Environmental & Public Health

As we enter the holiday season, Fellow Alicia Daniel offers a checklist for Earth-friendly toy buying.

“There’s evidence that diet is one route of exposure to pesticides, and you can reduce your exposure by choosing organic food,” said the lead author, Asa Bradman, associate director of the Center for Environmental Research and Children’s Health at the University of California, Berkeley. “But I would never say that conventional fruits and vegetables are unsafe. They’re all healthy.” Read more

It seems that almost every week, another major food company announces plans to remove artificial colors and flavors from their products. In the past six months, major food companies such as Nestle, General Mills, Kellogg's, Hershey’s and Campbell’s committed to reformulating many of their iconic brands to be free of artificial colors and flavors. National restaurant chains such as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Subway and Noodles & Company also made similar commitments. Tens of billions of dollars of products are being reformulated.

A special state commission charged with studying the safety of public drinking water systems across West Virginia resumed work this week, eight months after completing its last report to the Legislature. ...

How do activists know how many trucks rumble through neighborhoods surrounding Port Newark, belching diesel fumes that aggravate the breathing problems of residents? They count them, one at a time, as the rigs roll by. ... Volunteers at the three Ironbound locations counted a total of 1,100 trucks during a 45-minute period, said Isella Ramirez, environmental justice coordinator for the Ironbound Community Corporation, neighborhood non-profit group.

Shaye Wolf, climate science director at the Center for Biological Diversity, confirmed the dangers that fracking poses to air quality, water quality and human health.

2. Secondhand fumes. ​While that nail-polish smell is unavoidable, your eyes shouldn't water upon entry. Workers are the most vulnerable to fumes, "but even short exposure to hazardous chemicals can be harmful," says Thu Quach, Ph.D., a research scientist with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California who has done extensive research on nail-salon safety. Read more

Identifying Violations Affecting Neighborhoods (IVAN) is an innovative program of environmental monitoring, reporting, and enforcement in California. It is intended to improve health and conditions of well-being in disadvantaged communities where residents face high levels of environmental hazards and low levels of the economic, political, and social resources need to address them.

Alumni working on climate change–related policy talk to Breakthroughs about how their efforts impact energy, water, pollution, and public health. Seth ShonkoffMPH ’08 Public Health; PhD ’12 ESPM. Executive Director, PSE Healthy Energy, www.psehealthyenergy.org