What's Going on With the Environment..

For this blog post I considered the jobs of me and my partner. We both work in office buildings and mostly sit behind a desk everyday so there are not many occupationally hazards from our jobs. We do not have biological or radiological hazards. The only chemical hazard I can think of is everyday office supplies like cleaning supplies or anti-dust sprays. However, in terms of ergonomics we both have very bad back problems. Sitting at a desk all day has been causing both me and my partner a lot of pain. I have recently bought us a "back-buddy" which is a plastic device that helps us roll out "knots" in our back. Also I am trying to stand more at work since my desk can easily be converted into a standing one.  Since we do not face any major hazards at work it is hard to relate our jobs to the  i ndustrial hygiene hierarchy of controls. There is no way our workers can change the fact that we work behind a computer all day long. The only suggestion I have is to initiate...

I went to the CAL/OSHA website and looked up some of their safety programs. One of the safety programs that stuck out to me was directed at safety in the adult films industry. The program mostly discussed the potentially sexually transmitted infections that the actors or actresses could acquire and the best way to prevent them. I thought this program was extremely interesting because I did not expect a government run group to have safety programs for this industry. However, I think that it is a great service that they did and these workers can have free access to this resource.  This obviously relates to health and safety because they talk about prevention of diseases, hygiene, vaccinations and p roph y laxis. This all falls under the umbrella of health and how these workers can be more safe. 

I obtained a MSDS for the chemical Zinc Iodine. The health risks associated with this chemical are that is can be hazardous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of ingestion, and of inhalation.  In this MSDS it states that the carcinogenic effects are not available.  The personal protective equipment that should be used/worn are: splash googles, lab coat, dust respirator (approved/certified), and gloves. If there is a large spill of this chemical these precautions should be taken: splash googles, full suit, boots, dust respirator, and a self-contained breathing apparatus. This chemical was not found in my workplace but a friend and they said they received handling and safety precautions. They also received training on what to do if there was a spill from this chemical.  I looked this chemical up on the ToxNet database and it stated that respiratory burns can be associated and the health risks seem...

Black Lung -  A public health campaign to prevent black lung among coal miners was developed by the United States Department of Labor, their slogan is "control the dust, prevent black lung". The reason for this slogan is because  inhalation of excessive levels of respirable coal mine dust causes black lung. This is obviously a debilitating occupational lung disease, which can devastate a miner's quality of life, create a heavy burden on the victim and his or her family, and lead to premature death. Also black lung disease is preventable disease so this campaign can make a very big difference.  In terms of the prevalence of black lung, the CDC states that " One in ten underground coal miners who have worked in mines for at least 25 years were identified as having black lung, according to a new report by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published in the  American Journal of Public Health . Coal miners in central Appal...

History of Lead Poisoning -  This article discusses the fact that instead of adults in industrial settings having lead poisoning there are more cases of children asymptomatic children with lesser exposures. Lead poisoning can lead to behavioral problems and decreased cognitive function. I thought this article gave great examples of American history and lead exposure among children. I think this gave us very valuable lesson than manufactures should use before introducing any new chemical. First chemicals must be tested and proved safe before they can be used. We should not be finding out down the line that a chemical is unsafe. By then the damage is already done and people or the environment will be damaged. People should not lose their life or health because of companies negligence.  Lead Poisoning in Nigeria -   This article discusses the deaths of over 400 children in Nigeria. The reason for their death was beca...

Green Chemistry is the process of reducing pollution at its source rather than trying to clean up the mess after it has been created. I have not heard about green chemistry before this class but some of the 12 principles of green chemistry sound familiar to me. I also agree with all of the principles of green chemistry. Major steps need to take place immediately so we can try to minimize some of the disastrous damage that has already taken place. One of the most important principles I think are to minimize the potential for accidents, increase energy efficiency and design safer products and chemicals. I think it's crazy we have to push these principles toward companies, they should already be wanting to do these things, for their consumers and for the environment.    

Highly Fluorinated -  These chemicals are manmade and put into my consumer products. When they are disposed of, the chemicals can make their way into waterways and then into our food and water. The chemicals are found the in the bodies of 98% of Americans. Health concerns related to products are: Kidney and Testicular Cancer, elevated cholesterol, decreased fertility, thyroid disease, and interference with hormone function. More than 3,000 highly fluorinated chemicals are in use today and they NEVER break down. Antimicrobials -  These are a class of chemicals that are supposed to kill microorganisms or inhibit their growth.  They are often unnecessary and can do more harm than good. Two of the main chemicals of concern are Triclosan and Triclocarban. They are found in liquid soap and bar soap but no evidence supports that they are better than normal soap and water. They can disrupt hormone functioning, have adverse developm...

As I talked about in my earlier post I think an ideal chemical policy would only allow any new chemicals to be legal if they can first be proven to be completely safe. It seems we take the opposite approach, we allow chemicals to be put in production with the hopes that they are safe instead of the knowledge that they actually are. With this type of policy we can potentially poison people. We should take the approach better safe than sorry instead of just hoping for the best.   In addition, an ideal chemical policy would also include constant monitoring of any potential hazards and take swift action if there is any potential harm. Instead of waiting to see if a chemical may be harmful we should take remove the chemical even if it is suspected of being harmful. Lastly, I think it should be mandated that foods label any potential harmful chemicals they might contain. That way the public could have more knowledge about what is in or on their food and then they could poten...

The policy that I focused on is the Background Paper #4: Act on Early Warnings.  I focused on this policy because I believe it is really important. The basis of this policy is to act when there is credible evidence of harm even when there is some uncertainty. Too often harmful chemicals are used and not outlawed because the process of providing sufficient evidence to prove they are harmful takes too long. I believe we should take an opposite approach, instead of waiting to find out if a chemical is harmful we should have to prove the chemical isn't harmful. This policy does not go that far but once it is believed that a chemical could cause any harm it aims to have that chemical removed. The reason this is so important is because chemicals and can stay years in the environment and still show up in humans. For example, there is still some DDT found in humans even though it was outlawed a long time ago. This policy will help less people be exposed instead of potentially hurting mo...

Last night I made myself a vegetarian lentil Sheppards pie. These were the ingredients:   - Potatoes  - Green Lentils - Mushrooms - Carrots - Tomatoes  - Butter - Onion Most of these ingredients were organic (I alw ays try to buy organic whenever I can). But a few of the ingredients were not. The ones that were not mushrooms, potatoes and onions.  For the mushrooms there were 11 pesticides that could be found on them! Most of the pesticides were found in only small percentages of mushrooms but one chemical, Thiabendazole was found in around 52.2%. For the potatoes there potentially 35 pesticides that could be found on them! The most common pesticide was Chlorpropham and it was found on around 80% of potatoes.  I could not find onions on the site but I would be scared to know how many pesticides it could potentially have.  Overall, I think that it is extremely dangerous to have this many pesticides on our foods. Especially since we don't kno...

United States Department of Energy: The Department of Energy is a federal branch of the government whose goal main responsibility is energy. The majority of the energy the focus on is nuclear energy. They are in charge of all policies regarding nuclear material, handling of nuclear material, our nuclear weapons program and radioactive waste disposal.   Obviously, this type of department will have a huge impact on the environment. They can dictate how we consume energy and what we do with left over nuclear material. If nuclear material is not disposed of in a thoughtful manner, the radioactive material could seep into places like our ground water and cause death or radiation sickness. Also, if we are not mindful to the testing or use of nuclear material we could have something like Chernobyl happen. I believe radioactive material can be some of the most detrimental material. We need to take every precaution in handling it so we can adhere ...

For this blog assignment I decided to focus on my hometown San Diego. In regards to environmental health services they have a whole webpage designated for environmental health services. You can check it out here: https://www.sandiegocounty.gov/deh/ This website connects you to 100's of environmental health services. Some of the main areas I saw on this website were about animals infestations from pests such as cockroaches, bed bugs, mice and fleas. I know for a fact that pest control can effect your environmental health because my old house in San Francisco became infested with mice and it can effect the air, your food and your mental health. I also have encounter bed bugs because one of my roommates (at a different house) accidentally brought bed bugs back with her from Europe! Just FYI, bed bugs are extremely hard to get rid of... This website also bridges you to other areas like food safety, hazardous waste and landfills. This website seems to be a one stop shop if y...

So far most of the produce I have bought in the U.K. has been grown in The U.K. but there are of course a lot of exceptions like most of the melons and warm weather fruits are grown in Spain and imported. Some of the foods that are in season now are: Figs, Garlic, Kale, Leek, Mussels, Parsnips, Pears, Pumpkin, Radish, Lettuce, etc. I think that it is really important to eat most seasonal food. It is way better for the environment and it is something that humans have survive of doing. It would be great if hospitals did seasonal menus because if could teach some of their patients about food they might have never heard of or have never tried.  Here is a screen shot of the food calendar for the U.K. I have heard of Obesogens before, they are  foreign chemical compounds that disrupt normal development and balance of lipid metabolism, which in some cases, can lead to obesity. They are basically chemical compounds made by us that have been introduced into the food system o...

For a long time I have been concerned about antibiotic usage. I have written several papers in undergrad and during this MPH course that discuss the usage of antibiotics and how it is actually potentially making people sicker and also how we could be return to an era of no antibiotics. Could you imagine? Things like cuts and scratches could get infected and there would be no way to cure them. Things like Strep throat would have no cure. Sexually transmitted infections would no longer have a cure and they could potentially devastate populations. Diseases like the bubonic plague could return and there would be nothing to stop the spread. As a society we need to be carefully about when and how we use antibiotics otherwise we will back ourselves into a corner with no way to get out. Antibiotic Resistance 101: This paper thoroughly discusses how factory farms are giving antibiotics to livestock. Why are large-scale factories doing this?  Because they are hous...

I've known about the vanishing of the bees for many years, my parents often talked about it when I was in high school. The thought of having no bees left is very scary. I cannot imagine a world in which we do not have fruits, vegetables or honey. What will civilization do if all the bees die out? It would be impossible to individually fertilize every flower on industrial farms. It seems that science has no solution for this pressing problem. Many say we need to change environmental problems. Is it too late for that? I do not know but we need to act as fast as possible.    Dirt! The Movie, is a very interesting documentary on the relationship between humans and soil. Basically we would be no where if we didn't have soil and we probably would not exist because soil provides nutrients to grow food. We must take care of it and not abuse it in order for the soil to continually provide us nutrients and a place for food to grow.  In London there are no factory o...