Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Female Reproductive Toxicity Of Harmful Algal Blooms-Produced Toxin Microcystin, Yingzheng Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a global emerging environmental concern; however, its impact on women’s reproductive health is poorly understood. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most common and hazardous type of HAB toxin. Using both a chronic oral exposure mouse model and an acute exposure mouse model, I found that human-relevant exposure to MC-LR could compromise follicle ovulation via affecting follicle maturation. Both in vivo mouse exposure model and encapsulated in vitro follicle growth (eIVFG) model revealed that exposure to MC-LR did not affect follicle development, but significantly reduced the expression of some follicle maturation-related genes, such as Lhcgr and …

Describing The Impact Of The Sales Of Antibiotics On The Environment And In Population Health, Andrés Gaviria-Figueroa

Theses and Dissertations

The role of antibiotics in human health is of significant importance in the advancement of the medical field. It has contributed to an improvement of the quality of life and the age expectancy of the population. Antibiotic resistance is an expected consequence of the use of antibiotics. Bacteria have developed biological mechanisms that would help them become resistant to antibiotics. The uncontrolled use of antibiotics is significantly contributing to the ability of bacteria to become resistant to those antibiotics. This study, using the model of the Socio-Ecological Coupling of Antibiotic Resistance, explains how social and environmental factors interact and impact …

Superfund And Society Benumbed: An In-Depth Look At Environmental Justice In South Carolina, Sydney A. Hampton

Senior Theses

This thesis investigates the relationship between superfund sites in minority communities and their public health through the lens of social vulnerability. Various demographic parameters were used to assess the risk associated with minority communities and exposure to hazardous waste. After investigating the history of the Environmental Justice movement, three superfund sites of interest in South Carolina, and demographic and public health data; each community was analyzed to determine association between exposure to hazardous waste and minority status. Each examined community exhibited characteristics contributing to heightened social vulnerability, potentially causing increased susceptibility to negative health outcomes from exposure to hazardous waste.

Behavioral And Physiological Effects Of Heavy Metals On Fish: A Review And Preliminary Results, Diana V. Morales

Theses and Dissertations

Pollution, specifically heavy metal pollution, in various bodies of water has been a significant issue for decades. Research has been conducted on heavy metals and their effects on the environment, larger fish species, and humans since the 1970s (Skidmore, 1964; Adeniyi et al., 2007; Adeosun et al., 2015; Bawuro et al., 2018). It is known that zinc is a neurotoxin in some species and causes harm to the environment. It is also known that it causes harm to people if it is ingested or if they are exposed to it for long periods of time (Mahurpawar, 2015; Mizuno and Kawahara, …

The Unexpected Influence On Talent From Air Pollution, Singapore Management University

Perspectives@SMU

CUHK research shows air pollution in China is driving educated and skilled company executives to move away from highly polluted areas, hampering the performance of firms located there

Rising Recess Temperatures: Quantifying The Cooling Effect Of School Parks, Nicholas Kendall, Xuhui Lee

Library/Life Sciences Undergraduate Poster Competition 2022

Many schools in the US are currently placed in urban heat islands. Children attending these schools are thought to be at greater risk to heat stress related health concerns. We used mobile heat sensors to see if there was a quantifiable difference between the playgrounds and parks within and between two schools with differing park sizes.

Implementation Of A Drive-Through Covid-19 Mass Vaccination Site: Experiences From Louvax–Broadbent In Louisville, Kentucky, Ruth Carrico, Sarah Beth Hartlage, Valenchia Brown Msn, Aprn, Fnp-C, Sarah M. Bishop, Luanne Didelot, William Hayden, Beverly Williams Coleman, Sarah Tan, Delanor Manson, Kellie Kane, Dawn Balcom, Paul Kern

The University of Louisville Journal of Respiratory Infections

Background: Response to the COVID-19 pandemic has required innovative approaches to vaccination, including methods to rapidly and safely immunize communities. A major challenge to such a response involved access to untapped healthcare worker resources. The Louisville, Kentucky, response involved the use of a large volunteer workforce to supplement local public health employees in planning and implementing a large-scale drive-through vaccination event. The objective of this manuscript was to outline processes involved in training a mass immunization workforce and implementating a large-scale COVID-19 community vaccination.

Approach: Competency-based and standardized training was provided for every volunteer before working their shift. Volunteers worked …

The Environment Under The Knife: A Review Of Current Eco-Surgical Strategies And Recommendations For Pakistan, Russell Seth Martins, Edward Anthony Joseph, Javeria Tariq, Namrah Aziz, Saulat H. Fatimi

Medical College Documents

The healthcare sector at its core is based on the fundamentals belief to do no harm and bring about betterment in the lives of the people. Paradoxically, hospitals are one of the leading contributors to pollution, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and toxic waste material worldwide. Surgical care delivery is quite resource intensive, consuming significant amount of energy and equipment as well as producing large quantities of waste. With climate change being a global priority, it is crucial that hospitals re-evaluate the environmental impact of such practices. The current review was planned to identify areas of improvement in surgical care in …

Surveillance Of Rnase P, Pmmov, And Crassphage In Wastewater As Indicators Of Human Fecal Concentration Across Urban Sewer Neighborhoods, Louisville, Kentucky., R. H. Holm, M. Nagarkar, R. A. Yeager, D. Talley, A. C. Chaney, J. P. Rai, A. Mukherjee, S. N. Rai, A. Bhatnagar, T. Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Wastewater surveillance has been widely used as a supplemental method to track the community infection levels of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. A gap exists in standardized reporting for fecal indicator concentrations, which can be used to calibrate the primary outcome concentrations from wastewater monitoring for use in epidemiological models. To address this, measurements of fecal indicator concentration among wastewater samples collected from sewers and treatment centers in four counties of Kentucky (N = 650) were examined. Results from the untransformed wastewater data over 4 months of sampling indicated that the fecal indicator concentration of human ribonuclease P (RNase …

Effects Of Foliar Application Of Zno Nanoparticles On Lentil Production, Stress Level And Nutritional Seed Quality Under Field Conditions, Marek Kolenčík, Dávid Ernst, Matej Komár, Martin Urík, Martin Šebesta, Ľuba Ďurišová, Marek Bujdoš, Ivan Černý, Juraj Chlpík, Martin Juriga, Ramakanth Illa, Yu Qian, Huan Feng, Gabriela Kratošová, Karla Čech Barabaszová, Ladislav Ducsay, Elena Aydın

Department of Earth and Environmental Studies Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nanotechnology offers new opportunities for the development of novel materials and strategies that improve technology and industry. This applies especially to agriculture, and our previous field studies have indicated that zinc oxide nanoparticles provide promising nano-fertilizer dispersion in sustainable agriculture. However, little is known about the precise ZnO-NP effects on legumes. Herein, 1 mg·L⁻¹ ZnO-NP spray was dispersed on lentil plants to establish the direct NP effects on lentil production, seed nutritional quality, and stress response under field conditions. Although ZnO-NP exposure positively affected yield, thousand-seed weight and the number of pods per plant, there was no statistically significant …

Banned But Still Toxic: Gail Carlson Serves Notice That Chemical In Ski Racers' Waxes Still Lurk At The Starting Line, Bill Donahue

Colby Magazine

We live in a chemical world, exposing ourselves all day long to scary toxins created in laboratories—to the traces of herbicide that lurk in our water, to the carcinogenic Teflon coating our cookware, and to the pesticides sprayed on our vegetables.

The Effect Of A Vegetation Buffer On Sound Levels, Madison Cicha

Posters-at-the-Capitol

Noise pollution is a growing concern in the environmental health community. Unlike other common exposures, such as air and water pollution, noise is uniquely difficult for an individual to protect themselves from. Studies have shown multiple adverse health outcomes resulting from exposure to noise pollution, including hearing impairment, negative social behavior and annoyance, sleep disturbance, along with a strong association between noise pollution and high cardiovascular risk. It is important, then, to look for solutions to this exposure. This study is designed to assess the effects of a tree barrier in reducing traffic noise. Noise monitoring was conducted at Saint …

Wastewater-Based Estimation Of Substances Discharged At The Rest Areas Along The State Highways In Kentucky, Katherine E. Gray, Eugene Shin, Tyler Whitt, Andrew Windhorst, Houston Hampton, Chris Delcher, Bikram Subedi

Posters-at-the-Capitol

The availability of licit and illicit stimulants and its adverse consequences on public health has emerged as a major drug threat to communities in the United States. Despite several drug-involved traffic incidents along the interstate highways, this report represents the first comprehensive and quantitative report of drugs discharged at the rest areas along the interstate highways. In this National Institute of Justice-funded study, the amount of several discharged drugs focusing on stimulants but also including opioids and prescription antipsychotics are being measured in raw wastewater collected from five rest areas and a truck servicing facility using a state-of-the-art mass …

Pfas Environmental Contamination In Central Maine, Megan H. Andersen

Honors Theses

PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are toxic, persistent, and bioaccumulative chemicals that are used in a variety of consumer products and industrial applications. Paper mills across the state of Maine have used PFAS in their industrial paper making processes, and their wastes often flow for treatment into municipal sewage treatment facilities. PFAS contaminated municipal wastewater from the general use of PFAS consumer products are also processed by these plants. Liquid waste is condensed into solid waste septage and sludge, and in what was thought to be an environmentally friendly repurposing practice, municipal sludge and septage has been spread on plots …

Recyclage Primaire Des Matières Résiduelles Électroniques Au Québec : Portrait De La Santé Et De La Sécurité Du Travail Et Appréciation Du Risque Sanitaire, Sabrina Gravel, Bouchra Bakhiyi, Joseph Zayed, Sylvie Gravel, Daniel Côté, Brigitte Roberge, Jacques Lavoie, Loïc Wingert, France Labrèche

Rapports de recherche scientifique

En raison de l’utilisation croissante de composants et d’appareils électriques et électroniques, de même que de leur durée de vie relativement courte, la quantité de matières résiduelles électroniques ne cesse d’augmenter. Conséquemment, le nombre d’entreprises spécialisées dans le recyclage électronique (e-recyclage) est en nette croissance au Québec, comme ailleurs dans le monde. Ces entreprises emploient des travailleurs qui ont pour tâche de démonter les appareils afin d’en trier les composants qui seront subséquemment valorisés ou éliminés de manière sécuritaire. Ces tâches peuvent cependant entraîner l’exposition des travailleurs à un mélange de substances potentiellement toxiques, comprenant entre autres des poussières, des …

2021 Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative Annual Report, Aubrey Larsen

Extension Research

This report details the activities and accomplishments of the Colorado Plateau Dark Sky Cooperative in 2021.

Application Of High-Intensity Ultrasound To Improve Food Processing Efficiency: A Review, Prasad Chavan, Pallavi Sharma, Sajeev Rattan Sharma, Tarsem Chand Mittal, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

The use of non-thermal processing technologies has grown in response to an ever-increasing demand for high-quality, convenient meals with natural taste and flavour that are free of chemical additions and preservatives. Food processing plays a crucial role in addressing food security issues by reducing loss and controlling spoilage. Among the several non-thermal processing methods, ultrasound technology has shown to be very beneficial. Ultrasound processing, whether used alone or in combination with other methods, improves food quality significantly and is thus considered beneficial. Cutting, freezing, drying, homogenization, foaming and defoaming, filtration, emulsification, and extraction are just a few of the applications …

Advances In Emerging Technologies For The Decontamination Of The Food Contact Surfaces, Shubham Sharma, Swarna Jaiswal, Brendan Duffy, Amit Jaiswal

Articles

Foodborne pathogens could be transferred to food from food contact surfaces contaminated by poor hygiene or biofilm formation. The food processing industry has various conditions favouring microbes' adherence, such as moisture, nutrients, and the microbial inoculums obtained from the raw material. The function of the ideal antimicrobial surface is preventing initial attachment of the microbes, killing the microbes or/and removing the dead bacteria. This review article provides detail about the challenges food industries are facing with respect to food contact materials. It also summarises the merits and demerits of several sanitizing methods developed for industrial use. Furthermore, it reviews the …

Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin Farzana Begum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Akwesasne reservation along the St. Lawrence River has experienced significant exposure to several persistent organic pollutants due to rapid industrialization. The Aluminum Company of America, General Motors, and Reynolds Metals operated aluminum foundries that used polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) as hydraulic fluids, which contaminated the community environment, the soil, air and water, and community food sources with PCBs. We administered the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II (WHODAS II) to 119 Akwesasne Mohawk adults residing along the St. Lawrence River in New York. We used exploratory factor analysis to summarize the 36- items comprising the WHODAS II. The 7 …

Trace Elements In Nails And Anemia In Children Living Along The Interoceanic Highway, Madre De Dios, Peru / Narrative Competence And Cognitive Mapping As A Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy In The Education Of Emergent Bilinguals, Tia Marks

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Anthropogenic changes in the Peruvian Amazon, including deforestation, highway development, agriculture, and artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM), have increased community concern about potential exposures toxic trace elements (TTE) including arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), mercury (Hg), and lead (Pb). Such exposures can lead to detrimental health effects in children, such as developmental delays and anemia. The overarching goal of my dissertation was to understand exposure to both toxic and essential (manganese (Mn), selenium (Se), and zinc (Zn)) trace elements, anemia prevalence, and the associations between hemoglobin (Hb) levels and trace elements. To do this, I leveraged existing data from a …

Disability In An American Indian Community : Prevalence, Distribution, And The Role Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls, Thoin F. Begum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Phthalates have been implicated as reproductive toxicants in animal models and in human populations. This study examined associations between potential exposure sources and urinary phthalate concentrations among couples undergoing infertility treatment. Women (n=56) and their male partners (n=43) undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) were enrolled in a prospective cohort investigation of environmental chemicals and IVF outcomes at an academic medical center. On the day of oocyte retrieval, participants provided urine samples and completed questionnaires detailing use of personal care products (PCPs), and consumption of medications, foods, and beverages in the preceding 24-hours. Urine was analyzed for MEP, MBP, MPP, MHxP, …

Developing High-Resolution Meteorological Datasets To Assess The Short-Term Association Between Meteorological Factors And Green Space And Mental Disorders, Xinlei Deng

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Global climate change is linked to the frequency and intensity of local climate extremes such as heatwaves, cold spells, and flooding. Scientific evidence indicates that heatwaves and higher ambient temperature could increase the risk of hospital admission and emergency department (ED) visits for mental disorders (MDs). On the other hand, urban green space is considered a way to reduce heat island effects and provide comfort for area residents. However, there still exist huge research gaps. Except for temperature, few studies have examined how other meteorological factors (relative humidity (RH), solar radiation (SR), heat index (HI), and rainfall) are associated with …

Endocrine Disruptors: Challenges And Future Directions In Epidemiologic Research, V. Ho, L. Pelland-St-Pierre, S. Gravel, M. F. Bouchard, M.-A. Verner, F. Labrèche

Études primaires

Public concern about the impact of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) on both humans and the environment is growing steadily. Epidemiologic research provides key information towards our understanding of the relationship between environmental exposures like EDCs and human health outcomes. Intended for researchers in disciplines complementary to epidemiology, this paper highlights the importance and challenges of epidemiologic research in order to present the key elements pertaining to the design and interpretation of an epidemiologic study on EDCs.

The conduct of observational studies on EDCs derives from a thoughtful research question, which will help determine the subsequent methodological choices surrounding the careful …

Microbial Contamination And Metabolite Exposure Assessment During Waste And Recyclable Material Collection, Fabiola Salambaga, Loïc Wingert, Isabelle Valois, Nancy Lacombe, François Gouin, Julien Trépanier, Maximilien Debia, Ewelina Soszczyńska, Magdalena Twarużek, Robert Kosicki, Marta Dias, Susana Viegas, Liliana Caetano, Carla Viegas, Geneviève Marchand

Études primaires

Waste workers are exposed to bioaerosols when handling, lifting and dumping garbage. Bioaerosol exposure has been linked to health problems such as asthma, airway irritant symptoms, infectious, gastrointestinal and skin diseases, and cancer. Our objective was to characterize the exposure of urban collectors and drivers to inhalable bioaerosols and to measured the cytotoxic effect of air samples in order to evaluate their health risk.

Personal and ambient air sampling were conducted during the summer of 2019. Workers from 12 waste trucks collecting recyclables, organic waste or compost were evaluated. Bacteria and fungi were cultured, molecular biology methods were used to …

Emerging Technologies For The Production Of Nanocellulose From Lignocellulosic Biomass, Dileswar Pradhan, Amit Jaiswal, Swarna Jaiswal

Articles

Nanocellulose is a unique and promising natural nanomaterial and has gained significant attention due to its applications in several important areas. Thus, researchers are continuously looking for the most efficient, sustainable, economically viable, and environmentally friendly production technologies to fulfil its growing demand. Conventional production technologies, which include various physical, chemical, and physicochemical methods, are currently inadequate for this purpose and have several limitations such as long processing time, high energy consumption, low recovery of nanocellulose, and many others. To overcome these shortcomings, scientists have investigated the prospect of utilizing emerging processing technologies such as microwave irradiation, deep eutectic solvent, …

Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability Module: Activity Booklet, Fozia Parveen, Sara Hassan, Subhan Khan

Books

Dear readers (teachers, parents, and students), Thank you for accessing our activity booklet. The information booklet introduced concepts relating to climate change and environmental sustainability. In this booklet several cross cutting activities on various themes have been presented. The booklet contains ready-made activities containing but not limited to comic strips, experiments, conversations, writing, simple tag, cut and paste as well as research activities. We hope you enjoy, adapt and implement these activities in your community.

Climate Change And Environmental Sustainability Module: Information Booklet, Fozia Parveen, Sara Hassan, Subhan Khan

Books

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Environmental Implications Of The Microbiome Of Canals In Bangkok, Thailand, Emma Tao

Scripps Senior Theses

The canals of Bangkok, Thailand hold significant economic and social value, yet the increasing urbanization of the city has resulted in increased water pollution. Agricultural runoff and urban waste contribute to the degradation of the water quality, which has impaired its safe usage by the people of the city. This study focused on analyzing the microbiome of the water in the canals in correlation with the surrounding environment, both in and out of the water. Ten sites along the Bangkok canals were analyzed. DNA was isolated for the sequencing of the 16s rRNA gene to determine the microbial diversity of …

Circling The Drain: The Extinction Crisis And The Future Of Humanity, Rodolfo Dirzo, Gerardo Ceballos, Paul R. Ehrlich

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Humanity has triggered the sixth mass extinction episode since the beginning of the Phanerozoic. The complexity of this extinction crisis is centered on the intersection of two complex adaptive systems: human culture and ecosystem functioning, although the significance of this intersection is not properly appreciated. Human beings are part of biodiversity and elements in a global ecosystem. Civilization, and perhaps even the fate of our species, is utterly dependent on that ecosystem’s proper functioning, which society is increasingly degrading. The crisis seems rooted in three factors. First, relatively few people globally are aware of its existence. Second, most people who …

The Improvement Of The Regional Regulatory Governance System For Radiation Risk Management: Spatial Analysis On Radiation Hazards In South Korea, Sangwon Lee, Jaewon Lim, Chan Goo Yi

Public Policy and Leadership Faculty Research

Since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, nuclear regulators have strength-ened safety standards or decided to decommission the nuclear power plant. The vast majority of radiation is from nuclear power plants, so safety measures are also concentrated in nuclear power plants. Radioactive materials located much closer to the people are scattered around the nation. However, it is difficult for citizens to predict the radiation risk around them because regulatory agencies do not provide adequate information on radiation. The main goal of this study is to analyze the spatial distribution patterns of radioactive materials that serve as indicators for potential …