M6.4 Blog: Industrial Farming

I learned a lot from this video about bees. I especially liked the section on bees being ancient and sacred among some cultures. I also appreciate the highlight in bees primarily being a female. 
I learned a lot about the pesticides and the connection from WWI. I had no idea the farm lands that were still left from their chemicals, which we still use as farmland today. I was not aware of the The International Bee conference, which farmers from all over the world come together and learn how to pass laws that help them regulate the chemical use and help save their bees.  I think this is amazing to join together and bouncing ideas off of each other to unify laws and agree that they need to find a way around the chemicals. 

Utilizing the farm factory website, (my location is San Mateo County) the closest farm factories are Santa Cruz , which is color coded as "moderate." The extreme farm factories are found in Sonoma County. 

I do my best in composting! But ever since we are re-doing our backyard, we have stopped because I have no other place to put our scraps. We also have a problem with wild cats getting into our backyards and nibbling on the scraps. So we have stopped ever since. I would like to continue composting! 

National Tap Water Campaign

I would develop a national campaign about drinking tap water by highlighting the facts against bottled water and major companies.
For example, I would highlight my national campaign to demonstrate that tap water is just as safe and filtered to drink as bottled water. I would persuade my campaign to challenge bottled water drinkers to test their own favorite brand of bottled water against our tap water. I would also highlight the amount of money saved by not buying bottled water and how much plastic / resources would be saved yearly if bottled water was not heavily consumed as much as it is. I would also provide glass recyclable bottles that people making the switch would use to use as their daily reminder to refill their glass bottles with tap water. My main idea would be to persuade bottled water drinkers to stop buying bottled water and help the environment.

M5.7 Blog: Your Sewage Facilities

The nearest waste /sewage treatment plan is within the city of Daly City.

It's approximately 10 minutes away from where I live.

Ironically, this is located near a park , which I used to visit as a child. I never knew this was a sewage / treatment plant!

M5.4 Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) and water quality

Our area focused is: Daly City, California

Our water comes from the Hetch Hetchy Watershed, responsible for providing over 80% of the Bay Area's water supply. As a reservoir, the primary source of the system is filled by snow melting, runoff water and the Tuolumne River. Water in the Hetch Hetchy Reservoir is treated but not filtered because of the large quantity. 

I discovered a lot about our water quality, particularly focusing on what was in our water - Arsenic was low, Chromium was low, and traces of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were never found in the wells of Daly City. That was comforting because my friend just came back from camping and he has an idea that he may have caught Giardia from drinking not filtered water.

At home, my husband and I do not filter our water, but we boil it or drink pre-bottled filtered water at our leisure. We do have a Brita filter for our dog to drink water from because it refrains from mixing with her saliva and causing red tear ducts to mix in her eyes. This has drastically changed the physical appearance of our dog, which we get lots of questions why our dog doesn't have red teared- eye gaps and a 'brassy/ copper' mouth. We are trying to filter out the natural minerals that mix with our dogs saliva that causes their fur to turn colors due to oxidation. 

We do drink bottled water, but I prefer drinking boiled or even tap water, over my husband who grew up on always boiling his water, no matter how 'pure' the water had come from. 

Prior to watching the video on bottled water, my husband (as previously mentioned) noted he rarely drinks tap water - he is adamant about drinking water at a 'clean' source. Now knowing not all bottled water is cleaner or healthier for you, we can make a clear point that there is no difference the two.


Source: http://www.dalycity.org/City_Hall/Departments/wwr/Consumer_Confidence_Reports_of_Water_Quality/report2007.htm#12

M5.2 The public health importance of safe drinking-water

The Clean Water Act focuses on improving the quality of the nation's waters. It sets standards and provides financial assistance to address the main causes of pollution leading to overall poor water quality. The Clean Water Act holds industries accountable to meet standards and set specific water criteria. To this day, the act still continues to bring clean water.
The important of drinking safe water has to do with safe levels of chemicals and nitrates being safe to drink. Access to having safe-drinking water is important to civilizations because we cannot thrive without clean water. Clean water is important to many states, fishing and wildlife service. For fisherman, if the water is contaminated, the food source in the area is too. That affects our food chain greatly if the sources of our food and water are contaminated and thus seeping into our plants and vegetation. We want to maintain the natural water as much as possible while harvesting the resources given to us in an adequate amount of use, without being able to replenish.

M4.5 Group Post about Fragrance Free Policy

An idea for a fragrance free policy would be to highlight the possibilities of health endangerment of those who wear perfumes / sprays that are chemically enhanced with chemicals unknown in small institutions. I would initiate a fragrance-free policy that would raise awareness through knowledge and spread the norm of refraining from wearing chemically enhanced fragrances.

Elements included are highlighting the number of individuals  who are affected by allergic scents:

According to Eczema.com, almost 20% of the general population are sensitized to at least one allergen. It's also noted that fragrance is one of the most frequently cited substances to causing reactions. 

We can also note that through the Environmental Workers Group (EWG.org) reports there has been research conducted by National Academy of Science that fragrances  mixed with a chemical styrene, can cause cancer. 

We would then launch a list with popular companies who have used styrene in their products.

We would initiate a list with popular fragrance items used in the household that we should reduce / discontinue use of - examples would be: 

-House /bleach-scented wipes 

-Laundry detergent 

-Cleaners 

Our policy would then offer alternative safe and natural oils that provide naturally chemically enhancing scents such as lavender, lemons etc. 

I would then implement this policy in a smaller setting that has control over initiating the reduction of perfumes such as hospital settings and schools, where the patient population is more heavily targeted. 

I personally work in a hospital and we do have a fragrance-free policy; upon further review, I did not see any other explanation for why we are "fragrance-free." I contacted our OSHA department to find out more information and it turns out we should be providing an explanation of sensitivity for patrons who would like to understand more information. 

Sources: https://nationaleczema.org/fragrances-perfumes-eczema-allergy/

https://www.ewg.org/enviroblog/2014/08/expert-panel-confirms-fragrance-ingredient-can-cause-cancer#.W6GrBoQrJhE

M4.2 - National Library ToxNet

Urea formaldehyde:

In the 1970’s, urea formaldehyde was used to build homes and a cheap efficient material. More common symptoms of being exposed to urea formaldehyde would be breathed through the air. People who are especially sensitive to urea formaldehyde are people who have asthma. Urea formaldehyde is also known to cause cancer. Common cancers that are caused from urea formaldehyde exposures are nasopharynx, leukemia and sinonasal cancer. Cancer is a heavy side effect that was often found in products / materials handled found with urea formaldehyde.

Bleach:

Bleach is a common household product used to clean surfaces. Bleach is known to cause respiratory infections such as asthma. There was a study conducted by Matulonga et al., (2016), that conducted research whether there was an associated exposure of non-allergic asthma in woman who used bleached weekly. Results showed that there was a significant precedence in women who used bleached weekly and those who developed coughs and were found to have high neutrophil counts (Matulonga et al., 2016).

Sources: https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/f?./temp/~wUhhog:4

https://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancer-causes/formaldehyde.html

https://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/f?./temp/~wHpnOm:1

https://www.resmedjournal.com/article/S0954-6111(16)30145-7/fulltext

M4.6 Blog Assignment: Radon

I would develop a national awareness campaign by advertising the statistics of how many individuals who have been affected by radon gas exposure, as compared to those who have developed lung cancer due to smoking.

I would pair our national campaign with oncology physicians who have diagnosed individuals with radon gas exposure and have them provide an interview or symptoms checklist.

I would also make a national month for radon awareness and work with the local public health agencies within the cities and states offering radon awareness kits to be handed out to individuals to start the conversation. I would also pair up radon kits with real estate companies who can spread the awareness and option to get their homes tested for radon (and used as a selling point). Real estate companies and new home owners should be given pamphlets upon arrival to encourage to test for radon levels. Although this may be a faulty part of selling a house, real estate agents should always similarly check for radon exposure levels as well. 

Another stakeholder would be the environmental health and safety for the county to be responsible for all new developments. I would also join campaigns with the American Cancer Society, who can remind individuals to test for radon gas exposure to reduce the risks of lung cancer. 

Sources:
https://www.epa.gov/radon/national-radon-action-month-information
https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DRSEM/Pages/EMB/Radon/Radon-and-Real-Estate.aspx

M3.3 Environmental Justice

Reading several of the websites and postings that provide insight on environmental justice brings more like to these situations than I was aware of.

While reading an article on Environmental Health News on the radioactive chemicals showing up in mussels in Pennsylvania’s state river,  (read article here) I realized I should be paying more attention to where our food is naturally sourced and what potential chemical environments surround it. In this article, it mentioned heavily that the impact of bioaccumulation, the buildup of chemicals in living creatures, and how it is still unsure how it directly impacts our health as humans, but knows that this is an important reason to pay attention to the foods we are eating. This article was especially alarming since my family heavily enjoys seafood and mussels, and thus wanting to know where more of our seafood locally comes from could potentially harm our health if not properly sourced.In another health news article in Reuters (link here) about how environmentally unsafe chemicals can affect human reproductive health, specifically endocrine disrupting chemicals. This, in relation to the CNN article that did a special on chemical blood lab draw to reveal the chemical exposures in the body are related to one another – their possible food sources. Chemical exposures are not only just environmental but also what we choose to eat and get our food from.What I believe about environmental justice is that we as humans do not know enough. I personally struggle with what I believe is best for my health, and also what is readily available to me to make these types of choices. For example, if I can afford to live in a community that is away from chemical / environmental hazards such as a freeway, power plant or heavy chemical company, I consider myself already ahead of the health curve as compared to many people who do not have that choice due to income or accessibility. If I am not given the option to choose fresh vegetables grown locally versus chemically enhanced cheaper alternatives that is also something that I cannot control if the option is not given to me. It is a difficult situation as many populations are not automatically given that ‘head start’ to choose their environment of health, but what they can do to enhance is it also just as equally a choice. For those who suffer from air pollutants, without the proper health clinics or medication to dispense and assist these populations at an affordable price, we are not doing this population any good by withholding these health resources because they cannot afford it.

 

While reading the web article by Nick Chiles hosted on Atlanta black Star,  “8 Horrifying Examples of Corporations Mistreating Black Communities with Environmental Racism” (link here )Many of these communities listed were products of their living conditions because of the environment that was chosen within their community. It is unfair to place these chemical plants in local areas where families reside – I am aware that land regulations are usually involved in where to place these toxic companies, so why are there not any regulation emphasis on building residential properties where people reside? This especially fits into what is happening with the Black Lives Matter Movement, where they are empowering communities such as these who are underserved and outcasted because of their race. In this post specifically, it is mentioned how "Environmental racism is made possible by extreme segregation due to the racial and ethnic groups compared to income and occupation status, African Americans were exposed to higher crime rates and less education solely based on their race.