Environmental Health Commons^™

Impacts Of Land-Cover Change And High Rainfall On Soil Erosion Among Three Farms In Cerro Punta, Chiriquí, Panamá., Madeline Happ

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Soil erosion is a key source leading to the depletion of Earth’s natural resources. Beginning with deforestation, soils are stripped of their rich vegetation cover, leaving them vulnerable to wind, water, and sometimes total exhaustion. One of the major causes of deforestation, if not the primary cause, is for agricultural purposes. Extensive agricultural fields, steep slopes, and heavy rains characterize the highlands of Chiriquí; thus, the land displays potential for severe loss of soil. This paper illustrates and discusses the extent of soil erosion in Cerro Punta, Chiriquí, specifically considering the steep terrains and very wet environment that impact the …

Interactive Effects Of Climate Change With Nutrients, Mercury, And Freshwater Acidification On Key Taxa In The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative Region, Alfred E. Pinkey, Charles T. Driscoll, David C. Evers, Michael J. Hooper, Jeffrey Horan, Jess W. Jones, Rebecca S. Lazarus, Harold G. Marshall, Andrew Milliken, Barnett A. Rattner, John Schmerfold, Donald W. Sparling

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The North Atlantic Landscape Conservation Cooperative LCC (NA LCC) is a public-private partnership that provides information to support conservation decisions that may be affected by global climate change (GCC) and other threats. The NA LCC region extends from southeast Virginia to the Canadian Maritime Provinces. Within this region, the US National Climate Assessment documented increases in air temperature, total precipitation, frequency of heavy precipitation events, and rising sea level, and predicted more drastic changes. Here, we synthesize literature on the effects of GCC interacting with selected contaminant, nutrient, and environmental processes to adversely affect natural resources within this region. Using …

Parental Factors That Influence Swimming In Children And Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Carol C. Irwin, Richard L. Irwin

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Swimming can be an important source of physical activity across the life-span. Researchers have found that parents influence physical activity behaviors of their children. The purpose of this study was to determine what parental factors influenced the number of days that children swam. Survey respondents (n = 1,909) from six cities across the United States were surveyed at local YMCAs. Children were found to swim significantly more if their parents encouraged them to swim, members of the family knew how to swim and swam with them, or their parents were not afraid of the children drowning or afraid of …

Consumption Of Low-Moderate Level Arsenic Contaminated Water Does Not Increase Spontaneous Pregnancy Loss: A Case Control Study, Michael S. Bloom, Iulian Neamtiu, Simona Surdu, Cristian Pop, Ioana-Rodica Lupsa, Doru Anastasiu, Edward F. Fitzgerald, Eugen S. Gurzau

Environmental Health Sciences Faculty Scholarship

Previous work suggests an increased risk for spontaneous pregnancy loss linked to high levels of inorganic arsenic (iAs) in drinking water sources (>10 μg/L). However, there has been little focus to date on the impact of low-moderate levels of iAs in drinking water (<10 >μg/L). To address this data gap we conducted a hospital-based case–control study in Timis County, Romania.

Toxicity Of Engineered Nanomaterials And Their Transformation Products Following Wastewater Treatment On A549 Human Lung Epithelial Cells, Yanjun Ma, Subbiah Elankumaran, Linsey C. Marr, Eric P. Vejerano, Amy Pruden

Faculty Publications

Here we characterize the toxicity of environmentally-relevant forms of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs), which can transform during wastewater treatment and persist in aqueous effluents and biosolids. In an aerosol exposure scenario, cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of effluents and biosolids from lab-scale sequencing batch reactors (SBRs) to A549 human lung epithelial cells were examined. The SBRs were dosed with nanoAg, nano zero-valent iron (NZVI), nanoTiO2 and nanoCeO2 at sequentially increasing concentrations from 0.1 to 20 mg/L. Toxicities were compared to outputs from SBRs dosed with ionic/bulk analogs, undosed SBRs, and pristine ENMs. Pristine nanoAg and NZVI showed significant cytotoxicity to A549 cells in …

Size Dependent Translocation And Fetal Accumulation Of Gold Nanoparticles From Maternal Blood In The Rat., Manuela Semmler-Behnke, Jens Lipka, Alexander Wenk, Martin Schäffler, Furong Tian, Günter Schmid, Günter Oberdörster, Wolfgang G. Kreyling

Articles

Background

There is evidence that nanoparticles (NP) cross epithelial and endothelial body barriers. We hypothesized that gold (Au) NP, once in the blood circulation of pregnant rats, will cross the placental barrier during pregnancy size-dependently and accumulate in the fetal organism by 1. transcellular transport across the hemochorial placenta, 2. transcellular transport across amniotic membranes 3. transport through ~20 nm wide transtrophoblastic channels in a size dependent manner. The three AuNP sizes used to test this hypothesis are either well below, or of similar size or well above the diameters of the transtrophoblastic channels.

Methods

We intravenously injected monodisperse, negatively …

Associations Between Prenatal Exposure To Air Pollution, Small For Gestational Age, And Term Low Birthweight In A State-Wide Birth Cohort, Lisa C. Vinikoor-Imler, J. Allen Davis, Robert E. Meyer, Lynne C. Messer, Thomas J. Luben

Community Health Faculty Publications and Presentations

A range of health effects, including adverse pregnancy outcomes, have been associated with exposure to ambient concentrations of particulate matter (PM) and ozone (O₃). The objective of this study was to determine whether maternal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) and O₃ during pregnancy is associated with the risk of term low birthweight and small for gestational age infants in both single and co-pollutant models. Term low birthweight and small for gestational age were determined using all birth certificates from North Carolina from 2003 to 2005. Ambient air concentrations of PM_2.5 and O_{3 …}

Considering Sport Participation As A Source For Physical Activity Among Adolescents, Jennifer Pharr, Nancy L. Lough

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Studies have shown participation in sport is lower among girls than boys, decreases as students matriculate through high school, is lowest among Black and Hispanic girls and has a positive relationship with SES. With sport recognized as a contributor to physical activity and health in adolescents, consideration of diminishing rates of participation appears warranted. The purpose of this study was to identify patterns related to differences in self-reported sport participation between genders, ethnic groups, grades and SES.

METHODS:

This study was a cross-sectional, secondary analysis of data collected for a sport interest survey. All students in grades 8-11 attending …

Identification Of The Potential Opportunities, Barriers, And Threats Within The Sector In Taking Up Sanitation As A Business: Rural Sanitation In Nkhata Bay District (Malawi), Rochelle Holm, Elijah Wanda, Victor Kasulo, Simeon Gwayi

Faculty Scholarship

Private sector participation in sanitation marketing provides a great opportunity to improve rural sanitation access. Although a number of opportunities for private sector participation within the sanitation sector exist, there are numerous barriers and threats to taking up sanitation as a business. This Note from the Field identifies these opportunities, barriers, and threats in Nkhata Bay District, a rural area of Malawi. These insights emerge from a wider research project entitled 'Private sector participation in the delivery of sanitation and hygiene services'. This note provides background information on the research project on private sector participation and the project location. It …

Affluent Populations And Their Effect On Biological Diversity Through The Consumption Of Meat, Electronics, And Motor Vehicles, Melody Flores

Honors College Theses

The human has caused a far greater impact on the planet's biodiversity than any other species in existence, due to the impact of population, afflluence, and technology. This thesis will argue the importance of biological diversity and how affluent populations are reducing biodiversity through the consumption of meat, electronics, and motor vehicles. Aldo Leopold's "The Land Ethic" and Herman Daly's "The Impossibility Theorem", among others, create a rubric evaluating human activities and provide alternative views on economic impossibilities. Consumption is reviewed from an ecocentric perspective, a holistic outlook placing emphasis on the ecosystem. The reader will become cognizant of their …

Possible Pro-Carcinogenic Association Of Endotoxin On Lung Cancer Among Shanghai Women Textile Workers, H. Checkoway, J. I. Lundin, S. Costello, R. Ray, W. Li, E. A. Eisen, G. Astrakianakis, N. Seixas, Katie M. Applebaum, D. L. Gao, D. B. Thomas

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

Background:

Endotoxin (lipopolysaccharide) is a widespread contaminant in many environmental settings. Since the 1970s, there has been generally consistent evidence indicating reduced risks for lung cancer associated with occupational endotoxin exposure.

Methods:

We updated a case–cohort study nested within a cohort of 267 400 female textile workers in Shanghai, China. We compared exposure histories of 1456 incident lung cancers cases diagnosed during 1989–2006 with those of a reference subcohort of 3022 workers who were free of lung cancer at the end of follow-up. We applied Cox proportional hazards modelling to estimate exposure–response trends, adjusted for age and smoking, for cumulative …

The 2014 National Community Summit On Green Infrastructure: Summary Report, Stuart Mendel, Justin Glanville, Julie Quinn

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

This report presents key points from each dialogue session, as well as overall themes from the Summit as a whole. These key points and themes were synthesized by dialogue facilitators and representatives from CSU, NEORSD and EPA. In addition, this report presents narrative versions of the lead presentations for each session. These are meant to serve as case studies of best practices to address each session topic.

Using Global Positioning Systems (Gps) And Temperature Data To Generate Time-Activity Classifications For Estimating Personal Exposure In Air Monitoring Studies: An Automated Method, Elizabeth Nethery, Gary Mallach, Daniel Rainham, Mark S. Goldberg, Amanda J. Wheeler

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Background: Personal exposure studies of air pollution generally use self-reported diaries to capture individuals’ time-activity data. Enhancements in the accuracy, size, memory and battery life of personal Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units have allowed for higher resolution tracking of study participants’ locations. Improved time activity classifications combined with personal continuous air pollution sampling can improve assessments of location-related air pollution exposures for health studies. Methods: Data was collected using a GPS and personal temperature from 54 children with asthma living in Montreal, Canada, who participated in a 10-day personal air pollution exposure study. A method was developed that …

Effects Of Urban Stream Burial On Organic Matter Dynamics And Reach Scale Nitrate Retention, Jake J. Beaulieu, Paul M. Mayer, Sujay S. Kaushal, Michael J. Pennino, Clay P. Arango, David A. Balz, Timothy J. Canfield, Colleen M. Elonen, Ken M. Fritz, Brian H. Hill, Hodon Ryu, Jorge W. Santo Domingo

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Nitrogen (N) retention in streams is an important ecosystem service that may be affected by the widespread burial of streams in stormwater pipes in urban watersheds. We predicted that stream burial suppresses the capacity of streams to retain nitrate (NO₃ ⁻) by eliminating primary production, reducing respiration rates and organic matter availability, and increasing specific discharge. We tested these predictions by measuring whole-stream NO₃ ⁻ removal rates using ¹⁵NO₃ ⁻ isotope tracer releases in paired buried and open reaches in three streams in Cincinnati, Ohio (USA) during four seasons. Nitrate uptake lengths were 29 times …

Laboratory Evaluation Of A Prospective Remediation Method For Pcb-Contaminated Paint, Erin K H Saitta, Michael J. Gittings, Christian Clausen, Jacqueline Quinn, Cherie L. Yestrebsky

Publications and Research

Background: Paint laden with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) often acts as a point source for environmental contamination. It is advantageous to address contaminated paint before the PCBs transport to surrounding media; however, current disposal methods of painted material introduce a variety of complications. Previous work demonstrates that PCBs can be broken down at ambient temperatures and pressures through a degradation process involving magnesium metal and acidified ethanol. This report is an extension of that work by describing the development of a delivery system for said reaction in preparation for a field test. Two treatment options including the Activated Metal Treatment System …

Characterization Of Particle Emissions And Fate Of Nanomaterials During Incineration, Eric P. Vejerano, Elena C. Leon, Amara L. Holder, Linsey C. Marr

Faculty Publications

As the use of nanotechnology in consumer products continues to grow, it is inevitable that some nanomaterials will end up in the waste stream and will be incinerated. Through laboratory-scale incineration of paper and plastic wastes containing nanomaterials, we assessed their effect on emissions of particulate matter (PM) and the effect of incineration on the nanomaterials themselves. The presence of nanomaterials did not significantly influence the particle number emission factor. The PM size distribution was not affected except at very high mass loadings (10 wt%) of the nanomaterial, in which case the PM shifted toward smaller sizes; such loadings are …

Changing Microspatial Patterns Of Sulfate-Reducing Microorganisms (Srm) During Cycling Of Marine Stromatolite Mats, Alexandru Petrisor, Sandra Szyjka, Tomohiro Kawaguchi, Pieter Visscher, Sean Norman, Alan Decho

Faculty Publications

Microspatial arrangements of sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) in surface microbial mats (~1.5 mm) forming open marine stromatolites were investigated. Previous research revealed three different mat types associated with these stromatolites, each with a unique petrographic signature. Here we focused on comparing “non-lithifying” (Type-1) and “lithifying” (Type-2) mats. Our results revealed three major trends: (1) Molecular typing using the dsrA probe revealed a shift in the SRM community composition between Type-1 and Type-2 mats. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) coupled to confocal scanning-laser microscopy (CSLM)-based image analyses, and ³⁵SO₄²⁻-silver foil patterns showed that SRM were present in surfaces of …

Changing Microspatial Patterns Of Sulfate-Reducing Microorganisms (Srm) During Cycling Of Marine Stromatolite Mats, Alexandru I. Petrisor, Sandra Szyjka, Tomohiro Kawaguchi, Pieter T. Visscher, Robert Sean Norman, Alan W. Decho

Faculty Publications

Microspatial arrangements of sulfate-reducing microorganisms (SRM) in surface microbial mats (~1.5 mm) forming open marine stromatolites were investigated. Previous research revealed three different mat types associated with these stromatolites, each with a unique petrographic signature. Here we focused on comparing “non-lithifying” (Type-1) and “lithifying” (Type-2) mats. Our results revealed three major trends: (1) Molecular typing using the dsrA probe revealed a shift in the SRM community composition between Type-1 and Type-2 mats. Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) coupled to confocal scanning-laser microscopy (CSLM)-based image analyses, and ³⁵SO₄²⁻-silver foil patterns showed that SRM were present in surfaces of …

Runner Identity And Sponsorship: Evaluating The Rock ‘N’ Roll Marathon, Nancy L. Lough, Jennifer Pharr, Jason O. Owen

Environmental & Occupational Health Faculty Publications

The economic value of participation sport has been reported to eclipse spectator sport significantly. However, scholars have acknowledged the relative lack of research on this important segment of the sport market. The purpose of this study was to analyze the relationship between runner identity and race sponsor effectiveness. Surveys were sent to participants in the Las Vegas Rock ‘n’ Roll Marathon. The survey was constructed to measure runner identity, and sponsor effectiveness as interpreted through rates of recognition, recall and purchase intention. Runners were divided into three groups based on their runner identity score. Of the predictive variables, only runner …

Effects Of Anti-Inflammatory Foods On Hyperglycemia In Type-1 Diabetics, Primrose Martin, Michelle Chino

McNair Poster Presentations

Based on a case study administered by Dr. Charlotte Gerson, an IDDM patient referred to as R.H. reversed hyperglycemic symptoms within ten weeks while adhering to a diet of mainly vegetables and some low-glycemic index fruits. R.H. also ingested mineral supplements and underwent multiple coffee enemas each day (Gerson & Bishop, 2007, p. 56). This self-study hypothesizes that diet alone has a positive correlation coefficient with hyperglycemic blood glucose levels in type-1 diabetics (IDDM). Conducting this self-study contributes information to the limited research and database of alternative methods for managing IDDM hyperglycemia, and provides candid documentation of the effects that …

Epoxy Resin Monomers With Reduced Skin Sensitizing Potency, Niamh F. O'Boyle, Ida B. Niklasson, Ali R. Tehrani-Bagda, Tamara Delaine, Krister Holmberg, Kristina Luthman, Ann-Therese Karlberg

Articles

Epoxy resin monomers, including diglycidyl ethers of bisphenol A and F (DGEBA and DGEBF), are extensively used as building blocks for thermosetting polymers. However, they are known to cause widespread contact allergy. This research describes a number of alternative epoxy resin monomers, designed with the aim of reducing the skin sensitizing potency whilst maintaining the ability to form thermosetting polymers. The compounds were designed, synthesized, assessed for skin sensitizing potency using the in vivo murine local lymph node assay, and tested for technical applicability using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. All the novel epoxy resin monomers had decreased skin …

Effect Of Nonthermal Plasma On Quality Of Fresh Produce, Nrusimhanath Misra

Doctoral

No abstract provided.

Message Matters: Application Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior To Increase Household Hazardous Waste Program Participation, Amy Dyer Cabaniss

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

Removing household hazardous waste (HHW) from the municipal solid waste stream is important to protect health, safety and the environment. Communities across the U.S. separate HHW from regular trash for disposal with hazardous waste, however nationally, participation rates are low with only five to ten percent of households estimated to participate in any given collection. This two-part study used the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to understand individuals’ beliefs and attitudes toward HHW collections, and to develop a print message intervention to increase participation. In Study 1, respondents (N = 983) completed a survey administered to homeowners in the Connecticut …

Valorisation Of The Cider And Brewing Industry By-Products As Nutraceutical Ingredients, Sofia Reis

Doctoral

By-products from the cider and brewing industries, including apple pomace (AP) and brewer’s spent grain (BSG) respectively, constitute major environmental problems due to the large quantities produced every year. They are sources of valuable compounds such as protein, fibre, essential fatty acids, phenolic compounds and minerals, some of them with antioxidant and prebiotic properties. Their high nutritional value leads to their potential use as human food products and several applications have been considered recently. The aims of this work include i) the nutritional and compositional characterisation of AP, BSG and final extruded and baked prototypes containing these by-products and ii) …