AUB'S USF ENVIRO BLOG

The chemical that I selected from the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) was Benzene. Benzene in its pure form is a colorless liquid that has a sweet odor and can occur naturally. Some Benzene sources include emissions from forest fires, volcanoes, gasoline, and cigarette smoke. Benzene is extremely reactive and flammable. Plastics, rubbers, paints, pesticides, detergents, furniture wax and even synthetic fibers have all been found to contain large quantities of Benzene.              Short exposure to high levels of Benzene in the air can cause in rapid heart rate, dizziness, unconsciousness, and tremors. Long-term exposure to Benzene is linked to anemia, Leukemia, weaken the immune system, and cause harmful effects on the bone marrow. If Benzene is consumed in large quantities in food and/or liquids it can cause stomach irritation, vomiting, convulsions, coma, and even death.        ...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) was created by Congress due to the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. The act was established to ensure safe and healthy working conditions by setting and enforcing appropriate standards for working men and women. Because OSHA is a part of the United States Department of Labor, they are responsible for ensuring that private sector employers and their employees uphold the safety and healthy working standard conditions. OSHA  provides these employers with outreach, training, education, and assistance so these private sector employers are in compliance with the OSHA working standard conditions.              OSHA has created Safe + Sound, which is a year-round campaign in hopes of encouraging every workplace to set in place a safety and health program. The National Chicken Council is one of the participating agencies that has a safe and health progr...

Asbestos occurs naturally and can be found on every continent in the world dating back to approximately 750,000 years ago. However, the manufacturing of asbestos did not begin until the start of the Industrial Revolution in the late 1800s. By the early 1900s, more than 30,000 tons of asbestos was being produced annually and shipped worldwide. In 1906, the first death of pulmonary failure caused by asbestos fibers in the lungs was recorded. By 1908, Canada and the United States insurance companies began decreasing insurance coverage and benefits, while increasing premiums, for employees who worked around the asbestos industries. Despite the health warnings around the use of asbestos, the world production of asbestos was approximately 4.8 million metric tons (per year) by the year 1977.              Fortunately in the late 1970s, the public began understanding the link between asbestos exposure and the debilitating lung d...

The Needleman article about lead was a very interesting read because it gives us an overview of lead exposure through-out history and a solution that would theoretically decrease exposure to little to un-detectable. The article illustrates that the increase in prevalence of lead exposure since its discovery in 1914, is due to technological advances that highlight the trace amounts in children. This means there is a perceived greater health threat (though many cases are asymptomatic). The author wants to spend money now to eradicate (abatement) lead based houses ($33.7billion). Theoretically this strategy will save in healthcare costs over time and the raise the IQ of the population- increasing overall wealth (an estimated 60-billion-dollar gain). I question the method because replacing all of these houses would require people to be removed from their homes and then there is the question of replacing all the lead piping. As for the second article it is still alarming that kids in the r...

I like the idea of green chemistry because it doesn’t just offer another bad chemical to replace the current bad chemical. It replaces known hazardous chemicals with scientifically designed chemicals or tools which help out at the “molecular level”. The idea is structured to be safe and is not just a remediation tool. Sort of like replacing a lead bullet with a rubber bullet. Both are built for the same purpose, but the rubber bullet is non-lethal. I also like the fact that green chemistry has environmental and health protection in mind. Of the 12 principles I like the following the best: 3. Design less hazardous chemical synthesis - which is the production of new non-toxic effective products. This goes along with principle  4 -Design safer chemicals and products 10. Design chemicals and products to degrade after use - I automatically thought of composting and it would be awesome if containers were made up of these types of chemicals. I personally have never heard of green c...

Class 1: Highly Fluorinated Chemicals   Are Non-stick and Waterproof Products Worth our Health I found it shocking when the video explained that (PFAS) Polyflourinated Substances are found in 98% of American bodies. They are sort of terminator chemicals because they can last forever and don’t break down. These man-made chemicals poison the environment and have been found even in the most remote locations. found in homes. The most alarming thing to me is that these chemicals weaken the effectiveness of vaccines. I was shocked that alternative methods have been found to be no better at protecting health. Class 2: Anti-Microbials  Are They Helping us or Harming Us From previous blogs I understand the mechanisms of anti-microbial agents. They are known to kill good microbes and also prevent the strengthening of immunity. Regular hand soap is said to be the best. However, I did not know the effects of Triclosan and Triclocarban. These chemicals ruin the environment and m...

It essential for an ideal chemical policy to: 1.      Immediately reduce harm.  2.      Have a replacement (safe) chemical,  3.      Have strict enforcement policies As a public health professional, I unfortunately know policies take a while to be passed. In the meantime communities, workers, and the environment suffers. There are current laws in place to protect the public that do work, but if they are not strictly adhered to, canceled, or overlooked they are essentially useless. These laws are in the hands of powers in office. Under the Obama Administration, the deep-water horizon oil spill in 2010 by BP was a major environmental disaster dumping 200 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico due to negligence. The Department of Justice fined them 20.8 billion dollars to cover damages and plead to 11 felony counts because 11 people died in the accident. In contrast, under the Trump administration the O...

I chose to comment on background paper #6 which was titled  Take Immediate Action to Protect Communities and Workers . I feel like as public health professionals, preventative medicine and protecting population health is our bread and butter. It would only make sense that this approach would be first. This paper highlights the problem with our current chemical exposure policies. It explains even though improvements in environmental health efforts are being made by industries like factory farms  or oil companies, “As evidenced by the thousands of permit violations and accidental releases, this can mean the facilities consistently fail to meet regulations, incorporating the cost of fines and penalties into the cost of doing business and passing that cost on to product consumers” (Wilding & Lewis, 2019). Current policies are a slap on the wrist and essentially do not stop industries from ruining our health and the environment. Immediate actions are required to protect w...

Yesterday evening I went over my Mom’s house and she made chicken, canned green beans, and handmade mashed potatoes. According to the pesticide Action Network North America the foods  I consumed definitely have pesticides in them. The potatoes can be known to have at least 35 different pesticides on them. They have 6 known or probable carcinogens, 12 hormone disruptors, 7 neurotoxins, and 6 developmental or reproductive toxins. In regard to the potatoes, the most abundant chemicals found on them are, chloropropham and Imidacloprid. These are also Bee killers that cause environmental harm. I was glad to see that poultry had no known pesticide residue or data (however we all know the feed, hormones, and antibiotics they give poultry are not healthy).  There were 5 types of pesticide residues found in canned green beans, 4 human health effects, and 1 environmental effect. Overall, I was really surprised to find that many carcinogens in potatoes. But it makes complete se...

For my literature review I want to explore the issue of childhood lead poisoning- specifically in California. In the United States, the Lead Contamination Contol Act of 1988 allowed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to initiate a national effort to eliminate childhood lead poisoning in the United States. This act trickled down to the state and local levels where programs have been established.     One mission of the smaller programs is education of the public and health care providers about childhood lead poisoning prevention. They provide support to family’s and local treatment facilities. Together they can determine the extent of childhood lead poisoning by screening children for elevated blood lead levels. Children with elevated blood lead levels then receive appropriate medical and environmental follow-up. Programs such as the Sacramento County of Public Health then develop population-based efforts to prevent childhood lead poisoning. I tried to find inf...

I chose the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDT) because a large portion of air quality issues have to do with harmful emission from vehicles. Most harmful emissions to the environment come from carbon dioxide and monoxide from older cars. It also comes from the sheer volume of cars on the road producing these gases even if in small amounts. Currently the Transits role in environmental sustainability includes the improvement of air quality.  Public transportation is instrumental in reducing smog in major metropolitan areas. Air quality is often the poorest in urban and suburban areas where traffic congestion is the worst. This has meant that residents of these areas, especially those living in close proximity to major thoroughfares or highways, confront much higher health risks due to poor air quality. The USDT plays an important role in public health because providing alternate mass transportations systems directly reduces the number of automobiles on the road which lead...

Sacramento is the capitol of California, so it is home to the California Department of Public Health which oversees all public health entities in CA. For Sacramento County specifically there is Sac County Public Health or (Department of Health Services) or (Department of Health and Human Services).  To my surprise, they do not have an environmental health program. The county has an entire department dedicated to environmental health issues around the county called The County of Sacramento Environmental Management Department. This department has environmental health specialist and health inspectors who work to prevent, preserve and improve environmental conditions around the county. There is a list of programs this department provides including, Food safety/protection, recreational health, smoking and tobacco retailer program, noise control, detention facilities, lead illness, stormwater, Body art, and employee housing. I further looked into a few of these programs. The Tobacc...