Spring

A cross-sectional study of dust exposure and health outcomes was conducted in a stone carving company in Thailand.  147 respirable dust samples were collected and 97 subjects participated in the study during November 1998 to October 1999.  Exposure indices were constructed and health outcomes of interest including respiratory symptoms, pulmonary functions, and chest radiographs were a

This study provides an estimate for the proportion of atmospheric fine particulate matter attributable to the combustion of wood. The 1997 addition of a fine (measuring less than 2.5 microns in aerodynamic diameter) particulate matter standard to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard requires determination of the sources of this particulate matter for the guidance of regulatory strategies.

The recent discovery of West Nile virus (WNV) in Washington State has heightened the concern about the disease and current knowledge of the mosquito vectors in our region is weak. Since the early 1970s, little work has been done on identifying mosquito populations either as nuisance species or possible vectors of disease in metropolitan King County.

Passive monitors have been popular since they were introduced to the field of industrial hygiene air sampling in the 1970s. The use of passive air monitors has historically included the assumption that the sorbent is 100 percent efficient and that reverse diffusion does not occur. However, several investigators have reported losses attributed to reverse diffusion.

Air pollutant monitoring is utilized for determining compliance with National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), detecting sources of pollutants, and investigating the health effects of air pollution through epidemiological studies. The effectiveness of monitoring depends on how representative monitoring sites are of overall ambient air concentrations to which a population is most exposed.

The objective of this study was to determine whether or not exposure to a low level of nitrogen dioxide could cause cardio-respiratory effects in health elderly people. Ten healthy subjects (67-85 years of age) were exposed to clean air and 300 ppb nitrogen dioxide for 30 minutes while at rest.

The traditional method of identifying noise-induced hearing loss is through pure tone air conduction audiometry. The measurement of distortion product otoacoustic emissions (DPOAEs), sounde generated within the chochlea in response to aural stimuli, is a relatively new technique which has been proposed as a means to identify preclinical hearing loss.

Parkinson's Disease is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder of uncertain etiology. Pesticide exposures have been implicated as environmental risk factors, however previous studies have yielded inconsistent risk estimates.

Most current instruments used for personal sampling can not accurately detect mixtures of compounds in real time. This dissertation presents a novel way of using open-path Fourier transform infrared (OP-FTIR) spectroscopy to overcome this problem for evaluating personal exposures. For conditions in which workers stayed at fixed workstations, a bi-beam sampling strategy was evaluated.

In order to more accurately understand the potential for chemicals to impact early neurodevelopment, there is a need for risk assessment models that can incorporate mechanistic information.

In 2005, a key informant survey conducted by researchers with the Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety & Health (PNASH) Center identified a clinician pesticide training gap.

Carbon monoxide (CO) is the ultimate environmental health hazard. It is odorless, colorless, and lacks warning properties other than the insidious onset of non-specific symptoms such as headache and nausea. Many survivors of CO exposure brushed off symptoms because they thought they were getting the flu.

This study assessed the effect of work characteristics on dust exposures during concrete grinding activities, with and without local exhaust ventilation (LEV). Particular attention was paid to the differences between work on flat surfaces where the shroud of the LEV system made a good seal, and on the edge where the seal was in partial contact with the surface.

Passive monitors fulfill a valuable role in industrial hygiene sampling. Although operation of the monitors in mixed chemical environments has been reviewed, the effect of each additional chemical in the mixture on monitor accuracy has not been evaluated.

Introduction: The development of an asthma-like condition characterized by episodic cough, dyspnea, chest tightness, and variable airflow obstruction has been described among workers in aluminum smelter potrooms. No specific etiologic agent has been identified and the pathophysiologic mechanisms involved remain poorly understood.

In common daily exchanges, we often hear joking phrases such as: my mother is a hoarder!, my neighbor is a packrat!, or you should see my place! More often than not, they were uttered by people who had never been exposed to a behavioral phenomenon, hoarding, that carries important clinical implications and significant social consequences.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are associated with ergonomic factors present in the workplace. The enormous costs, high rate of incidence, and public awareness of WMSDs has drawn increased attention to the need for intervention.

Many of the occupational hazards of military service are similar to the occupational risks encountered in civilian life and correlate directly with civilian workplace risk exposure matrices. There are certain military occupational risks and environmental exposures, however, which are unique to military service.

Background: There is a high rate of injury in Army Basic Combat Training. Low physical fitness is a known risk factor for injury in basic training, so the ARMS (Assessment of Recruit Motivation and Strength) study was implemented at Military Entrance Processing Stations (MEPS) to assess physical fitness and motivation prior to enlisting.

Adverse health effects consistently are reported to be associated with particulate matter (PM) air pollution. Two research needs in this area are 1) to identity mechanisms of action of particulate matter and 2) to identify exactly whether it is particulate matter or gaseous pollutants hat is the more toxic component of air pollution.

There are many commercially available gloves, designed to protect the worker from dermal exposure to chemicals. Unfortunately, the all purpose chemical glove does not exist. The ideal glove would be comfortable to wear, tactile, inexpensive and impermeable to all chemicals.

An underlying challenge in children's health risk assessment is understanding how to compare and extrapolate results from controlled animal studies in order to assess adverse developmental effects in humans, given that these results are affected by toxicokinetics and dynamic factors such as does and time of exposure.

Background: Asbestos continues to be a public health problem today. There does not appear to be an equal dose response across all individuals exposed to asbestos. Host susceptibility must be important in determining who will develop asbestos related disease.

Pathogenic microorganisms cause a wide-range of infectious diseases through various modes of transmission, such as water, food, person-to-person contact, and inanimate surfaces. Contaminated surfaces may serve as fomitic reservoirs of pathogens according to the organisms' ability to adsorb and persist in the environment.

Low Back Pain (LBP) is a common disease with public health implications. It affects about 80% of the adult population sometime during their lifetime. (Deyo and Weinsten 2001) It is the leading cause of work-related disability in people under 45 years of age and the most expensive cause of work-related disability (Andersson 1999).

The spread of West Nile Virus (WNV) across the United States (US) over the past four years has lead to an increased awareness of the need for mosquito surveillance and abatement programs.

This dissertation documents the dynamic interaction between moving human receptors (children) and transient peaks in drifted pesticides proximal to treated fields. Validation of a novel dGPS instrument (the GPS Personal Acquisition Logger or GPS-PAL) to attain high-resolution time-location data required four tests: amenability, reception, resolution, and interference.

The ability to identify the source of a waterborne contaminant is an important risk assessment tool, and a variety of microbial fingerprinting methods have been proposed for this purpose.

The National Sediment Quality Survey identified over 10,000 sampling stations at which sediment quality was categorized as presenting probable risk of adverse effects on human health or aquatic organisms (U.S. EPA, 1997a,b, c; U.S. EPA, 2001a). Contaminated sediments were found in all 50 states.

Minimizing occupational disability rates is a major concern for employers. High disability rates result in substantial expense for employers through direct medical care expenditures, increased insurance premiums, and loss of workplace productivity. Each year the U.S.