Fice Of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment

Pollution continues to pose an enormous threat to residents of urban cities worldwide. In the August 2008 Monthly Update, it is stated that approximately 800,000 deaths each year can be attributed to outdoor air pollution, making pollution the single most harmful environmental hazard to human health in urban areas (Kallman). The fact that pollution kills hundreds of thousands of people each year alone portrays just how dangerous living in these conditions can be. Kallman writes about a study which proves an increase in upper respiratory diseases, cardiovascular mortality, respiratory mortality, and low birth weights when exposed to air pollutants (August 2008: Monthly Update). These can be very serious diseases and complications which, when contracted, can lead to death or very serious illnesses. There

Environmental conditions can directly impact one’s health and safety. Davis explains, that primary prevention through assessments of the home and community are

Air pollution is associated with a wide range of health risks, including respiratory problems, allergies, cancer, lead poisoning, and others. Marion County is in compliance with air quality standards established by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide, particulates, and lead.

The next piece of evidence showing environmental determinants to health is the air samples taken from the African American community’s residents. Moreover, the air samples taken from the Norco residents living close to the refinery show higher levels of toluidine and benzene, known cancer and disease causing chemicals, than averages from the rest

This neighborhood is very culturally diverse and has a wide range of ages. There are both young and older families living in their neighborhood. Some aspects of the community that could affect resident's health are air pollution, aging populations, and noise disturbances. According to Health People 2020 leading health indicator for this population is environmental hazards. Some populations are disproportionately exposed to environmental hazards. As a result, health disparities exist. Exposures to environmental

We plan to accomplish this firstly by improving the trail between the Tom Ford Park and Lafayette Heritage Trail Park. As of right now, it’s quite narrow in some areas and because it’s a shared-use trail between cyclists and pedestrians it means there is little room for coexistence so we’d like to expand it by at least two feet. We also propose that we should increase public knowledge of these trails through the use of social media, information sessions at the Piney-Z Homeowners Association meetings, and through a partnership with the FSU Hiking Club. There is also very little signage at both parks, especially Tom Brown where the entrance to the trail is just an ingrowth in the forest without any declaration. We recommend that clear and vibrant signs are erected in both parks that display a map of the trail marked with locations and amenities at both places as to encourage use. As we walked through Piney-Z, to our dismay, we noticed many of the streets lacked sidewalks, forcing us to walk on the road and dodge oncoming cars by moving onto people’s lawns which one resident, in particular, wasn’t so pleased with. So to keep this community safe and encourage people to walk in the neighborhood and to the park we propose to create sidewalks along every street in the

Concerning the amount of PM 2.5 found in the air, these sections of Beaverton ranked in the 21st percentile nationally and the 50th percentile in Oregon. Ozone records pinned these sections of Beaverton in the fourth percentile nationally and the 21st percentile for Oregon. Compared with the United States as a whole and the rest of Oregon, Beaverton seems to preform quite well regarding PM 2.5 and Ozone. However, in these same two zone as reported above, the reports for traffic proximity, lead paint indicators, and water discharge proximity raise some concern. Each of the environmental indicators ranked above the 60th percentile mark, with traffic proximity and water discharger proximity both reaching well into the 90th percentile range. These high marks for their respective environmental indicators shocked me and were uncharacteristic for the majority of Beaverton.

Since 1985, the Jail Populations have nearly tripled with the top 3 States that exceed incarceration rates being Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. Unfortunately, some jails face overcrowding everyday, and are forced to resort to denying prisoners or finding alternative means to reduce the number of prisoners. It is reported that most of the overcrowding occurs in urban jails (e.g. The Tombs in NYC, the Cook County Jail in Chicago, the Los Angeles County Jail and the Old District of Columbia Jail) (Siegel & Bartillo, 2014).

Joivita Bradford was a member of the 2014 Public Health Associate Program, where she was assigned to work at San Joaquin County Public Health Services (SJCPHS). Located in the Central Valley of California, Ms. Bradford established the SJCPHS Safe Routes to School Network and conducted walking environment assessments near local elementary schools. The findings were used to guide schools in the creation of handbook policies, alternative walking routes for students, Geographic Information System (GIS) maps, and transportation plans including the City’s Bicycle Master Plan and Safe Routes to School Infrastructure Prioritization Plan. As a member of the CDC’s Built Environment Work Group, she was able to present at the July meeting. Additionally,

>Among all the factors that are attributed to population health, the environment is perhaps the greatest. It is common knowledge in public health that if the physical environment is unhealthy, so is the population that live there. Even though the many of the environmental issues are being addressed by the State and County authorities, Clayton County is experiencing a slow rate of change. While the air pollution-particulate matter is declining, it is currently at 13.2, which is higher than the national average of 9.5, and the 12.8 for the state’s average.2 In addition, this county has drinking water violations and severe housing problems. As a result of these and other environmental issues, Clayton County ended up with a county ranking of 159 out of 159.1 This is not a good thing for the population of Clayton County.

I grew up in a New Philadelphia which is a small city located in Tuscarawas County Ohio. While exploring the EJ environmental indicators I was not overly surprised by the information that I found. The part of the city where I grew up, the east side, is in the 60-70th percentile for lead paint while the majority of the city is in the 80-90th percentile, the west side of the city which is more impoverished area has sections in the 90-95th percentile and 95-100th percentile. My neighborhood is in the 80-90th percentile in “Proximity to Risk Management Plan Facilities,” which was not shocking because there is an industrial park approximately three miles from my neighborhood. The west side of town is in the 90-95th and 95-100th percentile in this indicator. There are

They include; spatial analysis in environmental justice research that takes history into consideration, research that focuses on the forces that compel people to live beside hazardous facilities, studies that considers the impact that different facilities have on health, property values, jobs, host community compensation and many others. The author also emphasized the importance of studying the impact of pollution associated with the activities of small-scale organizations such as gas stations and garages on people living in such

of Laramie conducted the Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Assessment of part of Laramie. They looked at the section of roads between downtown and 15th Street and Garfield Street north to Ivinson. They found a number of impediments to mobility. In many areas, sidewalk conditions are in need of

FIGURE 10- 3 illustrates the overall walkability index for various neighborhoods. Audit observations were generally similar to resident perception implying either approach to evaluating walkability could be optimized to estimate the other. Only two neighborhoods exhibited differences between audit observations and residents' perceptions. Other studies have reported no correlation between pedestrian perceptions and objectively measured audit and GIS indices (Hajna et al., 2013).

Starting in the year 2004, the air pollution has reached an alarming level in the city o Toronto. Dr Barbara Yaffe, the acting medical officer of health of Toronto Public health, has released a report in July 2004 saying that the “air pollution [in the city] has contributed to over 1700 premature deaths and 6000 hospitalization admission in Toronto each year” (Yaffe, 2004, p.i). According to this report, pollutants such as ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, and carbon monoxide have increased within the air of the city; these pollutants are tiny particles that are 2.5 micron in diameter or less and can affect people’s respiratory system and cause cardiovascular and respiratory problems such as “asthma, bronchitis in children, adult chronic bronchitis, and heart problem” (TPH, 2007, figure 1). Although it