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Health & Fitness

New Study Has CA Senator Lieu Requesting a Formal Environmental Investigation of Santa Monica Airport.

New study regarding lead in aviation gas used by piston aircraft.

California Senator Ted Lieu is once again exemplary at the state level with his efforts to represent the concerns of Santa Monica Airport (SMO) neighbors, regarding the toxic pollution stemming from aircraft operations.

On July 13, a 2011 paper by a team of environmental health scientists and statisticians at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment in Durham, North Carolina, “A Geospatial Analysis of the Effects of Aviation Gasoline on Childhood Blood Lead Levels,” was published online in Environmental Health Perspectives.

The results were startling enough for Senator Lieu to, just five days later, file a formal environmental complaint through a letter, and ask for a formal investigation by the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Department of Toxic Substance Control, into the toxicity of the soil, vapor, and air surrounding SMO.

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The study cites, “Santa Monica Municipal Airport: A Report on the Generation and Downwind Extent of Emissions Generated from Aircraft and Ground Support Operations”, the 1999 report by Bill Piazza. Also cited is the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s 2010 study at SMO, “A study at the Santa Monica airport in California found that the highest lead levels occur close to airport runways and decrease exponentially with distance from an airport, dropping down to background levels at about 1 km (US EPA 2010).”

Janet Raloff reports from Science News, Lanphear (Bruce Lanphear of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, who was not involved with the new study) adds children aren't the only potentially at-risk population. Several studies have shown "that even extraordinarily low blood lead levels in adults are associated with an increased risk of death from heart attacks and strokes." The mechanism lead's ability to boost blood pressure, he says. 

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It has been 12 years since Bill Piazza’s report showing elevated cancer risks from SMO operations and yet the City of Santa Monica to this day shows no signs of urgency in addressing airport neighbors concerns. Since 1999, three more studies have shown cause for great concern and now this new study regarding piston aircraft and lead contamination.

Many have said they find the smaller piston aircraft rather enjoyable; they hate the private jets and the noise, air pollution and the possibility of a catastrophic accident, but they think the small planes are rather cute. Now they are reevaluating how they feel after learning of the potential health threats these piston aircraft bring over their heads.

All of us, who are affected by Santa Monica Airport operations, whether we live in Santa Monica or Los Angeles, owe a great deal of gratitude to California Senator Ted Lieu. Although he is an honored member of the United States Air Force, he is advocating for environmental justice. As founders of Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution, Joan and I are honored to work closely with him.

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