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Environments Affect Public Health. We care about each other. So, Every Day is Earth Day.
Environmental Problems Affect Public Health

How affect is mass pr ing ou oduct water r food, air ion qualit and y?

Professionals willing to tackle these challenging problems need: Knowledge of how manmade and natural environments influence health. Understanding of how to reduce risks associated with environmental conditions. Effective problem-solving abilities. Ability to utilize current technologies and equipment Skills to identify, monitor and evaluate environmental health hazards MATC Environmental Health and Water Quality Technology graduates gain the knowledge and skills needed to become part of the solution.

Solution to Environmental Problems

The average life span for U.S. citizens has increased by 30 years from 47 years of age in 1900 to 76 years of age in 1990. Twenty-seven of those years of gain are due to the control of infectious diseases and environmental threats (MMWR, 2003; Research to Prevention, 2004). Environmental concerns such as clean water, decent housing, vaccination programs, proper waste disposal, knowledge of health needs and practices, uncontaminated food, and breathable air have had more impact on human health than any other effort (Hilgenkamp, K. (2005). Environmental health: Ecological perspectives. Sudbury, Mass: Jones and Bartlett Publishers.). High levels of chromium found in Chicago-area tap water
December 22, 2010|By Michael Hawthorne, Tribune reporter The cancer-causing metal made infamous by the movie "Erin Brockovich" is turning up in tap water from Chicago and more than two dozen other cities, according to a new study that urges federal regulators to adopt tougher standards. Even though scientists at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and National Toxicology Program have linked the ingestion of hexavalent chromium to cancer, the EPA doesn't require Chicago or other cities to test for the toxic metal. Nor does the EPA limit the dangerous form of chromium in drinking water. To take a snapshot of what is flowing through taps across the nation, the Environmental Working Group, a Washington-based research and advocacy organization, hired an independent laboratory that found the metal in treated drinking water from 31 cities. The amount in Lake Michigan water pumped to 7 million people in Chicago and its suburbs was 0.18 parts per billion, three times higher than a safety limit California officials proposed last year. Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/health/ct-met-chromium-water-contamination20101220,0,3866793.story

Providing Safe Food

In 1997, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began requiring seafood processors to use the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system to ensure food safety. Specifically, HACCP requirements call for measures in food production areas to prevent potential hazards.

As many as a quarter of Americans suffer a foodborne illness each year though only a fraction of those cases get linked to high-profile outbreaks like the recent salmonella-peanut scare, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Source: http://www.dailyglobal.com/2009/02/food-poisoning-strikes-1-in-4-americans-eachyear

Environmental Solution
Environmental health students may monitor stream flow rates for school projects

Human Activities Impact Rivers

Indirect impacts come from activities within a drainage basin that alter water and sediment yields to a river, and water quality The most widespread indirect impacts result from agriculture (grazing and cropping), deforestation, urbanization, industrialization, mining, and road building.
(Source: http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2002AM/finalprogram/abstract_36122.htm)

Water Pollution

Air Pollution

Specialist uses chemistry & bio-tech to measure and control pollution

Water Pollution Solution

Water Treatment Plant Operator tests samples to control water quality

Environmental Health Solutions

Environmental Health Problems