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BACKGROUND: The potential health benefits of exposure to vegetation, or greenness, are well documented, but there are few nationwide studies in Brazil, a country facing challenges related to land-use planning, deforestation, and environmental health risks. OBJECTIVES: In this study, we investigated the association between greenness and hospitalizations for cardiorespiratory diseases in Brazil. METHODS: We accessed hospital admissions data from 967,771 postal codes (a total of 26,724,624 admissions) covering Brazil for the period between 2008 and 2018. We used Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) data from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to measure greenness at the postal-code level. First, we applied a quasi-Poisson regression model to estimate the association between greenness and hospitalizations for circulatory and respiratory diseases, adjusted for air pollution, weather variables, and area-level socioeconomic status. We stratified the analyzes by sex, age group, health outcome, and Brazilian regions. In the second stage, we performed a meta-analysis to estimate pooled effects across the Brazilian regions. RESULTS: The national meta-analysis for the whole population, incorporating both urban and nonurban areas, showed that higher levels of greenness were associated with a lower risk of hospitalizations for circulatory diseases. An interquartile range (IQR = 0:18) increase in average NDVI was associated with a 17% (95% confidence interval: 8%, 27%) lower risk of cardiovascular admissions. In contrast, there was no association found between greenness and respiratory admissions. When specifically examining urban areas, the results remained consistent with the overall findings. However, the analyses of nonurban areas revealed divergent results, suggesting that higher levels of greenness in rural regions are associated with a lower risk of hospital admissions for both circulatory and respiratory diseases. DISCUSSION: The findings emphasize the importance of prioritizing the preservation and creation of green spaces in urban areas as a means of promoting cardiovascular health in Brazil. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP13442, Introduction Cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. (1) In Brazil, these diseases are responsible for a significant number of hospital admissions and deaths. [...]

Exposure to cold temperatures can have negative health impacts that lead to cold-related illness or death. We explored the case definition for cold-related illness that was developed and piloted by the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Using their case definition, we assessed the burden of cold-related illness and death in Minnesota. We analyzed the results by season, demographics, and chronic disease. Overall,, Introduction Cold-related illness and death are common and occur across different U.S. regions. The National Center for Health Statistics within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that [...]

Exclusionary housing policies concentrate housing inequities, disproportionately exposing Black communities to environmental pollutants, and isolating them from essential health resources (Dimick et al. 2013 (See CR9)). For this study, a literature review was conducted to explore how environmental racism has contaminated Black lives and to understand the policy failures that have perpetuated these inequities. Using case study methodology, this paper highlights three specific events to illustrate the contamination of Black lives: toxic wells in Dickinson County, Tennessee; coke plants in North Birmingham, Alabama; and the water crisis in Flint, Michigan. The central policy failures in these cases were delayed response, misinformation, weak enforcement of regulations, and inadequate solutions provided by environmental health officials. Future research should focus on the intersection of environmental hazards, community trust, and the effectiveness of prevention strategies in Black communities. Environmental health officials should focus on transparency, accountability, and equal protection for all lives., Author(s): Sheree Henderson [sup.1] , Rebecca Wells [sup.1] Author Affiliations: (1) grid.213876.9, 0000 0004 1936 738X, College of Public Health, Department of Health Promotion and Behavior, University of Georgia, , [...]

There is no single, uniform nationwide method for organizing and delivering governmental environmental health (EH) services to residents of the U.S. and its territories. A comprehensive effort to describe existing EH service delivery models has not been conducted. To address this gap in knowledge, the authors investigated EH organization and delivery methods among states and territories in fall 2017. The aim was to provide a synthesized understanding of EH system delivery to assist in efforts to target and deliver workforce capacity building and professional development support. We contacted EH directors of every state and territory through an informational survey to 1) describe how services are delivered, 2) quantify service delivery jurisdictions, and 3) determine the administrative home of core EH programs. We achieved a 98% survey rate response. Service delivery administrative models were heterogeneous and fell into three categories: centralized, decentralized, and mixed/shared organization. The number of jurisdictions within states and territories ranged from 1-351 jurisdictions. The administrative agency home of EH varied widely. With this research, we hope to better understand the structure of each regional agency and the efficacy of each agency's performance as it relates to its structure and distribution., Introduction One of the greatest challenges facing U.S. policy makers today is that of the impending reformation of systems and entities that protect the nation's health (Mays, Scutchfield, Bhandari, & [...]

Husiraci Environmental health specialists often perform environmental assessments (EAs) when a suspected or confirmed foodborne illness outbreak is linked to a food establishment. Information from EAs helps officials determine the cause of the outbreak and develop strategies to prevent future outbreaks; however, EAs are not always conducted. To determine facilitators and barriers to conducting EAs, we analyzed open-ended responses reported to the National Environmental Assessment Reporting System about these assessments. We found that EAs were conducted most often when illness was identified, a jurisdiction had a policy to investigate illnesses, and there were resources for such a response. EAs were not conducted in instances such as limited resources, insufficient training, uncooperative facility personnel, or if the establishment fell outside of health department jurisdiction. Identifying the facilitators and barriers to conducting EAs can enable health departments to develop strategies that improve their ability to conduct EAs., Introduction Foodborne illness is a significant public health problem in the U.S. (Angelo, Nisler, Hall, Brown, & Gould, 2017; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013; Gould et al., [...]

David Foster Wallace's stunning and cerebral 2005 Kenyon College commencement speech should be required reading. He begins: 'There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet [...]

The main objective of this research was to ascertain the association between organizational characteristics of local health departments (LHDs) and environmental health (EH) services rendered in the community. Data used for the analysis were collected from LHDs by the National Association of County and City Health Officials for its 2013 national profile study of LHDs. We analyzed the data during 2016. Apart from understanding basic characteristics of LHDs in the nation, we introduced new measures of these characteristics, including 'EH full-time equivalents' per 100,000 population and 'other revenue' (revenues from fees and fines) per capita. The association of these and other organizational characteristics with EH services were measured using likelihood ratio %2 and t-tests. Out of 34 EH services considered, LHDs directly provided an average of 12 different services. As many as 41% of the 34 EH services were not available in more than 10% of the communities served by LHDs. About 70% of communities received some services from organizations other than LHDs. All the available organizational characteristics of LHDs had association with some of the EH services. Although we might assume an increase in per capita expenditure could result in an increase in LHDs' direct involvement in providing EH services, we found it to be true only for five (15%) of the EH services. The variation of EH services provided in communities could be explained by a combination of factors such as fee generation, community needs, type of governance, and population size., Introduction In 2012, the Institute of Medicine recommended a minimum package of public health services related to communicable and non-communicable disease control, emergency preparedness and disaster response, and environmental health [...]

I want to enter Laurie Zoloths 'At the Last Well on Earth: Climate Change Is a Feminist Issue' through an ecowomanist analytical lens. Ecowomanism is an approach that centers the [...]

I. INTRODUCTION II. HOW A NARROW CONCEPTION OF BIOETHICS EMERGED A. Bioethics Has Two Fathers B. Birth-Father #1: Van Rensselaer Potter C. Birth-Father #2: Andre Hellegers, Father of the Georgetown [...], A profession's definition of a concept is a powerful act that illuminates key aspects, while leaving discarded notions in the dark. In 1971, Van Rensselaer Potter first coined the term "bioethics" to advocate for the exploration of medical science and values with the goal of protecting life on earth. (1) But, in the years since, bioethics became solely focused on issues in medicine and health care without recognizing their broader links to the environment. This Note argues that it is shortsighted to view bioethics as divorced from the world outside hospital doors. It further argues that an expanded conceptual model of bioethics is necessary in light of the complexities of contemporary society. Bioethical analysis will be inadequate if the narrow scope of the current definition of bioethics remains unchallenged. If Potter's broader view of bioethics were embraced, bioethical work would include examination of the moral and legal foundations for human health and environmental protection policies. Bioethical analysis could then invite debate on topics like land use and pollution control policies, for example, and not merely on patient care issues within the health care system. Keywords: bioethics, environmentalism, environment, land use, pollution control