Environmental/Occupational Health - Article Example

Scenario Number: _1 ANSWER SHEET Your Response Assigned Reading Source Page(s) Column (if applicable) Line(s) Dampness within buildings is arisk factor for negative respiratory health effects. Bornehag, Sundell, Bonini, Custovic, Malmberg, Skerfving, Sigsgaard, & Verhoeff, 2004 243 1 5 Dampness is not necessarily the direct cause of the health problems, but rather the trigger for the growth of mold. Mudarri & Fisk, 2007 227 1 28, 29 There is clinical evidence that proper medical treatment for the patient and thorough home or building clean-up in response to dealing with health reactions from indoor mold can eliminate the symptoms and return individuals who may have been displaced back into the environment.

Elidemir, Colasurdo, Rossmann, & Fan, 1999 964, 965 2, p. 964 1, p. 965 Case Report 1 - 41 Being exposed to indoor mold in buildings can cause significant health risks. Mudarri & Fisk, 2007 226 1 18 - 20 Scenario Number: _2 ANSWER SHEET Your Response Course Assigned Reading Source Page(s) Column (if applicable) Line(s) According to the Ethics Framework for Public Health, “proposed interventions or programs are based on certain assumptions that lead us to believe the programs will achieve their stated goals”.

Based on this and further statements within the Ethics Framework that programs “must be based on sound data rather than informed speculation”, the corporation has asked for the study to be done in good faith. We must assume then that the company will take action to solve the problem if determined necessary. The manufacturing firm had not said they would take no action. There is no reason for the researcher to be concerned at this point. It is not the researchers’ responsibility to communicate results in advance of the completion of the project.

Kass, 2001 1778 2 3 34 – 37 47 - 50 Risk management communications can be tricky with unforeseen reactions from the public and the media. In the case of Shell and the UK government, Greenpeace used the power of the media to stop a viable, environmentally sound deep sea disposal of the Brent Spar oil storage platform. If a company and a government cannot communicate a clean-up that was handled properly, without a negative media reaction, then researchers are not equipped to react to requests to release preliminary results of a study that has yet to be clinically proven.

Keeping APHA guidelines in mind, public health activity is not in the shadows but rather taking action. The mandate to take action, however, discusses truth telling, transparency, reliability, and listening as well as communicating. Lofstedt & Renn, 1997 APHA, 2005 131 132 2 2 1 1 3 37 – 41 29 - 33 Public health researchers should and will be concerned regarding “the fundamental causes of disease and requirements for health, aiming to prevent adverse health outcomes”. Those researchers in public health areas are taught to bring forth concerns and to educate the public making sure that the humans have the necessary resources for good health.

“Knowledge is not morally neutral” and in some cases demands the public health worker to step forward to seek action and further investigation. However, the researcher needs to use good judgment and not cause undue worry and concern making sure the cause is irrefutable. This can be difficult to prove in many cases. The researcher will get further by partnering with the offending entity and offering to institute a preventative program through education to the group affected and avoiding an adversarial position.

APHA, 2005 1 3 1 1 19, 20 28 - 32 Ioannidis, a meta-researcher, recounts case after case of exaggerated and biased study results. Having been published in the top journals and recognized as a leading expert in his field he believes that the field of medical studies is “flawed” and that “90 percent of the published medical information that doctors rely on is flawed”. One of his biggest concerns is the bias that is shown in study after study. Based on these concerns, the researcher in this scenario would be obligated to hold judgment until his results are verified by other sources as a matter of ethical best practice.

He cites numerous cases where one study’s findings have been refuted by another study’s findings at a later date. Additionally, ethical guidelines state that, “Most researchers are not required to share data with others as soon as the data are generated, although a few disciplines have adopted this standard to speed the pace of research. A period of confidentiality allows researchers to check the accuracy of their data and draw conclusions. However, when a scientific paper or book is published, other researchers must have access to the data and research materials needed to support the conclusions stated in the publication if they are to verify and build on that research”.

This researcher is not far from the completion of this study nor has it been verified by peer review or been published asking for public opinion. Freedman, 2010 The National Academies, 2009 78 80 11 1 1 N/A 37, 46 23, 24 1 - 9 Scenario Number: _3 ANSWER SHEET Your Response Course Assigned Reading Source Page(s) Column (if applicable) Line(s) Based on the photograph presented, humans in Vietnam are observed sharing the same water and soil with animals and the crops. This is not safe for the humans or the food that is being grown.

Based on evidence-based clinical studies, microbiological hazards can be placed in the water and soil that can then come in contact with the humans causing disease and illness. Bradt, 2009 302 Table 2, Table 4 N/A The use of land is directly connected to human health. Chemicals applied or released on the land can lead to health problems when humans receive in significant enough doses. Fertilizers can affect water run-off and wildlife. Nano-particles enter routes of exposure, uptake, and distribution, being released into the chain of life.

Moeller, 2005 Oberdorster, Oberdorster, & Oberdorster, 2005 18 828 1 Figure 5 12, 13 N/A Health risks from photograph presented, humans in Vietnam are observed sharing the same water and soil with animals and the crops: “Malaria – recommendations for reducing risk would be increasing use of insecticide and treated bed nets. Preventative treatment in pregnancy with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine”. “Diarrheal disease – water sector regulation with advocacy where clean water supply is limited.

Hygiene promotion”. “Respiratory illnesses and infections – (educate the people on) recognition of symptoms, treatment with antibiotics”. Bradt, 2009 303 Figure 3 N/A Controls for infectious diseases need to be put into place such as ensuring animals are not cared for or allowed to roam in the same area as the humans are planting and gathering their food. Bradt, 2009 303 Figure 3 N/A Scenario Number: _4 ANSWER SHEET Your Response Course Assigned Reading Source Page(s) Column (if applicable) Line(s) A worksite analysis would be conducted to identify the potential hazards a worker could be exposed to.

The employee is completing the welding process inside the grain bin. Grain bins are known for explosive hazards when the fumes ignite the grain dust and for suffocation hazards when workers fall into the grain. The bin itself is considered a confined space. Voluntary Safety and Health Program Guidelines, 1989 OSHA Small Business Handbook, 2005 10 -13 21 27 30 32 34 NA 1 1 1 & 2 2 2 1 – 8 (10) 1 – 4 (11) 1 – 3 (12) 1 – 9 (13) 5 – 10 (21) 1 – 3 (27) 36, 37& 38 – 40 (30) 34, 35 (32) 19-40 (34) A worksite analysis would be conducted to identify the potential hazards the worker could be exposed to.

When a worker is shearing steel whether by a pneumatic shear or otherwise, they run the risk of being severely cut or having a finger or other appendage amputated. Galvanized steel is very sharp. Voluntary Safety and Health Program Guidelines, 1989 OSHA Small Business Handbook, 2005 10 -13 20 NA 1 1 – 8 (10) 1 – 4 (11) 1 – 3 (12) 1 – 9 (13) 37 - 39 A worksite analysis would be conducted to identify the potential hazards the worker could be exposed to and the basis for selection: Spray painting with a compressed-air paint spray gun is also very hazardous due to the risk of exposure to paint or the exposure to injury from the pressure of the application of the paint.

Voluntary Safety and Health Program Guidelines, 1989 OSHA Small Business Handbook, 2005 10 -13 31 38 NA 2 1 – 8 (10) 1 – 4 (11) 1 – 3 (12) 1 – 9 (13) 18 - 20 The grain itself (grain dust) is composed of tiny, nanoparticles that could enter the human body through possible routes of entry. These routes of entry could be absorption, inhalation or ingestion. To ensure the safest environment for workers in grain bins, safety programs to prevent injuries will include the major elements - Management commitment and employee involvement; Worksite analysis; Hazard prevention and control; and Safety and health training.

Primarily, workers must understand the hazards they are exposed to. Oberdorster, Oberdorster, Oberdorster, 2005 Voluntary Safety and Health Program Guidelines, 1989 OSHA Small Business Handbook, 2005 829, 834 5, 18 33 34 35 1 1 NA 2 1 19 – 23 30, 31 1 – 8 (5) 1 – 6 (18) 20 - 24 Scenario Number: _5 ANSWER SHEET Your Response Course Assigned Reading Source Page(s) Column (if applicable) Line(s) The environmental law or regulation the coal-fired, electric powered generating station company is in violation of regarding air pollution standards when emitting carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and particulates into the air is The Environmental Protection Agency’s ambient air quality standards regarding fine particles measuring less than 2.5?m in diameter.

Industry is a primary source of particulate matter which then emits nanoparticles. Pope, Burnett, Thun, Calle, Krewski, Ito & Thurston, 2006 Borm, Robbins, Haubold, Kuhlbusch, Fissan, Donaldson, Schins, Stone, Kreyling, Lademann, Krutmann, Warheit, & Oberdorster, 2006 1132 5 1 1 18 -27 45 - 47 A health effect of over-exposure to pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and other particulate matter being released into the air is an increase in cardio-pulmonary mortality rates and increase in lung cancer.

Dermal, oral exposure, and inhalation are the most common routes of entry. Ultrafine particles in certain urban areas put adult health at risk and increases cases of asthma. Pope, Burnett, Thun, Calle, Krewski, Ito & Thurston, 2006 Borm, Robbins, Haubold, Kuhlbusch, Fissan, Donaldson, Schins, Stone, Kreyling, Lademann, Krutmann, Warheit, & Oberdorster, 2006 Penttinen, Timonen, Tittanen, Mirme, Ruuskanen, Pekkanen, 2001 1137 1 434 1 1 2 6 - 18 31-34 30, 32 18, 19 Certain long-term health effects of over-exposure to pollutants (nanoparticles) are unknown.

The nature of nanometer particles and the impact on biological cells is currently under study. Simple interactions are understood, but when molecular configurations begin to take place and chemical reactions force changes, scientists have to take a new approach to determine the impact on human health. All nanoparticles are not greenhouse emissions and are not all bad. “A 2002 market survey forecasts that by 2015 the total world industrial output in sectors likely to be influenced by nanomaterials will be in excess of $10,000 Billion as referenced in http://www.inrealis.com”.

There is big business being made from advances in the use of nanoparticles and the manufacturing of or medicinal properties of these items. It is the accidental or unwanted release into our atmosphere that is concerning and the amount of the dose we ingest that our body cannot excrete. Preining, 1998 Borm, Robbins, Haubold, Kuhlbusch, Fissan, Donaldson, Schins, Stone, Kreyling, Lademann, Krutmann, Warheit, & Oberdorster, 2006 481 494 3 1 1 1 1 1 – 11 36 – 44 6, 11, 13, 14, 15, 31, 32, 33 25 - 29 The technology the generating station is required to use to control pollution emissions is called a scrubber.

[Scrubbers are an apparatus that cleans the gases passing through the smokestack of a coal-burning power plant. Due to Clean Air Act regulations, most scrubbers in U.S. coal plants are used to remove sulfur emissions from coal and lessen the formation of acid rain. In this use, scrubbers are large towers in which aqueous mixtures of lime or limestone absorbers are sprayed through the emissions, known as flue gases, exiting a coal boiler. The lime/limestone absorbs some of the sulfur from the flue gas.

[1] The advantage of scrubbers is that sulfur emissions are lower than in standard coal plants, but the plants are more complex and require more maintenance.[2]] [The Clean Air Act and Amendments of 1990 define a "nonattainment area" as a locality where air pollution levels persistently exceed National Ambient Air Quality Standards, or that contributes to ambient air quality in a nearby area that fails to meet standards. Designating an area as nonattainment is a formal rulemaking process, and EPA normally takes this action only after air quality standards have been exceeded for several consecutive years.

Nonattainment areas are given a classification based on the severity of the violation and the type of air quality standard they exceed]. Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Scrubbers Retrieved March 8, 2011 from http://scorecard.goodguide.com/env-releases/def/cap_naa.html