Although fish are a nutritious food source, they also are the main source of methylmercury exposure in U.S. populations. This research examined the risks from methylmercury and benefits from omega-3 fatty acids and selenium from fish consumption. The first study provided the first region-specific quantitative risk/benefit analysis for nine commonly...
The Safe Drinking Water Act ensures that public systems provide water that meets health standards. However, no such protection exists for millions of Americans who obtain water from private wells. Concern for safety is warranted as most wells draw from underground aquifers, and studies demonstrate that groundwater is affected by...
American Indians and Alaska Natives have disproportionately high rates of diabetes, and it is not known if perceived medical discrimination is associated with diabetes health measures and poorer health for this population. This study examined the
effect of perceived medical discrimination (PMD) in American Indian women on health care decisions,...
Benzene is a widespread urban pollutant and monitoring results show concentrations are particularly high in Portland, Oregon. Nationally, benzene air pollution is the largest contributor to total cancer risk from air pollutants. We used data from several data sets including: modeled benzene distribution at the census block group level from...
Bathers exposed to microbiological contamination in coastal waters have an excess risk of gastrointestinal and respiratory illness. The disease burden associated with this risk may be considerable in Southern California, where 50 million annual beach visitors recreate in coastal waters that receive billions of gallons of polluted discharges from nearby...
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Anna K. Harding
Bathers exposed to microbiological contamination in coastal waters have an
Arsenic contamination of groundwater is a global issue with national and local implications. Chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water has been linked to both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic health outcomes. The primary exposure route of inorganic arsenic is ingestion from drinking water due to natural contamination in groundwater from dissolution...
During the last decade environmental management has moved from reaction-based management to regulatory requirements to a more progressive approach that incorporates regulatory requirements and voluntary programs, such as the ISO 14001 environmental management system (EMS), to successfully administer their environmental programs. Organizations that transitioned from reaction-based to progressive management through...
The purpose of this study was to identify the knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers related to handwashing in the restaurant environment. The study was designed with multidimensional study tools to include: a focus group conversation with questions to food workers to develop an initial understanding of knowledge, practice and attitudes...
The focus of this research was to develop bacterial community indicators of stream sanitary and ecological condition. The first study compared substrate utilization patterns between centrifuged and uncentrifuged split samples. We found a shift in the relative proportion of each group of bacteria following centrifugation, with a marked increased in...
The purpose of this study was to; (1) determine the extent of well water contamination with nitrate and pesticides, and to understand the relationships among nitrate, pesticide, dissolved chloride, dissolved sulfate, well age, and well depth in the southern Willamette Valley, Oregon; and, (2) to investigate local residents' perceptions and...
The study examined pH, turbidity, and fecal contamination of drinking water from household water storage containers, wells and taps, and the Godawari River, and tested the effectiveness of solar disinfection (SODIS) in reducing levels of fecal contamination from household containers. Second, the study investigated the relationship between use of SODIS...
Waste generated by the health care industry has been cited as a major source of toxic pollution, including mercury and dioxins, which poses a serious threat to public health. The purpose of this study was to investigate pollution prevention activities of health care facilities in Oregon related to environmentally preferable...
The human health effects of acute exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation are well understood; however, when these irradiations occur at low levels, there is controversy as to their potential health threat (BEIR V, 1990). For individuals living in areas where the level of naturally occurring background radiation is...
The purpose of this study was to determine if the implementation of a Behavioral Safety process in a high tech worksite decreases injuries and their severity. The study also sought to determine interest and participation in the corporate Behavioral Safety process. Past injury data were collected and analyzed from corporate...
The purpose of this research was to analyze the available pesticide poisoning data in Oregon from 1994 to 1998 in order to obtain a descriptive account of general incident information and of occupational exposures. These data were to be used by the Pesticide Analytical and Response Center for planning preventive...
Tillamook Bay is used for recreational activities such as swimming and diving, as well as recreational clam harvesting. The bay is also used for one of Tillamook's most prominent industries, oyster harvesting. Bacterial contamination of Tillamook Bay has been a recognized problem since 1962. There are a number of known...
Traditional public health bacterial indicators of water quality and the Biolog® system were evaluated to compare their response to other indicators of stream condition with the state of Oregon and between ecoregions (Coast Range, Willamette Valley, Cascades, and Eastern Oregon). Forty-three randomly selected Oregon rivers were sampled during the summer...
Hazardous materials data from business and industrial chemical information and incident databases were analyzed to study the types of chemicals located in Linn, Benton, and Lincoln Counties, Oregon. Federal and Oregon Department of Transportation data were analyzed to study traffic patterns and truck and railroad traffic levels. Results indicate more...
The Environmental Monitoring and Assessment Program (EMAP) site selection protocol was used to generate a random sample of streams throughout the state of Oregon. One hundred and forty-six selected streams were sampled during the summer, low-flow period of 1997. Traditional microbial public health indicators, including heterotrophic plate counts (HPC), total...
Poor air quality can result in reduced productivity and higher absenteeism in students, fatigue, eye, nose and throat irritation and reduced comfort. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 2 million education employees work in areas with poor indoor air quality.
The measurement of carbon dioxide often is...
Despite the increase in information on the causes of foodborne disease, outbreaks continue to be a major preventable public health problem. Current food service establishment inspection programs, however, are not designed to assess the potential of risk for foodborne disease and do not focus prevention efforts where food service problems...
Few studies, and none in Oregon, have examined the presence and change of water quality parameters over time in popular natural swimming areas. This information is necessary to better understand water quality and risk of illness from either fecal contamination or cross-infection from other swimmers. The purpose of this study...
Contamination of drinking water occurs despite strict regulations, yet few studies
have been conducted to assess the public's perception of risk about drinking water.
The purpose of this study was to assess risk perception associated with drinking water
supplied by small water systems and to determine alternative measures that people...
The purpose of this study was to examine Oregon State University students' self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behavior about recycling. Students living in on-campus and off-campus organized living groups were mailed a four-page survey with questions about their recycling activities, their attitudes about recycling, their opinions of the effectiveness of the...
The likelihood of achieving an effective environmental health communications
program increases with a knowledge of the target audience's attitudes toward their
environmental health concerns, source credibility, preferred channels of communication,
and desire to participate in environmental issues. With this in mind, the purpose of this
study was threefold: 1) to...
Reducing the number of intoxicated motorists and increasing seatbelt use are two
strategies that have effectively reduced morbidity and mortality. The National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), however, suggests that reductions in alcohol-related
fatalities and injuries are the result of implementing strategies associated with
enforcement and judicial processing of driving...
Physical geography and topography combined with increasing number of motor
vehicles have lead to record breaking air pollution levels in Tehran, the capital city of
Iran. The objectives of this study were: 1) to document trends in Tehran, Iran's
ambient air quality levels between 1988 and 1993; 2) to compare...
Unknown questions remain concerning the health of migrant farm workers,
seasonal farm workers, and other rural poor people. The objectives of this study were to
determine the demographic profile of a sample from a Community and Migrant Health
Center; to determine the prevalence of disease in migrant farm workers, seasonal...
The United States Congress is currently debating a bill to reauthorize the 1980 Superfund Hazardous Waste Cleanup Law. If this bill is not reauthorized by the end of 1995, the program will either continue in its present form or be eliminated altogether.' As currently administered, the Superfund program sets out...
Pollution prevention is promoted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other governmental agencies as a method of reducing the generation of wastes and pollutants. Pollution prevention is also called source reduction because it reduces wastes early in the production process. Source reduction has been used by some industries to...
Electric arc welding is the most prevalent welding type in industry. It creates two main groups of health hazards for workers; fumes and gases, and radiant energy. Shielded Metal Arc (SMA) welding is the most widely used welding method in industrial plant welding shops. The main chemical health hazards associated...
The move from hazardous waste management to pollution
prevention is viewed as a paradigm shift in American
industry. Pollution prevention involves source reduction to
reduce the amount of hazardous waste that is generated, and
recycling of those wastes that cannot be prevented within
the production process. The first piece of...
Excessive nitrates in drinking water pose a human health threat, especially to infants. Methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, is a potentially fatal condition that inhibits the ability of red blood cells to bind and transport oxygen. Nitrates/nitrites have also been linked to such conditions as cancer, birth defects, and behavioral and...