M11.5: Zero Waste Life

M12.9: Climate Change

1. What do you personally find most troubling about climate change?  As far as climate change, what I find most troubling is the politicalization of climate change.  Something that should not even be up for debate due to the preponderance of scientific evidence is now a hot button political issue and talking point.  It's maddening and frightening at the same time.
2. As a public health professional, what do you think needs the greatest attention right now? I think it needs to be dealt with first as a political issue now that it is.  The opponents need to see real evidence that climate change is real and that it is affecting our environments and our lives.  

Final Blog!

Thank you so much!  I found this class to be informative, entertaining, and even scary at times!  I've always had a great deal of respect for our environment, but now that has increased dramatically!  I never realized before how much our environment effects us, and concurrently, how what we do effects our environment, for better or for worse.   As far as the blogs, I think they have been a good compliment to our regular class materials and discussions.  With that being said, I think they came with a lot of confusion, misunderstandings, and at least in my case, MANY technical difficulties.  Often times we were being told some things during class, and other things online, so it was difficult to understand what we were actually supposed to be doing.  In the end though, I think we got it figured out and found the blogs to be very helpful! 

M9.2: Six Classes of Chemicals

After watching the videos on the six classes of chemicals, I decided to further look into antimicrobials.  As noted in the video, antimicrobials are in thousands of products, but are often doing more harm that good.  The use of these chemicals, such as triclosan and triclocarbon were commonly used despite knowing the risks.  I think one important thing which was noted in the video is that there has been no proven added benefits of using soaps or other products with triclosan or triclocarbon, over using just regular soap and water.

M8.3: Pesticides

I ate eggplant last night, and was shocked to check it out on this website!  The website lists 18 different pesticide residues that could be present, which is absolutely mind blowing!  Short of encouraging people to buy organic and working to develop less toxic pesticides, I am honestly not sure what can be done about this.  I think trying to stop commercial farming from using pesticides is truly an uphill battle with lobbyists, billions of dollars and so on, but encouraging people to buy organic, and maybe financially supportive those who can't buy organic so they can do so might help.  I think if these big companies start to find themselves with losses because people are buying elsewhere, simply from a financial standpoint, they would come around.  

M9.3: Green Chemistry

l have not seen nor have I heard of green chemistry before.  I think it's interesting as it reduces waste, and waste is one of the biggest things we contend with today.  I think the video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was very interesting and very sad; a stark reminder of how wasteful we are as humans.  I couldn't imaging tens of thousands of pounds of plastic garbage washing up on the shores of that beautiful island!  As far as the 12 principles of green chemistry, I think they are great, and they should be things that are not only easy to do, but it is easy to see why and how they would be beneficial to our world.  

M9.4: Heavy Metals

I think these articles bring up very interesting points, and they also invoke a stark reminder of the dangers that surround our environments.  The situation with lead is even more saddening when we realize how it disproportionately effects children, and particularly children of lower socioeconomic status that may not have the means to not only get tested, but certainly not the means to get treated.  The article from Doctors Without Borders in Nigeria really draws a dire picture as it pointed out that more than 400 children died as a result of lead determined to be a byproduct of gold mining.  So many of the problems we face today are avoidable, and this is one of them.

M10.1: Video

My workplace is constantly changing because I am field based at my job meaning I travel constantly.  I work from home about one day each week, so I am exposed to everything in my home that we've discussed on previous blogs.  Beyond that, I am often flying or driving, both of which come with their own issues when done so frequently.  I also work in a variety of hospitals, so I am always around sick people, chemicals related to sterilization of hospitals, as well as just common radiation associated with the hospitals that I visit.  I am not sure if it is better or worse that I am not stuck in the same office each day.  Better, perhaps, because I am not over exposed to the same things, but it could be worse because different locations expose me to a wide variety of chemical, biological and radiological issues.  

M10.5: OSHA

I looked into OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which is a federal program within the Department of Labor.  OSHA oversees workplace safety in many different ways, but I chose to specifically look at the healthcare workers section on its website.  This subarea talks about building a workplace culture of safety, not only from an "office" standpoint as far as ergonomics and things of that nature, but also in the areas of patient safety, infectious diseases, workplace violence, and other hazards that may be specific to the field of healthcare.

M10.2: MSDS

I looked into an office keyboard cleaner which apparently is Butane and Propan-2-Ol.

·       What are the health risks associated with this chemical?

• May cause stomach pain and/or vomiting if inhaled or ingested.  May cause severe eye irritation or burning. Vapors may cause drowsiness or dizziness.

·       Is the chemical a carcinogen?

• Not that I see on the MSDS.

·       What personal protective equipment or special precautions should be taken when working with this chemical?

• Use protective gloves, goggles and suitable protective clothing.

·       If this is a chemical found in your workplace, what training/education were you given about any risks associated with this chemical?

• None.

M10.8: Occupationally-Related Disease

I looked into Coal Worker’s Pneumoconiosis, more commonly known as “Black Lung Disease”.  Pneumoconiosis is a general term used to describe any lung disease that is caused by the inhalation of dust or debris.  Coal workers commonly have been exposed to this for hundreds of years simply due to the nature of their work.  While severity can vary greatly due to levels of exposure and other factors, symptoms include cough, chest tightness, shortness of breath, among many others.  This disease is specifically called “Black Lung Disease” because the inhaled coal often turns black the lungs of the workers breathing it in.  While numbers had been on the decline, and OSHA regulations relating to coal workers are very strong, there seems to be a resurgence in cases according to an August 2018 article. 

https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/workforce/74654

M7.8: Lit Review Topic

For my literature review, I focused on how the physical environment, be it a neighborhood, a city, or even being incarcerated, affects our health and our choices.  Focusing on prison inmates, what causes them to smuggle and do drugs, and take other high risk behaviors that they may or may not know could injure them or cause significant illnesses like hepatitis or HIV.  As far as prisons in the United States, we have the Federal Bureau of Prisons which is a law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice.  For my review, I also looked at prisons in Canada where the Correctional Services of Canada, which is a federal agency, oversees prisons.  I also looked into studies from Swedish prisons where The Swedish Prison and Probation Service is responsible for inmates and prisons.