May 12, 2010 SPECIAL MEETING | Asthma Task Force

Environmental Committee - May 12, 2010

SFATF Environmental Mtg. 5/12/2010, 3-5 pm Fox Plaza,1390 Market St., Suite 410 at the conference room of Children's EnvironmentalHealth Promotion, Environmental Health Section, San Francisco Department ofPublic Health.

Introductions:Sarah Aird, Herman Cowan, Krista Ward, Karen Cohn, Cynthia Knowles, SraddhaMehta

· Reviewdraft letter of support for SB928 (http://www.aroundthecapitol.com/billtrack/Bills/SB_928/)

· Discussed drafting resolution for Board of Supervisorsto sign support. This is a timeconsuming process and only increases awareness. Alternative option: get City Departments to ask the city to support bill. SFATF members willfollow up on the latter.

· Discusslocal policy strategies to reduce consumer exposure to asthmagens in cleaningsupplies

· Approach HA to pass voluntary policy on IPM. Getsupport from federal EPA. Thismight be a good follow-up to May 13^th Northeastern training. Other follow-up ideas (including findingout about thermographic cameras) may come out of the RAMP grant.

Move forward with idea for stores to voluntary postsigns about asthma-friendly and unfriendly products. Need next stage of research analyzing products claiming tobe green. Create comparison sheetof green cleaners to highlight ingredients/products to avoid. Use WVE worksheet. Possibly get interns from SFSU healtheducation dept.

Question: Is vinegar recognized on AOEC list as asthmagen or is there just arelated product on the list? Answer: According to CADPH follow-up phone call, acetic acid andperoxyacetic acid/peracetic are on the AOEC list. Qualifying case study = pickle packers who usedglacial acetic acid (concentrated form of acetic acid) and developedasthma. For this reason, CADPH does not recommend using vinegar. They recommend microfiber cloth & water for glass. Baking soda, soap & water ok(although dbl check soap ingredients with AOEC list). Additional resource for asthmagen evidence is a French site:http://www.remcomp.fr/asmanet/asmapro/asmawork.htm

· GrantOpportunities:

· RAMP Legacy Grant: SFATF help offered at the African American HealthDisparities Conference.

· CA Breathing: Discussed idea to modify “Go Green Rating Scale” for child careproviders. At this time, it makesmore sense to focus modifications on IPM rather than on cleaning/disinfectingwhich is already being addressed through the schools/childcare committee work.

· DollarStore update & Next Steps: Several attempts made to contact Dollar Store managers between 16^thand 24^th street on Mission. Managers are reluctant to talk and be involved in the project. Re-focus on Walgreens and other largerstores.

· ReviewStrategic Plan – Tabled for next meeting

· Memberupdates/announcements – Schedule next meeting for June 9^th 1:30-3:30