Air Health Our Health

September is usually a time when kids board school buses to start a new school year. In 2020,  we are instead logging into Zoom calls, and  hunkered down in our homes avoiding a pandemic virus and wildfires. Sometimes it is hard to find hope, but there is hope in this episode today! I focus on a very hopeful topic- the massive benefit of cleaning up diesel. While trying to convey the imp...

Today's episode is a brief one outside the regular two week schedue. It is recorded in the setting of the wildfires engulfing the West Coast. I focus on the health effects of breathing wildfire smoke. I also provide some steps that we can take in response.  TLDL (To Long Didn't Listen)- Climate change is driving wildfires which will lead to astronomical costs in human and economic health. We...

Dr. Lewis Ziska , PhD is an extraordinary plant physiologist who joins me today to discuss pollen and allergens in our air. He had a 24 year career at the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service and is currently at the School of Public Health at Columbia University. He has contributed to International Panel on Climate Change reports with respect to food security as well as to National Climate Assessm...

Under our homes and schools a silent killer often rises from the earth. . . radon. Join me in a lively discussion today with Curtis Cude of the Oregon Health Authority to discuss radon and you. He and I have both had to take action to decrease radon in our own homes, and we discuss the landscape of radon testing, homes, schools, mitigation, and barriers to reducing radon levels. Think you're prote...

Today I am joined by Dr. Jeffrey Gotts , MD, PhD. Like me, he is a lung and ICU doctor trying to navigate all the valid questions his patients and community have about e-cigarettes, vaping, etc. He is also an expert on the science regarding vaping. We discuss what that science tells us about e-cigarettes, as well as exploring the hope that many have felt that these devices may represent a path tow...

Today I am joined by Dr. Linda George, PhD of Portland State University. When I started medical school, I never really thought that I'd be interviewing an atmospheric chemist. However, my experience as a physician treating patients who have been heavily exposed to diesel or have grown up breathing polluted air has led me to look at the world in a different way. We dive into that extensively on the...

Big Tobacco has a history of targeting the military, from including tobacco in rations to leaked documents showing how they targeted recruits and veterans as ripe for tobacco addiction. Brandy Carpenter was serving in Afghanistan when she received word via the Red Cross that she was about to be made an orphan by Big Tobacco. Join us in a discussion about how this changed her life. Brandy works as...

Mary Peveto of Neighbors for Clean Air joins me on the podcast today. We dive into this gap between safety and legality and the many air toxics that are not regulated under the Clean Air Act. Like many Oregonians, I always thought our state had a green reputation and healthy air. I have learned as a lung doctor that is not the case. There is a large gap between what people think is happening with...

As a lung and ICU doctor, I have been perplexed by the descriptions of teargas as "non-lethal." In this podcast, I explore the science surrounding the idea of safety and try to assess what the true risks to health and healthcare costs might be.  Visit blog post and airhealthourhealth.org for more information.  Follow and comment on Facebook page and Instagram . 

Join us for a frank discussion of the history of tobacco's devastation of the black community and how we build towards health and equity. Tobacco is a drag on the whole economy, especially pushing communities of color into poverty. Learn more from Cyreena Boston Ashby, who shares her thoughts here.

Join me for a conversation with Dr. Matt Drake, a pulmonary and critical care medicine physician and scientist researching the effects of air pollution on airways, particularly in asthma. Dr. Drake also lives with asthma himself and shares his experience.  Learn more about Dr. Drake here and read more at https://airhealthourhealth.org/blog/ Questions? Comments? Record a question on the Anchor app,...

Lung and ICU doctor looking upstream to prevent what causes patients to need care in the ICU and clinic. Don't light things on fire and breathe them into the lungs. From tobacco to diesel exhaust, dirty air kills. Visit airhealthourhealth.org for more info. Follow on Instagram and Facebook.