Environmental Health Commons^™

The Clean Air Act: How It Can Be Localized To Promote Both Environmental And Social Justice, Tate Kirk

Seattle Journal of Technology, Environmental & Innovation Law

Legislators attempt to achieve intended goals by enacting laws that provide for regulatory enforcement. However, many times laws are unable to achieve their stated goals and in some ways may create new or exacerbate existing issues. Luckily, upon review, many of these issues can be fixed with quick modifications to either their implementation or enforcement mechanisms. In its current form, the Clean Air Act does not effectively account for differences in regional climate patterns, and, moreover, it perpetuates environmental injustice. If local governments were given more autonomy to enforce the Clean Air Act, they could shape its enforcement to more …

Spatiotemporal Patterns Of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-P-Dioxins And Dibenzofurans And Dioxin-Like Polychlorinated Biphenyls In Foodstuffs In Air Quality Regions In Taiwan, Ching-Chang Lee, Wei-Hsiang Chang, Hsin-Tang Lin, Jung-Wei Chang

Journal of Food and Drug Analysis

High-fat food intake is the main source of dioxin-like compounds for humans, such as consumption of meat, dairy and eggs, and seafood products. Fruits, vegetables, and cereals have relatively low levels of dioxin-like compounds, but because of high consumption they also contribute to the food-borne intake. It is necessary to clarify dietary dioxin exposure affected by different food contamination levels and dietary habits among different geographic areas. We aimed to evaluate chronic dietary PCDD/Fs and DL-PCBs exposure in 725 individual foods in 14 categories in 6 Taiwan air quality regions (AQRs) and a total of 2,441 foods from 2004 and …

Using Cold War-Era Satellite Imagery To Inform Historic Land Cover Classification, Nicholas Hamp-Adams

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

No abstract provided.

Land Application Of Sewage Sludge: Physiological And Biochemical Response Of The Rio Grande Tomato, Nabil Charchar, Ali Elafri, Redwane Rais, Halassi Ismahen

Journal of Bioresource Management

Treated wastewater produces sewage sludge as a by-product that may have beneficial implications on agricultural practices. The effects of sludge amendments on growth, morphological and biochemical characteristics of the agro-industrial Tomato cultivar Rio Grande were observed. A pot culture experiment was carried out during 4 months (16 February 2019 to 18 June 2019), at an experimental green house in the locality of Salah Soufi, Guelma, north-eastern Algeria. There were significant differences between soil and sewage sludge samples. Total nitrogen (20.58 mg/kg) was more available in sewage sludge than in soil (N = 2.09 ± 0.3 mg/kg). In contrast, sludge …

The Influence Of Climate Change On Disease And Public Health, Natalie Petruzelli

The Review: A Journal of Undergraduate Student Research

This paper attempts to analyze the growing influence of climate change on the spread and development of diseases, as well as how this continues to affect public health and medical administrations around the world. The prevalence of airborne, waterborne, and vector-borne diseases have been found to be exacerbated as a result of climate change. In addition to this, the paper addresses the reemergence of eliminated diseases and ancient pathogens due to changing temperatures and weather patterns. Finally, the effect of these different conditions on national and international public health organizations and policies is analyzed, including projections on what can be …

Investigating The Effects Of Temperature On Lesser Celandine, Regina Bellian

The Downtown Review

This paper explores invasive species Ficaria verna (Lesser celandine) and the effects of temperature on its growth. Trials were completed with two treatments, 13OC cold temperature and 20OC ambient temperature. Germinated bulbils of Lesser celandine were planted on February 15, 2017 and placed in their respective growing chambers. The plants were watered weekly and monitored for growth until harvest on March 29, 2017. Upon harvest, the plants’ height, largest leaf diameter and biomass were measured after extraction from soil and the removal of the leftover soil debris. Average height was found to be 11.66cm for the cold treatment and 5.14cm …

The Influence Of Acidification And Copper Exposure On Copper Accumulation And Anti-Oxidant Enzyme Responses In The Pond Snail, Lymnaea Stagnalis, Gretchen K. Bielmyer-Fraser, Francis Alip, Ruth Adeyemi, Nolan Carney, Fasinia Santiago, Kyla Siemen, Kiley Donaghy

Georgia Journal of Science

Atmospheric carbon dioxide is rising at an accelerated rated due to increased anthropogenic activities. Metals have also been a noted problem; however, little research has addressed combined exposure of both pollutants to sensitive, calcifying organisms in freshwater habitats. This study examined copper accumulation (over 7 d) and activity of the antioxidant enzymes, catalase and glutathione peroxidase (over 2 d), in the freshwater common pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis, after exposure to ambient and increased (2000 µatm) CO₂ and copper (control, 5, and 20 µg/L). Results demonstrated increased copper accumulation in soft tissue of snails exposed to copper; however, exposure to …

Assessing Microplastic Pollution In Four Mile Run, An Urban Stream In Northern Virginia, Kurt Moser, Tessa Naughton-Rockwell, Louisa Wang, Ethan Litmans, Amanda Manoogian

Virginia Journal of Science

Microplastics are pollutants of concern in waterways and oceans for their persistence and impact on aquatic life and food webs. This study demonstrates a low-cost land-based sampling method to assess the extent of microplastic pollution found in Four Mile Run, an urban stream in Northern Virginia. Microplastic particle counts in environmental and treated wastewater ranged from 0.01-0.24 particles L^-1 (mean 0.08 particles L^-1) and from 2 to 446 µg L^-1 (mean 70 µg L^-1), with fibers found to be the most common microplastic category. Treated wastewater effluent was found to be a significant source …

Appalachian Environmental Health Literacy: Building Knowledge And Skills To Protect Health, Anna G. Hoover, Annie Koempel, W. Jay Christian, Kimberly I. Tumlin, Kelly G. Pennell, Steven Evans, Malissa Mcalister, Lindell E. Ormsbee, Dawn Brewer

Journal of Appalachian Health

Environmental health literacy (EHL) is an emerging, multidisciplinary field that promotes understanding of how environmental exposures can affect human health. After discussing the regional relevance of environmental health knowledge and skills, this article describes three ongoing Appalachian projects that are focused on measuring and building EHL.

What The Covid-19 Crisis Is Telling Humanity, David Wiebers, Valery Feigin

Animal Sentience

The planet is in a global health emergency exacting enormous medical and economic tolls. It is imperative for us as a society and species to focus and reflect deeply upon what this and other related human health crises are telling us about our role in these increasingly frequent events and about what we can do to prevent them in the future.

Cause: It is human behavior that is responsible for the vast majority of zoonotic diseases that jump the species barrier from animals to humans: (1) hunting, capture, and sale of wild animals for human consumption, particularly in live-animal markets; …

New Approach To Health And The Environment To Avoid Future Pandemics, Serge Morand

Animal Sentience

This commentary expands Wiebers & Feigin’s target article by pinpointing how declining wildlife, expanding livestock and globalisation contribute to the increase in epidemics of zoonotic diseases, the COVID-19 crisis and future health crises. Epidemics and the emergence of zoonoses are manifestations of dysfunctional links with animals, both wild and domestic, requiring a new approach to health and the environment.

Humans, Wildlife, And Our Environment: One Health Is The Common Link, Terry A. Messmer

Human–Wildlife Interactions

One Health has become more important in recent years because interactions between people, animals, plants, and our environment have dramatically changed. This Back Page article discusses One Health during the COVID-19 pandemic.