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I support Doug Fielding's enthusiasm for creating more playing fields in Berkeley, and I don't even object to his support for the existing playing field at Harrison Park (Gabe Catalfo Field) which is an area with poor air quality. But I do object to Mr. Fielding's attempt to ignore and/or distort the facts about the city of Berkeley's current air study at the park. 

Mr. Fielding asserts that the city's air study is flawed “according to the person overseeing the issue of particulate matter (PM) at the state EPA.” Who is the person? What is the flaw? Does Mr. Fielding know that this project was reviewed by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District as well as the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment, and that these agencies consult with Berkeley staff on a regular basis? Mr. Fielding may be ready to conclude that the location of the air monitor explains the poor air quality readings at Harrison Field; I’ll bet parents of children with asthma aren't willing to be so cavalier.  

Mr. Fielding refers to a “long term study of 3,500 children in the Los Angeles basin that found no correlation between particulate matter and increased respiratory distress among athletes versus non-athletes.” Mr. Fielding misinterprets this study which was reported in The Lancet in February 2002 and titled “Asthma in exercising children exposed to ozone: a cohort study.” The study investigated the link between exposure to air pollution– ozone, nitrogen dioxide and particulate matter (PM) – during exercise or time spent outdoors and the development (new diagnoses) of asthma. And actually, on the basis of their data, the study’s authors concluded that “air pollution and outdoor exercise could contribute to the development of asthma in children.” (That's not an attack of asthma; that's a new diagnosis of asthma.) 

The scientists who study air pollution and health take this PM stuff seriously and so should the rest of us, even Mr. Fielding. 

Sara MacKusick 

Chair of the Community  

Environmental Advisory  

Commission