[Web site review] WHO: Public Health and Environment

From the Scout Report Review (15 March 2014)

     WHO: Public Health and Environment

http://www.who.int/phe/en/

The World Health Organization (WHO) has crafted this site that is dedicated to “public health, social and environmental determinants of health (PHE).” On the site, visitors can look over the WHO’s publications and news releases, along with multimedia features and event listings. Guests should start by browsing the Publications which contain timely reports on pharmaceuticals in drinking-water and children’s environmental health. The Health Topics area contains information about how WHO is working to reduce indoor air pollution, outdoor pollution, and chemical safety. The site also contains links to its overall global strategy via working papers and policy statements. [KMG]

 

 

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How to Handle Mold/Mycotoxin Exposure at Home or at Work – Where To Get Help

I usually don’t reblog articles that endorse commercial products or alternative/complementary medicine (without biomedical evidence).
Still, this post had a lot of good information on testing and one’s rights.

A few years back at a library where I worked, some of the folks at circulation were having breathing difficulties. They believed it was the HVAC system, but did not report it. Now I wish I could have worked with them to report it….
The folks at the circ desk were union, I was not. So they were more protected than I…..

Resources

• MedlinePlus: Molds, including
  • Molds in the environment (US Centers for Disease Control)
  • Brief Guide to Mold, Moisture, and Your Home(Environmental Protection Agency, Indoor Environments Division)
• Molds (US Occupational Safety and Health Administration – OSHA)
• Legal Aspects of Mold Contamination (Clean Water Partners – Environmental Law Experts)
  For Renters,Landlords, Home Sellers,  Home Buyers, Employers, Employees

Related articles

• Mold – The “New” Hidden Pandemic Sweeping Across America (momsmoldresources.wordpress.com)
• Curious case of toxic mold pits Chamber of Commerce employees against City of Madison (al.com)
• Mold forces woman from home and into search for answers (al.com)
• Preventing mold from forming in your home (mysouthwestga.com)
• Understanding Mold (moldremoversnj.wordpress.com)
• The way crucial is actually Health in our life (meizitangstrongbuys.wordpress.com)
• Mycotoxins=diabetes? (larahentz.wordpress.com)

I usually don’t reblog articles that endorse commercial products or alternative/complementary medicine (without biomedical evidence). Still, this post had a lot of good information on testing and one’s rights. A few years back at a library where I worked, some of the folks at circulation were having breathing difficulties. They believed it was the HVAC […]

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Elevated Indoor Carbon Dioxide Impairs Decision-Making Performance

 

 

 

 

Berkeley Lab researchers found that even moderately elevated levels of indoor carbon dioxide resulted in lower scores on six of nine scales of human decision-making performance. (Credit: Image courtesy of DOE/Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)

From the 17 September article at ScienceDaily

Overturning decades of conventional wisdom, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have found that moderately high indoor concentrations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) can significantly impair people’s decision-making performance. The results were unexpected and may have particular implications for schools and other spaces with high occupant density.

On nine scales of decision-making performance, test subjects showed significant reductions on six of the scales at CO₂ levels of 1,000 parts per million (ppm) and large reductions on seven of the scales at 2,500 ppm. The most dramatic declines in performance, in which subjects were rated as “dysfunctional,” were for taking initiative and thinking strategically. “Previous studies have looked at 10,000 ppm, 20,000 ppm; that’s the level at which scientists thought effects started,” said Berkeley Lab scientist Mark Mendell, also a co-author of the study. “That’s why these findings are so startling.”

While the results need to be replicated in a larger study, they point to possible economic consequences of pursuing energy efficient buildings without regard to occupants. “As there’s a drive for increasing energy efficiency, there’s a push for making buildings tighter and less expensive to run,” said Mendell. “There’s some risk that, in that process, adverse effects on occupants will be ignored. One way to make sure occupants get the attention they deserve is to point out adverse economic impacts of poor indoor air quality. If people can’t think or perform as well, that could obviously have adverse economic impacts.”

The primary source of indoor CO₂ is humans….

Read the entire news article here

Related articles

• Elevated indoor carbon dioxide impairs decision-making performance (phys.org)
• Elevated indoor carbon dioxide impairs decision-making performance (rdmag.com)
• Elevated indoor carbon dioxide impairs decision-making performance (sciencedaily.com)
• Claim: CO2 makes you stupid? Ask a submariner that question (wattsupwiththat.com)
• High CO2 Levels Indoors Impair Cognition (treehugger.com)

Pollution Levels in Some Kitchens Are Higher Than City-Center Hotspots (Downside to Energy Efficiency?)

From the 14 June 2012 ScienceDaily article

A study by the University of Sheffield has found that the air we breathe inside our own homes can have pollutant levels three times higher than the outdoor environment, in city centres and along busy road

Researchers from the University’s Faculty of Engineering measured air quality inside and outside three residential buildings with different types of energy use (gas vs. electric cookers). They found that nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels in the kitchen of the city centre flat with a gas cooker were three times higher than the concentrations measured outside the property and well above those recommended in UK Indoor Air Quality Guidance1. These findings are published in the Journal of Indoor and Built Environment.

“We spend 90 per cent of our time indoors and work hard to make our homes warm, secure and comfortable, but we rarely think about the pollution we might be breathing in,” said Professor Vida Sharifi, who led the research. “Energy is just one source of indoor pollution, but it is a significant one. And as we make our homes more airtight to reduce heating costs, we are likely to be exposed to higher levels of indoor pollution, with potential impacts on our health.”…

Related articles

• Study shows pollution levels in some kitchens are higher than city-center hotspots (eurekalert.org)
• Effects of indoor pollution studied (todayonline.com)
• Pollution Levels In Some Kitchens Are Higher Than City-Center Hotspots (medicalnewstoday.com)
• Study shows pollution levels in some kitchens are higher than city-center hotspots (phys.org)
• Your kitchen could have worse air pollution than a city centre street: research (telegraph.co.uk)
• Slaving over hot stove in stuffy kitchen could be more dangerous than standing in smog-filled street (dailymail.co.uk)
• Gas Stove Tops Make Kitchens Three Times as Polluted as Highways [Factoid] (gizmodo.com)