No Idling Zones

A few years ago we had the opportunity to interview Dr. John Wargo of Yale University for a documentary film we were making about children’s health. He told the story of placing a tiny air monitor in his son’s pocket before sending him off to school, When his son returned at the end of the day, John took the air monitor to the lab at Yale to analyze his son’s exposures to various air pollutants during the day. What he saw shocked him!

There were two big spikes: a moderate one at the beginning of the day, and a large and sustained spike at the end of the day. It didn’t take long to finger John’s son’s school bus as the likely culprit.

So they conducted tests inside the school bus. Sure enough. Air quality tests conducted inside the bus showed very high levels of toxic air pollutants, and the reason was obvious for anyone to see. School buses, lined up one behind the other with their engines running, quickly filled with diesel exhaust as children were boarding. The buses then shut their doors for the ride home, trapping the exhaust inside with the kids.

Diesel exhaust is one of those things you want to avoid if you possibly can. According to the scientists at EPA, there is no safe level of exposure, since diesel exhaust is a known cause of both lung cancer and asthma. It’s also been linked to breast cancer and other diseases.

A No-Idling Policy for schools is a quick and easy way to cut down on your child’s exposure to a known carcinogen and asthma trigger. If your school still allows school buses to idle, maybe it’s time to do something about it.