Savannah Teller-Brown has been nominated for an Alice Award for her research into the effects of diesel exhaust on cyclists. Here she writes about what motivated her and the documentary she is creating to spread the word.
I used to live in Northwest Portland. I moved there because I didn’t have a car and it was close to everything. I really liked it. Biking and walking everywhere makes me happy. It was great except that I have asthma and there’s a lot of industrial and mobile (cars, trucks, trains, boats, etc.) air pollution in Northwest.
I started to think about how I could limit my exposure to asthma triggers (air pollution). While running up to Forest Park, I saw signs in yards that said, “What’s in our air?� After some investigating, I found that the Northwest Neighborhood District Association Health and Environment Committee made the signs to encouarge people to fill out an odor survey on their website. I started attending their monthly meetings.
Around this same time I felt overwhelmed while riding my bike around car and diesel exhaust, so I started wearing a mask that filters out most of the air pollution (a respiro city mask). I moved to Southeast in a neighborhood with less dirty air than most of close-in Portland and began working on a documentary film about diesel emissions, which are a major problem in Portland.
The exhaust from diesel-powered vehicles is filled with carcinogens and other toxins. However, the biggest problem is from the fine particulate matter, which is so small that it bypasses our bodies’ defense mechanisms. The more than 40 different toxic elements in diesel exhaust attach to the fine particulate matter, which we breathe and our lungs absorb the toxins into our blood stream. The Oregon DEQ estimates that diesel emissions are 750 times the benchmark and they estimate that more than 1,100 people will get cancer in the Portland area because of diesel emissions (Oregon Environmental Council).
There are many ways to reduce diesel emissions so I took my video camera and started asking questions. I’ve made a documentary, which is in post-production now. Here’s the trailer for it:
The DEQ has a ton of information about diesel emission and air quality in Oregon if you’d like to learn more.
Thanks for your work on this Savannah! We look forward to the full-length version and to a time we don’t have to worry about the air we breathe on our bikes.
