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From 1943 to 1979, miners and factory workers in more than two hundred work sites globally were subjected to mandatory medical treatments by their employers as an unproven, and ultimately ineffective, treatment to prevent the lung disease silicosis. The treatments involved inhaling finely ground aluminum dust known as McIntyre Powder, blown into miners’ change rooms each shift using compressed air systems. Tens of thousands of industrial laborers were exposed to McIntyre Powder, yet their story is scarcely known, and the possible health impacts of their aluminum treatments were rarely studied. This paper integrates the history of the aluminum prophylaxis program and its control by the northern Ontario mining industry with the lived experience of one of the affected miners, whose daughter created a voluntary registry which documents health issues in exposed miners, and stimulated research that found a link to her father’s Parkinson disease.

The concept of an observatory for examining and monitoring trends for research in the social sciences and health arose from analogy with the facilities of astronomy and the realization that close and consistent observation was essential to understand interactions among determinants of health in a community. Their theoretical foundations are largely grounded in the "population health model," an intellectual framework developed in 1974 and associated with a movement called "the new public health." We developed an observatory for an affluent, unexceptional, suburban jurisdiction ("County 20") in the province of Alberta, in western Canada, and used it to study and monitor both normative and emergent issues in environmental health. The observatory was conceived as a utility, or multi-purpose vehicle, for describing and responding to emerging community issues quickly and gathering data and qualitative findings as required. Case studies on issues of local importance allowed us to observe the dynamics of community response comprehensively, using quantitative and qualitative methods as appropriate. Valuable insights gleaned from the cases studied pertained to risk perception, the NIMBY syndrome, and reorganizing and auditing public health services. It did less well when the object of study was further removed from the community of interest, when there was no clear action item to be recommended, and when sponsors had expectations for certainty that could not be supported by available data sources. The observatory eventually was merged into a community health outreach program. The local observatory model is a practical, low-cost, and sustainable model for capturing generalizable and specifically local case study experience on a small scale but is limited in its effectiveness and by the scope of its coverage. It can be an initial step toward longitudinal and community monitoring studies on a larger scale. The observatory model can be used to elevate the level of case studies, impose rigor on analysis, and compile case studies for comparative and analytical studies.

Students in environmental studies, sciences, and sustainability need some degree of health literacy to pursue their own interests because health issues have played a disproportionate role in shaping environmental history, regulation, and interventions. Those entering careers in practice, advocacy, and deep study of environmental issues need further depth to have the capacity to evaluate the plausibility and context of health claims, to advocate responsibly, and to address health disparities. How much education is required for a minimum foundation and in which areas of content? A workshop held at the 2018 Annual Meeting of the Association of Environmental Studies and Sciences focused on minimum health content required for undergraduate and master’s-level graduate students to deal with issues involving health. The goal was a set of recommendations or guidelines for cognitive frameworks and fund of knowledge related to human health that may be considered fundamental in education of these students. Four sets of findings were formulated, addressing four key dimensions: (1) Participants agreed that the health content of current curricula in environmental studies, sciences, and sustainability is sparse. (2) The purpose of introducing health into education in these fields is to reflect the influence or significance of health problems on or arising from environmental justice, regulation and ecosystem management, or sustainability practice, respectively, and to provide the student with a context for understanding health issues. (3) A high-level working knowledge of the essentials of toxicology, epidemiology, risk science, planetary health, and related fields was prioritized, but mastery was deemed unnecessary for education at this level. (4) Teaching human and animal health is facilitated by analogy or reference to instruction already incorporated in the curriculum. For example, toxicology can be taught by analogy to ecotoxicology, because the same principles apply, and basic concepts of epidemiology build on population studies. Integrative case studies were suggested as a teaching tool, and the One Health (human and veterinary health) paradigm was recommended as a natural bridge.

Necrophagous flies are of great importance for human and animal health. In places where their development occurs, parasitoids can be used as a tool to control these dipterans. In Brazil, the fauna of these parasitoids has been investigated in some regions. However, in Rio Grande do Sul, it is known the occurrence of only one species. Thus, this study aimed to create the first list of parasitoids in flies of medical and veterinary importance in Southern Brazil. Collections took place in the municipality of Pelotas (31º 42’ S; 52º 18’ W). Three replicates consisting of a 500 g bovine liver chunk placed in a tray were exposed to open air for 20 days. Then pupae were individualized and observed until their emergence. We identified 4,882 adult flies of Calliphoridae, Fanniidae, Muscidae, and Sarcophagidae. 4,040 parasitoids emerged, belonging to eight species, of which Nasonia vitripennis, Spalangia cameroni, Spalangia chontalensis, and Tachinephagus zealandicus are new records in Rio Grande do Sul state. Also, three undescribed species of the genus Aphaereta were collected. In spite of being the first attempt to inventory the fauna of hymenopteran parasitoids, this study may help in the development of management programs of these dipterans in the region. Resumo Moscas necrófagas possuem grande importância para a sanidade humana e animal. Onde estas se desenvolvem ocorrem parasitoides que podem ser utilizados como ferramentas para o controle desses dípteros. No Brasil, a fauna desses parasitoides vem sendo investigada em algumas regiões e no Rio Grande do Sul é conhecida a ocorrência de apenas uma espécie. Portanto, o objetivo deste estudo foi criar a primeira lista de espécies de parasitoides de moscas de importância médica e veterinária ocorrentes no extremo sul do Brasil. As coletas foram realizadas no município de Pelotas (31º 42’ S; 52º 18’ O). Foram montadas três réplicas de bandejas contendo, cada uma, 500 g de fígado bovino, expostas ao ar livre durante 20 dias. Na sequência, as pupas foram individualizadas e observadas até a emergência. Foram identificados 4.882 adultos pertencentes às famílias Calliphoridae, Fanniidae, Muscidae e Sarcophagidae. Emergiram 4.040 parasitoides, pertencentes a oito espécies, das quais Nasonia vitripennis, Spalangia cameroni, Spalangia chontalensis e Tachinephagus zealandicus são novas ocorrências para o Rio Grande do Sul. Foram coletadas três espécies ainda não descritas do gênero Aphaereta. Apesar de ainda ser um primeiro esforço de inventariar a fauna de himenópteros parasitoides, este estudo pode auxiliar no desenvolvimento de programas de manejos desses dípteros na região.

A world focused on the threat of a pandemic has not paid attention to an even greater threat that is upon us – one no longer looming in the far distance but arriving in strength and crashing on top...

Since 1987, the concept of sustainability and sustainable development has developed into a major policy framework for economic development, environmental protection, community development, and perhaps surprisingly but quite effectively, business management. Despite recognition of the importance of health as an element in sustainability, consideration of opportunities for health gains and reducing health disparities has been a secondary consideration. Health is automatically improved by commitment to sustainability. However, sustainability provides a framework within, which health gains and reduction in health disparities is possible and greatly facilitated. Some sustainability measures are obvious in their health benefits: reducing pollution, ensuring food security and quality, maintaining a healthful built environment. Others are not obvious, but have profound indirect effects, such as energy and transportation policy. This paper describes a path to integrating health and sustainability with respect to achieving health gains, building on the existing framework of “health promotion” as both a bridge and a model, and convening a dialogue between professionals in sustainability (primarily through academic environmental studies and sciences) and the health community (both patient-oriented health care and population health sciences).

Workers are uniquely susceptible to the health hazards imposed by environmental changes. Occupational and environmental medicine (OEM) providers are at the forefront of emerging health issues pertaining to working populations including climate change, and must be prepared to recognize, respond to, and mitigate climate change-related health effects in workers. This guidance document from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine focuses on North American workers health effects that may occur as a result of climate change and describes the responsibilities of the OEM provider in responding to these health challenges.

On 16 October 1996, a malfunction at the Swan Hills Special Waste Treatment Center (SHSWTC) in Alberta, Canada, released an undetermined quantity of persistent organic pollutants to the atmosphere, including PCBs, PCDDs and PCDFs. The circumstances of exposure are detailed in Part 1, Background and Policy Issues. An ecologically based, staged health risk assessment was conducted in two parts with two levels of government as sponsors. The first, called the Swan Hills Study, is described in this part, which was conducted by the Government of Alberta to evaluate the human health risks, primarily by determining contaminant levels in wild game and fish and in serum of residents of the area to reflect body burden. A diet and activity survey was conducted by telephone to determine and to inform an initial advisory on consumption of country foods. A subsequent evaluation, called the Lesser Slave Lake Study, focused exclusively on Aboriginal residents in the area and is presented in Part 3 of this case study. Because this is a case study and not a research report, the findings are presented as they became available at the time of the study.

On 16 October 1996, a malfunction at the Swan Hills Special Waste Treatment Center (SHSWTC) in Alberta, Canada, released an undetermined quantity of persistent organic pollutants to the atmosphere. An ecologically based, staged health risk assessment was conducted to evaluate the human health risk, the findings of which are presented in Part 2, on Ecotoxicology and Human Health Risk. The incident resulted in the largest fine for an environmental infraction in Alberta history up to that time. Despite the incident, the province of Alberta has continued to subsidize the facility and has kept it in operation, with changes in management. The policy rationale is that if the facility were not available, accumulation and possible diversion of hazardous waste into illegal disposal alternatives would threaten the environment much more than operation of the plant. This case study illustrates an ecological approach to risk assessment and an attempted culturally sensitive approach to risk management. Incidents in which people are exposed to toxic substances do not occur in a social vacuum. Risk management strategies must be adapted to groups with different cultural values and expectations. Community and individual responses to such incidents, and the development of health advisory messages, may depend on presenting information on exposure and risk in terms consistent with cultural patterns among subpopulations in the community.

On 16 October 1996, a malfunction at the Swan Hills Special Waste Treatment Center (SHSWTC) in Alberta, Canada, released an undetermined quantity of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) into the atmosphere, including polychlorinated biphenyls, dioxins, and furans. The circumstances of exposure are detailed in Part 1, Background and Policy Issues. An ecologically based, staged health risk assessment was conducted in two parts with two levels of government as sponsors. The first, called the Swan Hills Study, is described in Part 2. A subsequent evaluation, described here in Part 3, was undertaken by Health Canada and focused exclusively on Aboriginal residents in three communities living near the lake, downwind, and downstream of the SHSWTC of the area. It was designed to isolate effects on members living a more traditional Aboriginal lifestyle. Aboriginal communities place great cultural emphasis on access to traditional lands and derive both cultural and health benefits from “country foods” such as venison (deer meat) and local fish. The suspicion of contamination of traditional lands and the food supply made risk management exceptionally difficult in this situation. The conclusion of both the Swan Hills and Lesser Slave Lake studies was that although POPs had entered the ecosystem, no effect could be demonstrated on human exposure or health outcome attributable to the incident. However, the value of this case study is in the detail of the process, not the ultimate dimensions of risk. The findings of the Lesser Slave Lake Study have not been published previously and are incomplete.

The traditional way of teaching environmental health is to concentrate on the hazard: how toxic or dangerous is it, what is the risk, who is most susceptible, who is most vulnerable, where does it ...

Environmental health is where public health began, in the middle of the nineteenth century in Europe. The core model of environmental health, what distinguishes it, has been the “source-exposure-re...

The relationship between scientific freedom and human rights is as deep on the side of science as it is on the side of human rights. On the one hand, issues of the application of science and techno...

The environmental health sciences, including occupational health, are front and center in the current battle for respect of science. Partly because of the policy implications of environmental resea...

Anyone reading this journal or following the world literature knows perfectly well that environmental health is a global concern, because pollution and ecosystem change know no boundaries. However,...

In environmental and occupational health we are accustomed to thinking about target organs for toxic exposures. We are concerned with effects on the lungs, kidney, and liver. We seldom think of the...

A political development in the United States, the Green New Deal,1 unexpectedly opens new possibilities for environmental and occupational health research. Far from being an “unserious” partisan po...

Evidence-based diagnostic and treatment guidelines for occupationally related interstitial lung diseases (ILDs) have been developed and are summarized herein.Comprehensive literature reviews were conducted with article abstraction, critiquing, objective grading, and evidence table compilation. A multidisciplinary expert panel drafted evidence- and consensus-based guidance. External peer-review was incorporated.Recommendations for diagnosis (n = 12) and management (n = 4) of ILD were developed. Spirometric testing, chest radiographs, and high-resolution computerized tomographic scans were recommended based upon evidence. In addition to a detailed clinical history, carbon monoxide diffusion capacity, sputum sampling, exposure assessment, 6-minute walk test, and bronchoalveolar lavage were also recommended. There was no recommendation regarding chest magnetic resonance imaging due to lack of evidence.Recommendations for diagnosis and management of ILD are supported by quality evidence. These guidelines may be useful to help guide providers who are tasked with diagnosing and/or treating patients with occupationally related ILD.

Although medical care delivery by one's personal physician is the paradigmatic American healthcare arrangement, in the workplace setting, many Americans undergo medical evaluations to assess their fitness for duty or degree of impairment. This Article explores the complex and evolving legal status of occupational medical evaluations. Beginning with the legal and ethical frameworks of occupational medical practice, the Article then examines the effects of increasingly detailed legal regulation under the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act on employees, employers, and physicians.

Occupational medicine concerns keeping workers healthy, screening for early signs of health problems, and promoting good health through workplace initiatives. According to recent estimates, 55,000 deaths and 3.8 million disabling injuries per year result from occupational illness at a cost of $125 to $155 billion. This chapter covers the basic principles and clinical evaluation of occupational disease, guidelines for taking a patient’s occupational history, and exposure assessment. Major occupational disorders in developed countries are discussed, including respiratory tract disorders, skin disorders, disorders of the kidneys, liver disease, central and peripheral nervous systems, organs of sensation, occupational cancer, musculoskeletal disorders, hematologic disorders, endocrine and reproductive effects, stress and psychogenic effects, and nonspecific illness. Tables outline critical dimensions of occupational medicine, the conceptual approach to a patient with a suspected workplace injury or illness, common hazards with widely available tests for exposure, historically common occupational disorders, and established occupational carcinogens. Figures includes a chest film of asbestosis, a sample occupational and environmental history questionnaire, lungs in various states of pneumoconiosis, a photograph of contact dermatitis, and a graph showing hearing decline at 4,000 Hz frequency. Illustrations demonstrate the impact of occupational exposure on the kidneys and liver and the anatomy of the hearing mechanism. This review contains 9 highly rendered figures, 5 tables, and 112 references.

On April 22, 2017, over 100,000 scientists, engineers, students, and people concerned for the scientific enterprise marched in mass demonstrations in major cities and more than a few small towns an...

We who have made our careers in environmental and occupational health are proud of the progress we have made in managing difficult problems and understanding complexity and interdependent relations...

Bodur, Said (Balikesir Author), Violence in the workplace is an increasing occupational health concern worldwide. Health care workers are at high risk of assault. To develop, monitor, and manage prevention policies, baseline data should be available. This cross-sectional study was designed to determine the current extent of workplace violence nationwide in Turkey. The study population of 12.944 health care workers was a stratified sample of all health care workers (612,639) in the country. A probabilistic sampling was made on the basis of the “multistage stratified random cluster sampling method.” This study was conducted by a structured questionnaire in a face-to-face interview. The questionnaire items were adapted and translated into Turkish based on questionnaires of International Labor Organization, International Council of Nurses, World Health Organization, and Public Services International. The percentage of health care workers who experienced workplace violence in Turkey in the previous 12 months was 44.7%. The types of violence included physical 6.8%, verbal 43.2%, mobbing (bullying) 2.4%, and sexual harassment 1%. Multivariate analysis showed that level of health care system, type of institution, gender, occupation, age, working hours, and shift work were independent risk factors for experiencing workplace violence (p