The Oregon Health Authority, Office of Environmental Public Health conducted an HIA to examine the potential health impacts of using biomass (wood) burning boilers in schools. A new policy allows school districts around the state to convert their heating systems to boilers that burn wood chips or pellets. Possible health impacts include asthma, cancer, and general cardiovascular irritation from pollutants.
Outcome
The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality amended their program according to the HIA’s recommendations.
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This Health Impact Assessment Report first appeared in The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health. The Cross-Sector Toolkit for Health was originally developed by the Health Impact Project, formerly a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts. The creation of this resource was supported by a grant from the Health Impact Project. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of The Pew Charitable Trusts, or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
