I had to think of new ways to keep my son Tim awake so I could administer the nebulizer treatment again. It had been two hours since his last treatment, and his cough was beginning to get worse, compromising his ability to get oxygen.

"Honey, let's count in Spanish. You remember, uno, dos, tres? How about German? Ein, zwei, drei. Just one more breath on the nebulizer, sweetie. Do it for mommy, please? "

I would plead like this with my son, every 2 hours around the clock, for 3 weeks at a time. His heart pounds so hard, I can feel it as it beats against my hands, cradling him, trying to get enough medicine in him to keep him alive. I'd sleep next to him, so that his coughs would wake me, and I could try to get more medicine into him. Sometimes, we'd have to make a spreadsheet to track the 14 medications he needed. We had good insurance but some weeks, it would cost $100 even with co-pays.

He is healthy when field burning stops.

Alex Heisel is 9 years old. She has never been able to start school with her classmates, because the burning can kill her. She has cystic fibrosis, as do about 100 kids in the Inland Northwest, and smoke destroys what little lung function she has left. As a result, she falls further and further behind in school. Her mom fears losing the only job with health insurance, and must flee their home for Alex's safety.

An elementary school teacher in Pullman is hospitalized for days when smoke envelopes the community; another tells us that she can't teach when the children come in from recess, because the children are coughing so hard. Students leave the university, unable to continue studies.

On September 12, 1994, 11,057 acres of bluegrass were burned in South Spokane County. Later that afternoon, the smoke arrived in Pullman and Moscow. Radio announcers in Pullman were warning people to take cover as the smoke clouds rolled in, blocking out the sun.

At 5:06 a.m. on September 13th, Aaron Dittmer died at the Pullman hospital. The cause of death was listed as respiratory failure from an acute asthma attack. Two weeks before his death, his doctor had told him he was in great shape. At the time of his death, Aaron was looking forward to his upcoming marriage. Aaron wasn't the only one to die, though. Marsha Mason died September 14, 2000 in some of the worst particulate pollution on record.

Grass and wheat smoke emissions are primarily in the fine particulate range, measuring 2.5 microns in diameter. This fine particulate is recognized as the most hazardous to human health, as compared to PM 10, the standard on which the current federal standard is based. (American Lung Association, "Health Impacts of Grass Seed Field Burning").

The conflict has been portrayed as a "health vs. farmer" story, but the reality is ever so much more complex than that. Most farmers don't burn. What does it cost a community to have so many people ill and dying? What does it cost growers to change their practices? How will our community come to a balance between these two interests? Since Washington state completely banned burning of grass in 1996, production of grass there has actually increased. (Washington State Agricultural Statistics, 2000).

If you want more information, see these Web sites: www.fieldburning.com or www.alaw.org and click on "air quality" (American Lung Association), or read "Fields of Fire" in the September 3 issue of US News and World Report, or read in the November Co-op newsletter, "The Components of Smoke from Field burning: What are you breathing?"

Part II:
Toxic Components of Smoke from Field Burning: What are we Breathing?
by Patti Gora, from the November 2001 Newsletter

In my last article, I described how some people in our region, particularly those with asthma, have been affected by field burning. Should the rest of us be concerned for our health as well, even if we don't have asthma?

The research on the toxic components of smoke is growing. The smoke from field burning consists of two main emission types: particulate matter, which we see, and volatile and semi-volatile gasses, which we cannot see.

The volatile and semi-volatile gasses formed during combustion have compounds so small in size that they avoid detection from particulate monitoring stations. Some of these compounds are known or suspected carcinogens. Recent experiments conducted here in the Palouse have identified several compounds of concern to us all. Matt Moberly, a graduate student in chemistry at WSU, has sampled wheat stubble smoke and found a number of phenolic and benzene derivatives. Two of the more serious compounds found were Phenol and m-Cresol. Exposure to these compounds can cause severe irritation of the upper respiratory tract with coughing, burns, breathing difficulty, and possible coma. At high concentrations they can cause central nervous system damage and can be possibly fatal. Phenol also has been shown to exhibit both mutagenic and tumorigenic effects.

Other studies include BM Jenkins, et al. "Emissions Factors for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons from Biomass Burning" in Environmental Science Tech. 30: 2462-2469, 1996, and Mascalet et al; "Emissions of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons by Savanna Fires" J. Atmospheric Chemistry: 22:41-54, 1995.

The EPA is currently testing emissions from wheat stubble burning for dioxins, since at least 2 chlorinated compounds have been identified in previous test burns done locally, and results are expected to be known by June of 2002. Dr. Jeff Corkill from Eastern Washington has also conducted experiments on the chemical analysis of grass seed field straw in 1996. He found several compounds of concern, including five phenols and a number of PAH's (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) including Acenaphthene, Antrracene, Benzo[a]pyrene, Chrysene, Phenanthracenen and Pyrene.

Although some area growers are now cutting stubble back to make less of it to burn, this will mean that combustion will be at a lower temperature and may now have less efficient combustion, and therefore, even more toxic compounds.

If, like me, you stumble on the "big chemistry words" but would like to understand what is in the air you are breathing during a smoke incursion into your home and community, you may go to our Web site at www.fieldburning.com and click the link to "scientific research." From there, you may view all the toxics found in smoke as well as the Materials Safety Data Sheets which will tell you the known effects on humans. Then, I encourage you to become active and write to your local county commissioners and state representatives and ask them to stop allowing this toxic cloud to envelope our community each year.

Patti Gora is a board member of Save Our Summers and community activist for clean air. She was also the first executive director of Alternatives to Violence and has taught in the Women's Studies Program at WSU, and currently is an academic advisor in the distance degree program at WSU.

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