Indoor Environments Network (1EN)
January-March 2002
Remarks from Mary T. Smith, Director, Indoor
Environments Division (IED):
I want to take this opportunity to thank the network of national, state
and local partners who have worked so hard to promote indoor air
issues the last year. Collectively, you have been able to positively
impact the health of hundreds of thousands of people through homes
with reduced radon levels, schools with better indoor environments,
homes that are smoke-free, and children with asthma who have
reduced exposure to asthma triggers. The program has also
received a great deal of support from our new Administrator,
Governor Christine Todd Whitman. Governor Whitman has been on
the stump promoting our asthma and radon outreach, and launched
our smoke-free homes initiative at Children's Hospital in Washington,
DC. We expect that in the coming months, she will also be
promoting our IAQ Tools for Schools Program. You are part of a
great effort and the Indoor Environments Program at EPA looks
forward to another successful year working with you, making a
difference in our nation's communities.
Take the Smoke-Free Home Pledge!
On October 16, 2001, EPA Administrator, Governor Whitman unveiled a new environmental health
campaign, the Smoke-Free Home Pledge Initiative, designed to protect millions of America's children
from the risks of secondhand smoke in their own home. The program's goal is to motivate millions of
parents to pledge to keep their home smoke-free.
Please join our many organizations who are working in a collaborative effort at all levels, and through
their own individual programs, to get families to commit to making and keeping their homes smoke-
free. To assist you in educating the communities, Secondhand Smoke and Children's Health
Community Action Kit is available on our website and very soon on CD! It gives all of the details about
how to set up a local smoke-free home pledge effort. Organizations interested in joining this national
effort to protect our children's health can get more information from the EPA IAQ INFO hotline,
1-800-438-4318. or by visiting: http://www.epa.gov/iaq/ets/smpkefree.html. Multiple copies of EPA's
brochure, "Take the Smoke-Free Home Pledge," are also available at the Hotline and website. An
excellent Video News Release with soundbites and facts on the pledge initiative featuring the
Administrator, a pediatrician, and two parents is now available to you and TV stations. Please order it
from http://www.epapsa.com.
EPA has also established a smoke-free hotline to take pledges from parents and to reinforce their
commitment with a certificate and supporting materials at 1 -800-513-1157.
We hope this information will help you develop strategies and locate resources necessary to implement
a community-based campaign to reduce children's exposure to secondhand smoke.
AROUND THE NETWORK:
• Check out the attached Calendar of Radon/IAQ Activities for January-March 2002.
• January is National Radon Action Month: Radon Action Month will find the Indoor Environments
• Division (IED), regional radon staff, state radon programs, and our non-profit partners working together
to publicize the danger of radon throughout the country. IED is also planning a Video News Release
which we will distribute to TV stations. In addition, IED is releasing the sequel to its Emmy Award
winning "Take the National Radon Test: Man on the Street," a TV and radio PSA. To order the VNR
and PSA, log onto http//:www.epapsa.com. For general information on Radon Action Month, please
contact Jennifer Keller at (202) 564-9338 or keller.iennifer@.epa.gov.
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IEN News Page 2 January-March 2002
• Searchable Database - Asthma Resources: The National Education Association's Health
Information Network launched a new website that features a searchable database of asthma resources,
www.asthmaandschools.org. The site includes up-to-date information on asthma and it also allows you
to share your own asthma resources for possible inclusion in the database. For more information,
contact Jennie Young at ivoung@nea.org or call (202) 822-7481.
• World Asthma Day 2002 will take place on May 7th. World Asthma Day (WAD) provides the
Network with an opportunity to raise awareness and generate local action around the need to control
environmental asthma triggers. Working together, we can help families take control of asthma. Look
for more information over the next several months on ways to implement local asthma education events
in preparation for WAD.
1AQ PUBLICATIONS AND PRODUCTS NOW AVAILABLE:
• The Iridoor Environments Division Schools Team is proud to release the latest Indoor Air Quality Tools
for Schools document. A "road map" for the Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Kit is an easy
reference guide for starting, a comprehensive indoor air quality program in your school district. To
order this "must-have" document (# EPA-402-F-00-11) please contact NSCEP at 1-800-490-9198.
• A new computer software program to help manage Indoor Air Quality in commercial buildings is now
available. This new software, I-BEAM, updates and expands EPA's existing Building Air Quality
standards with text, animation/visual, and interactive/calculation components. The software will help
you conduct an IAQ building audit, diagnose and resolve lAQ-related health problems, establish a
management and maintenance program to reduce IAQ risks, plan lAQ-compatible energy projects, and
protect occupants from exposures to construction/renovation contaminants. It is also designed to
calculate the cost, revenue, and productivity impacts of planned IAQ activities. To obtain a CD-ROM
copy, contact the IAQ INFO Clearinghouse at 1-800-431-4318 or via e-mail at iaqinfo@aol.com. You
may also download I-BEAM directly from http://www.epa.gov/iaq/largebldgs/download.htm.
• Two asthma educational videos illustrate the most effective ways to reduce secondhand smoke and
allergens in your home and schools: "Health at Home: Controlling Asthma Triggers," and "Making a
Difference—Asthma Management in the School." To view the videos online, go to
http://www.AsthmaMoms.com.
• Reminder note - Please submit your entries for the next IEN Calendar mailing (April-June 2002) to
IENcoordinator@cadmusgroup.com no later than March 1, 2002.
Happy New Year to ALL. We look forward to your continued involvement throughout 2002. We
hope the information contained in the Network quarterly calendar mailings continues to be useful in your
efforts to educate the public about actions to reduce their exposure to radon and other indoor air pollutants
in homes, schools, and buildings.
Sheila Brown
Indoor Environments Division
Environmental Protection Agency
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