European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - December 30, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Tuesday december 30. 198ei the stars and stripes Page 9 health & science news asthma remedy May curb acid rain Epa considering new air pollution Standard Washington a the environmental Protection Agency in considering a new air pollution Standard to Prole Al asthmatics May be opening the Way for a Hack door program to control acid rain say Industry Anil government experts. The new hourly Standard would be aimed control line Short bursts five minutes to 10 minutes of Fulfur dioxide from smokestacks. Current standards arc based on averages Over longer periods three hours a Day and a year. Sulphur dioxide converted in the atmosphere to sulphuric acid and other compounds contributes to acid rain which environmentalists say kills aquatic and plan life. In High concentrations in the air Fulfur dioxide can make breathing More difficult. Asthmatics Are hit first particularly those who exercise outside. Agency studies suggest that the Rule change would Benefit Only 6 to 11 percent of asthmatics who constitute about 4 percent of the population. Many environmentalists say that the Law clearly re quires a new Standard to protect even that Small num Ber of people while electric Power company officials say the Rule change could Cost their Industry up to $5 billion. Officials at the environmental Agency speaking privately say they Are reluctant to Force what amounts to an acid rain control program on the utilities in trying to reach another goal when Congress has explicitly declined to act against acid rain. Agency officials say that Congress has not come to grips with the fact hat the Long overdue decision could Cost enormous sums. We re going to have to do some thing. We re driven by the science said one High official. In addition to electric generating plants some Faculo pics particularly smelters and paper Mills could be affected. Robert Beck a lobbyist for the Edison electric Institute in charge of environmental questions estimated that the Rule could Cost utilities j5 billion a year. Beck expressed frustration in trying to Alert con Gress to whal is a stake for his Industry every time we try to raise the Issue with members they say leave it to Epa get out of Here " a key congressional aide on air pollution questions said he had. Not looked into the Issue and he did not believe any other aides or members had. Edison according Lobeck believes the Agency has the flexibility to decide that no new standards Nec Essary. We already protect 85 percent of the Wrght group he said. Thai position is not popular with environmentalist. David Doniger a lawyer for the natural resources defense Council argued that congressional committee reports make it Clear that the lean a in act is intended to protect asthmatics in the Normal course of  he said that even a Ludes even asthmatics who must Lake medication to exercise in the firs place. Epa is not supposed to consider costs in deciding on health based standards and Doniger argues that the Agency ought to carry out the Law. If it happens to coincide with what protects the environment that s just a  Epa s analysts arc recommending a one hour Stan Dard for Sulphur dioxide emissions in the Range of 0,2 parts per million to 0.5 ppm. By comparison the cur rent 24-hour Standard is 0.14 ppm. Beck said a one hour Standard of 0.9 ppm would require no substantial change from current practice a 0.25 ppm limit would require utilities to eliminate 9 million tons of the pollutant from smokestack gases every year in order to reduce the Short term bunts. It s equivalent to an acid rain Bill he said. Air pollution standards Are supposed to be affirmed or changed every five years but Epa consistently runs behind schedule. The current review of Fulfur dioxide began in 1978. In 1982 the staff recommended a Short term Standard and this was reaffirmed this year. The clean air scientific advisory committee a panel of outside scientists endorsed the recommendation in october. According to Epa s latest analysis up to 10 to 15 percent of the sensitive population in the Vicinity of major sources could be exposed once a year to Levels of Fulfur dioxide at or above  parts per million forgive minutes while at elevated  that is while engaged in moderate exercise like jogging. The Range of one hour standards Analysed 0.2s to 0.5 ppm provides increased Protection against such exposures limiting their fraction of asthmatics exposed to less than 4 percent the analysis continued. At these concentrations the restricted breathing Dit appears after a few hours the analysts said. Edison argues that this might not be the Type of Adverse health effect the Law is aimed at avoiding. Cheerleaders putting brakes on High risk stunts Memphis Tenn. A there s More to cheer leading these Days than waving pompous and Yelling Rah Fah Rah but fears about injuries and a de sire to gel Back to basics have slowed the trend Loward More elaborate Side line stunts. Many of today s High school and col lege Check leading squads Are synchronized teams of athletic Young men and women who flip jump Tumble and throw each other into the air. Over the years their stunts have be come More spectacular More complicated and More dangerous. A death and a serious injury in recent months focused attention on the risks some cheerleaders May be taking. Those who train and supervise cheerleaders say the trend Loward complicated gymnastics is ebbing. I think very definitely it has peaked said Lawrence Herkimer president of the National cheerleaders association a Dallas company thai runs cheerleader Camps and other programs. We want to Cut it  one of the messages we re trying to gel across is Don t take foolish risks said Donald Carson a Memphis state University vice president who super vises the school s cheerleaders. The risks Are real. Award winning cheerleader Janis Thompson 21, died of head injuries after she fell while practising a Pyramid with teammates at North Dakota state University in october. University of Kentucky Check leading Captain Dale Baldwin 22, was Par Al Zed in november when he flipped from a mini trampoline and landed on the Back of his neck. The school subsequently banned the use of mini tramps. A report by the consumer product safely commission indicates More than 6,700 Young people nationwide required emergency room care for Check leading injuries in 1985, said Jeff Webb co owner of Universal cheerleaders association of Memphis. But Webb said cheerleaders face Little danger of serious injury if they have proper physical training and supervision. He said his company trains 50,000 cheerleaders annually at clinics around the country and we be never had one catastrophic  Webb and his associates have drawn up safety guidelines he urges schools to adopt. Among other things the guidelines limit the height of pyramids formed by cheerleaders Call for the use of safety Mats during training and suggest the Liberal use of spotters to break the fall of cheerleaders who flub a stunt. The rules of the International open Check leading championships for Junior High and High school cheerleaders being held in Nashville also require spotters for certain stunts limit pyramids to 2ft people High and ban the use of mini trampolines. Elaine Hart vice president of the foundation said the safety rules arc Nota response to the recent accidents. The 23-year-old organization has never Al Lowed pyramids More than 2w people High and banned mini trampolines about seven years ago she said. Our rules have always been strict. It s to keep the act of Cheerie adm Safe she said. There s a lot  organizations and Proba Bly half a million cheerleaders and there is a wide variance in  despite the two highly publicized in juries in the past few months injuries live not increased alarmingly in thelast year or two she said. Herkimer whose company also holds cheerleader training sessions around the country said the move to Ward gymnastic stunts was spurred on by competitive meets where cheerleaders would try to outdo each other by jumping farther or building higher by  championships will have Param. Udics on duly during All events Accord there was no reason for them to trying to the International cheer leading to beat a three High until someone had foundation which sponsors the event. A four High he said. Vaccine May prevent cat transmitted disease. _. I. N a i  _   read Ami a Hen Vitinu flt l Hight Cut Itlie Fly.  s3iq. New York up a newly developed vaccine May prevent the spread of a disease that is transmitted from cats to pregnant women and known to cause birth defects a major health Agency announced Sun Day. The widely feared disease toxoplasmosis caused by the transmission of a parasite from cats to humans is responsible for about 3,000 Binh defects each year according to the March of dimes birth defects foun Dation which announced the discovery. Toxoplasmosis can also cause brain damage and death in people with diseases such As aids that sup press the immune system doctors said. The potential vaccine administered to cats rather than humans has proven successful in Laboratory trials on the animals according to a statement by the March of dimes based in White Plains . But the Agency warned it May take years for the vaccine to pass the Efficacy and safety trials needed before it can be made commercial available. Preliminary experiments suggest cats can be effectively vaccinated said or. Elmer Pfefferkorn of the Dartmouth medical school in Hanover . Who developed the vaccine with or. . Frenkel of in University of Kansas medical Center in Kansas City. The vaccine if eventually marketed May save preg Nant women worry and potential heartache Pfeffer Korn said in a Telephone interview. I talk to a lot of pregnant women and they Are concerned he said. If infection occurs during preg Nancy the developing fetus can be damaged. In the eyes and Central nervous  cals pick up the parasite that causes the disease the they catch Birds or rodents pee therkorn said. For two weeks infected cats Are Able to pass the parasite to humans who May unwittingly touch their fees while gardening or changing the litle Box. But cats become immune after one exposure to the parasite and Are never again at risk of transmitting the disease. Humans also become immune after an initial exposure he said. The vaccine would make cats immune to the Para site even if they had never encountered it before Pfefferkorn said. An estimated 2 million people Are infected each year by toxoplasmosis which can also be used by the ingestion of raw or poorly cooked meat. There Are few if any health effects associated with the disease exc Cpl in pregnant women and people with poor immune systems