
SCHOOL OF
PUBLIC HEALTH AND COMMUNITY MEDICINE - UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON WINTER,
2001
WORKING
IN ASIA |
Department
of Environmental Health researchers are involved with occupational
and environmental health projects throughout the world. This edition
of Environmental Health News focuses on our work Asia.
- Lee
Monteith shares his impressions of occupational health in China,
gathered from a People to People exchange program in October.
His overview provides context for stories about the collaborations
our International Scholars (Fogarty) program has developed in
Southeast Asia and research on women textile workers in Shanghai.
The latter may be the largest occupational health study of women
ever conducted.
- Also
in this issue you will meet our newest faculty member and our
four other assistant professors, and
- learn
how our Continuing Education program is addressing an emerging
safety issue in the wireless
- communication
industry.
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|
IMPRESSIONS:
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH IN CHINA |
The
Chinese people and their government seem dedicated to improving
the health of workers. That's one of the impressions that Lee Monteith
took away from a 16-day tour of the People's Republic
of China in early October under the People to People ambassador
program.
The
Spokane-based People to People program dates to the Eisenhower era
and was designed to improve communication through educational, cultural,
and professional exchanges between individuals. The American Conference
of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) invited Monteith,
a Department of Environmental Health industrial hygienist, to join
a delegation of 23 other occupational health experts who met with
colleagues in three Chinese cities, Beijing, Xi'an, and Shanghai,
to exchange infor-mation about programs, research, and interests.
 |
Lee
Monteith at a temple in old Shanghai |
"Most
of our Chinese counterparts were very competent, well trained, experienced
professionals
and were open to exchanging information," Monteith said. "They
were as interested in our experience with mutual occupational health
problems as we were with theirs." The exchange groups included
professors, doctors, managers, chemists, safety engineers, and industrial
hygienists.
Occupational
health was mentioned in ancient Chinese literature but has developed
as a scientific discipline since the 1950s, according to a recent
article sent by Zu-Wei Gu and colleagues at the Shanghai Municipal
Center of Disease Prevention and Control. Since the 1980s, China's
economy has developed rapidly, as has the field of occupational
health. The first textbooks were printed in Chinese in 1961 and
now nine journals are published. Industrial hygienic criteria were
first issued in 1956, were revised in 1979, and were increased to
92 criteria in 1997.
Monteith's
delegation learned of a determined effort by China's Ministry of
Labour to reduce death
and disease. Between 1958 and 1978, 80% of the world's occupational
deaths were in China, he said, including 10,000 mining deaths per
year. Today, governmental bureaus and universities have programs
for identifi-cation, control, and treatment of problems, and the
death rate has noticeably decreased.
A major
effort to prevent and treat pneumoconiosis and silicosis has greatly
reduced cases. The treatment of pneumoconiosis includes both drugs
and Chinese traditional medicine. Occupational toxicology, environmental
monitoring, and biological monitoring capabilities have all improved
greatly in the past two decades.
In
his written analysis, Gu credited academic exchange through scientific
conferences, joint research programs, and exchanges of visiting
scholars as an important part of the overall effort.
At
the Shanghai center, an agency similar to the US Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, the major emphasis has been on silica, asbestos,
and benzene, with newer emphasis on the the silicon conductor industry
and video terminal eye stress. Ergonomics enforcement is difficult
because of the large number of small cottage industries. The Center
reaches the public through workshops, team leaders, posters for
safety, and a new health education institute. These efforts started
in larger cities and are moving to smaller cities and rural areas.
Monteith's
delegation toured a cotton textile mill in Xi'an and saw huge factory
buildings that contained hundreds of spinning and weaving machines.
The noise levels were much louder than allowed by US standards,
yet the employees were not wearing hearing protection. The hosts
said their research showed no evidence of hearing loss, that hearing
protection was available, and that quieter machines were under development.
Their employees have health checks every two years.
The
delegation visited two institutes that provide degrees in occupational
health and safety. These insti-tutes emphasize safety training for
section leaders, who will interact with the workers. Graduate safety
courses at the Chinese University of Geosciences include accident
forecasting, safety analysis, economic theory, assessment, and cultural
theory development methods.
A professional
occupational health organization, the Chinese Society for Science
and Technology of Labor Protection, has grown to 2000 members and
has a large conference every four years. Membership comes from all
over China. Qualifications for certifying industrial hygiene professionals
are being proposed by the Ministry of Personnel with the advice
of the Society.
Among
Monteith's lasting impressions of China:
-
the thousands of people strolling peacefully in Tienanmen Square
with vendors selling kites and souvenirs
-
the immensity of the Great Wall, which is like a long castle that
goes on as far as the eye can see in both directions over mountains
and valleys
- the
thousands of excavated, life sized terra-cotta warriors at Xi'an
- the
beauty of the Summer Palace contrasted to the huge, solid, walled
Forbidden City
- the
determination of the people and the government to push forward,
especially to improve the health of their workers
Between
1958 and 1978, 80% of the world's occupational deaths were
in China
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|
For
Further reading
Occupational
Health in China: Achievements and Challenges, Zu-Wei Gu, Zhua-Bao
Liu, Hong Qi and Yi-Lan Wang, (2000), at http://www.acgih.org.
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INTERNATIONAL
SCHOLARS |
 |
Coal
miners in Vietnam |
Workers
in the rock quarries and coal mines of Vietnam and Thailand breathe
in tiny dust particles that can cause disabling disease or premature
death. Yet often it isn't known whether their exposures exceed national
standards or which workers are most at risk.
The
University of Washington's International Scholars in Occupational
and Environmental Health program is helping occupational health
professionals in those countries monitor and abate such hazards.
The
program is funded by the National Institute or Occupational Safety
and Health (NIOSH) and by two programs within the National Institutes
of Health: the Fogarty International Center and the National Institute
of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS).
Vietnam
and Thailand's mining and quarrying industries are associated with
increased rates of lung problems such as pneumoconiosis and silicosis.
Although Asian countries have adopted occupational health and safety
standards, they may lack the technology to conduct workplace evaluations,
said Dr. Matthew Keifer, director of the UW program.
The
International Scholars program (also called the Fogarty program)
is designed to provide training and research support for health
professionals working on high-priority problems in four partner
countries: Vietnam, Thailand, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica.
The
program provides four levels of support:
- Short
courses "in country," are conducted by DEH faculty.
So far, more than 200 practitioners have been trained in Vietnam
and about 30 in Thailand.
- Short
stays in US, bring international scholars to campus for anywhere
from a week to three months for respite from their work.
- An
intermediate-stay option, grants nonmatriculated student
status for two to six months. Prospective graduate students have
an opportunity to prepare for studies at UW.
-
A long-stay option allows students to matriculate in a graduate
program and focus on skills that will address the needs of the
partner country.
"We
are giving the countries the information they need to make the workplace
safer," Keifer said. In Vietnam, the International Scholars
program works with the National Institute for Occupational and Environmental
Health, an investigatory agency, so the training has a direct impact
on policy. The relationship with Burapha University in Thailand
improves the research and training in that country.
The
program benefits both UW and the partner countries. UW researchers
gain interesting opportunities for research and collaboration. The
countries benefit by improving their capabilities to identify risk
factors, control exposures, and conduct research. Workers are the
ultimate beneficiaries. On a more global scale, Keifer said, the
program is helping improve occupational health and safety enforcement
in nations that have become world trading partners. "It is
good to create jobs, but it's not good if it comes at the expense
of the health of workers. ... I hope we can prevent some of exploitation
and strengthen the ability of these countries to monitor their workplaces
and make them safer."
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SHANGHAI:
STUDY FOCUSES ON WOMEN TEXTILE WORKERS |
Shanghaicity of mystery, city of commerce, city of a quarter-million
women textile workers |
Shanghai's
textile workers are part of what may be the largest-ever occupational
health study of women, in which Department of Environmental Health
researchers are investigating cancer risks and occupational exposures
to fibers and chemicals.
Principal
investigator Harvey Checkoway, Janice Camp, and Noah Seixas are
working with epidemiologist David Thomas of the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center and Dr. Gao Dao Li of the Shanghai Textile
Industry Bureau. Thomas has collected extensive data on the women
since the late 1980s to study the effectiveness of breast self-exam
in reducing breast cancer risk.
Shanghai
has been called the New York of China and is the center of one of
its most populous urban areas. It was among the first Chinese ports
to be opened to Western trade and it long dominated the nation's
commerce. Many of Shanghai's textile mills date back to the early
part of the 20th century, Camp said, although some ventilation and
other modifications have improved working conditions since then.
 |
A
cotton-thread spinning operation |
The
University of Washington study will track cancer incidence rates
from 1989 to 1999 among a cohort of about 267,000 women. Those who
have had cancer will be matched with others who haven't in a case-control
study. Investigators will study specific associations between lung
cancer and cotton dust; bladder cancer and aromatic amine dyes;
nasal and throat cancer and formaldehyde; sinus and nasal cancer
and cotton dust; colon cancer and synthetic fibers; and breast cancer
and dyes. A team of 30 retired Chinese textile industry nurses who
instructed women in the original breast self-exam study are collecting
work history information.
The
women have worked with cotton, wool, silk, synthetic fibers, dyes,
finishing agents, mothproofing, and other fiber coatings including
some that had been banned in the United States. "The whole
field of health and safety is being extended to developing countries,
including China," Camp said. "This is a trend we will
be seeing in the future."
The
study is ground-breaking, Camp said, because it involves a stable
population whose jobs have been documented at least since 1984,
it involves exposures to known or supposed carcinogens, and it involves
women, who are rarely studied in an occupational setting. Additionally,
Checkoway noted, this study will provide important new information
about occupational risk factors for breast cancer, which to date
have not been studied adequately in any country.
A pilot
study of work history data collection started last summer and the
full study was launched in January. The study runs through 2004.
Funding comes from the US National Cancer Institute.
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For
Further reading
Dr.
Thomas' study on breast cancer, http://sphcm.washington.edu/wph97/shanghai.html
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HISTORY:
DYING FORM DYEING |
Women
and men have been spinning and weaving cloth for centuries, often
falling ill and dying from their occupation. In his Diseases
of Workers (de Morbis Artificum) of 1713, Bernardino
Ramazzini, the father of occupational medicine, spoke of "a
foul and poisonous dust [that] flies out from these materials, enters
the mouth, then the throat and lungs, makes the workmen cough incessantly,
and by degrees brings on asthmatic troubles."
Ramazzini
appreciated the role of spinners and weavers: "To protect
our bodies from injury by the air, Mother Nature has furnished us
with many materials such as wool, flax, hemp, and cotton; to which
we may add silk, though we could certainly do without that, since
it was invented not so much to cover our bodies as to adorn women,
and men too."
Then
he added, "those employed in their manufacture have to encounter
grave hardships." The worst off, he said, were those who card
the rolls of filaments left over from silk making to manufacture
an inexpensive thread that townspeople used. "I know a whole
family in Modena that had made a good deal of money at this business,
but they all died miserably worn down by consumption," he wrote.
Weavers,
too, suffered, "for the whole body is tasked, both hands, arms,
feet, and back, so that every part of the body at once shares in
the work." Ramazzini cited professor Ottavio
Ferrari of Milan. Ferrari wrote of the lumbago of weavers "caused
by the violent motion and great force necessary for weaving coarse
cloth and hempen stuff; when pregnant women do this work they often
miscarry."
For
these fatigued weavers, Ramazzini recommended rubbing the arms,
thighs, and legs with oil of sweet almonds and bathing the hands,
arms, and legs in aromatic wine. For those who card silk, he prescribed
a milk diet and broths made from the juices of mallow, violets,
and endive. His best advice was to "let them try to make a
living at some other trade; for pecuniary gain is worthless if it
entails the loss of what is best worth having, health."
Ramazzini
made no mention of fabric dyes, which were derived from natural
substances in his day. In 1895 German researchers first linked bladder
cancer to the synthetic aromatic amine dyes that had been introducedS
in the 1870s.
In
the 1950s, China began manufacture of benzidene, an aromatic amine.
According to the World Health Organization, new OSHA rules prompted
US manufacturers to stop making the synthetic dyes in the 1970s.
Production shifted to developing countries and, in the 1990s, the
first reports of bladder cancers due to aromatic amines were published
in China.
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ASSISTANT
PROFESSORS |
ERGONOMICS:
NEW TOOLS TO TRACK COMPUTER INJURIES |
Not
long after the computer mouse was introduced in the mid-1980s, Peter
Johnson started hearing complaints about hand and wrist symptoms.
At the time, Johnson was a facilities engineer at a Hewlett-Packard
plant in California, doubling as its health and safety officer.
"Lots
of people had what appeared to be keyboard and mouse-related disorders,
and virtually nothing was being done in this field," he recalls.
His response was
to go back to school and study ergonomics. In 1998,
he earned both a PhD in bioengineering and a master's degree in
environmental health sciences at the
University of CaliforniaBerkeley.
Johnson
was recently hired as the Department of Environmental Health's newest
faculty member, starting March 1 as assistant professor in the Industrial
Hygiene and Safety program. He still researches keyboard and mouse
injuries, but with new tools. His bioengineering background has
led him to develop sensitive instruments that measure force exposures
during computer work and the muscle fatigue that results.
For
the past year, he has been a visiting scientist at Harvard University,
developing and validating an expo-sure assessment system to measure
multiple physical risk factors during computer work. He is also
working as a visiting scientist on a large-scale study at Sweden's
Göteborg's University, measuring and characterizing office
workers' exposure to upper extremity hazards.
This
is an exciting time to be involved with ergonomics, Johnson said,
because both state and national ergonomics rules were enacted last
year and are being implemented. "There is growing interest
in ergonomics with the new standards," he said. "On the
research side of things we need to develop tools to accurately charac-terize
exposures so that we can understand the mechanisms of musculoskeletal
disorders and then use this information to implement solutions at
the worksite."
Some
ergonomists study musculoskeletal injuries from heavy lifting. Johnson
seeks out disorders from tiny but repeated motions. "It's hard
to believe that keyboarding or mouse work can cause problems
mouse users grip the mouse with typically less than one percent
of their strength but computer-related problems can become
an expensive cost to workers and employers." According to a
recent US Bureau of Labor statistics report, repetitive motion,
such as grasping tools, scanning groceries, and typing, resulted
in the longest absences from work among the
leading events and exposures a median of 15 days.
Johnson
studies the human limits of keyboarding (people who work more than
four hours a day seem to be at greater risk for developing problems),
and is looking for solutions, such as redistributing work and break
cycles. He has developed measurement instruments, such as a special
computer mouse that measures force, and software that can analyze
the voluminous data generated from instruments used in exposure
assessment studies. Now that the equipment has been developed he
intends to adapt systems for other types of work prevalent in the
Pacific Northwest such as agriculture, manufacturing, construction,
and forestry.
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For Further reading
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THE
NEXT GENERATION |
PETER
JOHNSON |
|
Peter
Johnson is starting his academic career as an assistant professor,
the first rung on the professorial ladder. Department Chair
Dave Kalman calls assistant professors "the next generation
of leaders in environmental health." Almost all of the
Department of Environmental Health's faculty started at that
rank, he said. "Our somewhat top-heavy faculty makeup
now is a testament to our past success at bringing in young
academics and helping them succeed, while maintaining their
interest and loyalty."
In
addition to Johnson, the department's four other assistant
professors are putting their mark on the literature in their
fields.
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SALLY
LIU
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Sally
Liu graduated from Harvard University's School of Public Health
in 1994, with a PhD in environmental health and concentrations
in exposure assessment, air pollution, and statistical analysis.
She said, "Growing up in polluted Taiwan, I have special
interest in studying air pollution problems. That's why I
chose this field."
Liu's
largest project (funded by the US Environmental Protection
Agency) investigates personal exposure to particulate matter
among high-risk populations, including those with chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease and cardiovascular diseases.
She and her team are examining the relationship between personal
exposure and measurements taken at a central monitoring station.
They will use recently developed biomarker techniques to track
the outdoor contributions to personal exposures.
At
the EPA-funded Northwest Research Center for Particulate Air
Pollution and Health (PM Center), Liu is co-director of the
exposure core and principal investigator of the exposure assessment
study project.
She
finds the field of air pollution challenging, yet rewarding.
It is challenging because of the "many uncertainties
in the assessment of air pollution exposure and health effects,"
yet rewarding because "the contribution I could make
to the US and world public health could be enormous,"
Liu said.
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LIANNE
SHEPPARD
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Lianne
Sheppard also works with the PM Center. She has a BS degree
in psychology and a MS in biostatistics, both from The Johns
Hopkins University. Her PhD is in biostatistics is from the
University of Washington, where she won the Outstanding Student
Award from the School of Public Health in 1991. She
is a research assistant professor with a joint appointment
in Biostatistics and is affiliated with the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center.
Sheppard
became interested in public health after working for an international
reproductive health program. She decided on biostatistics
because data analysis and interpretation would enable her
to work on a variety of public health problems. "I've
always had an interest in the environment, so I was delighted
to be invited to join the Department of Environmental Health.
It was a great match to have the opportunity to apply my skills
to environmental health," she said.
She
is working with Noah Seixas to study hearing loss in construction
workers. She also heads the PM Center's statistics and data
core. She is a co-author on several studies on the health
effects of air pollution. One, in the December issue of Environmental
Health Perspectives, suggests an association between ambient
carbon monoxide and asthma symptoms. This finding poses an
intriguing puzzlecarbon monoxide may be acting as a proxy
for some other harmful pollutant that wasn't included in the
models, or there may be an actual effect of CO that hasn't
yet been recognized.
Whatever
the explanation, Sheppard finds air pollutants intriguing
because of the widespread public health impact of even small
exposures. "Everyone is exposed," she said.
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ZHENGUI
XIA
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Zhengui
Xia, an assistant professor in the toxicology program, is
on the faculty of two interdisciplinary graduate programs,
Neurobiology and Molecular and Cell Biology. Her bachelor's
and master's degrees
are in biochemistry from Wuhan University in China. She earned
her PhD in pharmacology at the University of Washington and
did postdoctoral training at UW in pharmacology and Harvard
Medical School in neurobiology.
Her
research is on the mechanisms for regulating apoptosis, a
form of programmed cell death. Abnormal apoptosis has been
implicated in diseases such as cancer, autoimmune disorders,
Alzheimer's disease, and stroke. "We want to identify
mechanisms that cause neurons to die, so we can block or reduce
neuron cell death," she said. "We would like to
maintain normal populations of neurons because, in adults,
if neurons die, you don't get moreyou don't get smarter."
From
an environmental health standpoint, she is interested in the
interaction of genes and chemical toxins such as ethanol and
sodium arsenite.
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MANSOUR
SAMADPOUR
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Mansour
Samadpour's interests are environmental and food microbiology.
Recent projects have taken him to urban streams, swimming
beaches, irrigation systems, rivers, lakes, shellfish beds,
wastewater treatment plants and collection systems, storm
drains, and public water supply systems.
Samadpour's second area of research and service activity is
in rapid detection of outbreaks of infectious diseases, and
identification of the sources of these outbreaks. His work
in this area includes detection of several E. coli O157:H7,
Salmonella, and Shigella outbreaks.
He
started researching intestinal pathogens in 1977 as a college
junior recently arrived from Iran. His research into causes
of traveler's diarrhea interested him so much that he abandoned
plans for medical school and majored in microbiology instead,
earning bachelor's and master's degrees from the University
of Washington. His PhD, also from UW, is in food science and
technology.
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TOWERING
HAZARDS |
When
people think about the safety of wireless telephones, they rarely
consider one of the most immediate and deadly hazardsthat of workers
falling from transmission towers or being electrocuted. The National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and its continuing
education center at the Department of Environmental Health are alarmed
about injury rates, and are teaching tower workers to be safe two
to ten stories above the ground.
A wireless
telephone network divides a city into a grid of hexagonal cells,
each about ten miles square. Each cell has a base station that consists
of a tower and a small building containing transmission equipment.
Washington state now has more than 1,400 transmission towers, according
to Federal Communication Commission figures. Nationally, between
20,000 and 50,000 new towers are constructed each year, according
to NIOSH.
The
rapid growth of the wireless industry has spawned a forest of transmission
towers, some built by inexperienced workers who may be unaware of
the risks and unfamiliar with safety requirements.
The
department's Continuing Education program has organized 16 onsite
training sessions throughout the country for a major wireless service
company and its contractors. The one-day classes cover electrical
safety, fall protection, and federal and state health and safety
regulations.
Instructor
Rick Gleason finds that many of his students help build towers,
and the rest are technicians who service the base transmission stations.
They, too face hazards of going onto roofs and towers in all types
of weather.
Some
of Gleason's students have seen someone fall, although the fall
may have been broken by a safety belt or by the preferred safety
harness. He encourages workers to change an old industry habit of
climbing without fall protection and "tying off" only
when reaching the top of the tower to work. He also wants workers
to tie their tools securely; a falling wrench presents a hazard
to those working below.
In
the eight-hour safety course, Gleason emphasizes that it is possible
to incorporate safety into the design and construction phases of
the job. He encourages contractors to make fall-protection equipment
available and require its use, to train their workers, and to ensure
the job site remains safe for all the contractors and subcontractors
involved.
Gleason
said steel erectors (including tower erectors and iron workers)
have the fourth-highest fatality rate of any workers, after commercial
fishers, loggers, and bush pilots.
NIOSH
data show that workers who construct and maintain telecommunication
towers sustain a substantially higher fatality rate than the average
for all industries. An estimated 95 workers died from falls and
other injuries related to tower construction and maintenance from
1992 to 1997, NIOSH found. Estimates of risk for fatal injuries
among telecommunications tower workers range from 49 to 468 injury-related
deaths per 100,000 employees, compared with about 5 deaths per 100,000
in all US industries. These estimates vary because of difficulty
in categorizing telecommunication tower workers.
Because
the towers are so high, the industry prefers to use a mechanical
hoist, rather than having their workers climb. In early 1999, the
federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued
a compliance directive, establishing inspection policies for the
hoist lines, and establishing training and maintenance procedures.
There have been serious accidents since then, and further actions,
such as an emergency federal standard, are under discussion.
NIOSH
has studied eight fatal accidents, including one in North Carolina
last year that claimed the lives of a contractor, his 16-year-old
stepson, and a 19-year-old employee. The three were riding a hoist
line up the side of a tower when the line slipped, plunging them
1,200 feet while a horrified wife and mother tried unsuccessfully
to stop the slipping cable.
NIOSH
has issued a set of recommendations based on a study of eight fatal
accidents and has been working with the National Association of
Tower Erectors (NATE) to develop safety standards.
Longer-term
workplace hazards concern Michael Yost, Associate Professor in the
industrial hygiene program in the Department of Environmental Health.
In the past decade, he has studied the occupational health effects
of nonionizing radiation, including 60-Hz magnetic fields from electric
power systems, and radio frequency (RF) sources such as microwave
transmission, and broadcast towers. These use different frequencies
from wireless telephones.
Yost
has developed a matrix for job exposures to power-frequency magnetic
fields that is being applied in population studies of brain cancers,
Alzheimer's disease, and other neurological diseases. He also has
been part of a team studying electric utility workers to see if
magnetic fields suppress melatonin, which is involved in sleep rhythms
and immune function, and could help in understanding human responses
to magnetic field exposures.
People
rarely consider one of the most immediate and deadly hazardsthat
of workers falling from transmission towers or being electrocuted
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|
For
Further reading
Brain,
Marshall and Tyson, Jeff. How Cell Phones Work, http://www.howstuffworks.com/cell-phone.htm
contains animated diagrams of cells and pictures of towers
Continuing
Education onsite training courses, http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/conted/ce/onsite.html
National
Association of Tower Erectors, http://www.natehome.com
NIOSH
Update, April 27, 2000. Fatal Falls of Contractor, Teen Workers
Highlight Safety Concerns In Telecommunication Tower Work, http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/celtowwk.html
OSHA
Directive CPL 2-1.29Interim Inspection Procedures During Communication
Tower Construction Activities, http://www.osha-slc.gov/OshDoc/Directive_data/CPL_2-1_29.html
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Back
to Top
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CONTINUING
EDUCATION
|
To
confirm this schedule or find more information about these courses,
call (206) 543-1069 or (206) 685-3089, or visit the Continuing Education
Web home page at http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/conted.html.
Course are in Seattle unless noted. |
NW
Center for Occupational Health & Safety |
March
2 |
An
Aging Workforce: Issues for this Century |
March
15-16 |
Laboratory
Safety and Health |
April
6 |
Occupational
and Environmental Medicine: New Developments for Primary Care
Clinicians |
April
13 |
Benefit-Cost
Analysis of Policies in Environmental, Public and Occupational
Health |
May
1 |
Ergonomics
in the Workplace: Application to Work-Related Musculoskeletal
and Nerve Disorders |
May
16 |
Assessment
of Exposures to Fine Atmosphere Particulate: Challenges and
Progress |
June
1 |
Environmental
Health for Reporters |
June
11-15 |
Sampling
and Evaluating Airborne Asbestos DustNIOSH 582 |
OSHA
Training Institute Education Center
Not
for OSHA rules only! All classes offer training that meets
WISHA, OR-OSHA, and Alaska state standards.
|
March
9, 10, 16 |
225
Principles of Ergonomics* |
March
12-14 |
503
Update for General Industry Outreach Trainers |
March
17, 23, 24
|
226
Permit-Required Confined-Space Entry* |
March
19-22 |
204A
Machinery and Machine Guarding Standards (Portland) |
March
26-28 |
502
Update for Construction Industry Outreach Trainers |
March
28-30 |
510
Standards for the Construction Industry* |
March
30, 31 and April 6, 7 |
201A
Hazardous Material* |
April
13, 14, 20, 21 |
510
OSHA Standards for the Construction Industry (Anchorage)
|
April
24-27 |
500
Trainer Course in OSHA Standards for the Construction Industry
(Anchorage) |
April
27, 28 and May 4, 5 |
521
OSHA Guide to Industrial Hygiene* |
May
7-10 |
311
Fall Arrest Systems (Richland) |
May
11, 12, 18, 19 |
501
Trainer Course in OSHA Standards for the General Industry*
|
May
21-24 |
301
Excavation, Trenching, and Soil Mechanics (Richland)
|
June
4-7 |
309A
Electrical Standards (Portland) |
|
*various
locations: call for information |
|
|
OSHA
COURSES ONLINE |
Promising
"any time, anywhere," access, the Department of Environmental
Health's continuing education department has started offering courses
online.
The
Online Institute, launched Feb. 1, initially offers training in
six areas:
-
hazardous materials/dangerous goods
-
occupational safety and health
- transportation
safety
- environmental
compliance
- emergency
response and management
- human
resources.
New
courses will be added regularly, including courses authorized by
the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), said Continuing
Education Director Scott MacKay.
Visit
http://www.regionxoti.org
for more information and a tour of the site's features.
Since
1995, the continuing education program has offered standards-based
OSHA training in a traditional classroom setting, he said. "With
the addition of our innovative Web-based courses, clients will now
have access to training that meets their scheduling needs."
In
addition to our Online Institute, the OSHA Training Institute continues
to offer classes throughout a four-state area and provide customized
on-site training for both the private sector and federal agencies.
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PEOPLE
& PLACES |
Joan
Thomas,
former program coordinator for the Radiological Sciences program,
died Feb. 24. She most recently worked as student program manager
in Health Services, retiring in 1998.
Sally
Liu
organized and chaired a session on particulate matter exposure and
health at the Pacific Northwest International Section of Air and
Waste Management Association conference in Victoria. She presented
at the session with Tim Larson, Chris Simpson, and Carol Trenga.
Lucio
Costa gave a series of lectures on neurotoxicology at
the University of Lisbon, Portugal in late October 2000.
Chuck
Treser was appointed to a two-year term on the American
Public Health Association Education Board this fall; and was elected
to another three-year term on the APHA Governing Council representing
the section on the environment. As president of the Association
of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP), Treser submitted
a proposal for a cooperative agreement between AEHAP and the CDC
National Center for Environmental Health. The cooperative agreement
was approved for five years with a $106,000 budget award for the
first year.
Editor
Kathy Hall and graphic designer
Cathy Schwartz won an Excellence Award from the Puget
Sound Chapter of the Society for Technical Communication for the
department's 19971999 biennial report. They also won a Merit
Award for the brochure, What Is Environmental Health? Editor
Kris Freeman of the Center for
Ecogenetics and Environmental
Health won a Merit Award for a magazine article, "Psychic Networks:
Training Computers to Predict Algal Blooms," which appeared
in Environmental Health Perspectives 108(10):A464-A467.
Matthew
Keifer presented International Scholars in Occupational
and Environmental Health Program at the University of Washington
at the American Public Health Association conference in Boston
Nov 11. He also taught an occupational epidemiology course in San
Jose, Costa Rica in early December, sponsored by the Regional Institute
on Environmental Toxicology National University.
Marcy
Harrington of the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety
and Health Center presented a poster at the American Foresters Centennial
in Washington, D.C. in November.
John
Kissel was co-organizer and co-chair of a session on
Pesticide Exposure-Dermal Pathway Issues at the Society for Risk
Analysis annual meeting in Arlington, VA, in early December. He
also presented a paper with Rene Showlund and Jeff Shirai.
Michael
Morgan serves on the National Research Council Committee
on Air Quality in Passenger Cabins of Commercial Aircraft, which
met in Washington, DC in early January.
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OCCUPATIONAL
MEDICINE FOR PRIMARY CARE CLINICIANS
|
A
day-long continuing medical education course, Occupational and
Environmental Medicine: New Developments for Primary Care Clinicians,
will be held April 6 at the Center for Urban Horticulture near the
UW campus.
Exposures
to environmental and workplace hazards are of increasing concern
to clinicians in primary care and specialty settings, said course
director Joel Kaufman. New scientific findings and government rules
and regulations require up-to-date knowledge. Course topics will
include occupational skin disorders, including contact dermatitis
and latex allergy; occupational asthma; pesticide exposures; fungi
in indoor environments; "best practices" for managing
occupational back pain; and how to use impairment ratings.
The
University of Washington School of Medicine will apply
up to 6.75 hours in category 1 towards the AMA Physician's Recognition
Award. Professional credit will be also available for nurses and
industrial hygienists.
For
information, visit http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/conted/ce/course_descriptions/occmed01.html
or phone (206) 543-1069.
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THE
FINE PRINT |
Environmental
Health News
is published three times a year by the Dept. of Environmental Health
at the University of Washington. Inquiries should be addressed to
Environmental
Health News, Box 354695,
4225 Roosevelt Way NE, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98105-4695; Phone:
(206) 543-1564;
E-mail: kjhall@u.washington.edu.
Find the department on the World Wide Web at http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/.
Reprint
permission is granted provided that copyright notice as given below
is included. We would appreciate receiving a copy of your reprinted
material.
The newsletter
is available.
©
2001 ISSN number 0029-7925
Department
of Environmental Health
|
Assistant
Chair for Outreach - Sharon L. Morris
Senior
Writer & Editor - Kathy Hall
Designer
& Illustrator - Cathy Schwartz
Editorial
Assistant - Kipling West
Interim
Department Chair - David A. Kalman
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