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    • In land of gas drilling, battle for water that doesn’t reek or fizz.
      It has been more than four decades since the first well was drilled in the natural gas field beneath this stretch of slow rolling alfalfa and sugar beet farms near Pavilion, Wyoming. But for some who live in the shadows of the Wind River Mountains, the drilling rigs have brought more than industry.
    • Coping with two-headed fish and other effects of selenium.
      Like many Western waterways, in southern Wyoming Muddy Creek carries selenium, a natural poison that accumulates in the food chain much as mercury does. Now, researchers are studying the Muddy Creek watershed, trying to determine how much of the element occurs naturally, and how much is being released by human activity.
    • Fracking operation in Erie begins near two elementary schools.
      Encana is preparing to drill the Canyon Creek well site, where a prairie rife with birds and a wetland alive with waterfowl separate it from the Creekside neighborhood. Red Hawk Elementary, which is now on summer break, is only a few hundreds yards south of the drilling site.
    • Paper strikes back: Defending books, mail and dollar bills.
      Crumple it, drench it, lock it in a hot attic or a damp cellar, but paper can come back to life. And it is doing so now, after taking a battering from environmentalists, the Internet and a glum economy.
    • France to ban a Syngenta pesticide to protect bees.
      France said it plans to ban a pesticide made by Swiss agro-chemical group Syngenta that is widely used to treat rapeseed crops, after scientists suggested it could pose danger to bees.
    • When cleaning up power plants, time is money.
      New rules on pollution from coal plants will cost the American economy $175 billion to $275 billion between now and 2035, according to a new analysis from the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit utility consortium.
    • Holy river now a great drain of India.
      The Yamuna River is one of the holiest waterways in India. Despite the Yamuna's significance as one of a trinity of holy rivers, it is also one of India's most polluted.
    • Good times reignite the water wars.
      Whisky's for drinking, Mark Twain is said to have observed, but water is for fighting over. And a fight there is in eastern Australia's irrigated farmlands, with a seemingly irreconciliable stand-off – among states and between farmers and conservationists.
    • World-class landfill closing in 'Rio.'
      One of the world's largest open-air landfills, a vast, seaside mountain of trash in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where thousands of people have made a living sorting through the debris by hand, will close this weekend after 34 years in malodorous service.
    • Chemicals that make you fat.
      Some researchers, including Bruce Blumberg of the University of California, Irvine, believe chemicals we’re unwittingly exposed to could be making us fat. If the timing is right, chemicals may be instructing stem cells to become fat cells.
    • Low-dose effects of endocrine disruptors, with Laura Vandenberg.
      The body of scientific evidence so far suggests that even at very low doses, exposures to endocrine disruptors may have very real effects, and that low-dose effects may disappear at higher doses, giving an illusion of safety if chemicals are not tested at low-enough doses.
    • Feds to rule on cancer aid for WTC dust exposure.
      A federal health official is expected to decide within days whether to expand an aid program for anyone sickened by World Trade Center dust to cover cancer, a move that would be cheered by many former ground zero workers, but could also prove costly and come at the expense of people with ailments more conclusively linked to 9/11's toxic fallout.
    • In Louisiana, rising seas threaten Native Americans' land.
      It used to be a long walk for Theresa Dardar to reach her ancestors' cemetery here in coastal Louisiana. Now, a boat ride is necessary to visit the burial site, which is surrounded by water as coastal Louisiana sinks and the sea level around it rises.
    • Climate change bringing more ticks, infections.
      An apparent rise in ticks crossing Canada’s southern border has the local health unit urging residents to use caution in wooded areas. "We’re fairly confident the number of ticks is increasing because of climate change," said Dave Dodgson, of the Hastings and Prince Edward Counties Health Unit.
    • In a dead, toxic town, life goes on for one couple.
      Turn off the main road into this town and your car will nose-dive into a ditch. You’re not supposed to be here. Treece, Kansas, is dead. Air, water and dirt, all poisoned by decades of lead and zinc mining. The stores and filling station are gone. People, too, their houses torn down.
    • Scientists decry Ottawa’s plan to close environmental research centre.
      Supporters from Canada and across the world are signing an online petition and writing letters urging the government to reverse its decision to close the Experimental Lakes Area, arguing the centre is irreplaceable and critical to public and ecosystem health.
    • Michigan approves Dow dioxin cleanup plan for Midland.
      The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality said Friday it had accepted Dow Chemical Co.'s plan for cleaning up properties contaminated with dioxin released from its chemical plant in Midland.
    • D.C. toughens lead-paint disclosure requirements for home sellers, landlords.
      District residents who plan to sell or rent their homes will now have to comply with tougher lead paint requirements that must be satisfied before the deal can go through. If the home in which you live or rent was built before 1978, chances are there is — or at one time was — lead paint.
    • White House releases plan to reduce asthma rates among Latinos.
      A blueprint for a plan to reduce the rates of asthma among low-income and minority children was released Thursday, an effort taken on by several federal agencies.
    • Pro-smoking activists threaten and harass health campaigners.
      Academics and health campaigners are being subjected to threats of violence, harassment and personal abuse by pro-smoking activists as UK ministers consult over whether tobacco should be sold only in plain packets.
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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 [...]

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 [...]

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

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