The Foreword, Table of Contents, and Lists of Figures and Tables appear below. There is also an Appendix of supporting data and valuable local information. Due to the size of the files CAFA cannot post the book on this website. However, for a CD copy of this valuable resource book for your organization, please contact RAMP, coordinator for the CAFA network, (510) 302-3365 or by e-mail, info@rampasthma.org.  We can likely provide one copy per community-based organization, agency, or local health department (but feel free to make your own CD copies and share with your staff!).

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FOREWORD

By the CAFA State Coordinating Office staff 

          The CAFA Asthma Advocacy Data Book is intended to serve as a science-based resource for CAFA Local Coalitions and Regional Centers to use in their environmental health education and advocacy efforts.  We designed this book to allow updates in the future with more counties and newer data.  It should function as a tool for policy change by helping asthma advocates to write grants, educate community stakeholders and politicians (local and state), and conduct training workshops.    

The initial section presents guidelines for using and interpreting health and environmental data, and for understanding their limitations.  Each subsequent section concentrates on a single indicator or category of environmental factors.  These sections describe the scientific basis for advocacy, the origins and limitations of the data, further resources, and the most currently available data themselves in summary tables.  Many of these data have been available for some time in various formats.  In the production of this book, we have attempted to assemble them in a logical sequence, and to place them side-by-side with explanations about how you can use them most effectively for environmental, health, and community advocacy. 

The objectives of the CAFA Asthma Advocacy Data Book include:

• Present data in the context of scientific rationale showing why and how they are important;
• Describe the origins and limitations of the data to foster valid interpretations;
• Present data at appropriate levels of analysis (county, air basin, state) to describe the communities in which the original 12 CAFA Local Coalitions and a few others are active (total of 15 counties, and for environmental data, Fresno County).
• Inform you about publicly-available print and electronic resources offering more detail. 

As resources and personnel become available, we intend to update and expand this book periodically.  Be alert for revised editions, and contact the CAFA State Office or your own environmental and health science personnel with any questions.  We welcome any suggestions, corrections, or requests for clarification.  

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword, page ii-

Table of Contents, page iv-

List of Figures, page viii-

List of Tables, page x-

List of Appendices, page xv-

I. Introduction, pages 1-6

II. Using Environmental Health Data, pages 7-25

(Sections on "Applying the precautionary principle to asthma," "Quantifying problems," and "Understanding data limitations")

III. Asthma Hospitalizations, children 0-14 years old, pages 26-34

IV. Source data, pages 35-55

(Sections on "Traffic exposure (across vehicles, trucks only)," "Toxic air contaminant emissions (e.g., VOCs, PAHs)," and "Pesticide use")

V. Outdoor (ambient) air quality data, pages 56-70

(Sections on "Particulate matter (coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) particles)," "Nitrogen dioxide," and "Ozone")

VI. Indoor air and environmental quality (IAQ), pages 71-76

(Sections on "Home IAQ" and "School IAQ")

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LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Timeline of evidence connecting cigarette smoking

with lung cancer                

                Page 9

Figure 2: Definitions of incidence and prevalence 

               Page 13

Figure 3: Description of varying levels of severity of asthma

in a population                   

               Page 27 

Also, please see:

Appendix C: Map of California Local Air Pollution Control Districts / Air Quality Management Districts (http://www.arb.ca.gov/capcoa/dismap.htm)

Appendix D: Map of California Local Air Basins (http://www.energy.ca.gov/maps/airbasins_airdistricts.html)

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LIST OF TABLES

Note: Table 1 is on page 32, and Tables 2-34 are on pages 77-121

Table 1: Age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rates, by poverty status of

zip code tabulation area (ZCTA) of residence among children

aged 0-14 years, 1998-2000. 

Table 2: Age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rates by Assembly District

(1998-2000, OSHPD data) for children ages 0-14, with

95% confidence intervals. 

Table 3: Age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rates by Senate District

(1998-2000, OSHPD data) for children ages 0-14, with

95% confidence intervals. 

Table 4: Age-adjusted asthma hospitalization rates by

CAFA community (CA counties) (1995-1997 OSHPD data) for

children ages 0-14, with 95% confidence intervals. 

            Reference: "Table 2. Age-adjusted Asthma Hospitalization Rates

                              in California Children (Ages 0-14 years) by County and

                              Race/Ethnicity, 1995-1997."  August 2000. 

                              California County Asthma Hospitalization Chart Book. 

                              Oakland, CA: California Department of Health Services-

                              Environmental Health Investigations Branch, 10.

Table 5: SAME, for Alameda County. 

Table 6: SAME, for Contra Costa County. 

Table 7: SAME, for Imperial County. 

Table 8: SAME, for Kern County. 

Table 9: SAME, for Los Angeles County. 

Table 10: SAME, for Mariposa County. 

Table 11: SAME, for Merced County. 

Table 12: SAME, for Sacramento County. 

Table 13: SAME, for San Diego County. 

Table 14: SAME, for San Francisco County. 

Table 15: SAME, for San Mateo County. 

Table 16: SAME, for Santa Clara County. 

Table 17: SAME, for Solano County. 

Table 18: SAME, for Sonoma County. 

Table 19: SAME, for Tulare County. 

Table 20a-b: Average annual daily traffic counts of all vehicles for 2003

Southern California region, Northern California region. 

Table 21a: Average annual daily traffic counts of heavy-duty trucks

Southern California region, Northern California region. 

Table 22: Estimated average daily vehicle miles traveled for the year 2000

in CAFA communities (CA counties), and trends relative to data from

1999 and 2001. 

Table 23: Emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in 1999 in 

CAFA communities (CA counties). 

Table 24: Emissions of hazardous air pollutants/toxic air contaminants in 2002, overall and for selected chemicals, in CAFA communities

(CA counties).

Table 25: Total emissions of selected toxic air contaminants (TACs) in

CAFA communities (CA counties). 

4  Eastern portion of Kern County in Mojave Desert Air Basin