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    • The Great Escape: Gene-altered crops grow wild.
      Throughout North Dakota, little yellow flowers dot thousands of miles of roadsides. These canola plants, found along most major trucking routes, look harmless. But they are fueling a controversy: They prove that large numbers of genetically modified plants have escaped from farm fields and are now growing wild.
    • Breaking News: California passes landmark rules to curb auto emissions.
      Reshaping the next decade of America's auto industry, the California Air Resources Board on Friday approved historic new rules that require 15 percent of new cars sold in California by 2025 run on electricity, hydrogen or other systems producing little or no smog.
    • Breaking news: Apple cares about every worker in its supply chain, says Tim Cook.
      Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook addressed the company's stance on labor, after an expose published by the New York Times painted a dark picture of suffering factory workers. The blog 9to5mac obtained a copy of a letter Cook sent to Apple employees yesterday.
    • Military: Investigation into S. Korea Agent Orange is over.
      For the last nine months the U.S. Army has drilled, tested and analyzed soil and water at Camp Carroll military base in South Korea for traces of Agent Orange. The result of the roughly $4 million investigation is a 58-page report, in which the Army claims no traces of Agent Orange were found. An environmental expert disagrees.
    • China cadmium spill threatens drinking water for millions.
      A cancer-causing cadmium discharge from a mining company has polluted a long stretch of two rivers in southern China, and officials warned some 3.7 million people of Liuzhou in the Guangxi region to avoid drinking water from the river, state media reported on Friday.
    • Revamped search urged for a nuclear waste site.
      A commission appointed to find alternatives to a failed plan to store nuclear waste in the Nevada desert declared on Thursday that the United States would have to develop a “consent-based approach” for choosing a site because leaving the decision to Congress had failed.
    • Safety at Washington nuclear-waste site scrutinized.
      A federal oversight panel is raising new concerns to the Department of Energy about potentially serious flaws in the design of a first-of-its-kind, $12 billion waste treatment plant that is being built for the nation's largest radioactive cleanup.
    • Feds list First Nations, green groups as 'adversaries' in oil sands PR strategy.
      The federal government is distancing itself from its own lobbying and public relations campaign to polish the image of Alberta's oil sands, following revelations that an internal strategy document labelled First Nations and environmentalists as "adversaries" while describing the National Energy Board as an "ally."
    • Chevron loses injunction in $18 billion Ecuador case.
      A US appeals court threw out an injunction that Chevron Corp had won to block enforcement of an $18 billion judgment in Ecuador for polluting the Amazon jungle and damaging the health of residents.
    • Chevron to face criminal charges over Brazil spill.
      A Brazilian prosecutor plans to file criminal charges against Chevron Corp and some of its local managers within weeks, adding the threat of prison sentences to an $11 billion civil lawsuit as punishment for a November offshore oil spill.
    • Central Asian states, Iraq last in environmental index.
      Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Iraq -- countries that have long occupied the lower rungs on corruption and freedoms rankings -- now have another disappointing evaluation to add to this list: They're positioned at the very bottom of the 2012 Environmental Performance Index.
    • Mystery illness in New York town attracts celebrity activists.
      National environmental and health groups are beating a path to LeRoy, poking into the Genesee County community's startling cluster of teenage students with troubling neurological symptoms.
    • Effort to ban three chemicals used on Long Island.
      With three million Long Islanders dependent on a single underground aquifer for drinking water, and the annual use of millions of pounds of pesticides, local environmental groups have asked for an immediate ban of the three most frequently found chemicals, atrazine, metalaxyl, and imidacloprid, from use on the Island.
    • Texas county cries foul over EPA's foul-air claim.
      The Environmental Protection Agency is seeking to add Matagorda County to the list of Texas' smog violators because Gulf breezes that blow through the area send air pollution toward Houston.
    • EPA pushes to reduce impacts of huge West Virginia mountaintop mine project.
      The Obama administration has again questioned a huge mountaintop removal mine associated with the King Coal Highway - "among the largest single mining projects ever proposed in Appalachia" - and is pressuring state regulators and CONSOL Energy to reduce the mine's potential impacts.
    • FirstEnergy closing 6 coal-fired power plants.
      FirstEnergy Corp. said Thursday that new environmental regulations led to a decision to shut down six older, coal-fired power plants in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, affecting more than 500 employees.
    • Tornado myths tough for forecasters to bust.
      "Folk science" — a community's shared beliefs about how the weather works in their town — is a big challenge to forecasters and meteorologists. With climate change expected to bring more extreme weather in the future, creating more-effective warnings is a goal for many researchers.
    • A shaky future for Hispaniola.
      The magnitude-7 quake that devastated Haiti in January 2010 may have been the opening salvo in a decades-long period of increased seismicity, a study suggests.
    • The 'wind rush': Green energy blows trouble into Mexico.
      The Isthmus of Tehuantapec, Mexico's narrowest point, is one of the world's most continuously windy spots. And because wind is a valuable commodity in a world seeking alternative energy, a "wind rush" – reminiscent of the gold and oil rushes of other eras – has swept into the isthmus.
    • Obama administration sweats legal response as turbines kill birds.
      Dozens of wind turbines crown a remote ridge 150 miles west of Washington, D.C., where Dominion and Shell WindEnergy's NedPower Mount Storm facility — 132 turbines in all — generates up to 264 megawatts, enough to power around 66,000 homes. But there's a problem: The whirring blades kill birds. A lot of them.
  • more news...

Consequences of excessive use and misuse of antibiotics

Posted on Wednesday, 7 December 2011 by freimanedd

This presentation is intended to highlight a serious environmental and public health problem we are facing today – misuse and overuse of antibiotics. Public health and environmental consequences of inappropriate use of antibiotics are hazardous – development of antibiotic resistance and mutation in microorganisms causing development of new more aggressive strains. This is a complicated problem since many parties  are involved and human medicine is responsible only for part of the overall circulation of antibiotics. Agriculture and veterinary medicine also play an important role in development of antibiotic resistance. This problem requires a global approach and involvement of multidisciplinary committees, as it is not feasible to limit antibiotic resistance within borders of one country.

If you have any questions, or care to leave a comment, please do so, below. Thank you.

Dina Apele-Freimane

PUBH 8165-1 Environmental Health

Walden University

APP9ApeleFreimaneD

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | Leave a Comment »

Pandemic influenza prevention for minority pregnant women

Posted on Thursday, 1 December 2011 by leshondawallace

This presentation focuses on efforts to increase awareness of the racial disparity in influenza illness for pregnant women, acknowledge barriers to prevention and offer strategies to improve health outcomes.

This presentation is directed to clinicians who are associated with the Department of Health and Human Services, Non-government Maternity Clinics, Primary Care or OB&GYN Practices.

Please click here to view presentation.App9WallaceL  I hope that the information is helpful. If you have any questions, or care to leave a comment, please do so, below. Thank you.

LeShonda Wallace

PUBH 8165-01, Environmental Health Walden University

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | Leave a Comment »

Emergency Preparedness for Youth Education

Posted on Sunday, 27 November 2011 by swathiseshadri

This short animated feature is intended as an educational presentation for younger audiences on how they can assume leadership roles during their families’ emergency preparedness efforts.

Thanks,
Swathi Seshadri

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | 1 Comment »

Ascariasis in South Africa and Mexico

Posted on Sunday, 27 November 2011 by ashantilly

This presentation focuses on ascariasis and how this disease effects environmental health. Points covered in this presentation include what ascariasis is, its prevalence, where it is most common, and ways to prevent it. This presentation geared towards workers that pick and handle fruits and vegetables.

Please click here to view presentation. I hope that the information is helpful. If you have any questions, or care to leave a comment, please do so, below. Thank you.

Ashanti Harris

PUBH 6165-04, Environmental Health Walden University

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | Leave a Comment »

Ionizing Radiation and Medical Imaging

Posted on Wednesday, 23 November 2011 by jpfgh676

Be Your Own Advocate:
Understanding Ionizing Radiation and Exposure from Medical Imaging

 The purpose of this presentation is to increase knowledge about ionizing radiation and medical imaging so that you can communicate effectively with your health care practitioners and make informed decisions about medical imaging for yourself and your family. This presentation is directed to the general public.  

Click here to view presenation. http://environmentalhealthtoday.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/app9paynej.ppt  I hope that the information is helpful.  If you have questions, or care to leave a comment, please do so below. Thank you.

 

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | 6 Comments »

The Effects of Bottled Water on the Environments

Posted on Monday, 21 November 2011 by opopoola

The Effects of Bottled Water on the Environment.

This Presentation discussed the safety of tap water as against the general believe that bottled water is safer to drink, how bottled water causes environmental risks to our health and the environment, conclusively it discussed enough reasons for us all to be advocators of drinking tap water. In any case to be on the safer side, it is recommended that we filter our tap water to have the optimum clean drinking water.

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | 2 Comments »

Legislation for Nutrition Labeling on Restaurant Menus

Posted on Monday, 21 November 2011 by MTdcrz15

This presentation describes how menu labeling legislation can help combat the obesity epidemic in the United States. The presentation also provides information on current menu labeling legislation enacted throughout the United States.

Please click the link below to view the presentation.

Legislation for Nutrition Labeling on Restaurant Menus

 

I hope that the information is helpful. If you have any questions, or care to leave comments, please do so below. Thank you.

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | Leave a Comment »

Nutritional Information

Posted on Sunday, 20 November 2011 by mnatera

The obesity epidemic is on the rise.  Providing nutritional information on restaurant menus can make a difference by allowing individuals to make healthy, informed decisions on food choices.  This presentation is geared towards restaurant owners/managers in an effort to do their small part to effect social change.

Please click here to view presentation.

Thank you,

Margie Natera

Walden University

PUBH 6165-04, Environmental Health

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | 2 Comments »

The Tropical Vector Borne Disease of Cholera

Posted on Friday, 18 November 2011 by dan1234esoe

The focus of this presentation is to educate the tropical communities of Africa, Asia and South America about the history and basic questions surrounding the disease of cholera. My hope is that by reading this presentation, a lot of people in these communities will be better equiped with not only the history of cholera but also the basic knowledge required to prevent themselves from contracting the disease.

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | Leave a Comment »

Social Mobilization and Advocacy of River Blindness (Onchocerciasis) in Nigeria

Posted on Thursday, 17 November 2011 by Ijedinma Abanobi
—This presentation is aimed at educating community leaders and the Nigerian government of the impact of onchocerciasis. It will focus on advocating and engaging in social mobilization for the control of onchocerciasis in endemic communities in Nigeria. It will also address the social and economic consequences of onchocerciasis, while emphasizing on community empowerment, and advocating for social mobilization. In turn, this will encourage collaborations with international Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs), Foundations and WHO, as well as help promote self-reliance, self-efficacy, sustainability and local control of programs.
—
This presentation includes a review of the etiology, mode of transmission, social and economic consequences, control strategies, techniques & challenges. It also includes the role of non-governmental organizations, as well as Federal, State and Local Government of Nigeria.

Please click here to view presentation. I hope that the information is helpful. If you have any questions, or care to leave a comment, please do so, below.

Thank you.

Ijedinma Abanobi

PUBH 6165-3, Environmental Health

Walden University

Filed under: PUBH 6165/8165 EH Service-based learning activities | 1 Comment »

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  • RSS Research – articles & reviews

    • Gas cooking emissions may stifle infant development.
      A new study from Spain reports that infants born to mothers who cooked with gas stoves had slightly lower intelligence scores at ages 1 and 2 than those in homes without gas cookers. In homes with gas, infant scores were better if there was an exhaust fan above the stove.
    • Pessimistically, lead may taint your outlook.
      Lead exposure may increase lifelong pessimism, according to a new study. Researchers found that lead levels in aging men were associated with increased pessimism even after controlling for other important factors such as socioeconomic status.
    • Eating mercury-tainted fish affects essential stress hormones in children.
      A new study raises concern about children's exposure to mercury through fish eating, tying it for the first time to hormone changes that increase chronic stress and associated immune system dysfunction. The highest mercury levels detected in the study had about 20-25 percent lower cortisol in saliva samples compared with lowest mercury levels.
    • Early-life exposures to solvent linked to drug abuse.
      A new study found that higher in utero and childhood exposure to a solvent known as PCE, or tetrachloroethylene, increased the risk of cigarette, drug, and alcohol use as a teenager and young adult.
    • Plasticizer increases miscarriage risk.
      In the first study of its kind, scientists in Denmark report that women exposed near the time of conception to relatively common levels of a particular phthalate are more likely to experience early pregnancy loss compared to women with lower exposures.
    • Fish pass flame retardants, impaired health to offspring.
      Fish exposed to low levels of common flame retardants called PBDEs for most of their lives pass the chemicals – and more surprisingly, the associated toxic effects – along to their progeny. While parent's health effects were minimal, the exposures reduced hatch rates and altered the thyroid hormone system of the next generation.
    • Widespread BPA contamination in paper products, study suggests.
      Bisphenol A seems impossible to avoid. It contaminates food, thermal receipts and drinks served in certain plastic bottles. A new study finds its reach goes even further. Researchers detected trace amounts of BPA in a wide variety of paper products most of us touch every day.
    • Scientists predict bleak future for mercury pollution.
      Worldwide mercury pollution is expected to increase dramatically by 2050, unless major policy changes are implemented. Even the best-case scenario suggests major actions will only dent mercury deposition to the United States. Once emitted, mercury can be deposited within days, but some stays aloft for months.
    • Ubiquitous bisphenol A linked to adult obesity, insulin resistance.
      Researchers in China have found that adults over the age of 40 with higher levels of bisphenol A (BPA) in their urine tend to be obese, have more abdominal fat and be insulin resistant. These metabolic disorders can lead to further and more harmful health problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes and heart disease.
    • Selenium reduces toxic mercury levels in freshwater fish.
      New evidence from a laboratory study shows that selenium helps freshwater fish get rid of stored methylmercury. The results help researchers further understand the complex relationship between selenium and methylmercury observed in wild fish populations.
    • Chemists build a better biodiesel process.
      A modified version of a well-known but inefficient chemical catalyst can propel faster, cleaner reactions that turn plants into biodiesel fuel better than existing methods. While the catalyst may solve a major stumbling block in the effort to produce biodiesel, the process will need more testing in industrial settings.
    • 'Food insecurity' blocks menstrual cycle in young girls.
      Girls with limited access to food enter into their first menstrual cycle at slower rates and up to a year later than those who have not consistently gone hungry, according to a long-term study of Ethiopian girls.
    • Shake it up: A greener method for upset tummy medicine.
      Chemists have demonstrated a new approach using simpler methods that require less energy and solvent than conventional approaches to synthesize a key ingredient of a widely used over-the-counter medicine. It's all about shaking, 'mechanochemistry.'
    • Behavioral changes in rodents exposed to a single dose of BPA.
      A single dose of bisphenol A (BPA) given to mice during infancy had lasting effects on their behavior as adults, report Swedish scientists in the journal Toxicology.
    • PCB but not DDE linked to lower birth weight in European studies.
      A new study of two now-banned persistent chemicals, PCBs and DDE, finds compelling evidence linking PCBs to reduced birth weight of newborn babies. In contrast, the research did not find a link with DDE, a metabolite of the insecticide DDT.
    • Banned pesticide spikes in breast milk after spraying resumes, study finds.
      Levels of DDT – a mostly banned pesticide still allowed for malaria control in some tropical regions – increased three-fold in breastfeeding mothers after one indoor spraying, finds a study in Mozambique.
    • Making plastic: Use plants, not petroleum.
      New research reveals a process that can expand the scope of using plant oil derivatives to make industrially-important molecules, such as those needed as starting materials for producing polyamides. Polyamides are a family of polymers with many useful applications, ranging from fibres – such as nylon – to highly resistant metal coatings.
    • Smelling good without stinking up the environment.
      Chemists developing compounds used to create fragrances can weed out chemicals that don't meet certain toxicity and environmental standards early in the design process, finds a study that predicted the toxicity and persistence of a variety of musk chemicals using a sophisticated computer program.
    • C-section delivery linked to higher risk of childhood asthma.
      Children born via cesarean section have an increased risk of asthma at age 3, according to the largest study yet on the topic. The risk was higher in children whose mothers did not have asthma when compared to those whose mothers have asthma.
    • Newborn hormone exposure can disrupt female reproductive health, rat study finds.
      A single hormone treatment given to newborn female rats significantly changed the chemical activity in the brain region that guides ovary development and function, report researchers in the journal Fertility and Sterility.
  • more research...
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