Elements: Environmental Health Intelligence

Facebook Twitter RSS
formats

Season’s Greetings from your Elements Team

Published on December 25, 2010 in Elements

Season’s greetings, happy holidays and happy 2011 !

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental, Public and Occupational Health News to Nov. 26 , 2010

Published on November 29, 2010 in This Week in Environmental Health News

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

PUBLIC HEALTH

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental, Public and Occupational Health News to October 29 , 2010

Published on October 29, 2010 in This Week in Environmental Health News

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

PUBLIC HEALTH

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

 
Tags: , ,
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental, Public and Occupational Health News to October 15 , 2010

Published on October 18, 2010 in This Week in Environmental Health News

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

PUBLIC HEALTH

Australian authorities have placed an immediate ban on the registration of Endusulfan because of new evidence about its safety and its persistence in the environment.

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental, Public and Occupational Health News to October 01 , 2010

Published on October 12, 2010 in This Week in Environmental Health News

Back from holiday, so here is a long list of news articles as we try to catch up….

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

New research finds that the rudimentary brains of cockroaches (American cockroach, Periplaneta americana ) and locusts (Desert locust, Schistocerca gregaria) teem with antimicrobial compounds that slay harmful E. coli and MRSA, the antibiotic-resistant staph bacterium.

Should charitable group stop feeding the needy? Residents and business owners complain about the trash they leave behind. City officials question the wisdom and safety of street distributions in an area with numerous organizations that help the homeless.

The three-acre site, located in a low-income neighborhood west of downtown LA, was contaminated with carcinogenic solvents that leaked from 17 underground storage tanks discovered during construction.

PUBLIC HEALTH

OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Short holiday hiatus

Published on September 22, 2010 in Elements

Hello Elements readers,

iStockPhoto

We have been very busy this summer, so are taking a well deserved (at least in our opinion) short break. We will begin posting again in early October.

cheers everyone !

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

The sun so hot I froze to death…..

Published on September 20, 2010 in Disaster Response, Public Health

By: J. Ikuta, M.A.

Is it possible to freeze in a heat wave? Many of us in Japan wish we could. Hot (so to speak) on the heels of the wettest May and June in living memory, Japan has been caught in the blazing grip of a long and hot heat wave, keeping the scribes in the met office busy with the record books. Temperatures soaring daily above 35 degrees Celsius has already had an effect on daily life with potato and carrot crops from northern Japan at half the normal yield and the fall apples and pears rotting in the strong sun. In central Japan, rice crops have withered, temperature sensitive chickens have stopped laying eggs and pigs have died. The seas surrounding the southern part of this country have become white with swarms of jellyfish and sardines, which are generally abundant at this time of year, have stayed away from the warmer than normal fishing waters. It would seem that fresh vegetables and fruit supplies will remain low and prices at the supermarkets will stay sky high for the foreseeable future.

iStockPhoto

So is it possible to freeze in a heat wave? The answer is both yes and no. While hundreds queue in the sweltering streets of Tokyo to drink beer cooled to minus 1 degree Celsius at a specialist bar, the surprise hit product this summer is the hot oden casserole usually popular in the cold winter months. The freezing air-conditioning blasting away in offices, shops and homes 24-7 is thought to be making people feel cold. Tragically one of the symptoms of heat stroke is confusion and feeling cold. The elderly and the very young are vulnerable to extreme temperatures. Whilst babies are rarely left unattended, there is an increasing number of senior citizens living alone even in family orientated Japan. An elderly woman in her 80′s suffering from heatstroke closed all the windows, turned on the heating, and crawled under a duvet to keep warm. Fortunately tragedy was averted when her family came to check up on her.

So far nearly 40000 people have visited hospitals with mild heat stroke and at least 400 have perished from heat related illness. Temperatures throughout Japan are expected to remain above normal until October.

From our Japanese correspondent.

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental, Public and Work Place Health News to Set 03, 2010

Published on September 4, 2010 in In the News, This Week in Environmental Health News

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

The author of this blog argues “that we cannot have a reasonable dialogue about race if we do not begin by recognizing that white privilege, institutional racism, and structural inequalities still exist.” Numerous scholars have examined the historical, institutional, and geographic causes for the disparate outcomes. Their findings reveal just how structural inequalities and lingering institutional discrimination shaped the disparities in who experienced the impacts of Katrina. Unfortunately, we now see some of the same patterns of environmental injustice playing out in the BP oil spill in the Gulf;  the massive release of oil threatens to have disproportionate impacts on the health and livelihoods of thousands of African-Americans, Asian-Americans, Latinos, and low-income communities in the Gulf.

  • New Zeland: NIWA [National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research] launches biggest-ever scientific air quality campaign (03 Sep 2010) Infonews.co.nz. By: NIWA. Read at: http://www.infonews.co.nz/news.cfm?id=56924. Cited 2010 Sep 03.

PUBLIC HEALTH

Blood tests have confirmed that a series of 10 mass sickness at girls’ schools across the country over the past two years were caused by a powerful poison gas. The Ministry of Public Health and the World Health Organization had been testing the blood of victims and confirmed the presence of toxic but not fatal levels of organophosphates. Those compounds are also the active ingredients of compounds developed in the past as chemical weapons. The gassings mostly occurred in areas of the country with large Pashtun populations, where opposition to girls’ education has been stronger than elsewhere.

Bed-bugs are back and pest controllers are warning of a global pandemic.

WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY

Four people and two companies have been charged in the horrific mushroom barn tragedy that killed three workers and left two more severely brain damaged in Langley two years ago.The investigation into the incident took more than 18 months. The provincial Criminal Justice Branch announced 29 charges under the Workers Compensation Act and the Occupational Health and Safety Regulations on Monday.

 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
1 Comment  comments 
formats

Hot and getting HOTTER… Heatwave preparedness since 2003, Part I

Published on August 31, 2010 in Disaster Response, Public Health

By: Rosemary Stephen PMed, (cert) EOH, IPM, Elements: Environmental Health Intelligence

ResearchBlogging.org

Even just a few years ago heatwaves were limited and isolated events, but now they occur regularly world wide. Each year climatologists tell us that the current year has become the new “hottest on record”. More significantly, every year people die from heatwaves. 2003 was a pivotal year; in that year, Europe experienced three successive heat waves, one each in June, July and August. In only two weeks, from August 3 and 16, Europe saw 45 thousand additional deaths directly linked to the heat. Statistics identified victims as a mix of the elderly, children, the chronically ill and the socially isolated (people suffering from drug/alcohol abuse or mental illness) [1, 2]. Elderly people over 75 years of age represented the largest percentage of the victims [3, 4]. In France, Portugal and Italy a large proportion of the deceased individuals were women.

iStockphoto

Heatwaves do not greatly impact hospital admissions because the majority of the victims die before being admitted [5] so researchers have turned to medical records and death certificates in order to discover what caused of so many deaths, especially among the elderly [6]. The main cause of death was cited as being secondary to ambient heat [7, 8]. Housing seems to have played a major role in the high number s of deaths. Most elderly victims were city dwellers, often living in small, poorly ventilated, poorly insulated, less expensive apartments that became ‘heat islands [9]. Many of these elderly victims had also lost their autonomy and could not either physically move or afford to move to cooler shelters. Many were also socially isolated and could not rely on family members or care givers for help. Author, Gilles Brucker, director of the Insitut de Veille Sanitaire in St. Maurice, France, in an article entitled Vulnerable Populations: Lessons Learnt form the Summer 2003 Heat Wave in Europe, deplores “the deficiencies in the care of these vulnerable populations and the lack of control in town planning increasing the health risks linked to weather conditions” [10].

Due to the devastation of the 2003 heatwaves, European cities have since adopted preventive actions and interventions for susceptible population groups [11].

Emergency plan

Faced with so many deaths, European countries were encouraged to develop an emergency plan specifically designed for heatwaves. One example is the English emergency plan entitled Heatwave Plan for England. Protecting Health and Reducing Harm From Extreme Heat and Heatwaves [12]. This plan is a collaboration between the Meteorological Offices and Health Protection Agencies. The plan has four levels of response based on “threshold day and night-time temperatures as defined by the Met Office”. This threshold is “a temperature of 30ºC during the day and 15ºC overnight“ [13]. At Level 1, short term preparedness starts on June first and lasts until mid September. It is the time when health authorities are on ‘low alert’ and start planning so they are ready to act if a heat wave strikes. One important aspect of this level is to identify high-risk individuals and to initiate care approaches that will needed if a heatwave threatens. Long term level 1 planning involves the creation or allocation of green space and tree planting. Level 2 induces a state of alert and readiness. This level is reached when there is a 60 percent chance of heatwave in the next 2 to3 days. Level 3 is designated “Heatwave Action”. It starts when forecasted daytime temperature are above 26°C (79° F) in one or more regions. This specific temperature was selected as a threshold because many vulnerable people and elderly patients find it difficult to cool themselves naturally at or beyond this temperature. Level 4 or Emergency level is initiated when a heatwave may last four or more days in two or more regions [14].

Numerous European countries have adopted similar action plans. The States and Canada have created a registry of all elderly living within a community along with a description of the types of care needed and the name and address of shelters or facilities which provide air conditioning. At the start heath wave, agencies responsible for the elderly are alerted through radio and television broadcasts. Resources such as transportation are made available to evacuate vulnerable people to air conditioned facilities. The timing of the evacuation is very important. Studies have pinpointed that the number of the death increases one to two days after the onset of an heat wave [15].

Summary

Heatwaves are now a common event, with each successive summer becoming the “hottest on record”. In the aftermath of the devastating European heatwaves in 2003, numerous countries are assessing their health impacts. Research has shown that most of the victims were socially isolated elderly people could not rely on family members or care giver for help. Housing also played a major role in the death toll, with many elderly people trapped in hot and poorly ventilated rental units. The death toll from the 2003 heatwaves prompted governments to create action plans and registries to locate and care for at-risk individuals. Resources are now available to move the elderly into a cooler environment when the need arises.

In Part II of this series, we will look at how tree planting can improve the urban environment. Can trees really cool our cities?

Rosemary Stephen PMed, (cert) EOH, IPM (2010). Hot and getting HOTTER… Heatwave preparedness since 2003, Part I Elements: Environmental Health Intelligence

References:

[1] Improving Public Health responses to Extreme weather/Heat-waves-EuroHEAT, Technical Summary (2009) World Health Organization. (On-line) Available: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/95914/E92474.pdf. Cited 2009 Jun 03.

[2] Bertoldo, R.B. And Poumadère, M. Lessons learned from the 2003 heat wave in France (2009) Power point presentation (On-line) Available: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coe.int%2Ft%2Fdg4%2Fmajorhazards%2Factivites%2Fmurcia_26-27oct2009%2FMurcia_26-27oct09_Bertoldo.pdf&ei=bex7TO-rHof6sAPykMSDBw&usg=AFQjCNHxZHfLtCOMRqWO8Z4zAKAJkHtojQ. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[3] The 2003 European heat wave (2008) Europa Public Health. (On-line) Available: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_information/dissemination/unexpected/unexpected_1_en.htm. Cited 2009 Jul 29.

[4] Bertoldo, R.B. And Poumadère, M. Lessons learned from the 2003 heat wave in France (2009) Power point presentation (On-line) Available: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coe.int%2Ft%2Fdg4%2Fmajorhazards%2Factivites%2Fmurcia_26-27oct2009%2FMurcia_26-27oct09_Bertoldo.pdf&ei=bex7TO-rHof6sAPykMSDBw&usg=AFQjCNHxZHfLtCOMRqWO8Z4zAKAJkHtojQ. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[5] Matthies, F. and al. Guidance Heat-health action plans (2008) World Health Organization Europe (On-line) Available: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/95919/E91347.pdf. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[6] Summary of the mortality impact assessment of the 2003 heat wave in France (2005) Eurosurveillance vol 10 issue 7 , 01. (On-line) Available: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleId=554. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[7] The 2003 European heat wave (2008) Europa Public Health. (On-line) Available: http://ec.europa.eu/health/ph_information/dissemination/unexpected/unexpected_1_en.htm. Cited 2009 Jul 29.

[8] Bertoldo, R.B. And Poumadère, M. Lessons learned from the 2003 heat wave in France (2009) Power point presentation (On-line) Available: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CBIQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.coe.int%2Ft%2Fdg4%2Fmajorhazards%2Factivites%2Fmurcia_26-27oct2009%2FMurcia_26-27oct09_Bertoldo.pdf&ei=bex7TO-rHof6sAPykMSDBw&usg=AFQjCNHxZHfLtCOMRqWO8Z4zAKAJkHtojQ. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[9] The Urban Heat Island (UHI) Effect (2010) Urban Heat Island (UHIs) (On-line) Available: http://www.urbanheatislands.com/. Cited 2010 Jul 30.

[10] Brucker, G. Lessons Learnt form the Summer 2003 Heat Wave in Europe (2005) Eurosurveillance. (On-line) Available: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/images/dynamic/EQ/v05n03/v05n03.pdf. Cited 2009 May 20.

[11] Matthies, F. and al. Guidance Heat-health action plans (2008) World Health Organization Europe (On-line) Available: http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/95919/E91347.pdf. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[12] Heatwave Plan for England. Protecting Health and Reducing Harm From Extreme Heat and Heatwaves (2010) Health Effects of Climate Change in the UK 2008. (On-line) Available: http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/@dh/@en/documents/digitalasset/dh_116029.pdf. Cited 2010 Jul 29.

[13] Ibid. Cited 2010 Jul 29

[14] Ibid. Cited 2010 Jul 29

[15] Kosatsky, T. The 2003 European Heat Waves (2005) Eurosurveillance. (On-line) Available: http://www.eurosurveillance.org/images/dynamic/EQ/v05n03/v05n03.pdf. Cited 2009 May 20.

 
Tags: ,
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
formats

Environmental Health News to August 29, 2010

Published on August 29, 2010 in This Week in Environmental Health News

In order to help you find topics that interest you, our news articles are categorized under:

ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH and SAFETY

PUBLIC HEALTH

WORK PLACE HEALTH AND SAFETY


 
Tags:
 Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Share on LinkedIn
No Comments  comments 
© Elements: Environmental Health Intelligence
credit