Environmental influences on self-reported leisure-time physical activity in the Austin/Travis County STEPS survey 2005--2009

This study was an examination of environmental and social correlates of physical inactivity in a socio-economically disadvantaged community. This study was a secondary analysis of data collected by the Austin/Travis County Department of Health and Human Services. The study included an analysis of perceived environmental influences (e.g. access to physical support features like sidewalks and streetlights). This study also investigated several features of the social environment (e.g. perceived neighborhood crime and social influence). Participants’ beliefs and attitudes about the neighborhood were investigated. Results included estimates of the association between neighborhood factors and physical inactivity controlling for age, gender and education. This study found significant associations for social and environmental variables with physical inactivity. The goal of this work was to identify factors that contribute to inactivity and address a number of environmental and neighborhood risk factors that contribute to sedentary behaviors in a population of relative social and economic disadvantage.^

Health significance of chlorination byproducts in drinking water: The Houston experience: A continuation study

Background. Houston, Texas, once obtained all its drinking water from underground sources. However, in 1853, the city began supplementing its water from the surface source Lake Houston. This created differences in the exposure to disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in different parts of Houston. Trihalomethanes (THMs) are the most common DBP and are useful indicators of DBPs in treated drinking water. This study examines the relationship between THMs in chlorinated drinking water and the incidence of bladder cancer in Houston. ^ Methods. Individual bladder cancer deaths, from 1975 to 2004, were assigned to four surface water exposure areas in Houston utilizing census tracts—area A used groundwater the longest, area B used treated lake water the longest, area C used treated lake water the second longest, and area D used a combination of groundwater and treated lake water. Within each surface water exposure area mortality rates were calculated in 5 year intervals by four race-gender categories. Linear regression models were fitted to the bladder cancer mortality rates over the entire period of available data (1990–2004). ^ Results. A decrease in bladder cancer mortality was observed amongst white males in area B (p = 0.030), white females in area A (p = 0.008), non-white males in area D (p = 0.003), and non-white females in areas A and B (p = 0.002 & 0.001). Bladder cancer mortality differed by race-gender and time (p ≤ 0.001 & p ≤ 0.001), but not by surface water exposure area (p = 0.876). ^ Conclusion. The relationship between bladder cancer mortality and the four surface water exposure areas (signifying THM exposure) was insignificant. This result could be attributable to Houston controlling for THMs starting in the early 1980’s by using chloramine as a secondary disinfectant in the drinking water purification process.^

Planning and implementation efficacy as a determinant of health risk communication outcomes: Case studies of the U.S. Public Health Service (PHS)

This study was conducted under the auspices of the Subcommittee on Risk Communication and Education of the Committee to Coordinate Environmental Health and Related Programs (CCEHRP) to determine how Public Health Service (PHS) agencies are communicating information about health risk, what factors contributed to effective communication efforts, and what specific principles, strategies, and practices best promote more effective health risk communication outcomes.^ Member agencies of the Subcommittee submitted examples of health risk communication activities or decisions they perceived to be effective and some examples of cases they thought had not been as effective as desired. Of the 10 case studies received, 7 were submitted as examples of effective health risk communication, and 3, as examples of less effective communication.^ Information contained in the 10 case studies describing the respective agencies' health risk communication strategies and practices was compared with EPA's Seven Cardinal Rules of Risk Communication, since similar rules were not found in any PHS agency. EPA's rules are: (1) Accept and involve the public as a legitimate partner. (2) Plan carefully and evaluate your efforts. (3) Listen to the public's specific concerns. (4) Be honest, frank, and open. (5) Coordinate and collaborate with other credible sources. (6) Meet the needs of the media. (7) Speak clearly and with compassion.^ On the basis of case studies analysis, the Subcommittee, in their attempts to design and implement effective health risk communication campaigns, identified a number of areas for improvement among the agencies. First, PHS agencies should consider developing a focus specific to health risk communication (i.e., office or specialty resource). Second, create a set of generally accepted practices and guidelines for effective implementation and evaluation of PHS health risk communication activities and products. Third, organize interagency initiatives aimed at increasing awareness and visibility of health risk communication issues and trends within and between PHS agencies.^ PHS agencies identified some specific implementation strategies the CCEHRP might consider pursuing to address the major recommendations. Implementation strategies common to PHS agencies emerged in the following five areas: (1) program development, (2) building partnerships, (3) developing training, (4) expanding information technologies, and (5) conducting research and evaluation. ^

Assessing the Environmental Protection Agency's guidelines for cumulative risk assessment: Are they suitable for state agencies and EPA regional offices?

In the field of health risk analysis, cumulative risk assessment (CRA) is a necessary, although undeniably more complex approach to understanding the mixture of stressors, whether chemical or psychosocial, that exist in our environment, in all the pathways through which the chemicals may evolve—air, soil, or water, as well as the accumulation of these exposures over time. Related, or attached to the developing awareness of scientists understanding this mix of combined health effects is the burgeoning of the environmental justice movement, in which educated community advocates and even affected community members have called attention to evidence of a higher pollution burden in minority and/or lower SES communities. The intention of this paper is to 1) examine the development and understanding of CRA, primarily by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; 2) to assess several states agencies and some EPA regional offices' interpretation of CRA, again based primarily on EPA guidance, and 3) to analyze how CRA might be refined in its implementation—giving some cues as to how the EPA may more effectively interact with communities interested in CRA.^

Use of a modified delphi process for establishing occupational exposure limits in support of health surveillance for space travelers

On-orbit exposures can come from numerous factors related to the space environment as evidenced by almost 50 years of environmental samples collected for water analysis, air analysis, radiation analysis, and physiologic parameters. For astronauts and spaceflight participants the occupational exposures can be very different from those experienced by workers performing similar tasks in workplaces on Earth, because the duration of the exposure could be continuous for very long orbital, and eventually interplanetary, missions. The establishment of long-term exposure standards is vital to controlling the quality of the spacecraft environment over long periods. NASA often needs to update and revise its prior exposure standards (Spacecrafts Maximum Allowable Concentrations (SMACs)). Traditional standards-setting processes are often lengthy, so a more rapid method to review and establish standards would be a substantial advancement in this area. This project investigates use of the Delphi method for this purpose. ^ In order to achieve the objectives of this study a modified Delphi methodology was tested in three trials executed by doctoral students and a panel of experts in disciplines related to occupational safety and health. During each test/trial modifications were made to the methodology. Prior to submission of the Delphi Questionnaire to the panel of experts a pilot study/trial was conducted using five doctoral students with the goals of testing and adjusting the Delphi questionnaire to improve comprehension, work out any procedural issues and evaluate the effectiveness of the questionnaire in drawing the desired responses. The remainder of the study consisted of two trials of the Modified Delphi process using 6 chemicals that currently have the potential of causing occupational exposures to NASA astronauts or spaceflight participants. To assist in setting Occupational Exposure Limits (OEL), the expert panel was established consisting of experts from academia, government and industry. Evidence was collected and used to create close-ended questionnaires which were submitted to the Delphi panel of experts for the establishment of OEL values for three chemicals from the list of six originally selected (trial 1). Once the first Delphi trial was completed, adjustments were made to the Delphi questionnaires and the process above was repeated with the remaining 3 chemicals (trial 2). ^ Results indicate that experience in occupational safety and health and with OEL methodologies can have a positive effect in minimizing the time experts take in completing this process. Based on the results of the questionnaires and comparison of the results with the SMAC already established by NASA, we conclude that use of the Delphi methodology is appropriate for use in the decision-making process for the selection of OELs.^

Environment and health with respect to a poverty-related disease: the epidemiology of trachoma in Spain, 1925-1941

Trachoma currently represents one of the three main causes of ‘avoidable' blindness and reaches intolerable dimensions in many developing countries. It was endemic in many regions of eastern Spain until well into the twentieth century. The aim of this paper is to analyze the epidemiological development of this disease in contemporary Spain; to examine its determining factors, particularly environmental and sanitary/health factors, and, finally, to study the health care, environmental and socio-economic measures that led to its control and eradication. We believe that the historical approach not only highlights the role of environmental factors in the development of trachoma, but may also aid in understanding the current epidemiology of trachoma.

Assessment of potential radiological population health effects from radon in liquefied petroleum gas /

"February 1977."

Health effects of a wastewater treatment system /

Issued Oct. 1978.

Health assessment document for 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) and related compounds.

"Draft, do not quote or cite."

Exploring the future of Indian Health information systems /

"February 1998."

Radioactivity transport in water--environmental behavior of nitrosylruthenium : technical report 3 /

"Atomic Energy Commission Contract AT(11-1)-490."

Public Health Service publication.

Mode of access: Internet.

Hospital occupational health services study.

Includes bibliographical references.

Hazardous substances & public health : a publication of the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry.

Title from caption.

Procedures pertaining to environmental sanitation /

Mode of access: Internet.