MPH632Spring2018-Huang

There is an carp invasion in Australian water and the government have tried many methods to kill them but it have been futile. Recently the Australian government invested over $11 million to look into releasing a herpes virus to kills these carps. In the article it mentioned that the US and Japan had used this approach which caused mass fish death. There have been doubts that this method will work and how it can destroy the ecosystem by clogging it with dead fish and there is uncertainty how this virus can react with the fish. I think it may not be a good idea especially since we don't know if it can affect humans that come in contact with the water.

In Oahu, Hawaii, there are 9 sewage treatment facilities managed by the department of environmental services to service the entire island. I was surprised to see that San Francisco only had 3 sewage facilities with a population of about 864,000 people compared to 953,000 people on the entire island of Oahu. Would these 3 sewage facilities be big enough to remove all the debris and treat the water. It does bring concern to the water quality in San Francisco.

I am sad to say that I am guilty for drinking bottled water when I am out, but I think the lack of water fountain in public places would contribute to me drinking bottled water. I think a great idea to getting people back to drinking tap would be to have a filter water fountain around the city that people can bring their own reusable water bottle and fill it up to take around. A campaign slogan would be "Say Yes to Tap, and No to Landfill". I want to bring awareness to people regarding the trashing of plastic water bottle and to promote the benefits of drinking tap.

What is the source of your drinking water?   Where does your water ORIGINATE?  (It is treated at a water treatment plant, but what watershed or aquifer is the sources of the water?) There are 2 sources of my drinking water, the Kalihi Pumping Station and Kapalama Wells which originated from groundwater. What chemicals were found in your water that were higher than expected? There were nothing found to be higher than expected. All the chemicals were lower or within range. What chemicals did you NOT expect to find in your water? I was not expecting to see chromium in my water. In the report it did not specified what type of chromium because chromium-6 have been linked to cancer and allergic reactions. If it's chromium-3 then it is safe because it is a mineral found in vegetable, fruits, and meat which is an important element in our diet. Are there associated health risks with the chemicals found in your water?  (sources for th...

We all depend on clean water for the basis of of survival. Water is essential everyday for drinking, cooking, showering and recreation activities. If our water is polluted with trash, with toxic waste and chemicals, we are at risk to the exposure of many to harmful contaminants. The Clean Water Act of 1972 plays a significant role in monitoring,regulating, protecting and improving water quality in our rulers, lake sand streams.  This act is important in protecting the public's health because it ensures that communities have clean water. Ensuring that our water source is protected would be critical to climate change as we are seeing many cites with droughts, and warmer temperature, and the earth's usable water source is shrinking, therefore we need to make sure the remaining water is protected to sustain us in the future. 

As a pharmacy student I was very excited to read this article about looking to bacteria in dirt to develop new antibiotics that can combat Superbugs, which are antibiotic resistant bacterias that have evolved due to over prescribing of antibiotics when it was not necessary. For most common colds, it is usually caused by viruses, and common antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infection not viral infections. Prescribers like to give prescriptions for antibiotics when a patient have a cold which is not going to help unless they have an ear infection, it would only cause a build up of resistant to the antibiotic and would not be as effective when taken too often. When a patient contracts these Superbugs, it  is very difficult to treat because most of the common antibiotics would not work and if the patient can't fight off the infection, it can get serious and lead to death. In the article, the researchers mentioned that there may be up to 10 million deaths globally by 2050 due to a...

It was pretty scary reading about  the heath effects due to exposures to urea formaldehyde and bleach especially since these two chemicals can be found in our surrounding. When exposed to urea formaldehyde it may cause cancer such as leukemia, upper respiratory and airway irritation and affect women menstrual cycle and reproduction, such as spontaneous abortion and low birthweight in offspring. Bleach can cause skin irritation, burns, in large exposures it can cause anorexia, cardiac or respiratory arrest.

Growing up in Hawaii, radon is not something that is common. I was not aware how harmful radon is to the development of lung cancer, and I did not know there are test kits to check radon levels in homes. Since I had little information regarding radon in Hawaii, I did a search and found out that radon is not a problem in Hawaii and there is low level of it due the well-ventilated homes, where we don't seal up our homes for winter, there is low levels of uranium in the our porous Hawaiian rocks and certain rocks that uranium is mostly found is not averrable in Hawaii. But if I was to bring awareness to the public regarding the danger of radon, I would first conduct research to determine the severity of the problem in each state and see if there is already any awareness program being implemented. Then I would bring in potential collaborators such as local department of health, EPA, American Lung Cancer Association and the CDC to create a joint collaboration between the federal and sta...

When I saw the title to this article I was very intrigued, how can noise lead to heart disease. According to this article, a study conducted at the University of Germany showed that consistent exposure to a lot of noise such as from airplanes, constructions, and traffics is connected to oxidative stress, vascular damage and metabolic abnormalities, even noises while sleeping can lead to heart disease. The study goes on to say that frequent exposure to anything above 60 decibels is harmful, a  telephone ring is about 80 decibels, a jackhammer about 100 and an airplane takeoff is 120 decibels. This finding brings us back to the transportation blog because reducing private vehicles and increasing public transportation can reduce the amount of noise  from traffic. I guess no more falling asleep to music at night for me. I would be more interest in more research regarding this matter, because we are surrounded by a variety of sound daily.  ...

I have been following the issue regarding Standing Rock since the election, and I was not a supporter of President Trump's decision to proceed with the Dakota access line. There were total disregard to the Native American's sacred land, how it would affect their water source and the what health problems can be a result to this project. We in Hawaii are facing a similar situation where the state is trying to build a 30 foot telescope on top of Mauna Kea, which is a very sacred volcano to the Native Hawaiians, and it could impact the environment because there are many rare native birds and plant species, with the construction of the telescope it may ruin the habitat for these rare species. There is still ongoing protest and many have been arrested. These two situation bring about the important of environmental justice. Our voices needs to be heard if we want to bring about change and awareness, because the environmental provides us with the essentials for survival such as clea...

The quote by Dr. Bhatia rings true in regards to Public health being a collaborative and integrated efforts by all departments and professionals to address health related issues because many variables can influence a specific issue/problem. The topic of discussion for this blog is a good example of government, public transportation, public health officials and expert opinions coming together to promote a new intervention that can benefit the public in many ways. According to the 2 articles, public transportation not only reduce carbon dioxide, it can increase physical activity, lower exposure to bad air quality that causes  asthma and allow people to get access to nutritious food,education and health services. Many people in low income areas are less compliant to preventative services such as mammogram services for women and one of the reasons are they don't have transportation to go to their health clinics. if there are more public transport...

Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code? This list shows the top 10 polluters in my zipcode of 96815. There are 3 types of businesses that makes up this list, electric, gas, and cement companies.  The number 1 polluter Kalaeloa Partners are an electric company. What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint? There are 1% of homes in my zipped that have lead-based paint which is considerably low. Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is) Superfund Site is establish by Congress to combat the hazardous waste dumps around the country. Super sites  allows EPA to clean up contaminated sites and forces the parties responsible for the contamination to either perform cleanups or pay the government for having the EPA cleanup. There are 3 Superfund sites in my zipcode. What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live? T...

I think with the convenience of technology, we became dependent on it for email, ordering food, direct deposit, and online shopping, things that we would usually get up and go out to do that it have made our lives easier but it also reduced the amount of physical activity and affected our diet. We can buy anything online or order from phone apps that we can just do it while sitting at home, and being able to order food for delivery, we are not thinking about healthy eating, and cooking less of our own food which may be healthier. I think we focused solely on sedentary lifestyles and diets because those are an establish fact to be risk factors of obesity and it is easier to address. In my opinion I think we should look at chemical exposures that may be contributing to the epidemic, and it can go hand in had with sedentary lifestyles and diets. The amount of plastic, BPA that can be found in plastic bottles, food packaging, and soda cans, that we co...

After watching the CNN YouTube news special on "Body Burdens", I was very surprised and felt scared of what kind of chemicals are in my body right now and where did I come in contact with these chemicals. It worries me that children have such high levels of chemical exposures at such a young age that could cause major health issues for them in the future, and it does bring up the concern on whether these chemical exposures can transfer from a mother to the unborn child. There is a possibility that children suffering from ADHD or chronic asthma may be due to exposure from chemicals while they are in the womb. I am upset that the federal government don't require studies to be submitted on how these chemicals can have on human health before placing them on the market. I think we need better procedures and regulation in regards to this issue If I have given the lab results of chemicals that cause cancer from carcinogens, reproductive toxin, or organophospahat...