Tuesday Workshops
October 27, 2009: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
C 1: Building on Success: Towards a National Toxic Substances Incident Program
"Nationwide, about 14,000 facilities store and use extremely hazardous substances that could kill or injure workers or residents of nearby communities if suddenly released. Approximately 700 of these facilities are near population centers with at least 100,000 people. Established in 1990, the Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance (HSEES) is the only federal public health tracking system that collects, analyzes, and interprets data on acute releases of hazardous substances and their potential public health impacts. A recent external peer review of the program suggested that, while HSEES collects very high quality and worthwhile data, the coverage and scope of the program need to be broadened to have more impact. Those attending this session will learn how HSEES program grantees in Wisconsin used HSEES data to develop and deploy targeted exposure prevention and mitigation strategies. Further, session goers will hear results from recent stakeholder surveys on improving the system. The session will conclude with presentations on two Federal coordination efforts—The Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise (PHEMCE) and US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (Chemical Safety Board or CSB)—that may have a role in building a nationwide toxic substances incident program."
Susan Cibulsky: Public Health Emergency Medical Countermeasure Enterprise Chemical Event Data Gaps
James Drew: Wisconsin Hazardous Substances Emergency Events Surveillance Data
Maureen Orr: Developing a National Program for Toxic Substance Incidents
C 2: Rural Environmental Health: Challenges and Opportunities
Although Americans nationwide are healthier than they were 25 years ago, studies show that the health of persons in rural areas has declined. Rural residents tend to be older, poorer, less educated, and more likely to be uninsured than their urban counterparts. These rural communities have higher rates of chronic illness and disability and report poorer overall health status than their urban neighbors. This session will focus on emerging issues in rural environmental health and will feature a study examining the statistical association among pollution sources and all-cause, cardiovascular, respiratory, and cancer mortality rates, with particular attention to rural communities. Presentations also will include a discussion of a comprehensive community-based approach to rural childhood health focusing on the home environment and will feature information about efforts in rural northwestern Pennsylvania and an overview of a study examining the relationship among rural status, body mass index, and self-rated health.
Traci Bethea: The relationship between rural
status, body mass index, and self-rated health"
Michael Hendryx: Pollution Sources and Mortality Rates
Across Rural-Urban Areas in the United States
Caryl Waggett: Overcoming challenges facing rural
children’s environmental health
C 3: Environmental Public Health Tracking: Implementing a Web-based System while Protecting Sensitive Information
The Environmental Public Health Tracking Network provides information from a nationwide network of integrated health and environmental data to drive public health actions. The program is a collaborative effort with local, state, and national partners working together to establish a standardized approach to provide information to both the general public and public health professionals. This session will describe how the organizers of the tracking network conducted market research to establish a tool that was user friendly and provided easily digestible information. This session also will discuss the implementation of the Wisconsin Environmental Public Health Tracking portal—an internet-based data query that provides broad access to environmental health data. Finally, the session will include a discussion of techniques used by the tracking network to provide more comprehensive geographic coverage for health effect measures while protecting sensitive health information—particularly important as the number of cases for a selected, time, place, or group can be quite small.
Marni Bekkedal: Selection and Refinement of Integrated Environmental Health Data for Internet Queries
Alex Charleston: Environmental Public Health Tracking - Utilizing Informatics to Inform the General Public
Heather Strosnider: Presentation of Sparse and Sensitive Health Effects Data: Optimizing Data Utility and Protecting Con
C 4: Healthy Places Medley
Various places in daily life will impact the public’s health in a variety of ways and it is critical that the policy- and decision-makers with influence over these places are fully informed and consider carefully the health implications about decisions they make effecting the environments of each of these unique places. This session will examine the macro-level community design decisions impacting health, identifying key policy opportunities, critical strategies and core organizational elements for local health to positively shape the built environment. Then, zeroing in on a variety of more micro-level environments, health implications of design choices in healthcare settings, workplaces, and parks/greenspaces will be examined.
Heather Kuiper: How local health gets a seat at the table and succeeds in creating healthy places
Dee Merriam: As the Crow Flies: Comparing Radial and Network Analysis of Park Service Areas
Paul Schulte: Developing a Prevention through Design National Initiative
Craig Zimring: Tools for Innovation in the Military Health System: Helping One of the World's Largest Health Systems Become Healing and Healthy
C 5: After the Flood: Results from the Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) Study
As a result of Hurricane Katrina, tens of thousands of New Orleans families have been affected by risk factors for asthma, including disrupted healthcare, high home mold and allergen levels, and high stress. The Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana Study was developed to examine the relationships between environmental and psychosocial factors and asthma morbidity in children in the post-Katrina New Orleans area and to test a novel Asthma Counselor (AC) Program that provides both case management and home remediation. Participants in this session will learn about the development and implementation of the HEAL Study and hear results from separate assessments of asthma morbidity and skin sensitization, and psychosocial impact on affected children and families in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Patricia Chulada: Head-off Environmental Asthma in Louisiana (HEAL) Study – Study Objectives and Design
Jane El-Dahr: Clinical Characteristics of New Orleans Children with Asthma One and a Half Years following Hurricane
Maureen Lichtveld: Psychosocial Impact of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans Families with Asthmatic Children
C 6: Inside, Outside, and All Around: Ensuring Healthy Child Care and School Facilities
More than 53 million children and 6 million adults in the United States spend their days in schools and childcare facilities. This session will explore new themes and findings related to reducing environmental hazards in these facilities. This session will highlight two distinct and innovative approaches to ensure safe locations for childcare centers. A national overview of child care facility sitting issues will be followed by case studies highlighting work done in Connecticut and New Jersey. In addition, participants will learn about the Healthy Environments in Childcare and Preschools project, which works with childcare providers to prevent and reduce adverse health effects from environmental hazards among licensed day care centers in Georgia; Washington, DC; and Texas. This session also will highlight findings of an Atlanta-based study that describes the distribution of schools near high-volume roads and lessons learned in Utah related to the implementation of recess air-quality guidelines.
Stephanie Foster: Distribution of Schools in Close Proximity to High Volume Roads in Metropolitan Atlanta
Ali Martin: To Play or Not to Play: Recess Air Quality Guidelines
Nsedu Obot: Healthy Environments for Child Care and Preschools
Tarah Somers: Why did they place the daycare there? Approaches states are using to ensure safe sitting of child care
C 7: Pinpointing the Problem: A Look at Practical Applications of GIS and Dynamic Systems Modeling
Despite the known causal links between climate variables and disease dynamics, there is uncertainty in how to apply this knowledge to specific public health settings. Presenters in the first part of this session will take a look at dynamic system modeling as a tool for public health practice. Next, there will be an evaluation of the use of multiple geospatial algorithms to identify a cluster of the rare blood cancer, Polycythemia Vera, in the state of Pennsylvania. The final presentation will discuss the Florida Department of Health’s recent involvement in a well-publicized cancer inquiry concerning an underserved historically black community whose drinking water was contaminated by trichloroethylene, and will explore decision points in response to this inquiry using multifarious data sources.
Frederic Grant: Satellites and public health: Relating dynamic system modeling to public health practice
Laurel Harduar Morano: Decision points in response to a small area cancer inquiry using multifarious data sources
Vincent Seaman: The Use of Multiple Geospatial Algorithms to Identify a Cluster of a Rare Cancer in Pennsylvania
C 8: What’s that smell?: Air Freshener Products and Ingredients-Health, Science, and Policy Issues
Ingredients in air freshener products include chemicals may be associated with asthma attacks and lung damage, among other health risks, yet there are significant gaps in the scientific understanding of air fresheners’ impacts on human health. Rules protecting confidential business information, for example, present an ongoing challenge for people seeking detailed information on the chemicals in these common household products. A number of initiatives have examined the environmental health implications of air freshener ingredients, such as fragrances, colorants, and disinfectants, and have worked to promote a better understanding of the potentially harmful chemical exposures possible from such products. Presenters in this session will discuss the process of identifying top priority hazards, efforts in changing corporate policies to allow consumers to more easily access chemical information on air freshener products, and the added challenges of addressing cumulative exposures and synergistic effects of substances in these products. Lessons learned from the Alliance for Healthy Homes, Sierra Club, and the University of Washington will be shared for a broad understanding of the health, science and policy issues around air freshener products.
Leah Freed: Hazardous Emission associated with Air Freshener Use in Indoor Air
Ralph Scott: Policy Issues in Air Freshener Ingredient Disclosure
Erin Switalski: Consumer Advocacy for Safe Air Fresheners
Denise Wilson: Short and Long Term Health Effects of Air Freshener Products
C 9: Three Birds-One Stone?: The Intersection of Violence, Healthy Eating, and Physical Activity
Communities are increasingly faced with the challenge of collectively addressing injury prevention, access to healthy foods, and physical activity promotion in a comprehensive and equitable way. This session will highlight new directions and the latest science in this area. Presentations will include a review of an Atlanta-based investigation that measured the effect of neighborhood type on diet and measure the influence of nutritional knowledge on that association, as well as a case study focused on finding an association among the frequency of use of food stores, decreased use of physical activity resources, and body mass index. Representatives from CDC’s Healthy Community Design Initiative will share recent findings and resources to support environmental and policy strategies to create healthy food environments. In addition, participants will learn about a novel investigation focused on the intersection of violence, food, and activity.
Larry Cohen: Promising Strategies for Addressing the Intersection of Violence, Healthy Eating and Physical Activi
Christa Essig: A healthy community design incorporates a health food environment
Maida Galvez: Neighborhood Food Store and Physical Activity Resource Utilization by East Harlem Children
Kimberly Morland: Associations Between Neighborhood Segregation, Dietary Intake and Nutritional Knowledge Among Urban
C 10: Getting the Lead Out: Eliminating Lead Exposures in Adults and Children
Lead is a highly toxic metal that can damage the kidneys and the nervous and reproductive systems. Although federal and state regulatory standards have minimized the amount of lead in consumer products and occupational settings, exposures to lead from other sources must still be prevented. In this session, the bioavailability of lead in venison killed with lead-based rifle bullets will be explored. Additionally, the sources and health effects of lead exposure in children will be discussed. Case studies will include potential exposures from synthetic turf fields, an investigation of elevated blood lead levels in Burmese refugee children, and a decrease in reading readiness amongst urban children with higher exposure to lead.
Grainger Hunt: Lead Bullet Fragments in Venison from Rifle-killed Deer: Potential for Human Dietary Exposure
David McCormick: Lead Exposure Among Burmese Refugee Children — Fort Wayne, Indiana, 2009
Pat McLaine: Elevated blood lead levels negatively impact kindergarten reading readiness
Glenn Pulliam: Methodological and Regulatory Issues Surrounding the Health Evaluation of Lead in Synthetic Turf
C 11: Air Pollution and Climate Change: Implications on Health and Strategies to Reduce Automobile Emissions
The way we use automobiles impacts the environment in a variety of ways, including increasing air pollution and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions that drive climate change. To further explore these connections, presenters in this session will describe two strategies to mitigate the unwanted environmental impact of automobile use--bicycling and higher gasoline prices. Additionally, the projected consequences of climate change-enhanced ozone levels on pediatric respiratory hospitalizations and air pollution-related mortality will by discussed.
Tegan Boehmer: Paying a Higher Price: Association between Gas Price, Vehicle Travel, and Air Quality
Maggie Grabow: Health co-benefits from reducing transportation emissions: Evaluating bicycling scenarios for 11 US communities
Catherine Karr: Public health impacts of climate change in Washington State: projected mortality risks due to air pollution
Perry Sheffield: The Effect of Climate Change on
Pediatric Respiratory Hospitalizations: a Glimpse into the Future
C 12: Public Health Implications of Industrial Food Production
There are many documented risks associated with industrial food production, including the spread of mad cow disease, the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the potential for exposure to pathogens and toxic substances with risk further compounded by the absence of regulation or surveillance. This session will explore the many issues associated with industrial food production, including arguments for ending the use of nontherapeutic antimicrobials in food animals to prevent antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria such as the recent emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and for banning the use of poultry litter for cattle feed because of its possible demonstrated health effects. The session will also discuss air- and water-quality issues associated with large-scale operations and explore the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders and communities at risk.
Melissa Bailey: Environmental Policy and Livestock Production: The Role of EQIP in Water Quality and Health
Meghan Davis: Emerging Concerns with MRSA: Industrial Food Animal Production and Antibiotic Resistance
Jillian Fry: Local public health departments and industrial food animal production: Using the ten essential service
Larissa McKenna: Filthy Feed: The Risky and Unregulated Practice of Feeding Poultry Litter to Cattle
C 13: Public Health Implications of Industrial Food Production
There are many documented risks associated with industrial food production, including the spread of mad cow disease, the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and the potential for exposure to pathogens and toxic substances with risk further compounded by the absence of regulation or surveillance. This session will explore the many issues associated with industrial food production, including arguments for ending the use of nontherapeutic antimicrobials in food animals to prevent antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria such as the recent emergence of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and for banning the use of poultry litter for cattle feed because of its possible demonstrated health effects. The session will also discuss air- and water-quality issues associated with large-scale operations and explore the roles and responsibilities of various stakeholders and communities at risk.
Rita Messing: Public Health Hazard from Hydrogen Sulfide Emissions at a Dairy CAFO in Minnesota
Neasha Graves: How to Reach the Masses: Lessons Learned in Faith-Based Environmental Health Outreach
Shannon Marquez: Examining Environmental Health Disparities in the Philadelphia Community
Onyemaechi Nweke:Advancing the Consideration of Vulnerability Factors in Environmental Justice Analysis for Decision
C 14: Environmental Health Capacity Building: The Role of Health Impact Assessments
Efforts to increase physical activity and reduce injury and chronic disease are advanced or hindered as we build, renew, and maintain our transportation systems, infrastructure, and public spaces. Community design decisions that do not assess potential health impacts are often missed opportunities to provide a larger return on investment over time through improved health outcomes. This session will present case studies focused on the role of health impact assessments (HIAs), highlighting findings from a comprehensive HIA project conducted in Oregon and an Atlanta-based study focused on the applicability of using HIAs to evaluate a greyfield redevelopment project. Additionally, participants will learn about the partnership efforts of federal government and Alaska Native tribal organizations related to HIAs, transportation-related projects and policies for which HIAs have been completed in the United States, and current efforts and challenges to improve health outcomes through healthy community design.
Andrew Dannenberg: Use of Health Impact Assessment to Improve Health Benefits of Transportation Projects and Policies
Juliana Grant: Integrating HIA into the Environmental Impact Statement process: Implications for U.S. policy
Mel Rader: Health Impact Assessment of Reduced Vehicle Use Policies: Research and Advocacy
Candace Rutt: Examining the Applicability of Using Health Impact Assessment to Evaluate a Greyfield Redevelopment
C 15: Public Health’s Response to Climate Change: Where Do We Fit In?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has stated that “the public health effects of climate change remain largely unaddressed,” and has identified confronting climate change as a key responsibility of the public health community. Effectively addressing climate change requires moving the public health discourse beyond identification of climate change’s health effects and injecting public health perspectives into discussions on climate change mitigation. In this session, public health’s role in addressing both climate change mitigation and adaptation will be presented. The presenters will also identify opportunities for state and county level departments to begin addressing climate change. Additionally, organizations and instruments that are equipping state and local departments to confront climate change will be described, empowering participants to confront climate change within their own community.
Tania Busch Isaksen: Is this mic on? What local E.H. depts. are doing in WA State to join the climate change and sustainability
Jennifer Li: The Upstream Approach to Climate Change and Public Health: Building an Empowerment and Health Equity
Gino Marinucci: Uniting the Clans: Building capacity to tackle climate change and public health in the States
Robin Salsburg: An Action Plan for Public Health – Initial Recommendations for Involving Public Health in Climate Ch
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