Toolkit for Parents

Guidelines for Caregivers 

In 2007, Mothers & Others for Clean Air united a group of air quality, public health and medical experts to update public health guidelines that outline appropriate changes in outdoor activity on smog alert days. This document serves as the basis for educating schools, athletic directors, pediatricians and other health professionals, day care centers, summer camp providers and the general public on appropriate precautions to take when air quality is poor. Please share the appropriate guidance document with your child’s caregivers to ensure that each is receiving smog alerts and moving outdoor activities indoors or to a different time of day as recommended by health experts.

• Guidance for Georgia Schools
• Guidance for Georgia Day Care Providers
• Guidance for Georgia Summer Camp Providers
• Guidance for Georgia Families

Reducing Toxic School Bus Emissions

While school buses are, in many ways, the safest way for children to travel to school, harmful diesel exhaust can build up in the cabins of school buses, putting children at risk. The good news is that the dangerous fine particulates in diesel exhaust can be reduced by as much as 85 percent by installing pollution control devices (retrofits). During the past several years, the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (EPD) has received several million dollars from the Federal government to retrofit school buses and other diesel engines with pollution control devices.

Diesel soot contains particulate matter, black carbon, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and more than 40 hazardous air pollutants. All of these are dangerous to human health, especially to the developing bodies of children. The fine particles in diesel soot are so small that they penetrate deep into the lungs and get into the blood stream. Breathing diesel exhaust can contribute to both chronic and acute health problems such as asthma attacks, reduced lung function, lung disease, cancer and even premature death.

To date, 18 school systems in Georgia have retrofitted a total of about 1,000 buses. Currently, more than $2 million is available to school systems in areas that do not meet federal air quality standards and an additional $5.4 million is expected later this year. School transportation directors can apply for funding to retrofit their school buses through the Georgia EPD.

Parents can help by sharing the Mothers & Others for Clean Air fact sheet with their school system’s transportation director and superintendent and by referring them to the Georgia Retrofit Program Web site. School administrators have many competing demands for their time and resources and may be unaware of the serious health risks associated with regular exposure to diesel exhaust.

Idling Reduction 

Most school systems are taking steps to reduce school bus idling because of the rising cost of diesel fuel, but some parents still report they see drivers idling school buses—and exposing children to toxic diesel exhaust—when unnecessary. In addition, many schools have carpool lines where long periods of idling are common.

Georgia’s Department of Education (DOE) created Idling Guidelines for school bus drivers and integrated idling reduction strategies into the training provided to all drivers in 2009.  DOE asks that parents who witness school bus idling record the bus number and location and time of the idling and contact the school system’s transportation director, rather than approaching the driver. 

Indoor Air Pollution Resources

While the focus of Mothers & Others for Clean Air is improving outdoor air quality, indoor air quality also is a concern for some schools. The Environmental Protection Agency has developed a tool kit to help schools prevent and address conditions that contribute to poor indoor air quality. Tools for Schools has helped hundreds of schools implement indoor air quality improvements and is available free of charge.

The Southeast Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU) at Emory University provides local support for schools about creating and maintaining a safe and healthy learning environment. PEHSU is developing a set of training modules for schools that includes a module on indoor air quality. Contact PEHSU for information about participating in this training program as a pilot school or with specific questions about a particular issue or concern regarding environmental health at school.

Clean Air Schools

Find out how to make your school a Clean Air School through the Clean Air Campaign.

Youth Environmental Symposium (YES)

Find out about the great projects that won in 2009 and how you can get involved.

Captain Planet

Explore cool games and find links to many environmental web sites for kids.