Week 8: Hazardous wastes + safe foods Flashcards
Do not need to know dates of at least the first half of legislations
Solid and hazardous wastes:
1) How long is the garbage barge travel time?
2) Americans dispose of _______ million tons of municipal solid waste each year
*Does not include construction, demolition debris, automobile bodies, municipal sludges or industrial process wastes
3) Why do we care?
1) 5-month journey
2) 262 million
3) Rats, flies and diseases
Clean Air Act: most incinerators illegal
Clean Water Act: outlawed dumping into rivers and lakes
Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972: Ocean Dumping illegal
Sanitary Landfills:
1) What do they require?
2) What allows for this?
3) What happens when at capacity?
1) Wastes to be confined in a sealed area
2) Dry, impervious clay soil, lined with plastic, vents for hazardous gases
3) It’s covered with a 2-foot layer of soil
1) What is the cost to dispose of waste called?
2) What is the average cost?
3) Give an example of a former landfill and what’s being done with it
1) “Tipping Fee”
2) $60.34/ton
3) Fresh Kills Landfill on Staten Island
1948-2001
-Plan is to be a park in 2036
Alternatives to Landfills:
1) 53% of municipal solid waste is disposed in landfills
2) Why is Reduce, Reuse and Recycle so important?
1) 53%
2) Consumer behavior holds the key to reducing waste
Alternatives to Landfills:
In 2015, 35% of municipal waste is recycled or composted nationwide
Refundable deposits
10 states
1) Define hazardous wastes
2) What are 2 special categories?
1) Toxic to humans, plants or animals; likely to explode or are corrosive
2) Radioactive wastes
Infectious medical wastes
1978 “Love Canal”:
1) Where was it located?
2) What very noticeable effects did it cause? Why?
3) What serious effects did it cause?
4) Why did these effects happen?
1) Niagara Falls, NY
2) Chemicals would seep into basements. Children developed rashes and watery eyes
3) Cancer, birth defects, miscarriages
4) 200 different chemicals found: benzene, pesticides, carcinogens…
What regulates under law wastes? What 3 things does this include?
1) RCRA
2) Petroleum refining
Pesticide manufacturing
Pharmaceutical products
1) What are the 2 key elements of hazardous waste management?
2) What do these do?
Tracking and permitting
Mandates paperwork document the progress
Has to have a permit from the EPA or state
Reducing Hazards
Recycle, reuse and reduce
treat at high temperatures, special containers under steal and concrete
“Superfund”:
1) What did the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act require? What year?
2) Who paid for this?
3) Was it reauthorized? If not, why? If so, when?
1) 1980: Law required EPA to compile a priority list of waste sites
1.6 billion over a 5-year period
Paid for by tax on industry
Reauthorized in 1986 and 1990
What has been the controversy about “superfunding”? (4 things)
Cleanup has been slow
New sites get added more than old sites removed
Hard to pinpoint who is liable
Where to put it?
1) It’s challenge to regulate millions of restaurants, grocery stores, vending machines, cafeterias etc. Why?
2) What did the 1906 federal food & drugs act do?
1) Food can be altered with cheaper materials and toxic additives
2) Provisions to control manufacturing, labeling and sale of drugs
1) What organization was created to oversee the regulation of food and drugs?
2) What else does it now also oversee?
1) Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
2) Later cosmetics, medical devices, feed and drugs for animals
1) What causes food-born illness?
2) What can allow this to happen?
Contamination of foods with bacteria, viruses or parasites
Due to breakdowns in sanitation and proper food handling practices.
1) What 3 things is salmonella common in? What is salmonella’s weakness?
2) Escherichia coli 0157:H7 is widespread in what 4 things?
1) Common in poultry, meat and eggs; killed if properly cooked
2) Beef, lettuce, raw milk, and alfalfa sprouts
Food-Born illness causes:
1) What causes Hep A? What is a key fact about it?
2) What details food-borne outbreaks?
1) Poor hygiene; contagious 10-14 days prior to symptoms
2) National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS)
True or false: we don’t have a central location to control everything regarding food issues
True
What creates inconsistencies in food issues in the US?
“Patchwork” legislation, division of responsibility and lack of coordination create inconsistencies
FDA: Overall responsibility for food safety regulation in the United States (seafood and produce)
USDA: Regulatory responsibilities for meat, poultry, and eggs in the United States
Can ban importing meet and poultry from countries with inferior food safety sytems
State/local:
State and local health departments conduct restaurant inspections, outbreak investigations
Consumer:
Consumer protection agencies provide education in safe food purchasing, preparation, and storage
EPA: Regulation of pesticide usage and the establishment of water quality standards
CDC: Not a regulatory agency
Responsible for ongoing surveillance and acute investigations in collaboration with state and local health departments
Temperature:
1) What temp allows for safe food?
2) What regulates it?
Below 40F or heated above 140F (meat dependent)
Regulated by periodic inspections of stores, restaurants and institutions
radiation
Uses radiation to kill contaminants
Used for 40 years
Kills pests in dried herbs, spices and tea
Controls parasites in pork
Reduces salmonella and e.coli
Has to have a label on food
What group was created in the 1960s to ensure foods for astronauts were safe?
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP)
Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP):
1) What does it NOT rely on?
2) What does it focus on?
3) What does it require?
1) Does not rely on inspections
Focuses on procedures, prioritizing food businesses to identify potential sources of contamination
Requires analysis of every step in food production, processing and preparation
Food Safety Modernization Act (2010) requires what?
Farmers and food processors to maintain distribution records
Foreign food suppliers to meet the same safety standards as domestic suppliers
50% of fruits, 20% of vegetables and 80% of seafood are imported
Regular inspection of all food processing facilities
Reduced regulation of locally produced food based on evidence that locally produced foods result in considerably less foodborne illness
What did the Food Safety Modernization Act (2010) ensure by giving the FDA and USDA more authority?
Ensures the ability to track foods including origin and date of production in case an outbreak source needs to be identified
1) What group utilizes public health labs to do DNA “fingerprinting” of all food-borne bacteria?
2) Where is it located?
1) PulseNet
2) Labs in all 50 states and Canada
1) What is Food Net?
2) What does it include?
1) Unlike passive surveillance, public health officials proactively seek out potential cases.
2) Investigators at the USDA, FDA, heath departments and the CDC
The first step of Foodborne Outbreak Investigation is detecting a possible outbreak. What is the difference between a cluster and outbreak?
Cluster: a larger number of people than expected have the same illness in a given time period and area
When a cluster is determined and they have something in common to explain why they have the same illness, this is called an outbreak
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Defining and finding cases
Often, initial recognized illnesses are only part of the outbreak
Case definition: a set of criteria used to define which persons will be considered to have a disease as part of an outbreak
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Generating hypotheses about likely sources
When food exposure is suspected, investigators narrow the possible list of foods
Health officials interview persons who are/were ill regarding location, foods consumed, etc.
. Testing the Hypothesis
Case-control studies: most common study type conducted
Investigators analyze information collected from ill and well people to determine whether ill persons were more likely than those who did not get sick to have eaten a certain food or report a particular exposure
Food testing
- Finding the point of contamination and the source of the outbreak
If a likely source is identified, investigators try to determine how the food was contaminated
Source traceback: investigators work to find out where the contamination occurred and examine each step in the process of the food preparation
Food safety standards limits contaminants and additives. Define contaminants.
Hair, dirt, rodent feces, insect parts
Additives and Contaminants:
Pesticide residue
1996 EPA established a “tolerance level” for residues
Damages endocrine system, developing fetuses, infants and young children
Additives and Contaminants: hormones + abx
1) What do antibiotics lead to?
2) What was used to promote growth? Why was it banned and when?
3) What is the exception to the ban?
1) Leads to antibiotic resistance
2) Estrogen to promote growth
Can lead to cancers and premature menarche
Banned in 1970s
3) Dairy cows
Food safety standards limits contaminants and additives; give examples of contaminants and additives
Food coloring
Some are carcinogenic
Not all are bad
Iodine in salt
Vitamin D in milk
Folic acid in flour/rice
Vitamin B in bread
Give 4 examples of additives that aren’t bad
Iodine in salt
Vitamin D in milk
Folic acid in flour/rice
Vitamin B in bread
What is an example of a bad additive?
Food coloring
What can cause pellagra?
Niacin deficiency
1) What is the FDA responsible for regarding drugs?
2) What does the FDA regulate abt cosmetics?
1) Responsible for prescription and over-the-counter drugs, but does not test the drug (companies submit a report)
2) Loosely regulates; Does not need preapproval
Other than color additives
Warning label if not tested
1) What are the steps of getting a new drug approved by the FDA?
2) Can approval be revoked?
1) File a New Drug Application (NDA)
-Three phases of clinical trials
-Phase 4: surveillance
2) Can revoke approval on evidence
What is phase 4 of approving a new drug? What can happen here?
Surveillance (technically this is post-approval); Can revoke approval on evidence
The Dalkon Shield (an IUD) produced thousands of cases of infection and infertility
Led to increased regulation of medical devices in the mid-1970s
Thalidomide (sedative used for treating morning sickness in pregnant women that was causing birth defects in other countries) approval was delayed in the early 1960s.
In response to this, the Kefauver-Harris Drug Amendments were established (to the FD&C)
Led to mandated efficacy testing before a drug could be approved and marketed
Served as the foundation of today’s drug approval process
Administered to two different species at levels well above the equivalent dose expected to be used in humans
Studies done to detect cancer, teratogenicity, and effects on fertility and on drug-sensitive organs such as kidneys, liver, and bone marrow
Effects on animal may fail to detect the effects on humans or demonstrate high-dose effects
Example: thalidomide did not demonstrate the severe limb shortening in animal testing
Humans may absorb, metabolize, and excrete drugs differently than animal species (so not a perfect method)
Initial administration of a drug to human beings
Focuses on the pharmacology of the drug (absorption, metabolism, and excretion)
Establishes the dosage range and route of administration to be used in subsequent studies
Looks at safety issues
Capable of identifying common and series side effects
Focuses on the effects on organs that are known to be especially sensitive to the actions of drugs
Liver, kidney, bone marrow, testicles
May focus on expected effects based on the known actions of a particular class of drugs or a particular drug
Example: when testing a new antidepressant, examine the electrical conduction system of the heart because antidepressants are known to produce arrhythmias
Duration of the exposure to the drug likely short and the study is usually small (*no pregnant women or young children)
Major limitation:
wide rage of special sensitivities to drug actions that occur among a small number of people
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Phase 3: randomized controlled trials (*gold standard for establishing efficacy for one particular indication)
Designed around the specific requirements for determining efficacy for a particular disease on a particular type of patient
Key limitation of randomized controlled trials: establishing safety
*Trials are too small, too short, too simple
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New drugs are approved based on data collected in preclinical testing and phases 1,2,3
Phases 1-3 do not establish that the drug has effectiveness
phase 4
Spontaneous reporting system:
Prescribers and patients are encouraged (not a requirement) to report side effects to the FDA
Example: new rotavirus vaccine caused intussusception in a small number of cases a few weeks after it was given
Convincing evidence that the intussusception was due to the vaccine included:
unusual nature of the side effect, dramatic presentation, and clear time relationship with the vaccine
phase 4
*Patients who receive a new treatment over the first few months to few years after the initial marketing approval need to be thought of as part of the experiment.
FDA approval implies the new drug may be __________ and ______________ for a particular indication.
advertised and marketed
FDA approval implies what 3 things about a new drug?
1) May be advertised and marketed for a particular indication.
2) May be used by prescribing clinicians who have the authority to use the treatment for indications or at dosages not specifically approved by the FDA
3) Off-label prescribing: The use of FDA approved drugs for indications or at dosages not approved by the FDA
Food and Drug Labeling and Advertising
1) What required accurate labeling?
2) What required labels on prepared foods?
3) When did we add trans fats to labels? What year were they banned from food?
1)
Food and Drug Labeling and Advertising:
1) What does the FDA oversee? How is this different from the FTC?
2) What forbids the FDA from testing herbs and food supplements?
3) In what year did a law pass requiring supplement manufactures to report serious adverse effects to the FDA?
1) FDA also oversees advertising on prescription drugs
Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Oversees advertising with OTC drugs
2) 1994 Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act
3) 2007
Politics of the FDA
Regulates products that account for more than 25% of all consumer dollars spent in the U.S.
Industries place political pressures on Congress/White House
Politics of the FDA
“Too Slow” in approving new drugs
Importing from other countries
Highest is China and India (60%) of generic and OTC drugs used in the W.S.
Does not undergo the same inspections
2008 Heparin recall from China
Killed 62 people
