Border Institute Findings on Air Pollution Awareness

Did you know border most residents, teachers, and even medical doctors are ignorant of the effects of air pollution? We didn't either but according to the participants of the Border Institute, because most air pollution is invisible, people do not think of it as the major hazard that it is.

Sponsored by SCERP, Border Institute VII took place last April at the Rio Rico Resort in Southeastern Arizona, engaging 80 top-level border and air quality experts in discussing transboundary air pollution and binational air quality management. The conference brought together members of the government, academia, and the private sector. Leaders of the Border 2012 Environmental Program, helped guide and coordinate the conference in order to provide U.S.-Mexican border program partners and participants with advice and recommendations.

The recently released proceedings from the event report that while the greatest at-risk populations are children, elderly, and frail, air pollution has both chronic and acute effects that should not be ignored especially since many parts of the border have unhealthy levels of one, two, and even three pollutants.

The document lists a series of recommendations made by the participants to help relieve the air pollution problems in the border region. They also recommend that public education on air quality "be based upon timely interpretation of relevant ambient air quality data, usually provided by government air pollution control districts and academic research scientists".

To read the list of recommendations and other important conclusions from the Border Institute, download the proceedings file from here. You can also go to http://www.scerp.org/ for more general information on the Border Institute and other SCERP programs.