Environmental & Public Health

Nexleaf Analytics announced today that it is a Grand Challenges Explorations winner, an initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dr. Nithya Ramanathan, President, will pursue an innovative global health and development research project, titled “ColdTrace: Cellphone Sensor for Cold Chain Monitoring.”

Joe Creek has been a biological desert for decades. This small and unassuming stream flows north out of the Red Buttes Wilderness in Siskiyou County, California, and passes below the abandoned Blue Ledge Mine, after which its otherwise pristine water turns into a toxic brine as acidic as vinegar where only algae survives.

That closeness has a dollars-and-cents value. Cyclists travel at what Portland Bike Coordinator Roger Geller calls a “human-scale speed” that allows them to “stop and buy something.” Read the full story

When he became chief, many people wondered whether Mr. Cook, a skilled manager of Apple's operations, could ever rival the visionary influence of Mr. Jobs on Apple products. Instead, it appears Mr. Cook could make his earliest and most significant mark by changing how Apple's products are made. ''I want to give credit to Tim Cook for this,'' said Dara O'Rourke, associate professor of environmental and labor policy at the University of California, Berkeley. ''He's admitting they've got problems.''

Associate Professor Rachel Morello-Frosch M.P.H. '93, expert in environmental health and justice, has been honored with a 2012 Chancellor's Award for Public Service, in the area of Research in the Public Interest. She was selected for her high-level, rigorous research that contributes to the public good, her outstanding commitment to empowering underserved communities and building community partnerships, and her dedication to educating the next generation of scholars. Read the full story

There is little regulation of nail product manufacturers, said Thu Quach, a research scientist with the Cancer Prevention Institute of California who has studied the nail salon industry. Any amount of toxic chemicals in nail products can be dangerous to workers, she said, especially if the salons lack adequate ventilation. "Low levels in the products really add up when you are using them constantly," she said. Read the full story

In developing countries, diarrhea, which is a symptom of gastrointestinal infection, is one of the biggest health concerns. Diarrhea kills 2.5 million children each year, but little data about diarrhea and climate exists. Karen Levy, an environmental epidemiologist at Emory University in Atlanta, found that rotavirus, which causes diarrhea, becomes more active in tropical regions when the climate is cooler and drier.

A recent study may give germophobic students yet another reason to dread going to lecture. A joint study of indoor microbial composition by UC Berkeley and Yale University researchers found that human presence causes a significant increase in levels of bacteria and fungi indoors. The average human emission, the study states, is about 37 million bacteria per person per hour.

After compiling data from 21 Silicon Valley companies, Wilson and his co-authors Heather Madison and Steven Healy discovered that 57 percent of the companies surveyed did not have a confined space safety plan in place other than to call the fire department. As a result, the companies resort to calling 911 in the case of any confined space emergency. “The employers need to take responsibility for having a way to rescue their employees in the event of a confined space emergency before the firefighters arrive,” Wilson said.