Aleknagik Traditional Council Indoor Air Quality Program

1. Aleknagik Traditional Council Indoor Air Quality Program National Tribal Forum on Air Quality At Tulsa, Oklahoma May 22-24, 2012

2. How we got started • Submitted the grant on February 18, 2011 • Tribal Air Quality Cooperative Agreement under a sub-awards covered by Code of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) # 66.038 • Which was funded thru the U. S Environmental Protection Agency Region 10 • Administered by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium; Division of Environmental Health and Engineering ( DEHE) • We were awarded the Cooperative Agreement on March 21, 2011

3. What the Project Consist of • To increase awareness of community residents and leaders of sources of air pollution and health impacts. • Do quarterly newsletters to educate tribal members • Do an air assessment of source pollution • Partner with ANTCH and BBAHC • Assess individuals homes of source pollution

4. Trainings Attended. • I attended a Building Ventilation and Energy Course thru the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, Bristol Bay Campus. • This course helped me to better understand how a house works. • I also attended a webinar which was: Using Instruments to Measure Indoor Air Quality: How and When they can be useful in your Tribal IAQ Investigation.

5. Community Meeting • Held a community meeting on May 28, 2011 • I showed video’s on road dust, wood smoke, and Solid Waste. (AK tribal air toolkit) • I also did the fish tank experiment for air conversion and used bar straws to show how an asthmatic felt like when having an asthma attack. • We had 19 participates at the meeting.

6. Instruments • Q-Trak is an instrument that measures: • CO-Carbon Monoxide • CO² -Carbon Dioxide • Rh- Relative Humidity • Temp- Temperature • Dust Trak is an instrument which measures particulate matter 2.5

7. Quality Assurance Project Plan • Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium-Chris Fish worked on the Quality Assurance Project Plan (QAPP) • Most EPA projects do need them such as: • Water Quality Work • Air Quality Work • This assures you are following Standard Operating Procedures.

8. Sampling • Sampled 24 homes • For each home it took me 2 hours • These are the survey forms that we used.

9. Sampling • We log them on to our Data Sheet.

10. Sampling • Entered them on excel

11. Data • Chris refined the data to look at all the averages of the homes that were sampled. CO CO² Rh Temp 2.5 pm

12. This Was The Color Code We Used INDOOR AIR QUALITY: INTERPRETATION GUIDE FOR FIELD SAMPLING *ppm – parts per million, µg/m3 – micrograms per cubic meter This table is an interpretive guide for field based monitoring personnel. A professional health and/or safety specialist should be consulted if there are any questions or concerns about this guidance, or if levels of concern are detected. The response strategy and corrective action for measurements in the Orange and Red category may involve further health advisement or immediate removal from exposure.

13. Success Story • When we first got the grant; I trained using our office to collect air samples. • We sampled 20 minutes and noticed that the Carbon Monoxide was reading very high. • We tested again for 24 hrs • Both Daniel and I were experiencing headaches and Nausea by the time we got off work; we worked 7.5 hrs a day.

14. Carbon Monoxide • Here is the Data that show the levels. Daniel’s Office Before CO AVG: 13.9 ppm Daniel’s Office After CO AVG: 0.1 ppm

15. Office • Well we let our Council know about our office. • Since we received our office in 2001, we have had this monitor stove. • Our maintenance Department found out that our seal on the pot belly was worn, and was releasing CO.

16. Mold Issues • We had two homes that had mold. • We did further investigations and educated them on their HRV. • Also, we tested the walls to see how much moisture was in the walls using a moisture meter. • Here are the results: • East wall: 14-15°, 19-22° • Interior wall: 16-17°, 21-19°

17. Problems Encountered • When first using the Q-Trak, I didn’t follow the Standard Operating Procedures-Had to re-do 8 homes. The re-do took 1 hour which I could have been doing another home. • When picking out how many homes should be assessed; try to pick a lower number. I chose 50 homes of which I was only able to do 24 homes. • Take lots of pictures; a picture can tell a story by itself.

18. Conclusion Most of the homes that we tested had a high CO² which is Carbon Dioxide. This tell us that most homes need to exchange their air by opening windows or turning their HRV up to exchange air or install M-80’s to help exchange air. (homes that were built in the 1970 or earlier)

19. Conclusion • Most homes for PM 2.5 were in the yellow zone. • This can be caused by smoke, burning fuels and materials (carpet, dust mites, pet dander, ect.) • It’s important to follow best practices for operating wood stoves and heating appliances. • Cooking, Indoor Smoking, and outside conditions can contribute to PM 2.5 levels.

20. Special Thanks • I’d like to thank: Chris Fish; Project Officer Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium Division of Health and Engineering 1901 Bragaw Street, Suite 200 Anchorage, AK 99508 E-Mail: cfish@anthc.org And EPA-Mary Manous Air Tribal Policy and Grants Lead Office of Air and Toxics, AWT-107 1200 Sixth Ave, Suite 900 Seattle, WA 98101 E-Mail: manous.mary@epa.gov

21. Thanks Tina L. Carr-Tinker P.O. Box 115 Aleknagik, AK 99555 Phone: (907) 842-4407 Fax: (907) 842-4534 E-Mail: tina.tinker@yahoo.com