The St. Louis County Department of Health will receive $30,000 for asthma education and outreach in the Normandy School District.
The grant from the Environmental Protection Agency is part of $1.2 million in funding to 32 state and local governments, tribes, and non-profit organizations for indoor air quality projects.
According to an EPA press release, Normandy School District nurses estimate that about 880 of the 4,500 students in the district have asthma.
The County health department will use the funds to provide training and educational materials intended raise awareness of asthma and its triggers among school district nurses, other district staff, caregivers, and students.
The project includes funding for in-home assessments of asthma triggers and radon gas.
Indoor air pollutants can cause health problems including:
• sore eyes
• burning in the nose and throat
• headaches or fatigue
• aggravated allergies
• respiratory illnesses (such as asthma)
• cancer (from radon gas)
EPA says the agency emphasized the selection of projects that assist low income and minority families that are disproportionately impacted by poor indoor air quality.
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