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    • Boys' birth defect is not increasing, raising questions about phthalate syndrome.
      Hypospadias, one of the most common birth defects among baby boys, apparently is not increasing in the U.S., casting doubt on whether boys are harmed by phthalates and other endocrine-disrupting chemicals thought to trigger reproductive abnormalities.
    • 3M chemicals found in residents' blood.
      Toxic compounds have lingered and accumulated in the blood of east-metro residents who drank water tainted with 3M chemicals, a new state study shows.
    • Health Canada detects BPA in jarred baby food.
      Health Canada testing has detected bisphenol A in baby foods in glass jars with metal lids and in some 18.5-litre polycarbonate bottles of drinking water, but it says the levels are low and pose no health or safety concerns.
    • Court rejects suit seeking stricter black lung rules.
      A federal appeals court has turned down a Kentucky coal miner's effort to force the U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration to write tougher limits on coal dust that causes black lung.
    • EPA racing to replace tossed Bush-era emissions rules.
      The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is working to issue replacement rules for Bush-era regulations aimed at slashing power plant emissions of soot, smog and mercury as quickly as possible, the agency's top air quality official told a Senate panel Thursday.
    • Cote d'Ivoire: Up in smoke.
      In Abidjan, the commercial and cultural capital of Cote d'Ivoire, the potent odor of car exhaust permeates just about everything. Last year, doctors began linking air pollution to rising rates of asthma. Enter Africa's first ever "green cops" -- a new anti-pollution police force in Abidjan called UNIPOL.
    • Despite Obama's pledge, G-8 makes little headway on global warming.
      When the Group of 8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy wrapped up its deliberations on climate, President Obama found himself stymied by many of the same roadblocks that plagued previous efforts to tackle global warming.
    • Los Angeles' 'coal free' vow scuttles Utah power-plant expansion.
      Plans for a new coal-fired power plant in central Utah were canceled after the city of Los Angeles - the plant's biggest power purchaser - signaled its intention to be "coal free" by 2020.
    • G-8 climate talks divide rich and poor countries.
      The chasm between rich and poor on how to address climate change burst into the open at the G-8 summit Thursday, showing how difficult it will be to persuade the world to make lifestyle and economic sacrifices needed to save the planet from global warming.
    • Cleaner buses in developing world may be key in climate fight.
      Emissions from vehicles in the booming cities of Asia, Africa and Latin America account for a rapidly growing component of heat-trapping gases linked to global warming. Rapid transit systems like Bogotá’s may hold a key to combating climate change.
    • Project to 'grow carbon sinks'.
      Ambitious plans to grow 24 million trees to soak up carbon dioxide and restore the rainforest have got underway in Ghana. The first million seedlings are being planted in a pilot scheme in an area that has been heavily logged in recent years.
    • Car makers losing fight against EU chemicals ban.
      Auto makers look set to fail in their attempts to delay an agreed 2011 European ban on climate-damaging chemicals in the air conditioners of new car models, a letter from the EU's industry chief shows.
    • Sandstorms scour U.S. troops, Iraqis.
      Unseasonable sandstorms have been blinding Iraq for about 10 days, sending people to hospital emergency rooms with breathing problems. Iraqi scientists say the sandstorms, which blotted out the sun for much of the past 10 days, are some of the worst Iraq has seen in generations.
    • Car washers seeing more rules on soapy runoff.
      Officials in Washington and several other states are trying to prevent the runoff from residents washing their cars, with all of its soap, grim and metals from the car, from reaching rivers and streams and harming the fish and other aquatic life in them.
    • CBS 5 e-waste investigation prompts changes in Arizona.
      A CBS 5 investigation which uncovered a huge loophole into California's e-waste recycling laws is prompting enforcement action in a neighboring state.
    • Toxic sludge traveling though Abilene.
      In coming months, 2.5 million yards of toxic sludge from New York’s Hudson River will be traveling via train through Abilene, and emergency management officials are concerned.
    • Riddle drinking water not fouled.
      The drinking water is safe but metals and other contaminants are seeping with spring water from an abandoned mine, polluting rivers near Riddle, Ore., according to federal health report.
    • Ethical questions surround couple's EPA link.
      When the Environmental Protection Agency came after the leaky Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District, officials in St. Louis went looking for an attorney. And they hired one — all the way across the state in Kansas City.
    • PCBs, dioxins make Great Lakes fish a risk to eat.
      Anglers could be catching fish that are so loaded with mercury, PCBs and dioxins that they aren't safe to eat or should be consumed only in moderation, according to a new study being released today by Environmental Defence, a conservation group.
    • Dole sues 'Bananas!*' documentary maker.
      Dole Food Company Inc filed a defamation lawsuit on Wednesday against Swedish film makers it accuses of knowingly including "patent falsehoods" in a documentary about Nicaraguan banana workers who sued Dole for allegedly exposing them to pesticides on its plantations.

About us

This weblog is for the discussion of contemporary environmental public health issues – issues that may occur locally, nationally, or internationally. My name is Dr. Raymond W. Thron and I will be one of your hosts for this weblog. Joining me is Dr. Shana Morrell. Additional contributors and authors will be announced as they join. The commentaries reflect the opinions and beliefs of the individual writer. Your hosts will will attempt to ensure that all information posted is credible.

For any commentary, to see comments offered, please click on the commentary title, or on “comments” link at the end of the commentary.

Please note that all links in the commentaries were functional at the time the specific commentary was published. Links, however, do change. If you should encounter a non-functional link, do let me know. I will then try to find the new document location, if possible. Send a note to rwthron@yahoo.com

Thank you.

Raymond W. Thron, Ph.D.
Dr. Thron has had a life long career in environmental public health, having worked for both local and state agencies, the private sector, and currently as a faculty member at Walden University. At Walden University, he helped create and served as the first faculty chair for its doctorate program in public health. For ten years, he served as the director of environmental and occupational health for the State of Minnesota.

Previously he had the opportunity to work in several East European countries helping them regarding public health infrastructure, including environmental and occupational health issues, workforce development, and public health collaborative endeavors. Past academic affiliations include the University of Minnesota, University of St. Thomas (St. Paul, MN), Howard University, and through training provided to faculty at Namibia University, Namibia, and Kenyata University, Kenya.

Shana Morrell, Ph.D., MPH
Dr. Morrell received her MPH and Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. She majored in environmental health, specializing in environmental toxicology. She currently is full time faculty with Walden University in the School of Health Sciences, where she teaches graduate level essentials of public health, environmental health, molecular and genetic epidemiology, and public health biology courses. She maintains a special interest in global environmental health and environmental and social justice.

Mehrdad M. Javaherian
Mr. Javaherian has over 15 years of consulting experience in the evaluation and management of environmental impacts, including quantifying the extent, fate, transport, health risks, and remediation of contaminants in surface and subsurface systems. Mr. Javaherian’s project experience includes numerous site investigations, chemical fate and transport studies, human health and ecological risk assessments, implementation of innovative remediation technologies, and development of risk management plans for hazardous waste sites.

His research and development experience includes contributions to the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and the American Petroleum Institute (API) in areas of fate and transport modeling and/or toxicological risk assessment. His current research focuses on indoor air quality, vapor intrusion, and green building practices. Mr. Javaherian holds a BS degree in civil (environmental) engineering from the California Polytechnic University and is currently working toward his MPH and PhD in epidemiology at Walden University.

Nina M. Bell, CFRE
Mrs. Bell has more than 20 years of experience in marketing and public relations, most of which encompass the healthcare arena. A resident of Northwestern Pennsylvania, she currently works as the Vice President of Stewardship and Development for The Wesbury Foundation, which supports a Continued Care Retirement Community of 400 aging adults.

In the realm of athletics, Mrs. Bell is a triathlete and completed five Ironman competitions as well as several Olympic and Sprint distance races. In 2000, she was named the ASCInet Ohio State Triathlon Series Age-Group Champion. She has also won her division in several regional races in Northwestern Pennsylvania/Eastern Ohio. In 2007, she was named the Ford Ironman Everyday Hero at Ironman Wisconsin for her work in developing a children’s bicycling program to combat childhood obesity. That program is being developed into a publication that will be used as a model for other communities.

She holds a BA degree in public relations/journalism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a master’s diploma from the University of London in organizational behavior, and is a Certified Fundraising Executive (CFRE), a credential held by only 5,000 people worldwide. She is currently working toward her MPH and PhD in public health/health promotion and education at Walden University.

29 Jul 2008>

9 Responses

  1. I would like to know how to submit a power point for consideration on the blog.

    • The instructions have now been posted in the “Doc Sharing” folder in your PUBH 6165/8165, Environmental Health course section. Remember (if you haven’t already done so), you will need to establish an account at WordPress.com Information on establishing an account are also included in the instructions.

  2. Sir/Madam,

    I signed up as a Walden student (Instructor’s name Dr. Thron).

    My user name: selimkhan

    I used @ in my password, I don’t know that was the cause or not, my password is not working and I can’t sign in at all. I used the change password pathways, but failed.

    I have to submit my paper, Please could you help me changing my password and thereby signing in.

    Thanks with best regards

  3. We are not able to change your passwords. Those need to be done through WordPress. Please see if they can help, and don’t worry about the late posting. You are not going to be penalized for technical issues with posting.

    Dr. Morrell

  4. Dr. Thron,
    I am still not able to post on your page. My blog page seems to be working fine.
    I can be reach via
    michael.jelley@waldenu.edu or
    jell6331@bellsouth.net or
    mjelley@cdc.gov

    ph 770-367-5035
    Tks
    MJ

  5. I need help with posting my project to this website. I can not find any place for a new upload in my particular class. Can anyone help me please.

    Cat Truitt

  6. I am still not able to post. I am not able to find “New Post” or “Media”. I have gone to the site several times and still can’t find them. I am able to go as far as contributor log in which brings me to dashboard which shows “your stuff”, “today”, and “PUBH6165/8165”. When I click on “PUBH” I arrive at the site that I am on now.
    Please help so that I can post my paper.

    Thank you.
    Yanick
    my e-mail is yanick.devastey@waldenu.edu

  7. I have not been able to log on as a contributor yet, I do not see any links for new post when I log onto the website. Have I been added as a contributor yet?

    Sherena.Readous@waldenu.edu

  8. Dear Dr. Thon,

    I have registered at WordPress (about 30 mins ago) and am wondering when I will be added as an author. I suspect sometime tomorrow.

    Thank you and I will check back later.

    Regards
    sia

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