By Gary Lee Murphy
Houston Sierra Club members are active throughout the communities of Houston and Harris County. We are active in all walks of life, and professions. Sometimes I teach in the Houston Independent School District (HISD). This position allows me to venture into many areas, and neighborhoods throughout Houston. On this particular day, I was assigned to Charles H. Milby High School. I arrived at Milby High School at around 8:20am, Thursday April 29, 2025. It was windy with the temperature approximately 78°F.
As I got out of my car at Milby High School, I noticed a distinct odor in the air. I smelled air pollution. “If you smell it, you inhaled it. It is in your body.” As a member of the Air Pollution Committee of the Houston Sierra Club, I am always conscious and aware of the air that I am breathing. After a quick assessment and surveying of my area, I noticed a smoke stack off to the east of the school, beyond the tree-line of the school above the canopy. I concluded that it was stack emissions from the industrial plants and refineries in the area. After further researching collected air data of the area, the emissions included benzene (C6H6) and 1,3-butadiene (C4H6), among other VOCs.
View from classroom window of stack emissions coming from smoke stacks in the background at Charles H. Milby High School.
These emissions are by-products of chemicals used in the manufacturing industry, and the petroleum refining industry. The fate and dispersion of these emissions are spread out into the air, and are inhaled by the residents of the community and the students of Milby High School. Exposure to benzene along with being exposed to 1,3-butadiene, can produce synergistic effects that may increase the risk of developing blood ailments and cancers.
Public schools have always had issues involving where schools are located, relative to chemical plants, waste dumps, electromagnetic fields, train rail yards, and even some superfund sites. Making good on these issues are few and far in between.
Illustration of school in bad location.
In addressing these issues, complaints, and concerns, investigations into problems of health safety, relative to school locations, need to be conducted. In this case, the problem is air pollution at Charles H. Milby High School. What contaminants are the populations being exposed to? What is the source of the pollutant? Once we identify these factors, we can set up best practice measures to help mitigate the effects of exposure. If there are unfamiliar or irritating odors in your area, best practice measures to take are:
1. Stop inhaling. Cover face with a piece of clothing and leave area.
2. Use masks. Masks provide protection by reducing contaminant exposure. No matter how small the reduction is, it is lowering your exposure load.
3. Air Filters. I am a big proponent of air filters. Get them now while they are relatively inexpensive before the industry catches on to how valuable and useful air filters are.
4. If you smell something, go inside. Close all windows, and prepare a plan for you and your family on how to proceed. Report incident. Call 311, 211, or 911. Ask for suggestions or recommendations on what to do.
5. If problem persists, if need to and are able to, move from the area. Relocate.
Breathing clean air is vital to sustaining life. Air pollution kills. Clean air is life. Clean air provides us with vital elements that we need in our bodies to maintain homeostasis, and provide us with energy making molecules for use in our bodies. Air pollution interferes with that process by adding compounds to the air that react negatively and harmfully with the biological molecules inside our cells and our body.
We Need Clean Air.