Environmental and Occupational Health Issues in Public Health

As I think of a workplace, I think about my mother's previous job. It is a job that I do not want her to return to - she was working as a mushroom packager. There were mostly chemical and ergonomic issues that my mom had to face. Every day, she would be exposed to the cleaning chemicals used for rinsing the mushrooms before being packaged. She would also have to deal with the cold temperature when she would be in a freezer for a whole work day. I remember her telling me how she would be working so fast that she would sweat so much it would drench the clothes that were supposed to protect her from the cold. My mom was always on her feet and and her hands always moving, and she would be carrying heavy crates full of mushrooms to fill the orders. I always feared my mom would get a lung problem - she most certainly got feet problems from the intense work routine.  Considering this is the agriculture business, the industrial hygiene hierarchy of controls does not seem like it cou...

Thimerosal is an organic mercurial used as an antiseptic and as a preservative in most vaccines. I was not able to find a specific MSDS for thimerosal. However, I was able to find one on the GeneTex website and found that if inhaled, one must move to fresh air; if skin exposure one must wash hands thoroughly; and if ingested to drink lots of water and seek medical advice.  The special precautions to consider when working with this chemical (if used in large quantities) is to use an alternative chemical product, in addition to recycling any unused portion of the material or return it to the manufacturer/supplier.  The personal protective equipment that needs to be used is gloves, eye protective gear, and a respirator if used in large quantities. Since this chemical is found in the workplace through the vaccines in very, very low dosages, the training needed would be proper disposal of needles and appropriate gear such as gloves when administering vaccines. Given that the ...

The Oil and Gas Extraction Program is sponsored by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The mission of the program is to conduct research, partner with stakeholders, and develop workplace solutions to improve worker safety and health for those in the industry. The program provides leadership to control or eliminate occupational injuries, illnesses, and fatalities among workers which is critical to the energy infrastructure. One of their initiatives was to educate on preventing fatigue driving while working. Motor vehicle crashes cause over 40% of the work related deaths in the industry as a result of insufficient sleep, long distances travelling to well sites, and long work shifts. The strategies expressed included: limiting the number of ours worked, provide a rested driver to transport workers from sites, and more importantly providing opportunities for workers to get sufficient sleep.  While I am not working in the oil and gas extraction industry,...

According to the American Lung Association, pneumoconiosis (also known as black lung disease), is caused by dusts that are breathed in and deposited deep in the lungs causing lasting damage.  The Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) was advised by the Committee to: Consider lowering the allowable exposure limit on coal mine dust Establish separate permissible exposure limits for silica (quartz) and coal mine dusts Make better checks on the effectiveness of mine operators' dust control plans before MHSA approves them Improve dust control in surface coal mines Improve miner training on dust ... and more! As of late, since August 2016, MSHA's respirable dust rule went into effect which added a number of increased protection for coal miners by: Lowering the 2.0 milligrams of dust per cubic meter of air to 1.5 milligrams at underground and surface coal mines. Lowering the 1.0 milligrams to 05 milligrams for intake air at underground mines and for part ...

Lead Poisoning ~ Herbert Needleman It is no surprise that lead in older homes is the single major remaining source of lead. It is interesting that in our current lives we are more likely to experience no symptoms from low dose lead exposure. This is of concern given that if there are no symptoms, we might feel less inclined to do anything towards reducing the exposure. I think lead exposure should not be hidden from the general public and when there is an incident (such as the Flint Water Crisis) it should be addressed in a better/faster timeline like it was done in Nigeria compared to what the state of Michigan is currently doing. An environmental health response to a severe outbreak of childhood lead poisoning in Nigeria ~ Casey Bartrem In 2010, there was an outbreak of childhood lead poisoning in Nigerian villages which lead to more than 400 deaths in children under 5 years of age. I found this information to be disheartening because multiple organizations and agencies are awa...

The Six Chemical Classes are: highly fluorinated, antimicrobials, flame retardants, bisphenols and phthalates, some solvents, and certain metals.  I find it surprising that there are a lot of products I currently use that fall under these categories. I explored the highly fluorinated category in more depth and found that non-stick pots and pans have this chemicals. Therefore, there is some ingestion in the highly fluorinated chemicals in addition to skin absorption. The other interesting piece of information I collected was that highly fluorinated chemicals reduces the protection from vaccines. This is worrisome as we need herd immunity to minimize the spread of disease, especially for those who are unable to get vaccines because of compromised immune systems. Overall, I think many of these classes were meant to aid us and protect us from harm such as the antimibrobials and flame retardants, however they do more harm to people and the environment. Precautions such as washi...

Green chemistry is a great concept because it focuses on the stem of the problem rather than trying to remedy the impacts after the contaminants are in the environment. The 12 principles of green chemistry provide the basic guidelines people can follow to make change. The principle I find most important is "design safer chemicals and products." This emphases how important it is for companies to create products that are not harmful. I think the general public does have to push companies to change formulas and ask for safer products from the industry. The voice of the customer can make powerful changes and can lead towards the creation of safer products. If we start upstream, the population's health doesn't have to suffer the consequences downstream. Some examples of green chemistry that I have been able to identify are the solar panels installed in the parking lot roof at my job and the windmills in more rural areas that create energy when there are strong wind current...

The charter read previously highlighted critical aspects of chemical policy. Ideally, I would highlight the requirement of safer substitutes/solutions, phase out PBTs, and would require comprehensive safety data for all chemicals. Data is critical -- and it has to be done by public health agencies rather than corporations who could provide incorrect data. I think for a new product or chemical to come out, there should be a new process where the corporation is required to provide money to the federal or state agency to study their chemical. It would be a required fee if they want to release chemicals and would help provide a budget for the EPA or other agencies to do the necessary research to determine if a chemical is hazardous or not. In addition, data is hard to refute when done correctly, so if a company wishes to release their product, it would have to pass the safe substance guidelines to make it to the market. It would also hold the company accountable towards creating a safer su...

The Louisville Charter For Safer Chemicals is very important. One of the background papers for the Louisville Charter that I decided to read about was the "[A] Platform for Creating a Safe and Healthy Environment through Innovation" because it focuses on the goal to phase out persistent , bioaccumulative , or highly toxic chemicals (PBT).  The article highlights how some regulations ban the manufacture or importation of specific chemicals/uses/release prevention. Eliminating the chemicals is obvious, but people will need to communicate these guidelines into specific legislature or corporate policies. There also need to be monitoring and holding people accountable -- monitoring international, national, and state regulartory measures to phase out PBTs is important to ensure compliance and to assess the effectiveness.  I think that education alone is not enough to reduce harmful exposures - it adds towards the movement for change, but if the chemicals can be removed, it ...

For my last night's meal I had a chicken sandwich -- comprised of a bun, chicken patty, ketchup, and lettuce - along with a bottled water. I focused on both lettuce and water. I was shocked to see that there were 52 pesticides in our lettuce. The areas I was more concerned about were the probable carcinogens and and hormone disruptors. As someone who tries to eat vegetables, knowing that there are these many chemicals makes me hesitant to buy healthy vegetables. This shows just how different organic food can be for one's health since there aren't (if any) any chemicals impacting overall health. I was also surprised by the bottled water, I expected it to be worse given that there are many chemicals in the plastic container, however it does have less pesticides that finished water. Once again, given that water is needed for survival, I think it's concerning that our water isn't protected even more. In terms of public health, we should be supporting organically, lo...

The topic of interest for my literature review is formaldehyde and indoor exposures.  Formaldehyde is a common indoor air pollutant found in homes and buildings. It is a colorless gas with a pungent order and can be a skin, eye, and respiratory irritant when exposed. In 2004, formaldehyde has been recognized as a known human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), and in 2011, the National Toxicology Program (NTP) within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) followed suit. This chemical is released into the home from indoor sources such as plywood, particleboard, and other wood products used in home construction, furnishings, and consumer products.  The federal agency that regulates formaldehyde is the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There a a number of acts which attempt to enforce formaldehyde such as: Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) Resource Conservation and Recovery Act Clean Water Act Clean Air Act Nati...

For the city of Morgan Hill, we correspond to the Santa Clara County Public Health Department. There are two services that I believed highlight Environmental Health Services such as: ticks & Lyme disease and water testing for bacterial contamination. Both Lyme disease and water testing are done in the Public Health Laboratory which assists in identifying infectious diseases, toxins, and biohazards .  There is another part that the SCCPHD focuses on which is health information. A few areas they are working on is safe and active transportation, emergency preparedness, healthy eating and active living, and tobacco-free living.  All of these are relevant to environmental health. For example, safe and active transportation focuses on finding safe routes to school and encouraging walking or biking to get to school. As a result, not only is it encouraging a better lifestyle, but by not using a car for transportation, a person's carbon footprint is smaller. As for emerge...

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is an "independent, non-regulatory federal agency that investigates the root causes of major chemical incidents."  Their mission is to "drive chemical safety change through independent investigations to protect people and the environment."  The agency was created under the Clear Air Act Amendments of 1990, and over the past 20 years, CSB has gone to investigate over 130 chemical incidents and issued more than 800 recommendations that have led to safety improvements across industries.  According to a safety report done in 2017, the CSB went to investigate an incident in Charleston, West Virginia where there was a chemical release and disruption of the drinking water supply. During this incident, an estimated 10,000 gallons of crude methycyclohexanemethanol (MCHM) [irritant - skin, eye, respiratory] mixed with propylene glycol phenyl ethers (PPH Stripped) [irritant - skin,...

Utilizing the first article, discuss what is locally grown and what is currently in season in your area. According to the LocalHarvest website, goats, goats' milk/lotion/soap, apples, eggs, arugula, beets, cabbage, kale, onions, tomatoes, fresh hers, and flowers are locally grown.  According to the Seasonal Food Guide, there are 104 different kinds of produce in season in my area. I wasn't able to specify Morgan Hill, but I was able to get California's information. Some of the crops are similar to those locally grown such as apples, arugula, beets, cabbage, etc.  Discuss your thoughts on seasonal/local foods and hospital menus.  I find seasonal/local foods and hospital menus as a compelling argument to eat healthier. It is having an example before you and it represents the vision of having a healthier population. This is somewhat related to the current steps Kaiser Permanente is doing. For the Greater Southern Alameda Area (San Leandro, Hayward, Union City, and Fr...

Antibiotic Resistance 101: How Antibiotic Misuse on Factory Farms Can Make You Sick The article focuses on how antibiotics used to prevent from bacteria from growing rapidly may cause bacteria to mutate and become resistant to antibiotics. The process of this is known as "survival of the fittest." As a result, it leads to resistance and stronger bacteria that need alternative antibiotics to treat and kill the bacteria. Overall, United States agricultural practices are to just mix antibiotics with the feed to promote faster growth and prevent infections due to the packed and unsanitary concentrated animal feeding. However, by doing this process, it allows bacteria that isn't killed by the medicine to survive and reproduce. The recommendations are to buy organic meat, if possible & to only treat animals when they are sick - while assisting producers during their transition away from excessive antibiotic use, in addition to legislature to review and limit antibiotics....

Your thoughts about the vanishing of bees (what else have you heard/seen about this issue?) New information that I learned about bees was that they are key players in roughly 35% of global food production and responsible for 40% of the world's supply for vitamin A and folate. I had already heard that bees were dying out and also heard that if we were to do nothing, the human population would seize to exist since there would be no food available for consumption. One of the reasons that bees die is because of pesticides, specifically herbicides. The herbs/weeds are the target, however the harsh chemicals such as Round-Up fly in the air and impact surrounding plants as well, thus killing bees as they fly to other flowers which they pollinate and try to obtain pollen for their hive.  My significant other's mother and father buy bees so that they can use their honey for mead. They were experiencing the same scenario mentioned in the "Vanishing of the Bees" where the h...