Chemical hazards

Gloves that significantly reduce the sense of touch, inhibit hand movement, and lack liquid protection canreduce workers' capabilities and create barriers to using protective equipment properly. Protective glovesunsuitable for the assigned task may be discarded, increasing the potential for skin exposure to chemical

Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent environmental contaminants that pose a significant public health risk including reproductive toxicity partly because they are endocrine disruptors. The lipophilic nature of PCBs increases the risk of developmental exposure due to placenta and breast milk transfer.

Anthropogenic impacts on marine ecosystems have developed into a dominating and formative force within coastal regions. One of the strongest influences within these coastal anthropogenic zones is the deposition and life cycle of marine plastic waste.

The use of chemical agents to eradicate pests and weeds is prevalent across both developing and developed countries, and it plays a crucial role in the agricultural sector by enhancing crop yields and minimizing losses.

Background: Asthma is a leading cause of childhood morbidity in the U.S. and a significant public health concern. The prenatal period is a critical window during which environmental influences, including maternal occupational exposures, can shape child respiratory health.

Background and Objectives: Dermal exposures to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a likely pathway explaining elevated cancer risk in firefighters.

The school environment is one of the primary locations where children spend time and is known to present numerous health hazards. Poor air quality is a known public health risk, especially for children, impacting health, attendance, and learning outcomes, but schools face many challenges in improving the school environment.

Exposure to per-and poly-fluorinated substances is increasingly in the public eye. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report advising increase surveillance screening for those exposed to high levels.

Commensal rodents are a widespread problem in densely populated cities, where they live in close proximity to humans. These rodents can transmit numerous diseases to humans and domestic animals and are a threat to public health.

Organophosphate (OP) pesticides are extensively used to support agricultural practices in Washington State. OP exposure is associated with both asthmatic populations and agricultural communities. The objective of this thesis is to investigate the correlation between OP pesticide exposure in agricultural community, with respiratory health outcomes, associated with asthma.

This project involved conducting an exposure assessment in the paint shop at Seattle City Light to evaluate

Background: JP-8, Jet A-1, and Jet A are kerosene-based aviation fuels. Jet fuel combustion produces complex pollutant mixtures including VOCs, CO2, CO, NOx, SOx, PAHs and PM. Particles are characterized by size, with ultrafine particles (UFPs -- those particles < 100 nm in diameter) typically quantified by particle number concentration.

The 2018 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) named air pollution as the number one environmental threat to public health. Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is a sizable contributor to global air pollution, and diesel exhaust (DE) is a major source of TRAP (Yale Center for Environmental Law & Policy, 2018).

Background: Ozone is a popular water sterilization agent utilized in marine mammal husbandry to maintain the pool water in the animal enclosures. The health hazards posed by ozone are well understood, but its role as an occupational hazard, especially in marine mammal husbandry, is understudied and not well characterized.

Introduction: The expansion of the U.S. cannabis industry has created thousands of new jobs in cultivation, processing and distribution. While little is known about occupational hazards in the Cannabis industry, pilot studies suggest an increased risk of respiratory exposures and associated adverse health outcomes, including immunologic sensitization to Cannabis.

Introduction: Occupational exposure surveillance has historically been of limited focus in the United States (US). However, understanding the burden of occupational exposures is critical for the primary prevention of work-related injuries and illnesses.

Despite the Washington State Environmental Health Disparities Map and the Duwamish Valley Cumulative Health Impacts Analysis assessments being resources for communities to access environmental threats and social vulnerabilities, there is no single map that includes all factors associated with potential chemical mobilization and flood risks.

Dementia has been considered a major global public health priority (WHO, 2012). It is very common in older adults (Alzheimer’s Association, 2015b; Seshadri & Wolf, 2007; Weuve et al., 2014) and characterized by the progressive and irreversible loss of memory and mental abilities (Alzheimer’s Association, 2008).

Artificial stone countertops are the centerpiece of countless modern kitchen remodels, but the process of fabricating these surfaces has recently gained attention due to high occupational exposures to fine silica dust, known as respirable crystalline silica (RCS). This report summarizes OSHA State Plan health compliance inspections of stone countertop fabricators in King County, WA.

Arsenic is a long-lasting environmental contaminant found in food, water, air, and soil. In Washington, there are multiple geographically unique sources of arsenic ranging from natural sources like sediments and groundwater to man-made sources.

Approximately 26% of the total global population is of reproductive age and experiences a menstrual cycle, which equates to about half of the global population who are women (House et al. 2012; Kim 2021). During menstruation, menstrual products are used to collect blood and other vaginal discharge from the vaginal opening.

Biosolids are nutrient-rich residual organic matter derived from wastewater treatment. The majority of biosolids in Washington are land applied, with the remaining landfilled or incinerated. In land application, biosolids are mostly applied on agricultural lands or forests as a soil amendment and fertilizer.

Phthalates are a class of ubiquitous synthetic chemicals found in commonly used products, leading to widespread human exposure. A growing body of evidence demonstrates the adverse association between phthalates and asthma, a leading chronic condition among children.

Glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are detoxification enzymes important in cellular protection through their metabolism of endogenous and exogenous substrates such as chemotherapeutic agents, insecticides, herbicides, and byproducts of oxidative stress.

Liver is a critical organ for nutrient homeostasis and xenobiotic biotransformation.

Persistent environmental pollutants (POPs), such as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), are ubiquitously detected in the environment despite removal from commercial and industrial use.

Background: Hydraulic fracturing (fracking) as a process for natural gas extraction has potential to expose nearby residents to environmental hazards, but the extent of the hazard remains poorly understood.

Background: Alpha diketones such as diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione have been used as artificial flavorings in a variety of industries and are produced naturally when food products such as coffee beans are roasted.