Environmental Health Blog!: 2011

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

NEHA's abstracts are posted with over 170 to reveiw!

Be a voice! Now Open

Tell us topics you'd like to hear about and speakers you'd like to see at the 2012 AEC. Review abstracts and provide input. Help NEHA develop a training and education experience that continues to advance the proficiency of the environmental health profession AND helps create bottom line improvements for your organization! To participate in the Call for Abstracts, visit neha2012aec.org/abstracts.html.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Needing a LIKE for the sake ofGlobal Health | The "Germ Guy" Blog: Confessions of a Mercurial Microbiologist

Reposted from:
Needing a LIKE for the sake of Global Health | The "Germ Guy" Blog: Confessions of a Mercurial Microbiologist

Who is Involved?
There are many organizations committed to improving global health through funding. In the U.S., there are the Gates Foundation and USAID. In Canada, Grand Challenges Canada has become a leader in these types of grants. This year, Grand Challenges Canada is putting up money to support “Canadian Rising Stars in Global Health.” This is a unique opportunity for those who are up and coming to the global health stage to acquire funding to bring their ingenious ideas to life.
One of these up and comers is a colleague and friend with whom I’ve worked and continue to develop grants and technology. Her name is Dr. Maria DeRosa, at Carleton University in Ottawa and she is indeed becoming a leader in the scientific world and one who I truly believe can change the landscape of global germ health.
She is without a doubt a Rising Star.
Maria is using nanotechnology to find ways to improve and save lives. She’s already talked about how nanotechnology can help feed the world and she’s won several awards including the prestigious John Charles Polanyi award for chemistry. The way she’s going, I’m sure she’s destined to be in the hunt for the Nobel Prize.

For this grant, Maria has developed a model to diagnose tuberculosis infection in remote areas of the world, starting in Senegal in Africa.

To make this project easy to understand, she has made a video to show how her research will be used and how she will improve global health. Perhaps more interestingly, she’s used a rather unique way to help viewers understand how her research works.

Click on the above link to find out how you can help!

Friday, September 9, 2011

National Environmental Health Association and Return on Investment (ROI)

“An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.” – Benjamin Franklin

In the September issue of the Journal of Environmental Health, NEHA President, Mel Knight takes a look at how conference attendance and networking can be your wisest investment. (You can read the President’s column here.)

NEHA has committed (even more than in the past) to providing our conference attendees with a training and educational experience that not only advances the proficiency of the profession, it also enables attendees to more than pay for their conference experience through the cost savings or revenue enhancements that they can implement back home on the job. (This is a return on investment or ROI.)

Learn more about the ROI objectives here- http://www.neha2011aec.org/pdf/Overall_Conference_ROI.pdf.

Monday, August 29, 2011

NEHA 2012 AEC Market Research Survey-We want to hear from you!!!!

NEHA is doing research to build our next conference in San Diego, CA (June 28-30, 2012). We are interested in finding out about your particular career and educational needs. This is your chance to share with us topics you would like to hear about at our next conference that would advance your career. Let us know and you could win a full conference registration at the NEHA member rate for NEHA’s next AEC & Exhibition (worth over $500) happening in San Diego, CA, June 28-30, 2012! Survey ends Sept.16th 2012, so get your responses in now. Thank you for sharing your opinion! (All survey responses will be kept confidential)

Click here for the survey

Saturday, August 27, 2011

What is Foodborne Illness?

There is a lot of confusion regarding foodborne illness, what causes it, and how long after eating you get symptoms. The short answer is that there are numerous agents that can cause illness after eating and the symptoms, onset, duration, and causes can vary greatly.

Therefore, YES there are some illness that can happen within a few minutes. However it is not common and is referred to as food poisoning.

Other food poisonings included botulism and is a very serious illness. Symptoms generally begin 18 to 36 hours after eating contaminated food, but can occur as early as 6 hours or as late as 10 days.

On the other hand, there are illnesses like Hep A that can take up to 50 days to cause illness.

What should you do if you think you became ill after eating? Contact your local public health agency. They have staff that are trained to determine the cause of your illness and work to make sure the source is removed form the environment. Remember that the last place you ate is probably not what made you sick!!! But don't believe me go to CDC and get the facts:

Friday, August 26, 2011

Environmental and Public Health With Some Government Critique Good or Bad Thrown In!: You Can't Just Pick Up A Clipboard

Environmental and Public Health With Some Government Critique Good or Bad Thrown In!: You Can't Just Pick Up A Clipboard: Believe it or not most states require REHS to have a college degree with specified classes and a minimum amount of credits. Each state is di...

NEHA 2012 AEC: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE A BOMB FACTORY IN YOU...

NEHA 2012 AEC: WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU HAVE A BOMB FACTORY IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD... Ever wish you could just burn down a house to clean it up - We did just that. Come hear what goes into that extreme step. The media termed it the Bomb Factory. Learn how 20+ pounds of HMTD and other home made explosives were analyzed and destroyed with full approval of the neighbors.

NEHA 2012 AEC: Rat Hoarder Case

NEHA 2012 AEC: Rat Hoarder Case: The Rat Hoarder involved a single woman that lived in a beautiful neighborhood located in Sedona, Arizona. The problem started with two pairs of pet rats (Rattus norvegicus) that she allowed to run free in her house, which were purchased to replace her beloved cat. After eleven months of the rats breeding freely in her house the number of rats grew exponentially and eventually.....

Thursday, August 25, 2011

NEHA 2012 AEC: A Sustainable Way to Reduce the Lifecycle Cost of ...

NEHA 2012 AEC: A Sustainable Way to Reduce the Lifecycle Cost of ...: The cost to manage odors from sewer collection systems has become a significant expenditure for many municipalities. Pumping stations and...