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BACKGROUND: The practice of reporting back individual results to participants in environmental health research has evolved significantly over the past 20 years. Research findings support the potential of report-back to enhance the ethics, quality, and impact of environmental health research. Nonetheless, implementation of environmental health report-back practices is not yet routine. OBJECTIVES: We propose a framework for institutionalizing appropriate report-back to participants of their individual results across the environmental health research enterprise. We provide a brief overview of the rationales for report-back, social science research on report-back experiences over the past two decades, and recent efforts to synthesize guidance in this field. We also describe barriers to be addressed in moving toward widespread implementation of report-back. DISCUSSION: Report-back of individual results is increasingly recognized as an ethical responsibility and essential component of impactful environmental health research. Experience shows that when personal results are returned with appropriate contextual information, report-back can increase environmental health literacy, promote individual actions, and enhance engagement in policy change. Therefore, report-back can promote environmental justice and reduce disparities in access to science. Despite this evidence base, report-back is not widely implemented. We recommend the collaborative development of guidelines, training, and resources to build capacity for appropriate report-back to study participants across the environmental health research enterprise, and we identify research priorities to advance the field. Development of tools and shared infrastructure for report-back holds promise for reducing barriers while ensuring high-quality personalized reports. Disseminating successful case studies could also advance excellence. We recommend including diverse scientific disciplines, community partners, representatives of study populations, clinicians, institutional review boards (IRBs), legal experts, public health professionals, and government officials in further developing this critical aspect of environmental health research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a 2022 paper on the implementation of wastewater-based surveillance (WBS) that requires collaboration, integration, and community engagement. Topics covered include the need for partnerships between researchers, sample collectors, and public decision makers to successfully use research data for practical application. Also noted is the need for effective communication tools to orient the public on WBS.

BACKGROUND: Significant progress has been made in reducing the incidence of childhood lead poisoning in the United States in the past three decades. However, the prevalence of elevated blood lead in children (≥10 µg/dL) remains high in some communities, particularly those with high proportions of pre-1978 housing in poor condition. Increasingly, municipalities are using local policy tools to reduce lead poisoning in high-risk areas, but little is known about the effectiveness of such policies. OBJECTIVES: In this article, we evaluated the effectiveness of a comprehensive rental housing-based lead law adopted in Rochester, New York, in 2005. Methods: This policy evaluation integrates analyses of city inspections data, a survey of landlords, landlord focus groups, and health department data on children's blood lead levels from the first 4.years of implementation of the 2005 law. RESULTS: Implementation has proceeded consistent with projected numbers of inspections with nearly all target units inspected in the first 4 years. Higher than expected inspection passage rates suggest that landlords have reduced lead hazards in rental housing affected by the law. Implementation of the lead law does not appear to have had a significant impact on the housing market. CONCLUSIONS: Although many uncertainties remain, our analysis suggests that the lead law has had a positive impact on children's health. Strong enforcement, support for community-based lead programs, and ongoing intergovernmental coordination will be necessary to maintain lead-safe housing in Rochester. Lessons learned from the Rochester experience may inform future local lead poisoning prevention policies in other communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. In several cities, researchers have found that a discrete number of properties owned by a small number of owners house multiple lead poisoned children over time. The purpose of this study was to determine whether or not a small number of properties were implicated in the poisoning of multiple children in Rochester, New York, between 1993 and 2004. Methods. We analyzed the patterns of ownership and repeated positive environmental investigations (i.e., documented lead hazards) in homes of lead poisoned children using county health department data during a 12-year period. Results. A small percentage (14.8%) of properties in which the health department found a lead hazard had previously documented lead hazards. When a second positive investigation occurred, the average elapsed time between investigations was a little less than three years. Only four property owners owned more than two properties that had multiple positive investigations. Conclusions. In some cities, a small number of properties or property owners provide housing for a large percentage of lead poisoned children. However, this situation is not universal. In Rochester, a relatively small percentage of homes that housed a child with an elevated blood lead level have a history of housing lead poisoned children. In cities like Rochester, lead hazard reduction resources should focus on high-risk housing stock determined by factors such as age, value, and condition, rather than on those with a prior record of housing lead poisoned children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a long-standing need for a technique that can provide fast, accurate and precise results regarding the presence of hazardous levels of lead in settled house dust. Several home testing kits are now available. One kit manufactured by Hybrivet (LeadCheck Swabs) is advertised as able to detect lead dust levels that exceed the US Environmental Protection Agency''s dust lead standard for floors (40μg/ft2). The purpose of the study was to determine the ability of LeadCheck Swabs to instantly detect lead in dust above EPA''s hazard standard. A trained risk assessor collected 200 LeadCheck Swab samples side-by-side with standard dust wipe samples. The result of the LeadCheck Swab (positive (pink or red) or negative (yellow to brown)) was compared with the laboratory results for the corresponding dust wipe (over or under 40μg/ft2). The LeadCheck Swabs produced a false negative rate of 64% (95% confidence interval: 55%, 72%). The likelihood of a swab producing a false negative depended on substrate (painted or non-painted) and surface type (floor or sill). Changing the interpretation rule by classifying all swab colors except yellow as positive yielded lower false negative rates under some test conditions, but still produced high error rates. LeadCheck Swabs do not reliably detect levels of lead in dust above 40μg/ft2 using published methods under field conditions. Further research into alternate methodologies and interpretation guidance is needed to determine whether the swabs can be appropriately used by consumers and others to test homes for lead dust hazards. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Collaboration between agencies, private groups, and citizens in the field of natural resource management is generally seen as a productive strategy in challenging management situations. Collaborative management is particularly appealing in efforts like farmland preservation, which depend for their success on local initiative and support. However, such partnerships may create new dilemmas about the appropriate use of information in management. This paper analyzes the use of information by 15 county-wide Farmland Preservation task forces in the state of Ohio, U.S.A. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ecosystem approach to managing the environment requires significant changes to our current environmental management system. However in many cases, financial and political realities may prevent full adoption of the approach. It is important to consider what partial implementation can contribute to improved coordination of management efforts. This article examines the effectiveness of a voluntary coordinating body as a first step toward ecosystem management. The Darby Partnership is a decade-old ecosystem management institution that brings together representatives of government, industry, and the public to protect one of the most pristine stream systems in Ohio. The partnership has no explicit goals, formal planning process, independent funding, or authority. Thus, it is an extremely skeletal version of ecosystem management. This article analyzes the accomplishments of this coordinating institution and explores how the partnership might become more effective in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the implications of policy scientists' observations about socioeconomic models for the use of water quality models in environmental decision making. Model application tasks in estuarine waste load allocations; Lessons from policy scientists on improving the usefulness and appropriateness of modeling for policy-making; Alternatives for water quality modeling.

This article reports that community-based organizations in the United States are working to promote healthy and affordable housing for all. Yet reduced government funding and increased competition for foundation support make it even harder to redress housing-based health disparities. In March 2005, the Alliance for Healthy Homes convened nearly 50 leaders from community groups around the country to plan how to work together to build a national monument for healthy homes in the face of political and funding challenges. The Alliance of Healthy Homes has now presented a plan for combining forces with the National Center for Healthy Housing to integrate research, policy, and practice into practical solutions for communities.