This semester has been such a whirlwind experience! I feel as though I have learned so much about such a wide array of topics. I think my favorite topics were learning about flame retardants, climate change, and occupational health risks. Flame retardants were interesting to me because I knew so little about them initially, climate change was interesting (though extremely depressing) because there is no escaping it for any of us, and occupational health risks was an enjoyable topic for me because I feel like I know so many people who will benefit from what I've learned.
The blogging experience leaves me with mixed feelings. I liked being able to share my thoughts on each topic and it was fun reading about what my classmates had to say. However, the actual blog function itself was frustrating to work with. For a large part of the semester I was unable to respond to my classmates blogs (that kink never got sorted out, thus I simply started responding to their posts on my own blogs of the same topic) and this was very frustrating because it created a lot of makeup work for me to catch back up. I wonder if we couldn't have just used the message thread function on Canvas and responded to one another there? Still, the exercise itself was great; I really enjoyed getting to see what my classmates thought about each and every Module.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Think About It
With all the recent destruction California has seen recently due to fires, I decided to look at the "Winter Weather" preparedness on the ThinkAboutIt website. I found this interesting, though perhaps not super applicable to where we live in California (the topics mostly included how to deal with black ice, sleet, and snow). One thing I found particularly interesting was a section that breaks down the role-categories during winter weather preparedness. They are:
1. Individual
2. Family
3. Organization
4. Profession
5. Community
I think its good that these differentiated spheres have been considered for disaster preparedness. It is important that relief/prevention efforts are thorough with programs such as these so that we have have the best programs possible available to us.
1. Individual
2. Family
3. Organization
4. Profession
5. Community
I think its good that these differentiated spheres have been considered for disaster preparedness. It is important that relief/prevention efforts are thorough with programs such as these so that we have have the best programs possible available to us.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Climate Change
1. I personally find climate change to be very upsetting. That is why I've chose to write my lit review and focus my final presentation on the topic. The thing I find the most troubling about climate change though is the negative impact it will (and is) having on ecosystems. I feel terrible for the plants and animals that are suffering and dying off largely because of the selfish choices humans are making. I feel bad because they have no voice and a very limited ability to correct the problem.
2. As a public health professional I think the thing that needs our attention most is figuring out how to limit emission creation and get away from the use of fossil fuels. I think these two things to hand-in-hand and can do a great deal to combat climate change.
3. If I needed to explain climate change to someone who had never heard of it, I'd relate it to a greenhouse and tell them about how gasses contribute to the greenhouses insulation. I'd talk about how global warming contributes natural disasters that aid disease. I'd talk about the string of fires taking place in California, the storms on the East Coast, the extreme droughts taking place in Africa, and the floods leading to a multitude of health issues all around the world. Then I'd take a step back and relate all of these things back to the greenhouse effect and how our planet is becoming an oven.
2. As a public health professional I think the thing that needs our attention most is figuring out how to limit emission creation and get away from the use of fossil fuels. I think these two things to hand-in-hand and can do a great deal to combat climate change.
3. If I needed to explain climate change to someone who had never heard of it, I'd relate it to a greenhouse and tell them about how gasses contribute to the greenhouses insulation. I'd talk about how global warming contributes natural disasters that aid disease. I'd talk about the string of fires taking place in California, the storms on the East Coast, the extreme droughts taking place in Africa, and the floods leading to a multitude of health issues all around the world. Then I'd take a step back and relate all of these things back to the greenhouse effect and how our planet is becoming an oven.
Sunday, November 4, 2018
The Zero Waste Life
I thought this Module was very interesting. I've actually seen two of these videos before through my own general surfing of the internet - one of which is the Ted Talk with the young woman living a Zero Waste life. Looking around at my own home, I think the biggest waste stream contributor that I would like to see diminished is the use of my boyfriend and I's personal care products. These items are always packaged in plastic and we go through a LOT of them. Everything from deodorant, to makeup, to toothpaste, to hair gel. I think it would be worth our while to learn how to make a few of these things on our own so that we didn't need to rely so heavily on the packaged products. Toothpaste and soap are the two things that come to mind as being particularly easy to make as I've seen recipes for these things, made them on my own as gifts in the past, and I know that we go through them very quickly. I think that by making an effort to replace even just these two items as a start, I could lessen the waste being generated by my household a good deal.
Occupational Related Disease
For this assignment I chose to look at white noise as a risk to construction workers hearing. White noise damage can take years to develop symptoms but the damage can quickly become irreversible. It is recommended by the ILO (International Labour Organization) that construction workers use protective devices for their ears at all times as well as devices to monitor the noise dosimetry in a given area. These monitoring and protective devises can do a great deal to prevent loss of hearing later in life due to occupational exposure to elevated white noise levels. PPE (personal protective equipment) as well as a sound education about the risks of white noise exposure provided by employers, are the staples OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Association) presses as well when it comes to protecting construction workers hearing.
International Labour Organization
For this assignment I selected the International Labour Organization's program, 2030 Agenda. This program embraces three dimensions of sustainability: economic, social, and environmental. It also has 17 sustainable development goals: no poverty, zero hunger, good health, quality education, gender equality, clean water and sanitation, affordable and clean energy, decent work and economic growth, industry innovation and infrastructure, reduced inequalities, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption, climate action, life below water, life on land, peace and justice, and partnership for the goals.
When I read over the 17 goals - it sounds like a perfect plan! These are missions I can get behind and that I know would lead to increased health and safety for myself and my community. When I clicked on each of these goals to learn a little more about each one, I was not disappointed. Each one of these goals takes a very progressive stand to see these issues remedied.
When I read over the 17 goals - it sounds like a perfect plan! These are missions I can get behind and that I know would lead to increased health and safety for myself and my community. When I clicked on each of these goals to learn a little more about each one, I was not disappointed. Each one of these goals takes a very progressive stand to see these issues remedied.
MSDS and ToxNet
When I asked about obtaining a Material Safety Data Sheet from my employer, I was told that I needed to contact HR. Our HR department is not in-house, so I sent out an email to our HR executive but have not yet heard anything back. I realized that I couldn't wait any longer so I decided to move forward with this assignment by looking up an MSDS for a product I know I am frequently exposed to at my work - gym sanitation wipes.
1. The health risks of this product include: mild irritation/redness of the eyes, mild irritation of the skin from prolonged exposure
2. The product contains no hazardous chemicals as defined in 29 CFR 1910.1200
3. If these wipes were spilled, it is advised that I ventilate the area, scoop up the spilled material and place it in a properly marked waste disposal container to be properly disposed of by local environmental authorities
4. The only "training" I was given about this product is to wash my hands after using it. It is a disinfectant wipe, so I think I assumed this role of hand washing pretty much on my own. I did assume that these wipes had bleach in them, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they do not.
Listed in the "fragrance" section of this product was 'acetone'. Although the amount was very small (.002), I thought I'd look into this chemical on ToxNet as I don't know much about it. Turns out 'acetone' is a known carcinogen. I assume the MSDS did not list any of 'acetone's known health effects because it it used in such a small quantity - but I still found its omission from the sheet a bit frightening. I think overall, both the MSDS and ToxNet's findings are too difficult for most people to read. Someone with the reading level of a 6th grader, or who spoke English as a second language, would almost certainly struggle to make sense of this information.
1. The health risks of this product include: mild irritation/redness of the eyes, mild irritation of the skin from prolonged exposure
2. The product contains no hazardous chemicals as defined in 29 CFR 1910.1200
3. If these wipes were spilled, it is advised that I ventilate the area, scoop up the spilled material and place it in a properly marked waste disposal container to be properly disposed of by local environmental authorities
4. The only "training" I was given about this product is to wash my hands after using it. It is a disinfectant wipe, so I think I assumed this role of hand washing pretty much on my own. I did assume that these wipes had bleach in them, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that they do not.
Listed in the "fragrance" section of this product was 'acetone'. Although the amount was very small (.002), I thought I'd look into this chemical on ToxNet as I don't know much about it. Turns out 'acetone' is a known carcinogen. I assume the MSDS did not list any of 'acetone's known health effects because it it used in such a small quantity - but I still found its omission from the sheet a bit frightening. I think overall, both the MSDS and ToxNet's findings are too difficult for most people to read. Someone with the reading level of a 6th grader, or who spoke English as a second language, would almost certainly struggle to make sense of this information.
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