Every day, hundreds of workers across Washington state are hurt on the job. Some lose their lives. Many of the industries that shaped the state 鈥� forestry, fishing, agriculture 鈥� are riddled with risk.听听

The 91探花 has for years been instrumental in the state鈥檚 efforts to keep workers safe. 91探花experts study workplace hazards like the toxic fumes inhaled by nail salon workers and the worsening heat waves faced by agricultural workers east of the Cascades. The UW鈥檚 training and education programs, from undergraduate education to continuing education for industry professionals, prepare trainees to oversee health and safety programs for businesses across the state. 91探花experts consult with businesses on how to keep workers safe and productivity high. And a provides specialized care to injured workers.听

鈥淲orker health and safety is a vital component of what the 91探花 does,鈥� said , a 91探花assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences.听

But those efforts are now under threat. This year, the federal government has dramatically cut the programs that fund worker safety efforts like those at the UW. In April, the Trump administration of the (NIOSH), the federal agency dedicated to worker safety. The agency has closed nearly all its research and training programs, creating uncertainty over whether funding will continue. 听

NIOSH has long been a significant source of funding for UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety research and training programs, complementing core funding from the state. Without federal support, much of that work will stop in its tracks. That means less research into the hazards workers face, and fewer people who are trained to mitigate those risks and treat workplace injuries and illnesses.听

Ultimately, Baker fears workers across Washington will feel the impact.听

鈥淚 suspect that if the cuts to NIOSH are maintained and the work that we’re doing here at the 91探花 no longer continues, the number of workers who are injured or lose their lives in Washington is going to go up,鈥� Baker said.听听

Federal funds support the (NWCOHS), which prepares graduate students to work in occupational health and safety and provides continuing education to industry professionals. The NWCOHS addresses the need for specialists in occupational medicine by supporting training programs for physicians.听

Trainees work out of specialty clinics, including the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Clinic at Harborview Medical Center, which treats patients who are injured on the job. Physicians at the clinic learn how to connect workplace exposures to patients鈥� health outcomes and craft treatment plans to help workers recover and safely return to work.听

听鈥淚t’s a unique combination of medicine and public health. We鈥檙e thinking about individual patients who are sitting in front of us, and also how to prevent workplace injuries and illness for populations of workers鈥� said , research associate professor of environmental & occupational health sciences and former director of the occupational & environmental medicine program at the UW. 鈥淭he goal is for workers and patients to be healthy and feel gratification from the work they’re doing, which often contributes to a healthy and productive workplace.鈥�听

The benefits aren鈥檛 theoretical 鈥� the UW鈥檚 occupational health and safety work has led directly to improved working conditions for some of the state鈥檚 most essential workers.听听

Consider forestry and agricultural workers, who experience higher rates of workplace injury and death on the job. For decades, the UW鈥檚 (PNASH) has received federal funding through a NIOSH program focused exclusively on agricultural workers鈥� health and safety. PNASH experts have built deep ties across the state, working in collaboration with community members and industry partners to build safer, stronger workplaces.听听

A few years ago, PNASH researchers learned that workers tasked with applying pesticides weren鈥檛 always properly wearing their protective equipment and faced frequent exposure to these hazardous chemicals. Researchers leaned into community and industry connections to better understand the barriers. Then they got to work on solutions.

PNASH developed practical training that allows pesticide applicators to see how the sprays drift through the air by using a fluorescent tracer that lights up on clothes or skin. They studied how workers typically apply pesticides and suggested new methods that ensured the chemicals hit their target and didn鈥檛 drift onto workers. And they built tools to translate the warning labels on pesticide containers, which were written almost entirely in English, into Spanish, the primary language of many farm workers.听

The developed in collaboration with farmers, educators and researchers across the state, is designed to benefit both workers and their employers.听

鈥淎 unique role that we have at the 91探花is being able to listen to those who don鈥檛 have the ability to individually contact their employer or to contact the state, and to really make their voice heard,鈥� said , a 91探花assistant professor of environmental & occupational health sciences whose research focuses on protecting agricultural workers. 鈥淎nd we work with a wide variety of partners to really engage those essential workers that are growing our food and fishing in dangerous waters and understand how we can return information to them that’s actionable, meaningful and practical.鈥�听

NIOSH funds make that work possible. But the White House has proposed eliminating all federal funding for agricultural worker health and safety, putting PNASH鈥檚 funding in jeopardy. Leaders are searching for alternate funding to support the center鈥檚 critical services.听

鈥淲e鈥檙e very concerned about this sudden change in federal focus and lack of resources being allocated to health and safety research,鈥� Austin said. 鈥淲e worry about our region in particular, that our workers are going to suffer and our businesses are going to have to bear the cost.鈥�听

What started as a 91探花-led project to measure air pollution near Sea-Tac International Airport has led to schools in the area installing portable air filters to improve indoor air quality.

First, 91探花researchers found they were able to in the communities under Sea-Tac International Airport flight paths and map the air quality impacts of the ultrafine particles associated with planes. Then they discovered that the mix of particle pollution, black carbon and other pollutants from both sources was infiltrating school buildings in the area.

Alerted that this pollution was getting into schools, community advisors to the study wondered if the 91探花crew could find a way to remove the pollution and protect children, teachers and workers in those buildings. They were concerned because evidence is emerging that suggests this pollution is , particularly children and older adults. Poor indoor air quality may also and increased absenteeism from school.

鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 clear from the outset of the project that we could measure significant infiltration indoors,鈥� said , assistant professor of environmental and occupational health sciences in the 91探花School of Public Health. 鈥淣ot all particles act the same. They don鈥檛 behave the same in the brain or in the body, and they also don鈥檛 penetrate into buildings through the same routes. However, we did measure significant infiltration.鈥�

In Phase One of their , funded primarily by the Washington State Legislature, the 91探花team discovered that portable air cleaners with HEPA, or High Efficiency Particulate Air, filters in classrooms reduced pollution levels dramatically.

In their recent , the researchers wrote that the filters reduced all ultrafine particles by 83%, aircraft-specific particles by 67% and heavy-duty truck particles by 73% over a two-day test period (see graphic above for more reduction details).

鈥淲e have to consider outdoor air pollution when we鈥檙e thinking about healthy schools, and the answer to addressing outdoor air pollution is twofold: The first is reducing the emissions from their sources, but that is not always possible. So, when that is not possible, effective interventions are critical. This project demonstrates that HEPA filters can be a viable intervention,鈥� Austin said.

The team鈥檚 data was so stark that community advisors encouraged school districts to use these filters in their buildings. In response, Austin said, the two school districts the 91探花team worked with, Federal Way Public Schools and Highline Public Schools, purchased air filters for most of their classrooms to improve indoor air quality and to combat the spread of the virus that causes COVID-19.

鈥淲hen many of the school districts we鈥檙e working with saw the results and heard concerns from parents, teachers and unions about air quality, they went ahead and used federal funds to purchase HEPA filters for their classrooms,鈥� Austin said.

And all of that was just Phase One of the team鈥檚 project.

For , the researchers are working on a two-year study in 20 schools across Washington where they will deploy more air filters and learn more about student health and academic performance in classrooms with cleaner air. They also hope to help school districts balance the benefits of these filters with their energy use and explore other methods for reducing air pollution, such as upgrading buildings.

鈥淥ur first phase of the study was over a couple of days, so we want to be able to show that over the course of a longer term there鈥檚 a significant improvement in air quality when the HEPA filters are deployed. Then, we want to see what benefits that improved indoor air quality has on student health, performance and absenteeism,鈥� Austin said.

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Co-authors are Nancy Carmona, Jeffry H. Shirai, B.J. Cummings, Lisa Hayward and Edmund Seto from the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; Timothy Gould from the 91探花Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and Timothy Larson, a professor in both 91探花departments.

In addition to funding from the Washington State Legislature and the EPA, regional partners for the study include the cities of SeaTac, Burien,听Federal Way, Normandy Park and Des Moines; Federal Way Public Schools; Highline Public Schools; and the 91探花 Ultrafine Advisory Group.

For more information, contact Austin at elaustin@uw.edu.

Communities underneath and downwind of jets landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are exposed to a type of ultrafine particle pollution that is distinctly associated with aircraft, according to a new 91探花 study, the first to identify the unique signature of aircraft emissions in the state of Washington.

The finding comes from the two-year Mobile ObserVations of Ultrafine Particles or 鈥淢OV-UP鈥� funded by the Washington State Legislature to examine the air-quality impacts of aircraft traffic on communities located within 10 miles of Sea-Tac Airport.

Researchers at the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences and the Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering collected air samples at numerous locations around Sea-Tac Airport over the course of a year between 2018 and 2019.

The research team then developed a new method to distinguish between pollution from jet traffic and pollution from other sources such as roadway traffic. Ultrafine pollution particles are emitted from both sources, but the research team found key differences in the particle size and mixture of particles they emit.

The researchers then mapped each type of emission mixture to show its specific geographic footprint around the airport.

鈥淲e found that communities under the flight paths near the airport are exposed to higher proportions of smaller-sized, 鈥榰ltra-ultrafine鈥� pollution particles and over a larger area compared to pollution particles associated with roadways,鈥� said , co-principal investigator and associate professor of environmental and occupational health sciences in the 91探花School of Public Health.

Ultrafine particles are less than 0.1 micron in diameter 鈥� 700 times thinner than the width of a single human hair. The research team coined the term 鈥渦ltra-ultrafine鈥� particles to refer to the proportion of smaller ultrafine particles between 0.01 to 0.02 microns in diameter.

Although this study did not consider the health effects of exposure to roadway or aircraft-related pollution, previous studies suggest smaller pollution particles are more likely to be inhaled and to penetrate the body than larger particles.

Other studies have linked exposure to ultrafine particles to breast cancer, heart disease, prostate cancer and a variety of lung conditions. The Washington State Department of Health is currently preparing a comprehensive literature review of the potential health effects associated with ultrafine particles.

The discovery of the unique signature of aircraft pollution opens up opportunities for follow-up studies, said , professor and chair of the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

鈥淲e can now study the specific health effects of aircraft-related pollution, how different neighborhoods may be affected by it and specific interventions that could reduce human exposure to these pollutants,鈥� said Yost, who is also a co-investigator on the study. 鈥淲e hope to work with state and local policymakers as well as affected communities to pursue these questions.鈥�

The team gathered air samples from fixed locations, including a former elementary school south of the airport and SeaTac Community Center north of the airport. Researchers also collected air samples through mobile monitors mounted on hybrid vehicles that were driven on 11 routes north and south of the airport in time periods that covered all four seasons of the year.

The researchers used data from the Federal Aviation Administration and other sources to track the number and direction of flights, their altitudes and the wind speed and direction, temperature and relative humidity at the airport.

Their analysis showed that roadway air pollution particles consist of relatively larger particle sizes and higher black carbon concentrations. These particles tend to disperse over relatively short distances downwind of major roadways such as Interstate 5 and SR 99, affecting a narrow swath of near-roadway residences and buildings.

In contrast, emissions associated with aircraft consist of the relatively smaller ultra-ultrafine particle sizes and lower black carbon concentrations. Areas exposed to higher levels of aircraft-related particles tend to be larger, meaning more people are potentially affected.

The research team coordinated closely with local governments, community groups and state and federal agencies throughout the two-year project, soliciting feedback on the study design, analysis and next steps.

Sea-Tac Airport is the eighth busiest U.S. airport. In 2018, the airport served nearly 50 million passengers and saw 438,391 takeoffs and landings.

Co-authors include Elena Austin, Jianbang Xiang and Jeffry Shirai of 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences; Tim Gould and Sukyong Yun from 91探花Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering; and co-senior author Timothy Larson, a professor in both departments.听This research was funded by the Washington State Legislature.

This release was written by听Jolayne Houtz, director of communications for the 91探花Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

Statement from the Port of Seattle:

鈥淲e are pleased to see the 91探花MOV-UP Study completed and turned into the Legislature. The Port strongly supports this effort and helped fund this study which we see as critical to advancing the science needed to understand and reduce fine particulate emissions. Our Commission remains committed to reducing the emissions associated with using fossil fuels, and one way to reduce emissions is through the use of lower-carbon transportation fuels. Many of these fuels including renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel reduce ultra-fine particulate in addition to greenhouse gases, the pollution that causes global warming. For this reason, we continue to urge the Washington State Legislature to move quickly towards statewide progressive carbon policy that encourages the adoption of low-carbon transportation fuels. That kind of policy framework could generate real progress on the full-scale implementation of sustainable fuels at the state鈥檚 airports and seaports.”

Statement from the Washington State Department of Health:

“Our comprehensive literature review of the potential health effects of ultrafine particle pollution is being completed alongside the 91探花study. Together, these studies will provide state policymakers and communities with evidence about where and how this type of traffic-related pollution affects people and inform future steps to protect public health,鈥� said Julie Fox, environmental epidemiologist, Washington State Department of Health.