Final Flashcards
Mildew:
Decomposes paper, fabric, wood, paint, glue, leather, and anything coated with organic matter
Dark green or black
Persistent in warm, humid climates
Many people are allergic to mildew
Desiccants can be used to control moisture
Dust mites:
Many individuals are allergic to dust mites
feed upon skin cells, carpeting, draperies, bedding, and upholstery
Plastic mattress and pillow covers
Vacuuming helps
clean air ducts
Pollen:
Sources: weeds, trees, and flowers
Broadleaf tree pollen blows easily in wind
Pine pollen less of a problem
Pampas grass, goldenrod, and marigolds produce large amounts of pollen
Windows should be closed for those with pollen allergies
Pet dander:
Pets can bring pollen indoors
Many people are allergic to pet dander
pets can bring fleas and ticks into home
Pathogens can be found in pet saliva, urine, and feces.
Should be groomed and bathed regularly
Molds:
Fungi grow everywhere. Wet dry wall encourages growth. They have a characteristic odor. They are often referred to as microbial volatile organic compounds (MVOCs). Mold spores can get into the respiratory tract and cause infection to an allergic response.
Mycotoxins: These toxins are found in the most dangerous molds.
They trigger inflammation and an immune response; including:
Fluid accumulation
hyperactive immune responses
tissue scarring, allergic responses
asthmatic attacks and bronchoconstriction.
Types of mold include:
Cladosporium, which is found in plants wood textiles food
Toxic molds:
Aspergillus fumigatus, which is found in decaying vegetation Stachybotrys chartarum: found in gypsum board paper canvas jute. (It has a greenish, black color.)
Allergens:
immune system tolerance varies in individuals
Exposure to some substances create allergic sensitivities and an impaired immune system
Histamine production is an inflammatory response
Asthma is an allergic response with bronchial constriction
Permitted levels of food defects:
- FDA sets Food Defect Action Levels
- FDA approves food additives, sets limits and labeling requirements (since 1958)
FDA sets Food Defect Action Levels
Maximum acceptable level of specific food defects (insect parts, rodent hairs, etc.)
FDA approves food additives, sets limits and labeling requirements (since 1958)
Exempt from approval: substances already considered safe in 1958; substances on GRAS (generally regarded as safe) list
No additive can be approved if shown to cause cancer (Delaney Clause)
The Delaney Clause is a part of the 1958 Food Additives Amendment
(section 409) to the 1954 Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FFDCA). This clause governs regulation of pesticide residues in processed foods.
Carcinogens VOCs:
-These are chemical pollutants in the form of gasses from solids or liquids at room temperature.
-Volatile organic compounds(VOC)
are used in solvents, disinfectants, pesticides, paint, adhesives, spray cans, room deodorizers, copy machines toners, markers, pens, correction fluid.
-These can remain indoors for as long as 6 months, and cause symptoms such as; headaches, nausea, irritation, damage to liver, kidneys and CNS.
Common VOCs include
Formaldehyde and acetone, benzene:
Acetone:
Used to make plastic, fibers, drugs, and other chemicals. Also used as a solvent for fingernail polish remover and duplicating fluid
Benzene:
A known human carcinogen. ETS, stored fuels, paint, auto emissions. Reduce by not smoking in home and maximum ventilation.
Formaldehyde:
One of the most hazardous compounds to human health plastics, resins, paint, glue, rubber, textiles, explosives, insulation, and building materials. Also in adhesives and photographic chemicals occupational exposure for those working with wood products, solvents, copy machines, and correction fluids.
Nitrogen dioxide:
Released during burning, fermentation, welding, electroplating, and engraving.
Parachlorobenzene:
Used to control moths, molds, mildew, and deodorize restrooms and waste containers. It has a strong odor. It is a known carcinogen. Exposure causes dizziness, headaches, and liver problems
Parachloroethylene:
Used in dry-cleaning fluids and solvents. Causes cancer in animals. Dry cleaning should be aired out before hanging in the closet.
Toluene:
a solvent in paints, fingernail polish, lacquers, adhesives, rubber. Used in some printing and leather tanning processes
Trichloroethylene:
Nonflammable, colorless liquid with a sweet odor a solvent to remove grease from metal. It is an ingredient in adhesives, paint removers, typewriter correction fluids, and spot removers for dry cleaning.
Vinyl Chloride
A mild, sweet odor. Used to make PVC pipe, coating for wire and cables, and packaging materials
Bovine somatotropin:
Bovine somatotropin or bovine somatotropin (abbreviated bST and BST), or bovine growth hormone (BGH), is a peptide hormone produced by cows’ pituitary gland. Like other hormones, it is produced in small quantities and is used in regulating metabolic processes. It promotes milk production.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) Office of Emergency and Remedial Response (OERR)
recently entered into an interagency agreement to participate jointly in activities that will ensure vigorous occupational safety and health oversight of Superfund Thermal Destruction Facilities (TDFs).
Portable water:
Drinking water, also known as potable water or improved drinking water, is water that is safe to drink or to use for food preparation, without risk of health problems. Globally, in 2012, 89% of people had access to water suitable for drinking
GMOs
Rationale: increase global food supply
Crops that resist disease, repel pests, ripen faster
Isolate gene for desired characteristic
Using a loop of bacterial DNA, transfer this gene into DNA of another species
Secondary sewage treatment:
It is the minimum requirement to water treatment. It is the use of biological systems to digest waste—90-95% reduction in suspended solids and BOD.
Tobacco Smoke and environmental effects health effects
Historically, smoking accepted and even encouraged (e.g., rations to soldiers)
1950: smoking linked to lung cancer
Evidence accumulated over decades
Settlement agreements between states and tobacco companies
Tobacco Smoke known to cause
Emphysema, heart disease, heart attack, stroke
Cancer: mouth, pharynx, larynx, lung, bladder; esophagus, stomach, kidney, pancreas, cervix; probably female breast cancer and primary liver cancer
During pregnancy: increased risk of stillbirth, low birth weight, SIDS
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS), known as “secondhand smoke,” consists of
Side stream smoke
Smoke emitted between puffs of a burning cigarette, pipe, or cigar
Mainstream smoke
Smoke exhaled by the smoker
secondhand smoke
Adults: heart disease, heart attack, lung cancer
Children: SIDS, asthma, ear infections
Rapidly growing health problem in lower-income countries
ETS is a leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S.
Contains 40 carcinogens and thousands of other chemicals:
Mutagens
Poisonous gases (CO)
Carbon monoxide (CO) is a by-product of incomplete combustion
Attaches to Hemoglobin in RBCs and blocks O2
cigarette smoke, fireplaces, stoves, chimneys, grills, and camp stoves
concentration indoors determined by ventilation, source, and duration of exposure
Present in any smoky atmosphere
Poisonous chemicals (benzene, formaldehyde, and polonium)
Lung cancer, respiratory tract infections, sinus infections, cancer, heart disease, miscarriage, ear infections, bronchitis, asthma exacerbation, SIDS, and developmental delays in children
Considered a nuisance, negligence, harassment, and a fire hazard
The risk is not lower with “low tar” cigarettes
Encephalopathy BSE (bovine spongiform encephalopathy):
a prion infection
Ban on importing animals / animal products from countries affected by BSE
Feed bans:
First, ruminant feed ban = ban on feeding ruminant protein to ruminants
Then, mammalian feed ban = ban on feeding mammalian protein to ruminants
segregated rendering
BSE surveillance
Blue baby, nitrates
Extensive use of nitrate fertilizers
→ Nitrites in groundwater
Direct human health effect
Nitrites in water change hemoglobin to form that cannot carry oxygen
Causes methemoglobinemia (blue baby syndrome) in young infants
Cryptosporidium:
Cryptosporidium is a genus of apicomplexan parasitic protozoans that can cause a respiratory and gastrointestinal illness that primarily involves watery diarrhea with or without a persistent cough in both immunocompetent and immunodeficient humans.
Giardia:
is a genus of anaerobic flagellated protozoan parasites of the phylum Sarcomastigophora that colonize and reproduce in the small intestines of several vertebrates, causing giardiasis. Their life cycle alternates between an actively swimming trophozoite and an infective, resistant cyst.
Cryptosporidium: and Giardia:
Both of these parasites are resistant to water treatment, such as chlorination.
DDT, chlordane, aldrin, dieldrin, heptachlor
Nerve toxins; but low acute toxicity to humans
Persistent and bioaccumulative
Many now banned in industrialized countries
DDT used against mosquitoes in high-malaria regions; targeted indoor spraying
Organophosphate Insecticides
Also nerve toxins
Not persistent in environment
Acute toxicity to people varies widely
Carbamate Insecticides
Chemical action similar to organophosphates
Low acute toxicity to people
Sevin
Pyrethroid Insecticides
Low acute toxicity to people
Used in some consumer products (household bug sprays, mosquito repellants, head lice treatments
Permethrin, Resmesthrin
Chlorination, process and hazards
Residual Chlorine protects water in system
Chlorine combines with organic matter
Trihalomethanes: disinfection byproducts
Risk of bladder cancer with chronic exposure
Chloramine as option for residual disinfection
Irradiation of food and possible hazards:
Purpose: to kill microbes
Effective against insects, parasites, bacteria; not viruses, prions, bacterial spores, bacterial toxins
Late in processing to prevent recontamination
Negatives
Substitutes late-stage process for upstream prevention
May destroy nutrients
Creates new (radio-lytic) chemicals
FDA has approved irradiation of several foods at specific doses
Irradiated food must be so labeled and carry radura symbol→
Herbicides, types
- 46% by weight of pesticide used in US
- 2,4-D
- (Agent Orange {2,4-D} in Vietnam war)
- Nonselective herbicides
Selective herbicides
- used in OTC weedkillers
- Kill broad-leaved plants; do not kill plants in grass family (e.g., grain crops, turfgrass)
- In military context, used to kill large plants that provide cover
Nonselective herbicides—
kill all plants
Recreational activities
Target shooting, rock music; concern about use of headphones
NHANES-III:
threshold shift in 12.5% of all children tested (ages 6-19); prevalence higher in boys, higher in teenagers
Airport noise at school associated with impaired reading comprehension and long-term memory
Meat grading USDA:
Carcasses are inspected for wholesomeness
Individual cuts of meat are graded based on marbling
New voluntary certification process for labeling beef as grass-fed
Resurgence with pesticides:
Must be registered with (licensed by) EPA for specific use
If used as instructed, no harm to people (e.g., workers) or environment
Governments regulate pesticides by setting “tolerance levels”—the max levels that may be applied to crops’
Resurgence with pesticides: Limitations
Some pests resistant (genetic makeup)
Resistant individuals survive and breed
Rapid change in makeup of population toward pesticide resistant strains
Resurgence with pesticides:
Ecosystem effects
Target pest resurgence
Killing of predator of target pest allows target pest population to rebound
Secondary pest outbreak
Killing of target pest allows population explosion among competing pests
Resurgence with pesticides:
Health effects
Neurologic effects
Cancer
Reproductive effects
Most common method is sanitary landfills
hard to manage
Large quantities; produced by individual households
Varied; may include hazardous items; food waste must be removed quickly
Management options: produce less; recycle, incinerate, landfill
Recycling:
Removes glass, metal, plastics, paper from waste stream before disposal
Sorted by consumers
Or sorted at materials recovery facility
Disposal in a modern landfill: Licensed, usually operated by corporation
Lined pit Trash compacted in layers Capped with clay Systems collect & remove leachate, methane Ongoing maintenance & monitoring
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Requirements for landfill features; no open dumping
Encourages source reduction, recycling, waste-to-energy technologies
Clean Air Act
Governs incinerator emissions
Composting
Removes organic materials before waste disposal Municipal composting (yard trimmings) Household composting Outdoors, composting bin or pile Indoors, vermicomposting
Advantages to composting
increases water retention, improves soil structure, aeration.
Waste-to-energy Incineration:
Greatly decreases volume and can use the energy produced to sell in the forms of electricity or steam.
Challenges:
Metals in waste stream → particulates (or mercury vapors) in emissions; must be captured
Plastics → dioxins & furans if temperature not high enough
Fly ash and bottom ash
Sustainable development:
Development whose impact is less than the carrying capacity, and thus can be maintained over the long term.
Hazard analysis and critical control system:
HACCP
is a management system in which food safety is addressed through the analysis and control of biological, chemical, and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling, to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.
Pro: Science-based HACCP approach can be much more effective than “poke and sniff”
Con: Inspectors evaluate industry’s HAACP systems rather than inspecting food itself
Medical waste and proper disposal
Produced by health care facilities
Infectious, hazardous, radioactive
Federal incinerator emissions limits; but much regulation is state or local
Antibiotics cafos and health concerns :
Most food safety experts deplore the continued use of sub-therapeutic doses of antibiotics in livestock feed and trough water, because it promotes antibiotic resistance.
Evidence suggests that humans have been infected with antibiotic-resistant foodborne microbes
Salmonella now resistant to 5 antibiotics
Campylobacter now resistant to the new fluoroquinolone antibiotics
In 1 year of fluoroquinolone use on poultry farms, human infections with fluoroquinolone-resistant Campylobacter rose from 0% to 14%
Cafos:
A profile of CAFOs in the US
2002: 35.7 million cattle, 100 million hogs, 8.7 billion chickens slaughtered
About half of beef cattle in CAFOs of 32,000 or more; about half of swine in CAFOs of 5000 or more
80% of antibiotics in US fed to livestock
Lifelong at low doses to promote growth
Breeds superbugs resistant to multiple antibiotics
Same antibiotics used to treat illness in people, farm animals, pets
Foodborne illness: bacteria that contaminate meat at slaughter may be resistant
BOD: Biological Oxygen Demand
is the amount of dissolved oxygen needed by aerobic biological organisms to break down organic material present in a given water sample at certain temperature over a specific time period. It comes from organic matter and is important because it kills fish.
Fecal coliform Organisms:
facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growth in the presence of bile salts or similar surface agents, are oxidase negative, and produce acid and gas from lactose within 48 hours at 44 ± 0.5°C.
Fecal coliform Organisms:
facultative anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growth in the presence of bile salts or similar surface agents, are oxidase negative, and produce acid and gas from lactose within 48 hours at 44 ± 0.5°C.
The presence of fecal coliform bacteria in aquatic environments
- indicates that the water has been contaminated with the fecal material of man or other animals. At the time this occurred, the source water may have been contaminated by pathogens or disease producing bacteria or viruses which can also exist in fecal material.
