Dan's Environmental Health Blog

After watching the video and viewing the lecture in class I just don't see how a zero waste life is possible. I do however believe that the world could product less waste overall. Just going to one sporting event generates so much waste in many forms that I don't want to here how many tons of garbage and plastic is used over the course of a season. I think pharmaceutical waste is the most serious thing to take care of. When rivers and small streams are coming back positive for man made chemicals and pharmaceuticals we have an issue that needs to be addressed. Following this, plastic waste is the next thing to solve.

The thing that I find most troubling about climate change is clearly the temperature rise. The temperature rise with the domino effect of sea water rise is devastating. It will be a slow process and I think civilization will be fine. I worry about those that can't make decisions for themselves in this world or struggle to do so. Homeless, mentally impaired, elderly and the animals of our world. We are destroying everything in our path right now and leaving the frail and dependent behind.  The greatest attention needs to be fixing the carbon emission problem and relying less on fossil fuels, single use plastics, and chemical use for our everyday life. I think these three should be eradicated in the next decade or so.  I would start by explaining how we got to this point. How civilization, automation, and industrial revolutions shaped our world. Some things were terrible years ago, like dumping waste in to creek and soil. Laws were passed to prevent this. Others were gr...

Asb estosis is the disease due to the inhalation of asbestos. Asbestos is the exposure and is regulated by OHSA and the EPA. I chose this one because it is a silent killer especially to lower income classes as they typically live in areas and apartments that most likely have not been improved and updated to today's standard code per OHSA. Asbestos still lives in the walls and on the ceilings with children and families inhaling it all day every day. It is also in pipes and vinyl floor tiles. You can find the information here https://www.osha.gov/SLTC/asbestos/ OHSA has three standards for addressing asbestos exposure. 1. General industry work: 29 CFR 1910.1001.  2. Shipyard work code  29 CFR 1915.1001 . 3. Construction work code  29 CFR 1926.1101 . These are coeds and guidelines that assist in asbestos work for organizations.  Interesting material if you wish to view it is the information for asbestos on toxnet https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/...

I chose to look into the ILO or the international labour organization. Within the ILO they support the Hotels, Catering, and Tourism sector. I thought this was a good one to look in to as it directly affects me and any person who travels, eats food, and stays in hotels. This sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world but lacks the structure it needs. Reasons include being a fragmented industry, seasonalized employees, low skills needed, and low wages. I specifically looked in to social protection of the employees. Typically, the hours are of non social working hours, meal prep etc. Difficulty working conditions lead to high turnover and low career stability. Additionally, seasonal tourism effect employment and wages. This is important to us as the low wage, typically migrant employees, are the ones cooking our food, changing and cleaning our rooms typically go unnoticed per the ILO. Should this sector of the industry fail or show signs of weakness, people will stay les...

I work for a company called Medtronic. We make all sorts of medical device equipment. The one I thought was the most dangerous does warn heavily against radiation exposure. I could not locate the specific document (MSDS) but this link will show you what type of radiation exposure if given out during different settings. It is called the Oarm. https://www.medtronic.com/us-en/healthcare-professionals/products/neurological/surgical-imaging-systems/o-arm/dose-considerations.html This is a Radiological safety hazard. It requires those that operate it, Rad Techs, to wear lead lined aprons and thyroid collars. All those that don't operate it leave the room when the device is doing a 3D spin (Xray). PPE is very important for this device. Sine I was not able to locate the specific MSDS I could not compare it to the ToxNet database. Here is the link for occupational hazards for xrays. PPE is very important! https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/f?./temp/~hSs0Wm:3

What I find most interesting about the Needlemen lead article is that is caused the following: ADHD, aggression, and delinquency among children. For adults, lead poisoning over time lead to an increase in Alzheimer's risk. What also stands out to me is that lead poisoning or at least the concern that it could cause issues occurred in Australia back in 1892. It took almost 100 years to ban lead in paint as it was as a known metal exposure to humans. The Nigeria article shocked me that this still occurs. Well, maybe not. Social injustice occurs all over the world and until something like this happens it does not get fixed unfortunately. Quite staggering numbers to have that many children die so young. I am very happy that MSF was able to treat the remaining sick children and bring the serum levels back to a healthier level. Hopefully, the gold artisanal ore processing company was heavily find or covered the cost for the healthcare.