Project Overview
Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to wildfire Smoke from Swamp Cooler Air, or FRESSCA, addresses the following:
Agricultural workers in California’s San Joaquin Valley are disproportionately exposed to wildfire smoke due to long work hours outdoors and lack of filtration in their homes. An area with already poor air quality, the topography of the region traps smoke plumes from surrounding wildfires. Low-income families in this region have evaporative “swamp” coolers (ECs) as affordable alternatives to air conditioners. ECs bring in large quantities of unfiltered outdoor air, creating a hazard when wildfire smoke and heat events coincide. The FRESSCA project is a community-based participatory research project that responds to farmworker concerns by bringing together a multidisciplinary team to 1) Design a filter for ECs that is effective, easy to install, and affordable; 2)Test the filter in the lab and in the homes of agricultural workers in the San Joaquin Valley; and 3) Engage with local residents to understand potential barriers to widespread use of filtration in homes. If successful, the development of an effective filter for ECs could protect thousands of low-income people exposed to the adverse effects of heat and wildfire smoke.
Geographic Area of Focus
Fresno, Kings, and Kern Counties
Contact Information
For more information, contact Gina Solomon, PI (gina.solomon@ucsf.edu) or Isabella Kaser (ikaser@phi.org)
Funded by the EPA
FRESSCA: MUJERES
Project Overview
Building upon FRESSCA, the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) funded the FRESSCA-Mujeres project to support an intervention study to evaluate the effectiveness of the EC filters developed by the FRESSCA project. FRESSCA-Mujeres expands the scope of FRESSCA by collecting additional indoor and outdoor air monitoring data and measuring urinary biomarkers of oxidative stress and inflammation among study participants as early indicators of potential health effects. FRESSCA-Mujeres will use these tools in an intervention study to evaluate the effectiveness of the EC filters at reducing air exposures. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of indoor portable HEPA air purifiers. The additional biomonitoring components will include the measurement of urinary biomarkers for toxic air contaminants of concern, including metabolites of PAHs, VOCs and heavy metals. The addition of these biomarkers of exposure to the existing FRESSCA and FRESSCA-Mujeres project would provide an exceptional opportunity to better understand air pollution exposures in a vulnerable population of low-income women who work outdoors in an area highly impacted by air pollution and could potentially identify an effective strategy for reducing those exposures.
Geographic Area of Focus
Fresno, Kings, and Kern Counties
Contact Information
For more information, contact Gina Solomon, PI (gina.solomon@ucsf.edu) or Isabella Kaser (ikaser@phi.org)
Funded by the California Breast Cancer Research Program