Environmental Health
The Pump Handle
Category archives for Environmental Health
Worker remain missing four days after failure of West Virginia coal slurry impoundment
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on December 4, 2012 After four days, one worker remains unaccounted for after being caught in the collapse of an embankment at a WV coal slurry impoundment. The 788 acre pond of coal waste and chemical-laced water is owned by CONSOL Energy, and is just one of hundreds like it located in U.S. coal mining States.
Exploring links between working conditions and obesity in low-wage workers
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 28, 2012 Most current strategies to address the obesity problem in Americans focus on individuals changing their behavior. A new report illuminates why those strategies alone ignore the work environment as a contributor to obesity risk.
Where did the pardoned Thanksgiving turkey come from? Inspector records tell the filthy story
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 21, 2012 The turkey pardoned by the President was headed for a slaughterhouse with a history of food safety violations such as fecal contamination. Surprisingly, the USDA considers it a model for a modernized, streamlined inspection system.
Subtle but potentially serious: health effects of low-level pesticide exposure
Posted by The Pump Handle on November 6, 2012 Researchers have identified the fungicide triflumizole (TFZ) as an obesogen in mice. It’s one of a growing body of studies on the health effects of low-level exposure to widely used pesticides.
Public health association adopts new policies opposing military recruiting in schools, supporting taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 5, 2012 At last week’s American Public Health Association (APHA) annual meeting its Governing Council adopted about a dozen new policies to guide the Association’s advocacy activities.
Public Health Classics: Assessing air pollution and health in six U.S. cities, researchers’ findings changed the air we breathe
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on November 2, 2012 In the 1974, most of us thought that air pollution was something that just looked and smelled bad. But public health researchers had just launched a study to determine whether air pollution shortened people’s lives. Twenty years later they published their results. It forever changed the way we think about and address air pollutants.
Public Health Classics: Collecting children’s baby teeth to identify lead poisoning
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on October 23, 2012 The baby teeth of children collected by their teachers, allowed Dr. Herb Needleman to make the link between lead poisoning and lower IQ scores.
Is coalition bombing behind a 17-fold increase in birth defects in an Iraqi city?
Posted by Liz Borkowski on October 22, 2012 Authors of a new study report a 17-fold increase in the incidence of congenital birth defects at an Iraqi hospital, and draw a link between this increase and lead and mercury contamination from bullets and bombs.
The Clean Water Act at 40
Posted by Liz Borkowski on October 18, 2012 Forty years ago today, the Clean Water Act was enacted. Since then, US waterways have gotten cleaner – but some people seem to be forgetting why we need regulation like this in the first place.
Making a neighborhood inhospitable for rattus norvegicus…RATS!
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on September 26, 2012 New York City’s Rat-Management Program integrates active surveillance, community outreach, training for property managers and code enforcement to tackle its population of rats.