FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Linda Traynor
ltraynor@radiobilingue.org
559-455-5753

San Francisco, CA. Radio Bilingüe is launching a new series of programs designed to inform listeners on the threats to community health in areas with the worst pollution in the country. Through news stories and call-in talk shows, listeners around the nation can also learn about pioneering efforts to clean the air and protect the environment.

Los Angeles and the San Joaquin Valley in California are considered the most polluted areas in the nation. These basins have the most particle pollution and smog levels, which are associated with a number of health threats, including asthma attacks, and chronic lung and heart disease. Those at greatest risk are Latinos, who are most likely to live in neighborhoods with sources of toxic air pollution, such as power plants, factories, and freeways and in large metropolitan areas where traffic and industries spew concentrated levels of contaminants into the air. Latinos also live in the country, where the cultivation of fruits and vegetables increases the levels of dust and pesticides in the environment. As a result, Latinos, like other groups in this country, are also experiencing higher levels of respiratory illnesses.

This series of programs will focus on informing our listeners on the consequences of this contamination on their health and their communities.  Through interviews with experts in the field, Línea Abierta will explore the relationship between air pollution and incidences of asthma and chronic bronchitis in the Latino population. Members of the general community will be able to speak directly to policy makers, advocates and community leaders via our interactive, call-in talk show. State environmental policies that help or hinder air quality will also be addressed.

Among the topics being covered are:

• Asthma and air pollution
• Farm workers’ exposure to pesticide drift
• Mega-dairies, manure and air pollution
• Marine ports, diesel exhaust and air pollution

In its ten years on the air, Línea Abierta continues to be the first and only live talk show on Spanish-language radio that has continuously served Spanish-speaking audiences across the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico with intelligent shows designed to inform, educate and address issues that improve the lives of Latinos.

Línea Abierta airs on 44 stations in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico. The talk show service is a production of Radio Bilingüe, the national Latino public radio network with headquarters in Fresno and San Francisco, CA.  Funding for the series on environmental issues is made possible by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the James Irvine Foundation.

Radio Bilingüe is a network of five full-power FM radio stations with main offices in Fresno and San Francisco, California.  Radio Bilingüe has been designated as the National Latino Public Radio service in the United States. Through its satellite service, Satélite Radio Bilingüe, the non-profit organization distributes news, information and musical programming to radio affiliates throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico.  For more information on Radio Bilingüe, visit our web site at www.radiobilingue.org.