Module 9 (Environmental Health) Flashcards
What are major concerns of environmental health?
clean water supply
clean air
safe food
pollution
chemical exposure
radiation exposure
safe disposal of wastes
climate change
noise control
What is the mission of the Environmental Protection Agency?
The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.
EPA works to ensure that:
Americans have clean air, land and water;
National efforts to reduce environmental risks are based on the best available scientific information;
Federal laws protecting human health and the environment are administered and enforced fairly, effectively and as Congress intended;
Environmental stewardship is integral to U.S. policies concerning natural resources, human health, economic growth, energy, transportation, agriculture, industry, and international trade, and these factors are similarly considered in establishing environmental policy;
All parts of society–communities, individuals, businesses, and state, local and tribal governments–have access to accurate information sufficient to effectively participate in managing human health and environmental risks;
Contaminated lands and toxic sites are cleaned up by potentially responsible parties and revitalized; and
Chemicals in the marketplace are reviewed for safety.
What is radiation?
Radiation is the emission of energy as electromagnetic waves or moving subatomic particles. Natural radiation comes from many naturally occurring radioactive materials found in soil, water, air and in the body. Every day, people inhale and ingest forms of radiation from air, food and water.
Today, the most common artificial sources of human exposure to radiation are X-ray machines and radiopharmaceuticals used for diagnostic or radiotherapy and other medical devices.
Exposure to radiation can result from natural sources (e.g. radon in homes), planned (medical, occupational) or accidental situations. Exposure may be external (with or without contamination of skin, hair, clothes), internal (inhalation, ingestion or via a contaminated wound), or a combination of both.
What is Radon Gas?
Radon gas is produced by the natural radioactive decay of uranium
Radon is an odorless, invisible, radioactive gas naturally released from rocks, soil, and water. Radon can get into homes and buildings through small cracks or holes and build up in the air. Over time, breathing in high levels of radon can cause lung cancer.
What is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act?
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 is a United States law signed on August 14, 2008 by President George W. Bush.
This critical new law makes consumer products safer by requiring that toys and infant products be tested to mandatory standards before they are sold, and by practically eliminating lead and banning phthalates in children’s products.
What are polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)?
PCBs are a group of man-made organic chemicals consisting of carbon, hydrogen and chlorine atoms.
PCBs belong to a broad family of man-made organic chemicals known as chlorinated hydrocarbons. PCBs were domestically manufactured from 1929 until manufacturing was banned in 1979. They have a range of toxicity and vary in consistency from thin, light-colored liquids to yellow or black waxy solids. Due to their non-flammability, chemical stability, high boiling point and electrical insulating properties, PCBs were used in hundreds of industrial and commercial applications including:
Electrical, heat transfer and hydraulic equipment
Plasticizers in paints, plastics and rubber products
Pigments, dyes and carbonless copy paper
Other industrial applications
They have been shown to cause cancer in animals as well as a number of serious non-cancer health effects in animals, including: effects on the immune system, reproductive system, nervous system, endocrine system and other health effects. Studies in humans support evidence for potential carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic effects of PCBs.
What is another name for a factory farm?
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs)
What are CAFOs?
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are agricultural meat, dairy, or egg facilities where animals are kept and raised in confinement. Instead of grazing or eating in pastures, fields, or on range lands, animals are given food.
In CAFOs, animals, feed, waste, and production operations are all confined to a small area of land. In 2012, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that CAFOs made up about 15% of the total animal feeding operations in the United States.
The Environmental Protection Agency defines CAFOs as livestock operations where the animals are confined for at least 45 days in a 12-month period and don’t have access to grass or other vegetation during the normal growing season.
What are health concerns related to CAFOs?
The concentrated design of CAFOs can pose many challenges, including how to handle animal waste, as well as the associated odors and noise.
If they aren’t properly managed, located, and monitored, CAFOs can cause problems both locally and for the surrounding community. Some concerns include:
Changes in air quality
Changes in groundwater and surface water quality
Changes in land use
Changes in the quantity and quality of nearby drinking water wells
Damage to local roads from heavy truck traffic
Increased odors and noise
What is the Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976?
The Toxic Substances Control Act of 1976 provides EPA with authority to require reporting, record-keeping and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures. Certain substances are generally excluded from TSCA, including, among others, food, drugs, cosmetics and pesticides.
What is the FIRFA Act of 1947?
The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) provides for federal regulation of pesticide distribution, sale, and use. All pesticides distributed or sold in the United States must be registered (licensed) by EPA. Before EPA may register a pesticide under FIFRA, the applicant must show, among other things, that using the pesticide according to specifications “will not generally cause unreasonable adverse effects on the environment.’’
How does FIRFA define “unreasonable adverse effects on the environment?”
(1) any unreasonable risk to man or the environment, taking into account the economic, social, and environmental costs and benefits of the use of any pesticide, or (2) a human dietary risk from residues that result from a use of a pesticide in or on any food inconsistent with the standard under section 408 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.’’
What is the National Toxicology Program?
The National Toxicology Program (NTP) within HHS is an interagency program whose mission is to evaluate agents of public health concern by developing and applying tools of modern toxicology and molecular biology. The program maintains an objective, science-based approach in dealing with critical issues in toxicology and is committed to using the best science available to prioritize, design, conduct, and interpret its studies. To that end, the NTP is continually evolving to remain at the cutting edge of scientific research and to develop and apply new technologies.
How many chemicals are registered for use in the US - and how many more are being developed?
More than 80,000 chemicals are registered for use in the United States. Each year, an estimated 2,000 new ones are introduced for use in such everyday items as foods, personal care products, prescription drugs, household cleaners, and lawn care products. We do not know the effects of many of these chemicals on our health, yet we may be exposed to them while manufacturing, distributing, using, and disposing of them or when they become pollutants in our air, water, or soil. Relatively few chemicals are thought to pose a significant risk to human health. However, safeguarding public health depends on identifying both what the effects of these chemicals are and at what levels of exposure they may become hazardous to humans—that is, understanding their toxicology.
What is Bisphenol A?
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical produced in large quantities for use primarily in the production of polycarbonate plastics. It is found in various products including shatterproof windows, eyewear, water bottles, and epoxy resins that coat some metal food cans, bottle tops, and water supply pipes.
Bisphenol A can leach into food from the protective internal epoxy resin coatings of canned foods and from consumer products such as polycarbonate tableware, food storage containers, water bottles, and baby bottles. The degree to which BPA leaches from polycarbonate bottles into liquid may depend more on the temperature of the liquid or bottle, than the age of the container. BPA can also be found in breast milk.
One reason people may be concerned about BPA is because human exposure to BPA is widespread. The 2003-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found detectable levels of BPA in 93% of 2517 urine samples from people six years and older. The CDC NHANES data are considered representative of exposures in the United States. Another reason for concern, especially for parents, may be because some animal studies report effects in fetuses and newborns exposed to BPA.
Describe environmental disease burden by age and disease type
Describe environmental disease burden by region and disease type
Describe the path of environmental exposures
