Nicholls State University (NSU), a four-year state regional institution in a cooperative effort with Leonard J. Chabert Medical Center (LJCMC), an educational and medical service provider in Southeast Louisiana, proposes this project for a comprehensive study to identify asthma-triggering air pollutants in Southeast Louisiana. In a recent study based on a two-year (1 998-1999) data collected on hospital admissions and emergency department visits in Louisiana Congressional District 3, it was found that number of asthma attacks had significantly increased during the months of October, November, and December. This proposal is a request for funds to support a three-year (2001-2003) research project to investigate the cause of asthma outbreak. These three months are the sugarcane harvest season and sugarcane farmers burn 100 percent of postharvest sugarcane leaf litter in open air. Although through this project, if funded, we will consider all asthma causing pollutants, our concentration will be on the air pollutants resulting from sugarcane leaf burning. The primary objectives of this project are to: 1) Monitor air quality including carbon monoxide (CO), sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone, and Particulate Matter (PM10) in several sugarcane burning and non-burning parishes. 2) Collect environmental data such as pollen counts, and variation in weather in several sugarcane burning and non-burning parishes. 3) Monitor and collect data on asthma hospitalizations and emergency department visits in five medical centers in Southeast Louisiana (see Figure 1). 4) Investigate and document the effect of sugarcane burning and other particulate air pollution on asthma. 5) Develop alternative strategies is dropped from the proposal. During the 120 days (September 15 through January 15) of each project year data will be gathered on the air quality at ten sites and the number of asthma hospitalizations and emergency department visits from five medical centers. Appropriate statistical methods will be applied to identify asthma triggering pollutants
