, and remain indoors.

Sadly, we have been here before. There have been at least three fires in the past two decades, varying in degrees of damage.

Smoke from BioLab fire, and questions about toxicity, linger over metro Atlanta

In 2004, when my family lived off Klondike Road, a plume of pool chemicals similar to the one that made national news this week poured from BioLab, causing residents to take shelter at J.H. House Elementary and my alma mater, Heritage High School. At the time, we lived just 5 miles from the facility, located off Old Covington Highway.

Back then, officials used excavators to knock down one of the walls in the warehouse and flood the area with water. The fallout of 12.5 million pounds of chlorine draining into nearby VFW Lake resulted in massive marine death, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Another incident occurred in 2016. A dozen pallets of dry chemicals were exposed to water, causing a small fire and a cloud of toxic smoke to waft from the industrial site. No national attention this time; just frustration amongst locals due to another environmental hazard caused by BioLab.

In September 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, a chlorine vapor release caused Interstate 20 to close for more than six hours, serving as another reminder of the dangers associated with the facility.

But this past Sunday was different. The black-and-orange plume escaping BioLab grew quickly and moved across the sky like an invasion. Next were the automated phone calls from Rockdale County urging residents to shelter in place or evacuate. Then came the emergency mobile alerts. It felt apocalyptic. As the situation escalated, our community wrestled with the uncertainty of what might come next.

Questions remain about health implications

Conyers holds a unique cultural significance, particularly in the burgeoning film production industry that is increasingly shaping the metro area. Our charming Olde Town District has served as a backdrop for television series like The Vampire Diaries, while our historic courthouse hosted Michael B. Jordan during the filming of Just Mercy.

Stranger Things, produced right here, has brought a supernatural energy to our community. Ozark brought a drug mule. Yet, for the nearly 95,000 residents of Rockdale County, this thriving, growing suburb nestled in the forest of Atlanta’s shadow is home.

Friday nights come alive with decades-old high school football rivalries like Heritage versus Rockdale County High. Weekends are spent enjoying shopping along Georgia Highway 138. The serene nature trails of Costley Mill Park and South Rockdale Community Park, carved by the powerful South River, offer beautiful escapes. Sundays are dedicated to reconnection and worship with friends, family, and neighbors at the many churches that line our streets.

These everyday experiences may seem trivial, but they’re sacred to life in our beloved C-Town.

Now, we have questions. What will happen to our lives here? Will there be long-term health or environmental implications? Will BioLab pose a bigger danger to our community? Those answers aren’t clear just yet.

Chlorine has been detected in the air in Rockdale County and as far away as Gwinnett County, but environmental officials are still assessing the extent of the exposure and whether any other chemical compounds were released from the facility.

An air quality survey conducted by the EPA and the Georgia Environmental Protection Division identified chlorine as a harmful irritant emanating from the BioLab site.

Additionally, bromine — known for its bleach-like odor that is used as a chlorine alternative in pool and spa treatments — was detected, albeit at lower levels. This chemical can also be toxic to those exposed.

Officials must prioritize transparency

The closure of roads and the complete shutdown of I-20 across our county forced many to remain in place, including my family members and me. We live just a few miles outside the Rockdale County evacuation zone that extended three highway exits, so thankfully we didn’t have to leave home. For residents in the low-income, predominantly Black and brown communities north of I-20 near Sigman Road, the prospect of evacuating without government support likely raised concerns, leading some to prioritize personal finances over health and safety.

On Tuesday, the shelter-in-place order that was lifted Monday night had been once again mandated by officials as weather conditions that morning caused the lingering plume to bank down and move throughout the county. We’re now being told by Rockdale County to remain indoors between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. until Friday due to the possibility of worsening air quality after sundown.

The Georgia Emergency Management Agency issued a statewide public safety alert Monday afternoon on behalf of the state EPD, stating that the EPA was monitoring air quality for chlorine and related compounds.

“Chemical levels are unlikely to cause harm to most people,” the alert stated.

As we navigate these challenges, it’s essential to remember the strength and solidarity that define our community. While the memories of past incidents linger like the chemical haze that has draped Conyers since Sunday, the recent events serve as a stark reminder of our vulnerabilities and the urgent need for comprehensive safety measures.

Local officials must prioritize transparency and communication to ensure that residents feel safe and informed during these turbulent times. The events of this past weekend underscore the ongoing risks associated with hazardous materials in our midst, prompting calls for stricter regulations and accountability for facilities like BioLab. (Multiple class action lawsuits have been filed against the company this week, and more than 5,000 people have already signed a petition calling for its closure.)

From the A to Conyers, it’s vital for our community to come together, advocate for change, and support one another.

Stay safe.

Sydney Sims in the youth and education reporter for Capital B, a local-national nonprofit news organization that centers Black voices, audience needs and experiences, and partners with the communities it serves.

As smoke from BioLab fire hovers over metro Atlanta, so do questions about danger of pollution

2024-10-01T21:19:44+00:00

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As a plume of smoke from a fire at a Conyers chemical plant hangs over metro Atlanta, so do questions about what exactly is burning and the extent of any public health risk.

The fire started Sunday at the BioLab factory, which manufactures chemicals used in pools and spas. The fire was still smoldering Tuesday, with smoke expected to linger all week.

The blaze prompted evacuation orders for about 17,000 people near the plant, shelter-in-place orders for thousands more and the closing of Interstate 20. Rockdale County Public Schools were closed for fall break, but Newton County Schools closed Monday and Tuesday. Other districts canceled outdoor after-school activities.

Public health officials insist the air, fouled by burning “chlorines, chloramine and chlorine compounds,” is safe to breathe but have released few details.

People in Atlanta may experience watery eyes and scratchy throats that should subside as the air clears, said Carmen Marsit, a professor of environmental health at Emory University. Those who live closer to the plant may have a cough or other respiratory symptoms, which could be worse for those with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

People with severe symptoms or for whom the symptoms don’t clear should contact their medical provider, he said.

The Environmental Protection Agency has established testing sites near the plant to check the air for chemicals including hydrogen chloride, chlorine, and hydrogen sulfide. The agency’s website referred to a strong chlorine smell but said it is not harmful.

“To our knowledge, the chemicals released from this fire are the chlorines, chloramine and chlorine compounds,” Dr. Lynn Paxton, interim health director for the Gwinnett, Newton, and Rockdale Health District, said at a Tuesday news conference. “The levels of the chemicals reported to date are below the levels that have been previously recognized to cause symptoms in most people.”

The latest data from the EPA suggests that 0.5 parts per million is the level at which action may need to be taken. Chlorine levels remained mostly below that level between Monday night and Tuesday morning, although they did top the action level at two monitoring stations in that timeframe.

“No significant toxicity has been identified in the smoke,” the Georgia Department of Public Health said in a press release Monday. It provided no updates on Tuesday.

A chemical fire in a BioLab plant in Conyers sends smoke over a large area of metro Atlanta.

Air pollution could linger till weekend

Still, Rockdale County offices remained closed Tuesday and county officials advised residents to stay indoors if the smoke plume is nearby or if they have respiratory conditions. Others recommended closing windows and doors and ensuring that air conditioners are using recirculated air.

N95 masks are unlikely to help because chlorine compounds are too small to be filtered, Paxton said.

The pollution, which may get worse at night, could linger through the end of the week, Rockdale County Chairman Oz Nesbitt said at Tuesday’s news conference.

“You will continue to see that plume, but don’t think that the situation is not uncontrolled or not being mitigated, it is being mitigated,” Nesbitt said.

Rockdale County Fire Chief Marian McDonald said teams were working to move the chemicals away from the “hot zone” at the burned factory.

The city of Atlanta, about 30 miles west, said in a press release the Fire Rescue Department had been monitoring air quality with handheld monitors and drones.

“All results have come back within acceptable levels,” the release said, with testing continuing Tuesday.

Some health experts say they need more information on what chemicals have been burning at the plant to assess the true health risk. There are many kinds of chlorine compounds.

A BioLab representative declined to answer emailed questions about which chemical caught on fire or how the fire started, referring instead to online press releases, which did not contain that information.

Without knowing more details, it’s hard to know what the short- and long-term health impacts might be, said Roby Greenwald, associate professor at the Georgia State University School of Public Health.

“We don’t actually know what’s in the fire,” he said. “The exact effects … really depend on what’s in that plume.”

How the particulates are measured matters, too, he said.

One standard air quality measure, particulate matter 2.5 or PM2.5, measures fine inhalable particles in the air but not what those particles are made of. If the particles are toxic, that changes the equation, Greenwald said.

“It’s not like [public health officials are] incorrect to say that this is a level that complies with standards. But there were periods of an hour or so within the day when you saw big differences,” said Greenwald, who was monitoring air quality on PurpleAir, a map that provides real-time data drawn from citizen scientists’ sensors around the country. Those might show up in a short measurement window, but not a 24-hour average.

Although the fire was out by Tuesday, it was still smoldering, and smoldering materials can be equally or even more toxic than burning chemicals.

“There’s not a lot of transparency right now,” Greenwald said.

Marsit expressed less concern.

“These sort of short-term exposures that kind of come through and then go away are a bit less concerning …. compared to kind of a constant exposure that we would have everyday with traffic,” he said.

Rockdale air pollution was already high

Anderson and Greenwald said people of color and vulnerable populations bear an unequal burden on their health by living near the factory.

Even before the fire, Rockdale County had below average health outcomes and higher-than average air pollution rates, according to County Health Rankings from the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.

Of Rockdale’s 95,000 residents, about 61% are Black, and 11% Hispanic. About 18% of children live in poverty.

“There are very frequently health equity concerns in air pollution events like this, especially if it’s something from a human-made source,” Greenwald said. “Lots of times we locate the human-made sources in places where property values are low,” creating increased risk nearby.

BioLab chemical inventory undisclosed

BioLab has a history of fires – and secrecy – at facilities in Georgia and Louisiana.

Patrick Anderson, a staff attorney at the Southern Environmental Law Center, said BioLab may never disclose what chemicals are burning in Conyers. An EPA inspection report on a September 2020 fire at the plant does not include the facility’s chemical inventory, and a cover note states the company asked the EPA not to publish certain “confidential business information.”

The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board has investigated past incidents at BioLab facilities. That board investigates serious chemical accidents in much the same way the National Transportation Safety Board investigates train and plane crashes.

After a fire at a Louisiana BioLab plant in 2020, the board recommended the EPA put “self-reactive chemicals made at BioLab on a list of highly dangerous chemicals requiring additional safety plans. However, that did not happen, Anderson said.

“Fires and accidents happen …. When it does happen multiple times, it’s always a case of something is wrong,” Anderson said. “It just can’t be the case that you can operate a facility that every couple of years has an event that results in thousands of people sheltering in place or being evacuated.”

The Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources also has jurisdiction over the plant. Officials did not immediately respond to a request for more information about past steps to ensure safety at BioLab facilities or what the consequences of the most recent fire might be.

Rebecca Grapevine is a reporter covering public health in Atlanta for Healthbeat. Contact Rebecca at rgrapevine@healthbeat.org.

NYC looks to trees, reflective roofs to curb health threat — and unequal burden — of extreme heat

2024-07-29T20:24:14+00:00

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Arif Ullah walked down Bruckner Boulevard under a scorching July sun. There was little shade on the street, a congested stretch of the South Bronx that leads into a major interchange of highways.

Further beyond were the expressways, waste transfer stations, train yards and warehouses that choke the Bronx’s southern shore, degrading the area’s air quality and contributing to its high rates of asthma.

“We have limited access, among the lowest in the city, to both green spaces and trees,” said Ullah, executive director of South Bronx Unite, an environmental justice organization. “That makes a bad situation worse. That exacerbates respiratory illnesses on hot days like this.”

As New York City faces continued heat waves this summer, extreme heat is an especially pressing public health issue. Extreme heat kills more New Yorkers per year than any other type of extreme weather event, and as summers intensify with climate change, its harms are poised to mount.

“This heat is not normal, we’ve said it over and over again,” Mayor Eric Adams said during a recent briefing. “Climate change is here and is real, and it is a clear and present danger.”

The damaging effects of extreme heat aren’t equally distributed. Each summer, an estimated 350 New Yorkers die due to hot weather; Black residents die from heat stress at twice the rate of white residents. Areas like the South Bronx, with reduced tree canopy cover and more limited access to air conditioning, are especially “heat vulnerable,” and at the highest risk of heat-related mortality.

Confronting weeks of high heat, the city’s Emergency Management Department and its Department of Health and Mental Hygiene have issued repeated extreme heat warnings, emphasizing the city’s cooling centers, detailing its network of sprinklers and reminding residents to hydrate, seek out shade and watch for symptoms of heat illness.

But as heat waves become more intense and frequent with climate change, researchers, physicians, city leaders and community advocates are turning to longer-lasting solutions, aiming to turn down the temperature of the city itself — and target solutions to the most vulnerable neighborhoods.

“The heat that we see today won’t be the heat we see in the future,” said Dr. Arnab Ghosh, an assistant professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College whose research focuses on climate change and health. “We need to adapt not just to today’s circumstances, but the circumstances moving ahead.”

The South Bronx waterfront is crisscrossed by expressways, bridges, train lines, waste transfer stations, and warehouses, which degrade the area's air quality and contribute to its high rates of asthma.

Some neighborhoods are hotter

New York is much hotter than many other parts of the country. The city’s heat-absorbing buildings, roads and infrastructure drive up its overall temperature — the urban heat island effect. A new study from Climate Central, a climate science nonprofit group, found that on average, New Yorkers experience 9.7 more degrees of heat due to the city’s built environment than residents of rural areas.

With climate change, scorching summers will increasingly become the norm. Based on city data, New York City could see many more days per year of temperatures higher than 90 degrees, from a baseline of 17 days annually in recent decades to a projected 27 to 54 days by the 2030s — and 46 to 108 days by the 2080s.

Extreme heat can be particularly harmful to children, elderly adults, unhoused people, outdoor workers, and those with chronic health conditions. And its most damaging effects are often clustered in more disadvantaged areas of New York.

The city’s heat vulnerability index shows that neighborhoods throughout the city — including Mott Haven in the Bronx, East Harlem in Manhattan, East Flatbush in Brooklyn and Jamaica in Queens — have the highest citywide risk of residents dying during and immediately after extreme heat events. Those neighborhoods tend to have higher daytime summer surface temperatures, less green space, reduced access to air conditioning and lower median incomes than other parts of the city.

Many of these communities bear the scars of historic disinvestment and redlining — a discriminatory practice in which mortgage lenders denied loans on the basis of race — which has been linked to higher land surface temperatures. Today, these neighborhoods function as heat islands within heat islands, said Dr. Perry Sheffield, an associate professor of environmental medicine, climate science and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.

“We know cities are hot, but there are these micro heat islands now, in communities that have higher proportions of Black and brown residents,” she said.

Trees can cool street by 2 degrees

Efforts are underway to cool New York in the long term — and rectify historic inequities in the process.

The mayor’s citywide climate and sustainability plan, released last year, proposed goals including instituting mandatory cooling requirements for new construction by next year, setting a maximum summer indoor temperature policy by 2030, and installing a million square feet of cool roofs each year, the continuation of a longstanding program to paint rooftops with a reflective coating that prevents heat absorption.

The city also aims to achieve a 30% tree canopy cover, up from the 22% of public and private land that is currently shaded by trees citywide.

“Trees do so much,” Elijah Hutchinson, the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice, which oversees the city’s climate initiatives, said. “They add biodiversity, they can help with interior drainage and street flooding, they help with shade, obviously. For trees that get added to city streets, they can cool a street by up to 2 degrees Fahrenheit, so a really significant cooling effect.”

The city Department of Parks and Recreation announced in May that it had planted more than 15,000 trees in the past fiscal year, the highest total since 2016. The department also aims to plant a tree “in every viable spot” in the city’s most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods by 2027.

With the combination of an expanded tree canopy, reflective roofs and other cooling street designs, “you really start to mitigate against that urban heat island effect,” Hutchinson said.

Ghosh, at Weill Cornell, is researching how to maximize the cooling effects of urban trees, based on species type and planting location. He said that the city’s goal of reaching a 30% tree canopy is “doable and necessary,” but that maintenance will be key to ensuring trees’ survival and growth.

“You can’t just plant the trees and walk away and hope everything will be hunky dory. You’ve really got to spend the time to see that to fruition,” he said. “That’s what I think the big challenge is going to be.”

Other key initiatives aim to lower indoor temperatures.

The federally funded Home Energy Assistance Program offers a cooling benefit to cover the purchase and installation of a fan or air conditioner for low-income families. The program is first-come, first served and its annual application period closed in mid-July. Its $22 million in available funds will be expended to provide cooling assistance to more than 27,000 households, said Darren O’Sullivan, a spokesperson for the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.

Hutchinson said his team is advocating to expand resources for the program, which has received criticism for quickly exhausting its available funds due to high demand.

City Councilmember Lincoln Restler of Brooklyn recently introduced a bill that would require landlords to provide air conditioning and keep units below 78 degrees indoors when it’s above 82 degrees outdoors.

“The indoor max temperature law would be a really big deal because while citywide air conditioner access is around 90 percent, in the most vulnerable communities, it can be much lower,” said Caleb Smith, the resiliency coordinator for WE ACT for Environmental Justice, a nonprofit.

Arif Ullah, the executive director of South Bronx Unite, an environmental justice nonprofit, walks down a stretch of the South Bronx with little shade on July 11, 2024.

Greener future envisioned

Linda Morgan, 74, sat in the shade on a recent morning in Mott Haven, a neighborhood of the South Bronx. She was perched with her friends outside their apartment building, an affordable housing development for seniors. The sun beat down on the busy intersection surrounding them.

A native New Yorker, Morgan said she’d seen many hot summers in her lifetime — but the heat wave that baked the city in mid-July was the longest one she could remember. She’d survived the hot weather by staying inside for days, grateful for her air conditioning. Eventually, it had cooled down and the air quality had improved enough to permit a quick trip out for groceries, she said.

“We’re all seniors,” Morgan said. “We’re coping as best we can, not to venture out when the sun is high in the sky.”

Ullah envisions a transformed South Bronx where residents like Morgan can enjoy ample green space and shade and benefit from a re-envisioned waterfront, with interconnected green spaces. Deeper investments in the area are sorely needed, he said.

“On top of cooling centers, we need green corridors,” he said. “We need streets that are lined with trees. We need neighborhoods that have greater tree canopy. We need neighborhoods that have more real green spaces.”