Environmental Health

Ola i ka Wai. Water is life. Tyler Gerken MS, Environmental Health Hometown: Kea’au, Hawai’i Island, HI Future plans: A career in the US Public Health Service, perhaps as an environmental health officer for the National Park Service or the Indian Health Service

Water is essential for life, but in communities with inadequate sanitation, it can also spread diseases like polio, typhoid and hepatitis A. By monitoring wastewater and water sources contaminated by wastewater for pathogens in fecal matter, researchers and public health workers can help stop waterborne illnesses in their tracks.

Our empty roads and restaurants reflect our new reality: Many workers are now working remotely in response to the coronavirus outbreak. But what if your work requires your presence?

How did Esther Min, a graduate student in the UW Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), end up at a six-hour-long dinner in Kyrgyzstan?

Hannah Echt’s passion for public health is something of a family tradition. Hannah Echt MS, Occupational Hygiene Hometown: Cincinnati, OH Favorite thing about Seattle: "The public transportation is really good. You can get pretty much everywhere you need to go on the bus or light rail."

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  Countries including the US are taking dramatic steps to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, with some barring entry to anyone who has recently visited China. But do travel bans work?

University of Washington students and faculty will tackle pressing health concerns on three continents with the support of awards from the UW Global Innovation Fund to five DEOHS faculty members.

Many state and local health agencies recognize the threat of climate change but need more resources and clearer, more flexible guidance to reduce its impact on public health, according to a new study from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS).

Read more about the School of Public Health’s role with the Population Health Initiative in the new UW Public Health magazine.

Washington is expected to face increasingly smoky summers. A few things you can do to prepare now:

 

Rachel Shaffer doesn't flinch from controversy. As a doctoral student in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, Shaffer is wading into some of the most heated environmental health issues of our time. Her PhD work in environmental toxicology investigates the connections between air pollution and dementia. That's just the beginning.

As a physician with a passion for science, social justice and patient care, Dr. Joel Kaufman gravitated to public health from his earliest days as a college student pursuing BA and MD degrees in a combined six-year program.

Exposure to the toxin cadmium, a known human carcinogen, leads to accelerated cognitive impairment, even at levels found in people who do not smoke cigarettes, according to a new animal study fro

Communities underneath and downwind of jets landing at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport are exposed to a type of ultrafine particle pollution that is distinctly associated with aircraft, according to a new University of Washington study that is the first to identify the unique "signature" of aircraft emissions in Washington state.

According to the analysis, “strategic investments in a coordinated global-pandemics initiative would likely have a return ratio of between $17 and $20 on every $1 spent.” Curbing pandemics might also address shared global challenges, such as gender and social inequalities, and support climate adaptation and mitigation.

We all expect the kitchen of our favorite eatery to be spotless. But cleaning chemicals used to combat foodborne illness can harm workers and the environment.

  Recent estimates in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study show that the combination of air pollution, poor water sanitation and exposure to lead and radon is responsible for 9 million premature deaths each year.

Could bacteria in your shower make you sick?

Scientists and health professionals are rushing to assess the health effects of vaping amid a multistate outbreak of lung injuries associated with the use of e-cigarettes. Teachers could play a critical role in helping youth understand the health risks, yet little formal guidance or training for educators currently exists.

  A group of air pollution researchers from the University of Washington, led by the Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS), met with Chinese counterparts in Beijing earlier this month and returned enthusiastic about opportunities for future research collaborations.

  Editor’s note: This summer, 26 students in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are getting hands-on experience as interns with government agencies and private companies. In our occasional “On the Job” series, we feature some of their stories.  

  Editor’s note: This summer, 26 students in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are getting hands-on experience as interns with government agencies and private companies. In our occasional “On the Job” series, we feature some of their stories.  

More than two dozen faculty, staff and students from the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and our research partners will share their research at the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology conference next week.

  Editor’s note: This summer, 26 students in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) are getting hands-on experience as interns with government agencies and private companies. In our occasional “On the Job” series, we feature some of their stories.  

Adding flame retardants to consumer products was supposed to protect people from harm when manufacturers began the practice in the 1970s.

As wildfires spread across the Pacific Northwest last summer, the Seattle area briefly earned the dubious honor of being one of the most polluted cities on earth.

Two 2019 graduates of the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) won awards this month at a student research competition held by the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs.

 Researcher, lecturer, leader, mentor and global citizen-scientist.DEOHS Professor Elaine Faustman, PhD, is being recognized this week by scientists around the globe for the many roles she has played in advancing the science of toxicology over her nearly 40-year career.