Students Lead Project

LOMA LINDA>> On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Dr. Ryan Sinclair led a team of Loma Linda students to complete a significant portion of the Eastern Coachella Valley Environmental Justice Data Project. The Justice Data Project assesses environmental factors including mold, septic system safety, drinking water quality and air quality in the communities of Oasis, Thermal, Mecca, North Shore and Coachella City. Sinclair's team consisted of Loma Linda University School of Public Health students: Ben Muniz, Macy Westbrook, Charity Russel, Wendy Kray, and Loma Linda University School of Medicines, Thomas Hile. The students conducted face-to-face interviews that represented 1,824 survey respondents. They gathered information about the hygiene of each home by conducting household hygiene environmental assessments. After testing each homes air quality, surface hygiene, home temperature, mold levels and more, the team was able to make observations regarding the overall hygiene of the household. Their tests revealed evidence suggesting microbial contamination in self-filled 5-gallon jugs, which were a commonly used primary source of drinking water. The team added a field assessment to test if the contamination was a result of the vending machine water or poor cleaning of the 5-gallon jugs. Analysis will be completed before April, 2017. The team mapped and photographed all water vending machines in the Eastern Coachella Valley, most of which were clustered in Coachella City, with a few in the stores around Mecca. Photographs of spigots on the water vending machines revealed that over half of them had rust, indicating poor maintenance. Additionally, the team was unable to find a date of service or other evidence of maintenance on most machines. During the winter of 2015, the LLU team of students began developing a system that uses a laser-based particulate sensor to upload real-time air quality measurements. The system successfully uploaded air quality data to the internet every 30 seconds. The system, located at PUCDC’s San Jose Community Center in Oasis, allowed for one months worth of air quality data streaming to the internet. As the community was concerned about asthma and it's potential linkage to the unregulated dumpsites and poor outdoor air quality, the team specifically targeted the exposure of small children to contaminants that cause or worsen symptoms of asthma. Excessive mold contamination was discovered in many of the houses by the team when they tested indoor air quality. While the team is currently in the analysis phase, preliminary results show that older mobile homes in Coachella City and Thermal have high concentrations of mold while more modern homes having the lowest concentrations of mold. The team said they hope to publish the results of this work in a peer-reviewed journal and develop a policy brief about the severity of this problem and the health risks to children. This information will be used to advocate for improved on-site wastewater systems in the many rural mobile home parks and off-grid communities in the Eastern Coachella Valley.