A Year in Review: 2014

Arizona, BPA, arsenic, Haiti, American Indian/Alaskan Native Tribes, mercury, foodborne illness, Palau, epidemiology, contaminated water. What do these seemingly random items have in common? They all appeared in “Your Health, Your Environment” blog posts about NCEH/ATSDR staff in 2014.

Our “Meet the Scientist” and “Voices from the Field” series aim to put a face on our environmental health work. They provide insight into the activities of the talented people who work to keep you safe from things in the environment that threaten your health. In the “Voices from the Field” blog series, NCEH/ATSDR staff tell us about their work in communities, states, tribal territories, and even other countries.

We hope to help readers see scientists as real people who work on real environmental health issues every day. In case you missed some posts in these series, take a look at this list and click on the links to catch up.

Popular Posts from the “Meet the Scientist” Series

• Jennifer Lyke: Read about Jennifer’s work at the Tar Creek Superfund site, with methyl parathion exposure, and in community health education.
• Xiaoyun “Sherry” Ye: Read about Sherry’s work on human exposure to BPA, a chemical found in certain plastics and used in a wide variety of consumer products.
• Cynthia Ward: Read about how Cynthia’s team determines the concentrations of arsenic and mercury species in urine and blood samples from a representative sample of the U.S. population.
• Vincent (Vince) Radke: Read about CDC’s only sanitarian who helps develop and improve training tools in environmental health, vector control, and emergency preparedness.

Popular Posts from the “Voices from the Field” Series

• Brian Hubbard: Brian traveled to Haiti in 2012 to help improve water and sanitation efforts.
• Hydrogen Sulfide in Detroit: Mark Johnson worked with EPA to stop harmful hydrogen sulfide exposures in Detroit, Michigan.
• Community Health Education & Outreach in Texas: With funding from ATSDR, a team of environmental health specialists at the Texas Department of State Health Services educated residents about the risks of eating fish caught in chemically contaminated water.
• NCEH Observes “World Environment Day”: An NCEH photojournalism project raised global awareness of the public health effects of climate change on the Republic of Palau and all Pacific Islanders.

• Preventing Exposure to Metals in Arizona Mining Country: ATSDR worked with the Arizona Department of Public Health and Arizona State University to protect Dewey-Humboldt residents from exposure to arsenic in groundwater wells.
• Woman’s Worry Prompts CDC/ATSDR Outreach on Testing Private Wells: ATSDR representatives provide valuable information about arsenic in private wells to residents of Arizona—and around the country.