On Saturday, October 23, several University of Arizona students were given the opportunity to attend a workshop designed for students from both Mexico and the United States to learn how the environment impacts health, focusing especially on the effects of air quality and genetics on asthma.

The group traveled to the Ambos Nogales region—a region encompassing Nogales, Arizona and Nogales, Sonora. We toured Nogales, Sonora (Mexico) and met with several activists in a neighborhood. One of the major problems in the city is the lack of an infrastructure to deal with garbage, leading to piles of trash almost everywhere along the road. This trash, along with dust from unpaved roads, leads to a large amount of particulate matter in the air, which is a prime trigger for asthma attacks. In order to solve this problem, some neighbors have gotten together and started to clean up a green area around their homes and began planting native desert plants. The result is a park in progress, with a safer and much cleaner area for everyone to enjoy.

After touring Nogales, Sonora, we came back across the border, stopped at St. Andrew’s church, where we met with other high school students from Tucson and Nogales to listen to several presentations. Dr. Walt Klimecki, a research scientist at the University of Arizona Respiratory Science Center, talked about the effect of environment on asthma. Asthma is a chronic lung disease with inflammation, resulting in airway constriction that is reversible, but will happen again, provided with the right triggers. The body’s response associated with asthma is not harmful by itself; it apparently evolved as a means to combat intestinal parasites. In some people, however, this reaction happens in the lungs whenever certain triggers are present, such as pollen, pet dander and dust mites. The immune system of asthmatics, therefore, recognizes these triggers as parasites, and initiates what it believes to be the appropriate response to parasites. Genetics plays an important role in determining an individual’s probability of having asthma, resulting in a predisposition to asthma being passed down from parent to child. Along with genetics, however, environment also plays a role; children brought up on farms and who come in constant contact with plants and animals are less likely to develop asthma than children who grow up in the city.

Dr. Esmeralda Morales, MD, spoke about asthma triggers, and how to prevent exposure to them. Some of the most prevalent triggers include pollen, dust and tobacco smoke. A way to reduce the amount of dust would be to plant native grass on hilltops. The strong roots would help stabilize the soil, which in turn would lead to less dust floating around in the air. However, as Jesus Garcia, UBRP alum ’98 and education specialist, Arizona Sonora Desert Museum mentioned in his talk on ecology and invasive species, care must be taken whenever thinking about introducing plants into an ecosystem. Only native plants (grass, in this case) should be used to stabilize the soil, since non-native plants could have a potentially adverse effect on the ecosystem.

Population growth has also had an impact on the increased rate of asthma in the area. Alberto Suarez, Nogales, Sonora Historian, spoke about the relationship between increased population, air pollution and asthma, illustrating how population growth has contributed significantly to air pollution and therefore to asthma in Nogales.

After listening to the presentations, we discussed potential action plans to reduce the incidence of asthma attacks in the area and also improve the quality of life in Ambos Nogales. One of the interesting ideas included teaching children both in Mexico and the United States about the importance of reducing the amount of trash and how to plant native desert plants.

Iris Postelnicu, Molecular and Cellular Biology and Anthropology Major, UA