Go Green. Live Green.

1.     What do you personally find most troubling about climate change? Everything about climate change troubles me! There are numerous serious consequences in the future if we continue contributing to the greenhouse gas emissions. After watching the video “Climate Change Explained,” I felt so overwhelm with all the negative consequences that can happen with climate change. With climate change, the storms will be more intense and drought periods will be longer. Climate change can also cause massive extinction of most species on Earth. It can also affect agriculture which can result to hunger. Recently, we saw major destruction that was cause by hurricanes in Florida and Puerto Rico. I’m really worried for the future generations if climate change continues. 2.     As a public health professional, what do you think needs the greatest attention right now? As public health professional, I think we need to get more politician to support poli...

After watching the video about a girl who live a zero waste life, I was really surprised and inspired. I think there are so many steps that I need to take before I live a zero waste life. Also, I need to educate and research ways on how to live a zero waste life. For the past years, my family and I have been separating our trash into recycle and compost. I think a good step to take is reduce our plastic waste. In the video, she mentioned that there are so many food products that are packaged in plastic. She said that we should stop buying packaged food. I definitely agree with what she said. Whenever I go to the grocery store, I see vegetables in Styrofoam trays and plastic wraps. My mom did start buying more fruits and vegetables from the farmers’ market which are not in a Styrofoam trays and plastic wraps. In addition, we can also bring our own jars and containers. I will inform her that this is a better idea to reduce our plastic trash. Since San Francisco started charging for plast...

One of the health and safety program sponsored by the World Health Organization (WHO) is called Infection Prevention and Control (IPC). This program focuses on preventing and controlling the spread of antibiotic-resistant organisms. The World Health Organization’s program helps other countries and health care facilities to develop action plans current and future threats of antibiotic resistance germs. They stated that hundreds of millions of people are affected every year by infection. Their program ensures that patients and health workers will not be harm. This is beneficial for me since I work at a hospital/medical center. Their program promotes and recommends hand hygiene, clean and hygienic environment, monitoring infections and having an action plans to reduce their frequency, never reusing needles and syringes, and using only antibiotics when is needed to reduce resistance. They also included measures to keep surgical site infections from happening like recommending appropriate...

ACID-PHENOL:CHLOROFORM, PH 4.5 • What are the health risks associated with this chemical? The chemical is toxic if swallowed, toxic in contact with skin, and toxic if inhaled. It can also cause cancer, severe skin burns, eye damage, and damage to organs through prolonged or repeated exposure. • Is the chemical a carcinogen? Yes, the chemical is category 2 for carcinogen. • What personal protective equipment or special precautions should be taken when working with this chemical? When working with this chemical, an individual needs to use protective gloves, protective clothing, eye protection, and face protection. An individual needs to wash their hands thoroughly after handling. The chemical can only be use outdoors or in well-ventilated area. • If this is a chemical found in your workplace, what training/education were you given about any risks associated with this chemical? I work at a hospital but I don’t handle or encounter this chemical. After checking the informatio...

After reading the article about the history of lead poisoning, I have a better understand of what lead can do to our body. I learned that lead can affect the peripheral and central nervous system, the kidneys, and blood pressure. Lead can also affect the reproductive system. It’s scary to know that children are more vulnerable than adults to lead exposure because of their hand-to-mouth activity. The article mentioned that children with high level of lead in their body had reading disabilities and lower IQ. Although lead has been banned from paint, some old houses were painted with leaded paint. The article about the severe outbreak of childhood lead poisoning in Nigeria is really an eye-opener about the serious health effect of lead, especially to children. I learned that an outbreak of lead poisoning affected more than 400 children who are 5 years old and younger in 2010. I like that everyone worked together to provide a lead safe environment. It is definitely important to start with ...

The green chemistry is a great idea. This is the first time I heard about it which makes me wonder why the government doesn’t promote it or enforce it. I think more companies and manufacturers should practice green chemistry when creating their products. Green chemistry reduces the use of hazardous substances which can prevent pollution and harming our environment and our health. The 12 principles of green chemistry can save our planet from hazardous chemicals. I think the main goal of the principles is to keep the hazardous chemicals out of the environment in the first place. It keeps hazardous chemicals out of the environment by pushing for safer chemicals and products. I also like that one of the principles talked about designing chemicals and products that can degrade after use so it will not accumulate in the environment. After watching the video about the Great Pacific garbage patch, I saw how different products like plastics can wash out in the beach and accumulate. Garbage li...

Class 1: Highly Fluorinated Chemicals The highly fluorinated chemicals provide stain and water repellency. These chemicals are convenient but they are associated to serious health diseases. They also remain in the environment and get into our food and water. These chemicals can be found in consumer products like in cosmetics, carpet, food packaging, cookware, and etc. According to the webinar, these chemicals can be found in 98% of Americans. I learned that children have higher body levels of fluorinated chemicals. These chemicals can cause elevated cholesterol, kidney cancer, testicular cancer, and thyroid disease. These chemicals can also decreased fertility and interfere with hormone function. Even the safer substitute is not safe. To avoid these chemicals, people should use products without water and stain repellency. Class 2: Antimicrobials The function of antimicrobials is to kill or inhibit the growth of microorganisms. The chemicals triclosan and triclocarban are both...