National Environmental Updates
National Environmental Public Health Tracking Conference:
Tracking in Action: Leading the Way to Better Environmental Public Health
September 12-15, 2011- Ritz Carlton, Atlanta
The 2011 National Environmental Public Health Tracking Conference, "Tracking in Action: Leading the Way to Better Environmental Public Health" will unite the environmental public health community and provide opportunities to:
- Discuss and highlight successes of environmental public health and the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program.
- Share innovative approaches and reflect on lessons learned along the way.
- Discuss the future of environmental public health.
- Build partnerships and identify next steps for environmental public health tracking.
Abstract Submission Deadline - June 20, 2011
Session Topics Include:
Tracking in Action
Science in Action
Informatics in Action
Communications in Action
Hotel Information:
The conference will be held at the Ritz Carlton, Atlanta. A block of rooms has been reserved under the ITNITNA group code for a reduced rate of $132. Register by Monday, August 22, to ensure that you receive the reduced rate.
Regional Asthma Management and Prevention: Bleach Exposure in Child Care Settings: Strategies for Elimination or Reduction Report
http://www.rampasthma.org/2011/03/9258/
In 2008, the San Francisco Asthma Task Force started a pilot project to identify methods for infection control practices that eliminate or reduce child care operator exposure to bleach. The final report and associated materials are available at
http://www.rampasthma.org/2011/03/9258/
The Minnesota Department of Health is pleased to announce the launch of a new, free, online training. The training was developed as part of an EPA grant and is titled, Reducing Environmental Triggers of Asthma in the Home, or RETA Home. This training is designed for public health nurses and certified asthma educators and takes about 40 minutes to complete. It teaches about the triggers of asthma found in the home and suggests simple, realistic interventions that helps limit or eliminate exposure to these triggers.
The program also features a resource section that can be accessed after the training has been completed.
To view this training program, please go to: www.retahome.org
New EPA Lawn Care Videos Encourage Healthy and Environmentally Friendly Practices
The EPA has created a series of new videos to encourage homeowners and communities to adopt healthy lawn care practices as a means of reducing pesticide risk to human health and the environment. Healthy, environmentally friendly lawn and landscape practices can reduce erosion, stream sedimentation, flooding and runoff of pollutants into local waterways as well as risk of pesticide exposure to children, adults, pets and wildlife.
The video series was developed to educate homeowners, garden clubs, civic associations and others seeking a healthy, environmentally friendly lawn. In addition, the video was created as an educational tool to assist federal, state and local government agencies, master gardeners and community-based groups with their existing outreach and education efforts. The series is available in a four-minute format, an extended 11-minute format and several short, topic-specific versions. Topics covered include soil testing, watering, mowing, weed and pest control, fertilizer use, aerating soil and controlling runoff.
To view the EPA's new healthy lawn care practices videos, visit: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/lawncare/
From Canadian Environmental Law Association
HEALTHY RETROFITS: The Case for Better Integration of Children’s
Environmental Health Protection into Energy Efficiency Programs
March 2011
"This report is a key milestone within a two-year Ontario-focused project of the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment that aims to raise awareness of the risks to fetal and child health from potential exposures to environmental contaminants during and after energy efficiency retrofits. The project also aims to increase awareness among multiple players about measures that can be taken to help reduce these risks.
This report, prepared by the Canadian Environmental Law Association as a contribution to the broader project, provides a review and analysis of key issues, programs, educational and policy tools, and gaps. It describes multiple opportunities where greater integration between the field of children’s environmental health and energy efficiency initiatives can and should occur, and offers specific recommendations for improvement in education, training and policy."
The Executive Summary hits these points:
- Children are at greatest risk from toxic exposures; renovation activities can significantly increase this risk.
- Analysis of energy efficiency programs reveals insufficient attention to indoor environmental health concerns.
- Research reveals a lack of training, awareness among energy efficiency auditors and other building professionals.
<!-
Current opportunities exist for improvement.
<!-Recommendations: these derive from the research and stakeholder consultation conducted for this report. The overall objective of these recommendations is to seek the integration of the two broad issue areas discussed in the report – indoor environmental health and energy efficiency retrofits -– by identifying specific opportunities for improvement.
Read more (PDF)
Table of Contents, Public Health Reports, Volume 126, Supplement 1: Healthy People in a Healthy Environment
http://www.publichealthreports.org/archives/issuecontents.cfm?Volume=126&Issue=13
Introduction to Healthy People in a Healthy Environment
Hugh M. Mainzer, MS, DVM / Daphne B. Moffett, PhD
Comprehensive Environmental Public Health
Christopher J. Portier, PhD
Teaching Home Environmental Health to Resident Physicians
Joseph S. Zickafoose, MD / Stuart Greenberg, MS / Dorr G. Dearborn, PhD, MD
Healthy Homes University: A Home-Based Environmental Intervention and Education Program for Families with Pediatric Asthma in Michigan
Thomas W. Largo, MPH / Michele Borgialli, MPH, MSW / Courtney L. Wisinski, BS / Robert L. Wahl, DVM, MS / Wesley F. Priem, BS
Oklahoma Healthy Homes Initiative
Fahad Khan, MPH
Making Child Care Centers SAFER: A Non-Regulatory Approach to Improving Child Care Center Siting
Margaret L. Harvey, MPH / Tarah S. Somers, RN, MSN/ MPH / Sharee Major Rusnak, MSPH, ScD
Promoting Active Transportation as a Partnership Between Urban Planning and Public Health: The Columbus Healthy Places Program
Christine Godward Green, MCRP / Elizabeth G. Klein
Animal Sentinels for Environmental and Public Health
John S. Reif, DVM, MSc
The 2009 National Environmental Public Health Conference: One Model for Planning Green and Healthy Conferences
Perri Zeitz Ruckart, MPH / Cory Moore, MPH / Deborah Burgin, PhD / Maggie Kelly Byrne, BA
Health Outcomes and Green Renovation of Affordable Housing
Jill Breysse, MHS / David E. Jacobs, PhD / William Weber, MARCH / Sherry Dixon, PhD / Carol Kawecki, MA, RN / Susan Aceti, MSW / Rajni Lopez, MPH
Primary Prevention of Lead Exposure: The Philadelphia Lead Safe Homes Study
Carla Campbell, MD, MS / Mary Tran, MPH / Edward Gracely, PhD / Naomi Starkey, MPH, CPH, CHES / Hans Kersten, MD / Peter Palermo, MS / Nancy Rothman, MEd, MSN, EdD / Laura Line, MS / Tine Hansen-Turton, MGA, JD
Nurse Case Management and Housing Interventions Reduce Allergen Exposures: The Milwaukee Randomized Controlled Trial
Jill Breysse, MHS / Jean Wendt, BS / Sherry Dixon, PhD
Attitudes about Carbon Monoxide Safety in the United States: Results from the 2005 and 2006 HealthStyles Survey
Michael E. King, MSW, PhD / Scott A. Damon, MAIA, CPH
Carbon Monoxide Poisoning After an Ice Storm in Kentucky, 2009
Emily C. Lutterloh, MD, MPH / Shahed Iqbal / Jacquelyn H. Clower / Henry A. Spiller / Margaret A. Riggs, PhD, MPH, MS / Tennis J. Sugg, MPH / Kraig E. Humbaugh, MD, MPH / Betsy L. Cadwell, MSPH / DouglasThoroughman, PhD, MS
Hazards of Illicit Methamphetamine Production and Efforts at Reduction: Data from the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance System
Natalia Melnikova, MD, PhD / Wanda Lizak Welles, PhD / Rebecca E. Wilburn, MPH / Steve Rice, BA / Jennifer Wu, MS / Martha Stanbury, MSPH
Healthy Workplaces: The Effects of Nature Contact at Work on Employee Stress and Health
Erin Largo-Wight, PhD / W. William Chen, PhD, CHES / Virginia Dodd, PhD,MPH / Robert M. Weiler, PhD, MPH
Residential Light and Risk for Depression and Falls: Results from the LARES Study of Eight European Cities
Mary Jean Brown, ScD, RN / David E. Jacobs, PhD
Poverty, Sprawl, and Restaurant Types Influence Body Mass Index of Residents in California Counties
Jennifer Gregson, PhD, MPH
Effects of a Television Drama about Environmental Exposure to Toxic Substances
May G. Kennedy, PhD, MPH / Elizabeth Eustis Turf, PhD / Maureen Wilson-Genderson, PhD / Kristen Wells, MPH / Grace C. Huang, MPH /Angela Beck, MPH
Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools Lesson Plans
The National Education Associations Health Information Network now has Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools lesson plans available at
http://www.neahin.org/health-safety/environmental/iaq-tfs-lessson-plans-k-12.html
They are currently provided as on PDF with an index page to help users navigate to any specific lesson plan.
http://www.neahin.org/health-safety/environmental/iaq-tfs-lessson-plans-k-12.html
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New Goals for APHA 2011
Less Trash! Less Plastic!
The 2011 APHA Annual Meeting theme "Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds and Bodies" gives APHA members an opportunity to build on the 2009 and 2010 themes of Water and Social Justice as public health priorities.
As Chairs of the Food & Nutrition and Environment Sections, we invite you to get involved in supporting these priorities during the 2011 Annual Meeting:
Green Goals. The Food and Environment Working Group, the Environment Section's 100th Anniversary Committee, and APHA are setting goals to reduce waste and promote a sustainable, just, and healthy food and water system.
Got Trash? We encourage everyone at the 2011 APHA Annual Meeting to increase efforts to reduce trash, especially paper and plastic.
The Diversion Rate (the recycling/trash ratio) in D.C. at the 2007 APHA Annual Meeting was 34 percent.
The Diversion Rate in Denver at APHA 2010 was 52.75 percent.
Can we achieve a Diversion rate of 75 percent at APHA 2011?
-- Bring your own refillable bottles. Please note that the Walter E Washington Convention Center's food service sinks and water fountains provide filtered water.
-- Plan events using local resources and services that encourage wise use of water and other resources.
-- Seek food sourced from sustainable producers and distributors.
-- If using disposables, use compostable products and use the facility compost program. Label containers so compostables do not go into the waste stream.
-- Take advantage of the DC Convention Center's Green Initiatives: http://www.dcconvention.com/Planners/Large/GreenInitiatives.aspx
Be an Ambassador of public health and social justice in your own community. Promote information about the social justice, public health and environmental problems caused by bottled water and water privatization, especially disposable plastic water bottles. Use the "Resources and References" below and on the Food and Environment Working Group’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=134564799935654&topic=6959
Learn more about what APHA Environmental Initiatives go to this link: http://www.apha.org/meetings/highlights/environment.htm
Share ideas for waste reduction at the 2011 APHA Annual Meeting's programs, scientific sessions, events and exhibits. Send your questions and suggestions to Ellie Goldberg ellie.goldberg@gmail.com and join the conversation on the Food and Environment Working Group’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/APHA.food.and.environment.
Sincerely,
Deirdra Chester, Food & Nutrition Section Chair
Sacoby Wilson, Environment Section Chair
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Update on APHA Book Publications – June 2011
I am very pleased to announce that there are a number books
in production as well proposals for books that have been accepted, and work on
them is under way. Furthermore, several
authors of current products will be available to sign their books at the Fall
APHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.
APHA members of all Sections are encouraged to use
existing, new and emerging products in their academic courses. These resources
are also very relevant to policy, prevention, advocacy and client care
initiatives. Please encourage your colleagues to use these timely and
evidence-based resources. Go to the APHA
website to find out more: www.aphabookstore.org
We are also looking for new proposals for books. If you
have an idea for a book, please send a few paragraphs describing the idea,
intended audience and your qualifications to Nina Tristani, Director of
Publications, APHA, nina.tristani@apha.org
Thank you for supporting APHA Books and promoting these
products.
Norman Giesbrecht,
PhD, Chair, APHA Publications Board
**************
New
o
Environmental Health and Racial
Equity in the United States, Authors: Robert D. Bullard, PhD; Glenn S. Johnson, PhD; and
Angel O. Torres, MCP
Books at Printer in
June
·
Megacities and Public Health, Omar Khan, MD, MHS
·
Public
Health Management of Disasters, 3rd edition, Linda Landesman
Books Currently in
Production
- Injury
Prevention for Children and Adolescents: Research Practice, and Advocacy, 2nd edition, Karen
D. Liller, PhD
- School –Based Health Care, Terri Wright, MPH and Jeanita Richardson, PhD
Books in Development
- Control of
Communicable Diseases Manual, 20th Edition
- Control of Communicable
Diseases Lab Book
- Compendium of
Methods for the Examination of Foods, 5th Edition
- Caring for Our
Children, 3rd
edition
- Standard Methods
for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, 22nd edition
E-Books
·
Communicating Public Health
Information Effectively is now on Kindle.
Co-sponsored Books
Jossey-Bass: Emerging Infectious Diseases published in April 2011.
Jones
and Bartlett Learning
books to be published before the 2011 Annual Meeting: Essentials of Biostatistics in Public Health, Essential Case Studies in
Public Health: Putting Public Health into Practice, Global Health 101, Field
Epidemiology in Public Health Practice, Epidemiology in Women's Health,
Essentials of Health, Culture and Diversity, Epidemiology of Chronic Disease,
Introduction to Air Pollution Science, and Essentials of Program Planning and Evaluation.
APHA is also co-publishing with Wiley, Designing Healthy Communities by
Richard Jackson. The book is a companion
to a PBS series to air this fall.
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Final Call for Section Awards Nominations
Deadline is TODAY, June 10, 2011
Nominations for Section Awards are now closing.
In particular, the three major Awards include the Section’s Distinguished Service Award (DSA), the Damu Smith Environmental Achievement Award, and the presenter for the annual Homer N. Calver Lecture, our flagship event during the APHA Annual Meeting.
The DSA is presented to someone who has exhibited outstanding service to the Section, the field of Environment Health, and APHA. There are many deserving members of our organization, so please submit their names accompanied with a short letter of support.
We are accepting suggestions for the D. Smith Achievement Award winner -- an environmental health worker who has contributed to the profession particularly in the areas of environmental quality improvement, environmental justice and quality of life.
The Calver Lecture is presented annually by a leader in environmental health, often from the geographic area where the APHA Annual Meeting is held (this year: Washington, D.C.). Although the presenter’s primary message is usually geared for late-breaking and new innovation in the field of environmental health, this year the lecture is expected to have a historical flavor in celebration of our Section’s 100th Anniversary recognition.
There is only about a week left -- so take a moment to get your nomination in !!
Please forward nominations to Leon Vinci, Awards Committee Chair, at the following address : lfv6@aol.com.
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