Loren Santiago - MPH 632: Environmental Health

According to research done by the University of California, Davis, the Central Valley in California is responsible for producing 41% of our state's nitrogen oxide emissions. Nitrogen oxide can be harmful  to our health, and to the environment. The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that the greenhouse gas can be related to asthma and heart disease. Not only is it harmful to us, but also to the environment. The EPA also states that "o ne pound of nitrous oxide—a common component of nitrogen oxide—has 300 times more climate warming impact than a pound of carbon dioxide." The high emissions of nitrogen oxide is due to heavy use of nitrogen-based fertilizers. According to the article, about half of the fertilizers placed on the crops are absorbed by the plants.  The fact that the overuse of fertilizers is creating air pollution and potential health risks for those in rural communities is troublesome. While it may be necessary to produce more food, is it real...

The products I chose to look up were: Swiffer WetJet Liquid Floor Cleaner Advanced Pledge Multi Surface Antibacterial, Fresh Citrus Were you surprised to find out the toxicity rating of your household products? I was pleasantly surprised with the toxicity ratings of the products I chose. Both of them received a health score of 1. They seem like they are acceptable to use as household cleaners. Of course they are not to be used in contact with the skin or eyes, not to be ingested, and should be used in a well ventilated area.  Did you decide to change any of your consumer behaviors based on your findings? At this time I did not. I typically try and steer away from "strong" cleaners, and I always use them in well ventilated areas.  Should everyone know about this risks and why don’t they? Everyone should know about these risks. Similar to the personal care products, we use these items in our homes, pretty frequently. It is important to be aware of what we are ...

The products I chose to look up were:  Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen, SPF 45 Crest Complete Whitening Plus Scope Toothpaste, Minty Fresh The suncreen received a score of 5, and the toothpaste received a score of 3. Both were rated as moderate hazards.  Were you surprised to find out the toxicity rating of your personal care products? I was surprised and disappointed to find that the sunscreen had a moderate score; I expected it to be lower. I was also (pleasantly) surprised that the toothpaste had a score of 3. Although it was a moderate risk score, I actually expected it to be higher. Did you decide to change any of your consumer behaviors based on your findings? Being from LA, I would use the sunscreen quite frequently as I was exposed to the sun so much. Discovering it was scored as a moderate hazard made me want to find a different sunscreen. Fortunately, I did a search and the Neutrogena Pure & Free Baby Sunscreen was scored as a 1. It even...

For this assignment, I used my home in Pasadena for the Environmental Health Home Assessment.  Did you discover any environmental risks in your home by completing the home assessment?   Upon doing this assessment, I found that we had a number of environmental risks that could use some attention. Our home was built in the 1920s so it was clearly older than 1978, which could cause some issues. We also have a basement and garage attached. I wasn't too sure about the contaminants in our water, which made me want to follow up on getting that tested. I also discovered that our smoke detectors were out of battery, and that if we have an emergency we are definitely not prepared! This prompted me to speak with my brother, and we made plans to create an evacuation plan, print a list of emergency numbers, and start getting supplies for disaster situations. Upon further assessment, I found that we did okay on air fresheners and other chemicals to control odor; we don't really use stron...