November 2024

Project Highlight: Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to wildfire Smoke from Swamp Cooler Air (FRESSCA)

Evaporative or "swamp" coolers can draw smoky air into the home when wildfires happen during high heat events. Residents must choose between staying cool and breathing clean air.

Based in California's San Joaquin Valley, the goal of the FRESSCA project was to design and use a filter to reduce wildfire smoke inside homes with swamp coolers.

Ruben Rodriguez explains the importance of the FRESSCA Project in the video above.

Designing and testing the filters

Swamp coolers vary in shape and size. The study team decided to use a "DIY" filter solution that could be easily replicated. The filter was designed and tested in the lab by Illinois Institute of Technology’s Built Environment Research Group with input from a group of technical advisors.

Working with our community partner, Central California Environmental Justice Network (CCEJN), we:

Installed filters on swamp coolers in 25 homes in the field across Fresno, Kings, and Kern Counties
Installed indoor air cleaners in 48 homes
Installed PurpleAir monitors to measure differences in particulate matter levels inside and outside of homes

Preliminary findings show that filters work

In the lab, we found that installing "DIY" filters on swamp coolers resulted in more than a 50% decrease in particle pollution, while restricting the swamp cooler's air flow by less than 20%.

In the field, participants noticed improvements in indoor air quality and mentioned having less dust and fewer large particles entering the home.

Participant perspectives

Many of the FRESSCA participants are agricultural workers exposed to air pollution at home and while working outdoors.

Through videos, they shared their experiences with air pollution, wildfire smoke, the use of air purifiers and swamp cooler filters to improve indoor air, and other environmental health concerns in the valley.

YouTube video - Advocating for better air quality inside homes

Erika Montejano describes the benefits of having an air purifier in the video above.

What's next for FRESSCA?

The FRESSCA team continues to analyze data collected from the study. We will have more to share about the swamp cooler filter's ability to reduce air pollution in homes by early 2025.

To stay up to date on the FRESSCA project and its partner project, FRESSCA Mujeres, please visit the FRESSCA website or contact Isabella Kaser.

You can also read about the impact of these projects here.

High detections of forever chemicals were found in drinking water in Southeast Los Angeles

60 homes from 4 regions throughout California were sampled for Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (also known as PFAS or forever chemicals) in the Tapwater Analysis Project.

Most detections were concentrated in the heavily-industrialized area of Southeast Los Angeles.

Read the full article here >

Communities located near active oil and gas wells had higher COVID-19 cases and deaths

During the first 4 months of the pandemic, communities within 1 km of active oil and gas wells had higher COVID-19 case and death rates, especially when oil and gas production was high.

Results from this study suggest that more research is needed to understand the environmental drivers of COVID-19 and the impacts of oil and gas production on health.

Read the full article here >

CA SCDC's photoblog - Hope for the Journey

Californians living with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) are more than just their disease. These warriors and their caregivers have diverse lives.

The California Sickle Cell Data Collection (CA SCDC) program conducted interviews, collected photos, and compiled a photoblog in the format of a StoryMap, to showcase experiences, challenges, and triumphs of three individuals.

View their stories here >

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Tracking California, formerly the California Environmental Health Tracking Program, is a program of the Public Health Institute in partnership with the California Department of Public Health. Tracking California is part of a national initiative coordinated by the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.

This publication was supported by the Cooperative Agreement Number NUE1EH001489, funded by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.