By Joe Lamport
Managing Editor

A five-year study of air quality in the South Bronx has confirmed what many residents and researchers have long suspected: Air pollution is a significant factor in the high rates of asthma found in the area, making the disease worse for the tens of thousands of children and adults living with it.

A daylong forum entitled "Let's Clear the Air" brought together about 100 people to focus on asthma Nov. 12. Researchers from New York University, community residents, health experts from a variety of organizations, health officials from the city, advocates from local and citywide organizations and staff from offices of elected representatives discussed the results of the study. They also discussed the consequences of asthma for South Bronx communities and policies that could be implemented by city, state and federal government to address the causes and consequences.

"This is confirming that pollution is having an impact on the way" asthma sufferers feel, particularly children, said Katie Mullin, a research assistant who is working on the project.

In addition to informing the public of the study's results, the forum sought to encourage local involvement in addressing asthma. It included a youth theatre group that performed a skit about ignorance of treating asthma and a geographical information systems expert who hopes to help the community residents use maps to analyze the problem themselves.

The study, which is continuing, involves a close collaboration of community residents, including children, scientists from the university and government officials. It noted that 17 percent of South Bronx children suffer asthma, the highest rate in the city. Environmental health experts suspect the area's heavy diesel truck traffic is a likely risk factor for asthma.

The study has revealed that the South Bronx's air quality is significantly worse than anywhere else in the city. Researchers said pollution from vehicles, power plants, construction activity and other chemical processes is concentrated in the air at levels that exceed standards set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Researchers used a mobile van and even recruited fifth grade asthma sufferers to collect air samples to determine where they were encountering pollution during the day. The children pulled rolling backpacks to measure air quality.

The high prevalence of asthma is reflective of a variety of problems affecting South Bronx communities, experts at the forum said. It is linked to poor housing conditions because cockroaches, mice and rats can trigger asthma attacks. It is also linked to children's educational achievements because asthma is the leading cause of school abseentism.

Forum participants offered a broad set of measures to address the problem, from enforcing existing laws against idling vehicles to closing some of the waste transfer stations that predominate in the South Bronx to the construction of "green" buildings that use environmentally friendly technology.

"We see (the study) as a tool in our advocacy efforts," said Corri Freedman, the American Lung Association's director of advocacy. The association would use it to call for the enforcement of truck routes, the use of cleaner burning fuels and the improvement of air quality in schools.