Health Impact of Vog Studied; Link to Asthma?

Written by Lisa Kubota - lkubota@kgmb9.com

June 10, 2008 07:14 PM

With all action at Kilauea lately a lot of people are wondering about the health effects of vog. Kilauea is a huge source of pollution, spewing toxic gases and ash into the air. Dr. Elizabeth Tam has been researching the impact for years. "I think I would maybe persuade you that the volcanic air pollution - at least up until this year - maybe isn't as bad as environmental tobacco smoke or smog," said Tam. For the past 5 years Tam has conducted a study with about 2,000 Big Island students to examine the link between vog exposure and asthma. "We started when the children we're 8 to 10 years old. The idea is that we need to study them through their growth spurt and of course they're now 12 to 14, some 15," Tam said. Tam hasn't found higher asthma rates in areas where there is more vog. She said the research showed vog doesn't cause asthma but it can trigger symptoms in people who already have it. Nearly three times as many Big Island children have asthma rate compared to kids on the other islands so researchers are looking into other factors that could be causing it there, like higher concentrations of mold, pollen and dust mites. "Often the very weather things that bring the vog to Honolulu are also gonna concentrate other toxins or spores and other airborne agents," Tam said. Other researchers have studied the short-term effects of vog on workers at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. "Vog is something that affects almost people who live in Hawaii and the first time I went to the park I started developing little bit symptoms and I became very interested in this," said Dmitri Krupitsky "Vog seems to have some effect, a moderate to observable effect in the data that we've collected, but many other things besides vog seem to have as great or probably greater effect," said Jean-Pierre Michaud, a professor at UH Hilo. Researchers want future studies to look at factors like mildew, pets, carpets and mold.

Last Updated ( June 10, 2008 07:14 PM )