Environmental Health - Rochester, NY area  

RochesterEnvironment.com

 Environmental Health: Ultimately, this issue looms the largest of all environmental issues because our environmental health describes our own health. 

 

* Also find out about Lyme Disease, West Nile Virus and Rabies in and around the Rochester area.

Page Contents: Environmental Health NewsLinks | Pandemic Flu Information | Environmental Health Discussions | Resources | Monitoring Environmental Health | Environmental Health Reports |

 

Our Rochester, NY area has many universities which specialize in Environmental Health, which makes it a leader in detecting and a leader in solutions for environmental health.  All of the issues on this page add up to our environmental health, though this page specializes in potential environmental diseases and studies performed locally on diseases.

One of the most immediate issues that should be on everyone's radar is the potential for Pandemic Flu, of which Monroe County has a detailed and comprehensive plan to deal with.  I agree that there is only a slim change that the pandemic flu would hit the Rochester area, but because it goes on record as the biggest single killer of humans, we should be ready for any transformation of the bird flu virus to one that spreads quickly though the human population. 

 

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SEARCH: Use search engine below to find anything posted since 1998.

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Keep Up-to-date on the HIN1 Pandemic

On one area of our environment, the spread of the H1N1 pandemic flu, the media is paying attention.  But, there's a lot of misinformation out there.  Get the facts from creditable sources:

 

  • Pandemic Flu What Monroe County Residents Need to Know There is no Pandemic Flu in the world today but there have been three pandemics in the last 90 years. Flu experts worldwide agree another deadly pandemic is a real possibility. Bird Flu is the most likely candidate and experts fear the virus could change and set off the next human pandemic. -Be Aware. Prepare. MyMonroe. Opening Up Government. | Monroe County, NY  What to do locally in a Flu Pandemic: Bird Flu Brochure by Public Health | Monroe County, NY
  • New York State Department of Health : Press Releases
  • Flu.gov Flu.gov provides comprehensive government-wide information on seasonal, H1N1 (swine), H5N1 (bird) and pandemic influenza for the general public, health and emergency preparedness professionals, policy makers, government and business leaders, school systems, and local communities. Help Share this Important Information Unless otherwise noted, material presented on the Flu.gov Web site is considered federal government information and is in the public domain. That means this information may be freely copied and distributed. We request that you use appropriate attribution to Flu.gov.
  • Emergency Preparedness and Response - New York State Department of Health -- Get full info for any kind of major emergency: Biological Anthrax Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) Botulism Pandemic Influenza (Flu) Plague Smallpox Other Biological Agents (Centers for Disease Control) Bioterrorism Rapid Response Card (Card size PDF, 44kb) Protocols for Mail Handling Chemical Chemical Terrorism Preparedness Response Card Chemical Terrorism Wall Chart Fact Sheets (General Information) The Facts About Ammonia The Facts About Chlorine The Facts About Cyanides The Facts About Nerve Agents The Facts About Ricin Fact Sheets (Technical Information) The Facts About Ammonia The Facts About Chlorine The Facts About Cyanides The Facts About Nerve Agents Related Links Chemical Agents (Centers for Disease Control) Radiological Radiation Emergencies (Centers for Disease Control) Radiological Terrorism Rapid Response (Card size PDF, 30kb) Dirty Bombs Potassium Iodide (KI) Weather Flood Preparedness Weather Emergencies - Health & Safety Advice Cold Weather Advice Hot Weather Advice Hurricane Preparedness Lightning Safety Tips
  • Keep up on all the Swine Flu News at the New York Times: Swine Flu (H1N1) - The New York Times " The outbreak of swine flu that was first detected in Mexico was declared a global pandemic on June 11, 2009, in the first designation by the World Health Organization of a worldwide pandemic in 41 years.  The heightened alert followed an emergency meeting with flu experts in Geneva that convened after a sharp rise in cases in Australia, and rising numbers in Britain, Japan, Chile and elsewhere. But the pandemic is "moderate" in severity, according to Margaret Chan, the organization's director general, with the overwhelming majority of patients experiencing only mild symptoms and a full recovery, often in the absence of any medical treatment " - The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia 
  • 2009 Swine Flu Outbreak - 13WHAM.com - Rochester News, Weather, and Sports 
  •  CDC - Influenza (Flu) |Avian Flu "The risk from avian influenza is generally low to most people because the viruses occur mainly among birds and do not usually infect humans. However, more than 100 human cases of avian influenza infection have been reported since 1997. Most cases of avian influenza infection in humans have resulted from contact with infected poultry (e.g., domesticated chicken, ducks, and turkeys) or surfaces contaminated with secretion/excretions from infected birds. The spread of avian influenza viruses from one ill person to another has been reported very rarely, and transmission has not been observed to continue beyond one person."
  • City of Rochester | For Your Health and Safety Novel H1N1 Flu A novel influenza A (H1N1) virus has infected humans in the United States as well as multiple other countries, and the spread of this virus continues. Businesses and employers, in general, play a key role in protecting employees' health and safety, as well as in limiting the negative impact of the outbreak on the individual, the community, and the nation’s economy. The following information is meant to inform and educate the public incliding management, labor unions, and employees about appropriate precautions and work practices to minimize the risk of potential employee exposure, illness, and the spread of novel influenza A (H1N1) flu in the workplace, through general prevention and preparedness strategies. Rochester Health
  • Rochester Health - Rochester's Gateway to Local Healthcare Information RochesterHealth.com is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) community-focused online resource delivering local healthcare information. Featuring content provided by local physicians, dentists, hospitals, and allied-health professionals and endorsed by health organizations in the region, this online portal was developed for the local healthcare community to advance health awareness and access throughout Rochester, NY and surrounding areas.

 

CDC Travel Health CampaignTravel Health Campaign

Are any of these posters hanging around your town? The following posters have been released as CDC launches a national Travel Health Campaign to encourage healthy travel this flu season.

As the weather cools down, the holiday travel season heats up! If you are traveling through any airports, seaports, land borders, or other transportation stations we hope you keep your eyes peeled for our posters and follow the health tips as you travel.

 

 

 

 

 

Environmental Health Discussions

Get involved with Environmental Health Discussion online because it's not so easy to determine what diseases and illness are caused by a polluted environment and what the best remedies are.

  • Is Our Local Environment Collapsing? One of the great environmental concepts of our time is the realization that environmental collapse can occur so slowly that you would hardly notice it. Unless, of course, you are looking for it. We should appreciate that in this fast-paced world, where mankind has mostly developed it to his liking, because we are more likely to forget (or not even notice) important milestones along the way to environmental degradation. If we allow only our picture of today’s environment to define our definition of a healthy environment, we could be missing important clues about the true direction our environmental is sliding. Saturday, I attended a talk by Dr. Jared Diamond at Monroe Community College about environmental collapse. Mostly, Diamond talked about the collapse of the Easter Island society after it endured for 800 years. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Long ago Easter Island had a thriving human culture and a vast forest. Then, the last tree was chopped down in 1880. Then, the culture collapsed to a population of one hundred people. Now, the Easter Island plight is a metaphor for the delicate fragility of Earth itself and how we might be destroying it piecemeal like the Easter Islanders. more...
  • Green Warning Signs Recently, we’ve noticed several signs that our environment is undergoing dramatic changes. Some of the most salient signs are the mercury-ridden fish in all of our streams, the collapse of the Copenhagen Climate talks, the release of methane gases from the Arctic Ocean, and a great resistance to greener transportation and energy. In that vein, the auto show I attended recently revealed little interest or efforts in adapting our vehicles to the reality that the automobile and its infrastructure greatly affect the health of our environment. I thought after all that talk about electric cars and fuel efficiency I’d see a new day at the shows. But there were the same old sexy cars and trucks—except now they cost more, still had lousy gas efficiency ratings, and have far more driver-distracting gadgets than ever before. more...
  • Reverting to a State of Green During these Extraordinary Times, where climate change, the loss of biodiversity, and our oceans are making human sustainability questionable, we must ask, how do we determine what constitutes Sustainability? But first, what is Sustainability and why is it so important? “For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the wellbeing of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources…” (Wikipedia). In other words, we have to get Sustainability right, or the system that keeps us alive breaks down. You have to be alive to have‘wellbeing.’ We tend to assume that all those actively involved in monitoring our environment—official entities whose purpose is to monitor and maintain our environment, scientists, environmentalists, and the media—have at the very least a good idea of what a healthy environment looks like. Yet, I’m not so convinced that they do.  more...
  • Pandemic Flu, Getting Ready We want to applaud Monroe County's getting out in front on the possible pandemic issue in our area. It may turn out to be a mild flu season this years, but it would be irresponsible not to be prepared otherwise. Think seriously of using a hand sanitizer before you hand get near your face and check out all warnings, cautions, and information from this site: Public Health | Monroe County, NY Pandemic Flu | "Bird Flu. Pandemic Flu. These terms - confusing as they can be - are seemingly in the news daily.  more...
  • Healthy Debate Missing amidst the uproar on health care reform at the town meetings and the bug-eyed hysteria encouraged by our media is the link between our health care system and public health. Death panels, pulling the plug on our loved ones, socialism, deficits (mostly ignored during the war of choice), and even some cogent arguments that don’t embarrass us in the eyes of the world have been rung through the wringer that is called our media. It’s all as clear as mud, but politically the issues over health care reform are clear: defeating the present party on this ‘hot’ button issue offers new life to a party in search of a victory—any victory. more...
  • Global Health Don't forget you personally have a stake in the Climate Change Bill coming up: Climate Fight: EPA Sends Global Warming Finding to White House | Congress might be a long way from passing legislation to fight climate change, but the Obama administration appears one step closer to creating its own regime for controlling greenhouse gases. more...
  • Where's that pollution? A report (37 pages) that should be on your reading list this week is the new report by the International Joint Commission because it's about "programs to abate, control and prevent pollution from municipal sources entering the Great Lakes System.” The report’s object: The objective was to survey existing programs aimed at controlling surface-water pollution and to provide an overview of the current situation." more...
  • State Health Commissioner Novello Unveils State Health Department's Pandemic Influenza Plan Comprehensive, Wide Ranging Initiative Prepares State for Potential Health Emergencies ALBANY, February 23, 2006 - State Health Commissioner Antonia C. Novello, M.D., M.P.H., Dr.P.H., today unveiled the State Health Department's comprehensive Pandemic Influenza Plan -- a wide-ranging initiative to help protect New Yorkers in the event of a worldwide epidemic of influenza. Many facets of the plan are already in place as part of the State's efforts to protect the health of all New Yorkers. New York's plan parallels the recently announced national strategy for pandemic influenza released by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The State's plan addresses New York's unique characteristics such as demographics; population density; and international borders; as well as public health and health care systems capacity. (Feb. 23, 2006) New York State Department of Health Maxim Health Systems provides a Flu Shots locator, Just Type in your zip code to find the closest flu clinic near you.
  • A great new environmental health blog from the University of Rochester Health Center: Blog are a ubiquitous entity now around the web and everyone gets their say.  But, some blogs because of their expertise and reputation rise above the usual. Check this blog out from the University of Rochester often and chime in. Community Health V.O.I.C.E. The Community Health VOICE (Volunteer, Organize, Innovate, Collaborate, Empower) Blog was created to serve as a forum for faculty, staff, students, residents and fellows at the University of Rochester Medical Center and our partners in the Rochester area and beyond who are engaged or have an interest in community-based health services, education, research, and advocacy.

 

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Be Fit! Visit www.cdc.gov

 

Environmental Health Resources

Go to the major sites for Environmental Health

  • National Center for Environmental Health: Home | CDC "CDC's National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) strives to promote health and quality of life by preventing or controlling those diseases or deaths that result from interactions between people and their environment. "
  • Monroe County Public Health Department The Environmental Health Division’s mission is to provide public health services and leadership to assure the improve health status of individuals, families, the environment and the community. We strive to achieve excellence in the division’s performance to advance Monroe County as a leader in the field of public health. We collaborate with community partners to achieve optimum health status in the community and interact proactively with the changing health care environmental to assure that public health issues are recognized and addressed. The Environmental Health Division provides information, education, inspection of facilities, as well as emergency response to incidents that threaten public health and the environment.
  • CCHE Home Page The Center for Children’s Health and the Environment (CCHE) is the nation’s first academic research and policy center to examine the links between exposure to toxic pollutants and childhood illness. CCHE was established in 1998 within the Department of Community and Preventive Medicine of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. CCHE’s mission is to promote the health of children by conducting environmental health and policy research.
  • Department of Environmental Medicine, University of Rochester Medical Center: "Our mission is to increase scientific understanding of the health risks posed by contaminants--at home, in the workplace, and in the ambient environment."
  • MCMS Physicians Dedicated to Quality Healthcare Since 1821
  • The Wadsworth Center of the New York State Department of Health combines basic and applied research and education in biomedical and environmental sciences with a public health mission of clinical and environmental testing and quality assurance. Located in Albany, New York, it is the most comprehensive public health laboratory in the nation. The center responds to present and emerging public health threats; develops and applies the most advanced technologies and methods to ensure rapid, accurate detection of disease; and, through licensure and training, assures high quality performance of clinical and environmental laboratories and tissue banks providing services to New Yorkers.
  • Avoid mercury poisoning to you and your environment.  Those old thermometers, our fish, and those new energy-efficient florescent light bulbs (CFL) have mercury in them. Find out all about mercury and how you can prevent mercury poisoning.  Mercury Policy Project - Promoting policies to eliminate mercury use and reduce mercury exposure The Mercury Policy Project (MPP) works to promote policies to eliminate mercury uses, reduce the export and trafficking of mercury, and significantly reduce mercury exposures at the local, national, and international levels. We strive to work harmoniously with other groups and individuals who have similar goals and interests.
  • Asthma Awareness Month | Asthma | US EPA "Take Action During Asthma Awareness Month Asthma is a serious, life-threatening respiratory disease that affects over 20 million Americans. Rates of asthma have risen sharply over the past thirty years, particularly among children ages 5 to 14 (read more Facts about Asthma) In response to the growing asthma problem, EPA created a national, multifaceted asthma education and outreach program to share information about environmental factors — found indoors and outdoors — that trigger asthma. Although there is no cure, asthma can be controlled through medical treatment and management of environmental asthma triggers. EPA's goal is to reduce exposure to indoor asthma triggers and improve the quality of life for 6.5 million people by 2012. " --from US Environmental Protection Agency

Bicycling along the New York State Canal Trail. Photo by Frank J. Regan.
Are you exercising on the wrong planet?

Many of us love running, hiking, climbing, skiing, swimming, and power-walking outside.  Pitting ourselves against Nature is an ageless pursuit that usually makes us stronger in mind and body.  But what if our environment isn’t the environment we think it is?  Maybe it’s not so healthy to exercise outside because of the present heat wave and the ozone alerts.  However, it’s not just the heat; our air quality has failed for the past two years according to the American Lung Association.  Our water quality too is compromised due to blue-green algae breakouts, endocrine disruptors, and pharmaceuticals showing up in water tests.  Our beaches are closed as much as they are open.  Swimming might not be good for you. 

I can hear your response: Deal with it, Dude.  Get some bottled water and toughen up.   What doesn’t kill us outright makes us stronger.  No pain, no gain.  When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

True: it’s in our nature to pit ourselves against Nature.  But what if Nature isn’t what we think it is?  What if our environment is getting so polluted that hard exercise outside is actually bad for you?  What if sitting around streaming mindless movies and chomping down chocolates is healthier for you than running or swimming?  If your environment is not healthy; you won’t get healthy exercising in it.  You’ll get sick.  You might want to do some biomonitoring because your body burden may be off the chart already.  more...

(Above scripts from Dynamic Drive) 

 

Don't forget the Environmental Health Issue of Radon: You can do something about it: Radon Test Kit "If you wish to obtain a radon test kit from the New York State Department of Health, please print this "Radon Detector Order Form", fill it out and return it with $8.50 per detector ordered. (New York State Residents ONLY). Requests for the form in an alternate format can be made by contacting the New York State Department of Health, Bureau of Environmental Radiation Protection. " --from New York State Department of Health

Monitoring our Environmental Health

Many websites offer databases and other monitoring techniques for assessing for yourself the state of our Environmental Health

  • ToxCast™ Program | National Center for Computational Toxicology | US EPA In 2007, EPA launched ToxCast™ in order to develop a cost-effective approach for prioritizing the toxicity testing of large numbers of chemicals in a short period of time. Using data from state-of-the-art high throughput screening (HTS) bioassays developed in the pharmaceutical industry, ToxCast™ is building computational models to forecast the potential human toxicity of chemicals. These hazard predictions will provide EPA regulatory programs with science-based information helpful in prioritizing chemicals for more detailed toxicological evaluations, and lead to more efficient use of animal testing. --from National Center for Computational Toxicology | US EPA
  • Monitoring our Environment: Though a lot of indicators need to be monitored to assess the healthiness of one community, but arguably one of the most important is our environmental health.  Without a sound environment, everything else loses its foundation. This new project, which includes many specific environmental indicators for our region is especially welcome.  Take a moment to check out the various environmental indicators like (Prevalence of Pesticides, Air Quality, Clean Water, Population Density, Recycling Rate, Beach Contamination, Toxic Chemical Release, and more…) that suggest whether or not we are living sustainably—here in the Rochester area. Don’t form a critical opinion about the state of our environment without getting the facts.  This site works towards that: ActRochester : Environment From the rolling slopes of the Finger Lakes and the broad Genesee Valley to the spectacular Lake Ontario coast, nature has provided a splendid setting. Preserving our great natural resources is the goal of the many people who work to protect our environment. --from ACT Rochester : The goal of ACT Rochester is to build on community strengths to help solve our critical problems. ACT Rochester will achieve this through community debate, discussion and engagement based on objective, timely and independent data that can reshape our approach to community problem-solving.
  • Connecting the environmental health dots online. The beginning of a major effort by our New York State Department of Health (DOH) has started the kind of web site that only the Internet can facilitate a free, comprehensive way for the public to track environmental health problems like “birth outcomes, asthma, cancer incidence, childhood lead poisoning levels and cardiovascular disease, drinking water, pesticide use, radon, outside air and more.” I will keep this page listed on my Environmental Health and hope it grows into a useful tool to find out if the area you live in has special environmental concerns. State D.O.H. Launches Environmental Health Web Site  Environmental Public Health Tracking "This web site provides access to data about the environment and human health. It describes concepts related to how the environment affects human health and has links to projects that use health and environmental data. Our goal is to continue building this site over time to provide access to a variety of environmental health information."
  • What disease are occurring in NYS are where exactly are they occurring? County Health Assessment Indicators (CHAI) The New York State County Health Assessment Indicator (CHAI) Reports consist of a series of tables presenting selected public health indicators by 14 health topic areas. Each topic contains an "ABOUT" section defining the listed indicators, describing the source of data and identifying a contact person. These public health indicators and presentation format were developed with input from state and local health department representatives.
  • Health Action: Priorities for Monroe County HEALTH ACTION, Priorities for Monroe County, began in 1995 when the Director of the Monroe County Health Department convened a group of community partners to develop a plan to improve the health of Monroe County residents. The HEALTH ACTION Steering Committee is composed of individuals from community organizations representing business, education and health care The overall goal of HEALTH ACTION is to improve the health of the citizens of Monroe County by aligning community resources to focus on selected priorities for action. HEALTH ACTION facilitates collaboration and cooperation among providers, agencies and businesses to benefit the community by concentrating resources where they are most likely to impact health status. A healthy community is one in which the objective measures of health status are at optimal levels and there exists a commitment to health at all levels of the community.  You can view health Report Cards for Monroe County in these five areas: Health "report cards" are available for five focus areas: Maternal/Child Health, Adolescent Health, Adult Health, Older Adult Health and Environmental Health.
  • Being able to assess our environmental conditions is, I believe, one of the most important things we do here at RochesterEnvironment.com.  One of the best projects that I have come across over the years that helps in this respect, is the New York State Department of Health's Cancer Surveillance Improvement Initiative (CSII) - Cancer Mapping and Related Information The Cancer Surveillance Improvement Initiative (CSII) began in 1998. It is designed to answer questions of many New Yorkers about the cancer incidence in their communities. It provides maps of cancer incidence; maps of risk factors, including environmental information, also will be produced. CSII also provides information on cancer, its possible causes and how to interpret maps and graphs. Learn more about this project see About CSII
  • The New York State Cancer Surveillance Improvement Initiative (CSII)
  • University of Rochester Medical Center: Department of Environmental Medicine: EHSC The broad goals of this Center are to establish innovative programs of excellence in environmental health sciences by providing scientific and programmatic support, and to enhance the career development of talented environmental health investigators.
  • CLIC-On-Health Trustworthy, up-to-date health information for the Rochester region provided by local medical, public, and school librarians.
  • Children's Environmental Health Network is a national multi-disciplinary organization whose mission is to protect the fetus and the child from environmental health hazards and promote a healthy environment.
  • EmpireStat Through EmpireStat, Governor Paterson is using Information Age resources to reform and improve the way we provide services and spend your money – so that New Yorkers get maximum value from their taxpayer dollars. EmpireStat will start by focusing on four Performance Evaluation Areas in state government: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/JOBS PUBLIC SAFETY ROAD SAFETY HEALTH CARE AND VULNERABLE YOUTH

 

Get worldwide news on Environmental Health: Type in "Rochester, NY" in the search box below for local environmental health news.

Environmental Health Reports

It's common now for universities and other institutions to conduct research on various environmental health issues and post them online.

  • CDC - National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals The National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals provides an ongoing assessment of the U.S. population's exposure to environmental chemicals using biomonitoring. Biomonitoring is the assessment of human exposure to chemicals by measuring the chemicals or their metabolites in human specimens such as blood or urine. This Third Report presents first-time exposure information for the U.S. population for 38 of the 148 chemicals included in the Report. The Report also includes the data from the Second Report; that is, data for 1999-2000.
  • Do you eat the fish and game you catch in New York State?  Better read: 2003-2004 Health Advisories: Chemicals in Sportfish and Game - New York State Department of Health The New York State Department of Health (DOH) issues advisories on eating sportfish and game because some of these foods contain chemicals at levels that may be harmful to your health.
  • Human Health Research Program (HHRP) | Research and Development | US EPA The program's science looks at such questions as why some people are more sensitive to pollution and how exposure to chemicals affects people's health. The site is designed for the general public as well as for the scientific community. "The best decisions are informed decisions," said George Gray, assistant administrator for the Office of Research and Development. "The site provides easy access to research and results on methods, tools, and data needed to improve risk assessments to protect the public." Visitors to the site will find an overview of the research, information on how research has contributed to decision making, resource materials available in journal publications and reports, and a listing of meetings and conferences. New human health research Web site: http://www.epa.gov/hhrp
  • What is the Body Burden? How much industrial pollution enters our body?  What's in your blood? According to Second National Report on Human Exposure to Environmental Chemicals 2003 conducted at the Center of Disease Control (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia, we know that today almost everyone’s blood contains at least one of these contaminants, most seen only in the last forty years—lead, mercury, cadmium, and other metals; dialkyl phosphate metabolites of organo-phosphate pesticides; cotinine; and phthalates…Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) Dioxins, furans, and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) Non-coplanar PCBs Phytoestrogens, Selected organophosphate pesticides , Organochlorine pesticides, Carbamate pesticides, herbicides, pest repellents and disinfectants without know the consequences of these potential pathogens. You would think with all this pollution showing up in all our blood, we'd be concerned, that is, concerned enough about the full implications of these foreign elements in our blood before allowing more of them to go into the environment.
  • American Cancer Society Perspectives on Environmental Factors and Cancer -- Fontham et al. 59 (6): 343 -- CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians Cancer prevention is central to the mission of the American Cancer Society (ACS). The ACS's prevention activities take many forms, but are primarily focused on modifiable risk factors that have been demonstrated to have the largest impact on cancer risk in the general population (with particular emphasis on tobacco use because of its large impact on cancer), and well-proven policy and program interventions. The ACS addresses nutrition, physical inactivity and obesity, alcohol consumption, excessive sun exposure, prevention of certain chronic infections, and selected other environmental factors through a variety of venues, including consensus guidelines (eg, nutrition and physical activity, human papillomavirus vaccination) and developing educational materials for health care providers and the general public. In contrast to the broad definition of environmental factors used by the ACS and most other public health agencies, some members of the general public associate the term "environmental" only with toxic air and water pollutants and other, predominantly manmade, hazards that people encounter, often involuntarily, in their daily life. This article will provide an overview of the ACS's approach to the prevention of cancer associated with such toxic pollutants in the context of its mission and priorities with respect to cancer prevention. CA Cancer J Clin 2009. © 2009 American Cancer Society. CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

 

Pandemic Flu precautions from CDCFlu-like symptoms include: fever cough sore throat runny or stuffy nose body aches headache chills fatigue Some people may also have vomiting and diarrhea. For more information, visit www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/ or www.flu.gov or call 800-CDC-INFO.