KAJ

Posted: Mar 12, 2010 7:08 AM
Updated: Mar 12, 2010 12:29 PM

MISSOULA - The University of Montana is going beyond the borders of the state to help address respiratory issues among Alaska Natives. Some 20,000 applied, but scientists selected just 200 projects to be funded with stimulus money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Air Toxics Under the North Star, a partnership project between UM and Alaska, is providing the nation's most remote villages a chance at cleaner air.

When you think of Alaska, you might think of its pristine landscapes and fresh air. But there's more that the eye cannot see.

"Alaska has some unique issues such as road dust, people burn their garbage - there's nowhere to dispose of it," Air Toxics Under the North Star project manager Desirae Ware said. "There's mold issues, wood stoves like we have in Montana."

The Center of Environmental Health Services at the University of Montana teamed with the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium to bring air samplers to seven Alaska communities identified as having air quality issues. 

"They're using our program to kind of fill in that need to do air quality research within their communities, identifying what the problems are and then figuring out how to fix those problems," said the project's principal investigator Tony Ward.

It's actually fairly simple to operate the air samplers. It's like setting an alarm clock, and once it's programmed, it takes the readings on its own, telling each community how much particulate matter is in their air and in their homes.

Researchers will share their findings with the rest of the community, bringing them closer to understanding the problem. The project has seven years of success in Montana and Idaho and organizers hope they can eventually reduce the problem in Alaska, too.

Ware leaves next week for the first of the seven villages, Napaskiak. The biggest community that will receive the air samplers has a population of 600 and the smallest has just over 100 residents.