Categories: Emergency and Environmental Health Services, National Center for Environmental Health
June 12th, 2013 8:39 am ET -
Father’s Day is right around the corner! If you’re planning to take dad out to celebrate, keep these things in mind when choosing the right restaurant for you and your family.
Food Safety Rules
The food vendors in your community, like restaurants, delis, grocery stores, and others, must follow local food safety rules. These rules are set by your city, county, district, or state. Each community may have the same or slightly different food safety rules and requirements for food vendors. All food safety rules have similar requirements about
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Categories: Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health
June 5th, 2013 8:04 am ET -
Climate change is any significant variation in temperature, precipitation, wind, or other type of weather that lasts for decades or longer.
Pristine waters, lush vegetation, picturesque landscapes, remote location….. This sounds like the stuff of travel guides—words that conjure up images of a vacationer’s paradise. But these alluring descriptors aren’t about “Fantasy Island.” Think Pacific Islands—the focus of a unique NCEH photojournalism project studying the effects of climate change. The project focused on the Republic of Palau and aimed to raise global awareness of the public health effects of climate change on all Pacific Islanders.
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Categories: Emergency Preparedness, National Center for Environmental Health
May 31st, 2013 1:19 pm ET -
The 2013 hurricane season begins tomorrow, June 1, and runs through November 30. It’s time to get ready!
The
2012 hurricane season was the second consecutive year that a named storm devastated the mid-Atlantic and Northeast. Both Sandy and Irene (
2011) caused fatalities, injuries, and tremendous destruction from coastal storm surge, heavy rainfall, inland flooding, and wind.
Because hurricanes have been more frequent and intense during the last 18 years and are affecting more locations, you should begin now to prepare for hurricane season if you live in coastal areas. Getting ready for potential storms before the season begins can help keep you and your family safe if hurricanes hit your area. Below are highlights of
CDC recommendations to prepare for hurricane season:
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Categories: Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health
May 24th, 2013 10:30 am ET -
MAY is Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month. Knowing triggers and having an action plan can help control your asthma.
Patient learns the correct use of asthma inhaler.
Seven-year-old Michael’s home was literally making him sick.
The young Flint, Michigan boy was a frequent visitor to the emergency room and doctor’s office. In one school year, he was out sick for a combined total of nine weeks.
Everyone else who lived in Michael’s home felt fine. The home had no effect on their health. Nonetheless, it was not a good environment for Michael’s asthma.
Asthma is a serious problem and the number of people affected continues to grow. NCEH says that the proportion of people living in the United States with asthma grew nearly 15% in the last decade.
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Categories: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
May 20th, 2013 8:00 am ET -
What do a Major League Baseball hall of fame player from the 1920s and 1930s, a former Baltimore Ravens football player, and about 5,600 persons annually in the United States have in common? All were diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).
ALS claimed the life of former New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig in 1941. O.J. Brigance, a former Raven’s linebacker who was diagnosed with the debilitating disease in 2007, now raises awareness for ALS and money to help families pay for medical expenses.
Brigance and other ALS awareness advocates will not be alone this month in spreading the word about ALS, because May is ALS Awareness Month.
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Categories: National Center for Environmental Health
May 13th, 2013 6:45 am ET -
Bike to Work week is May 13-17, 2013. Whether for health, environmental, economic, or social reasons, bicycling can be a great way to go places. CDR Arthur M. Wendel, MD, MPH is Team Lead of the Healthy Community Design Initiative at CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health. He has been using his bicycle as a major means of transportation for many years. Read more to learn how he incorporates physical activity into his daily routine by riding his bike to work.
Bike lanes and paths make biking easier and safer.
“My life is too busy!”
“I just don’t have time!”
Ever heard these reasons for not exercising regularly—or have you even said them yourself? Many of us live busy lives with multiple responsibilities at work, home, school, and elsewhere. But would improving your health or saving your life be reason enough to figure out some way to add exercise to your life?
Regular physical activity can prevent many of the leading causes of death and disability, but too few people exercise regularly. Walking and biking are good ways to add regular exercise to your life. But you may still wonder how you can find time. What if I told you that you can incorporate physical activity into your life as part of your daily routine? How about walking or biking to work or to run errands?
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Categories: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR)
May 7th, 2013 11:29 am ET -
May 7-11 is National American Occupational Safety and Health Week. In recognition of this observance, we are featuring a study of respiratory protective equipment for emergency responders conducted by ATSDR scientists Dr. Vinicius Antao, Dr. Laszlo Pallos, Dr. Youn Shim, and Jay Sapp. They worked with colleagues from the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and Columbia University to study the health of responders to the 9/11 World Trade Center disaster.
New York, N.Y., September 17, 2001 -- FEMA Urban Search and Rescue teams work to clear rubble and search for survivors at the World Trade Center. Photo by Andrea Booher/ FEMA News Photo
On September 11, 2001, people around the world watched as the two towers of the New York City World Trade Center (WTC) fell to the ground. Dense clouds of smoke and dust rose into the air. While the streets filled with people escaping the burning buildings, emergency responders charged into the darkness with little thought for their own safety.
In the following days, police, firefighters, and emergency medical technicians (EMTs) continued to search for survivors. Construction and sanitation workers joined them to clean up the six-story pile of debris that burned for more than 3 months.
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Categories: Biomonitoring, National Center for Environmental Health
May 1st, 2013 11:34 am ET -
May is National Clean Air Month. NCEH’s Tobacco Lab has provided essential research and data that has contributed to a significant decrease in the levels of secondhand tobacco smoke in nonsmokers. Read about their exciting work below.
Work in NCEH’s Tobacco Laboratory Helps Reduce Exposure to Secondhand Smoke
If you saw a cloud of smoke that you knew contained more than 4,000 chemical components, of which at least 250 caused cancer, then you’d run for cover and seek cleaner air. This is the case each time you’re near someone who smokes a cigarette, cigar, or pipe.
Exposure to secondhand smoke causes 3,400 deaths a year due to lung cancer. The toxic cloud also has immediate effects on your cardiovascular system and can cause heart attack and stroke.
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Categories: Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), National Center for Environmental Health
April 15th, 2013 2:13 pm ET -
April 22 marks the 43nd anniversary of Earth Day, which reminds us of our personal and collective responsibility to preserve and protect our environment. At CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR), we begin our celebration of Earth Day by observing National Environmental Education Week during the week leading up to it.
For many the word “environment” means the natural world—mountains, forests, rivers, oceans, animals, and the air around us. To others, the environment brings to mind “tree huggers,” the green movement, and “reduce—reuse—recycle.” These are logical connections and are all, indeed, part of what we mean when we use the term.
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Categories: Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for Environmental Health
April 5th, 2013 12:40 pm ET -
April 7 is United Nations World Health Day, marking the anniversary of the founding of the World Health Organization (WHO) in 1948. CDC works in close partnership with WHO and its regional offices, other UN agencies (like UNICEF) as well as other international health agencies to help people throughout the world live healthier, safer, longer lives.
In honor of World Health Day, read some of our previous blog posts about NCEH’s international work:
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