PUH 5305 Unit VI
PUH 5305, Concepts of Environmental Health 1
Course Learning Outcomes for Unit VI Upon completion of this unit, students should be able to:
2. Summarize the factors that affect susceptibility to adverse health outcomes following exposure to environmental hazards. 2.1 Discuss the significant global burden of foodborne illness.
3. Outline approaches for controlling environmental hazards that pose risks to human health and safety.
3.1 Examine measures for preventing foodborne illnesses. 3.2 Describe an effective method of solid waste management. 3.3 Illustrate how the transportation of solid and liquid wastes can affect a community.
Course/Unit Learning Outcomes
Learning Activity
2.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 273-307 Unit VI Assessment
3.1 Unit Lesson Chapter 11, pp. 273-307 Unit VI Assessment
3.2 Unit Lesson Chapter 12, pp. 311-330 Unit VI Assessment
3.3 Chapter 11, pp. 273-307 Unit VI Assessment
Required Unit Resources Chapter 11: Food Safety, pp. 273-307 Chapter 12: Solid and Liquid Wastes, pp. 311-330
Unit Lesson Introduction How safe is our food? How safe is our environment from liquid and solid wastes? These are questions that public health officials, especially environmentalists, ask quite often. When there is food poisoning in the news, people start wondering–is that restaurant safe for my family? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) state that in the United States, the burden of foodborne illnesses is caused by about 31 pathogens from parasites, bacteria, and viruses as well as unspecified agents such as chemicals and microbes (CDC, 2018b). Pathogens each year cause more than 9 million illnesses, 55, 000 hospitalizations, and about 1,300 deaths. Unspecified agents cause more than 38 million illnesses, at least 71,000 hospitalizations, and, approximately, 1,600 deaths (CDC, 2018a). Combined, it is estimated that about 48 million people get sick, about 128,000 spend some time in the hospital, and about 3,000 deaths are reported every year from foodborne diseases in the United States (CDC, 2018a).The most common pathogens are staphylococcus aureus, salmonella, clostridium perfringens, listeria monocytogenes, and norovirus.
UNIT VI STUDY GUIDE
Environmental Health Hazards, Part II
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines solid waste as the sludge, refuse, or garbage from air pollution control facilities, water supply plant treatments, and wastewater treatment plants and several other unwanted materials from agricultural, industrial, commercial, and mining operations that leave behind some kind of waste (EPA, n.d.-a). It is important to note that waste could come from gaseous materials, semi- solid materials, and liquid materials. Some examples of solid waste include furniture, toys, appliances, vehicles, latex paints, waste tires, garbage, and construction and demolition debris.
Liquid waste has also been a serious issue in the environment, in part, because the earth’s surface is covered by about 71% of water (The Ohio State University, 2017). According to the EPA, liquid wastes are mainly produced by humans and animals. Much of the excreted waste is flushed into the waste and sewage lines. It is harder for liquid wastes to be cleaned because they cannot just be removed like a solid waste can. Liquid wastes can pass from one body of water to another and can affect soil and groundwater. This can all lead to an eventual effect on plants, animals, and our food supply (The Ohio State University, 2017).
Solid waste causes a serious problem for the environment. Unfortunately, this problem is preventable but not known to many people. Each state produces quite a bit of waste that most of the time is not properly disposed. In Massachusetts, for example, the state Department of Environment Protection explained that in 2015, almost six million tons of solid waste were produced. About 3 million tons were burned in incinerators, about 900 tons were buried in landfills, and almost 1.4 million tons were transferred to other states to either be buried or burned (Pecci, 2017). Dealing with Foodborne Illnesses Dealing with foodborne illnesses is a daunting problem for public health officials, which is exasperating considering that it could be prevented. When two or more people get infected after having the same contaminated drink or food, it becomes a foodborne disease outbreak (CDC, 2019b). Food poisoning symptoms can be mild or can also be severe or result in death, depending on the kind of poisoning. However, for the most part, the symptoms of food poisoning are fever, vomiting, stomach cramps, diarrhea, upset stomach, and nausea (CDC, 2019a). The effects of these symptoms may take from a few hours to days to develop and could cause severe dehydration (CDC, 2019a). Long-term effects and complications from food poisoning could range from kidney failure due to hemolytic uremic syndrome, chronic arthritis, and nerve and brain damage (CDC, 2019a). The information below from CDC (2019b) provides the common foodborne pathogens and food sources: Salmonella usually takes about 12 to 72 hours to take effect and the illness may last from four to seven days. The bacteria is usually found in raw or uncooked meat, poultry, chicken, eggs; unpasteurized milk; or raw fruits and vegetables. Most people suffer from vomiting, fever, stomach cramps, and diarrhea (CDC, 2018c).
This image represents the costs of different aspects of the U.S. water supply. (EPA, 2010)
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Staphylococcus aureus usually takes about 30 minutes to eight hours to take effect. Some of the sources of this include unsafe handling of uncooked food such as sandwiches, puddings, sliced meats, and pastries by people who carry the staph germ. Symptoms include diarrhea, vomiting, stomach cramps, and nausea (CDC, 2018c). Norovirus usually takes effect within 12 to 48 hours. Source of this include contaminated shellfish, water, fresh fruits, leafy greens. It could also be transmitted if an individual touches contaminated surfaces. Side effects usually include vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain or nausea (CDC, 2018c). Listeria has an incubation period of 7 to 70 days and may last from a few days to weeks. Symptoms include flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, convulsions, and loss of balance. It mostly affects the elderly or pregnant women. This bacteria can be found in deli meats, unpasteurized milk, hot dogs, raw sprouts, queso fresco, and other cheeses, pates, and melons (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2019). Overall, the financial burden caused by foodborne illnesses, including loss of productivity and medical costs, total about $2 billion (Singh, 2016). It is a priority for public health officials not to minimize the risks of foodborne illnesses but enhance interventions to prevent cross-contamination of conventional and organic animal produce and products with parasites being a priority.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA, 2011) explains that four steps can be taken to prevent food poisoning–clean, separate, cook, and chill.
• Clean: This means properly washing your hands and constantly cleaning all surfaces.
• Separate: This means making sure there is no room for cross-contamination.
• Cook: Cooking to proper temperatures is essential. The image to the right shows the proper temperatures of cooked dishes.
• Chill: It is also important to properly chill or refrigerate food to avoid food poisoning (USDA, 2011).
While public health officials work together to reduce the number of foodborne diseases, it is important for the community as a whole to educate themselves on proper hygiene and make sure hands, foods, and contaminated surfaces are properly cleaned. The CDC provides details of Food Safety Alerts each year. It is a good idea to review this website and always be sure to check every so often to know if you could be affected.
Temperatures of properly cooked meat and egg dishes. (U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2011)
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Dealing with Environmental Waste Liquid or solid municipal waste is increasing greatly because of the rapid growth in industrialization and urbanization among an already rapidly growing population. Orthodox management practices involving disposal, treatment, combustion, and recycling of solid and liquid waste have become unsustainable (Chen et al., 2016). It is for this reason that public health officials (environmentalists especially) are working hard to increase this conventional management practice and also to improve the sustainability of managing waste disposal.
Managing waste disposal is a widespread problem in the rural and urban areas as well as in many developing and developed countries. Solid waste and liquid waste solutions must be legally and socially acceptable, financially sustainable, environmentally friendly, and technically feasible (Chen et al., 2016) This is especially important now that it has become one of the biggest challenges faced by public health officials in big and small cities and towns (Abdel- Shafya & Mansour, 2018). The World Bank projected that the global waste in this generation would increase from about one billion tons a year as of 2012 to over two billion tons per year by 2025 (Perrot & Subiantoro, 2018). If the waste is not properly managed, various, serious environmental and social problems will emerge, bigger than what is happening now, including water, soil, and air pollutions, the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere (especially methane that increases global warming), and the spread of diseases especially cancer (Perrot & Subiantoro, 2018).
The question, then, is where do all of these wastes come from? Most waste comes from households, usually generated from various sources from human activities. Many researchers posited that solid waste from households were between 55% to 80% while those from commercial areas generated about 10% to 30% waste (Abdel-Shafya & Mansour, 2018). The rest of the waste came from institutions, industries, and streets. The heterogeneous nature of solid waste from households, industries, streets, and commercial areas has created chemical and physical characteristics that make it harder to dispose of (Abdel-Shafya & Mansour, 2018). Some of these materials include construction and demolition materials, batteries, papers, food waste, rubber, textiles, plastics, paint containers, wood, yard waste, inert materials, leather, and metals as well as many other unidentified materials. Residual and industrial liquid wastes are often related to waterborne diseases due to inappropriate disposal, leading to soil contamination, water pollution, and environmental degradation. As a result, clean liquid waste management services are in high demand and expected to significantly grow in the next couple of years. The World Health Organization (WHO) explained that in 2012, waterborne diseases due to poor sanitation, poor waste management, and unsafe drinking water in general resulted about 4% of deaths and about 6% of disabilities globally (WHO, n.d.). While 96% of the urban population has access to improved drinking water and about 80% have piped drinking water, the pathological quality of water is still extremely poor with more than 50% of residents still getting water-borne diseases because of insufficient access to improved sanitation and safe drinking water (WHO, n.d.). The issues and challenges faced by liquid and solid waste disposal should be considered when framing waste policies, including recycling, disposal methods, segregation, proper waste generation, landfill management, transportation and collection, hazardous and other toxic management of materials, incineration, and treatment (Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, n.d.) It should also include other technological standards,
The classification and composition of municipal solid wastes in the United States in 2013. (EPA, n.d.-b)
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evaluation, monitoring, and continuous development of methods of improvement. Other things that would need to be addressed are long-term and short-term social, economic, and environmental benefits and costs, roles of stakeholders, and methods of funding. Conclusion Much progress has been made in reducing liquid and solid wastes that, to an extent, has also contributed to the reduction of foodborne and waterborne disease. While a lot still has to be done, many countries have a process in place for recycling and proper disposal of waste. Hygienists and health or sanitation inspectors have also been working hard to ensure that restaurants and grocery shops are safe for the communities, which are the main places that could potentially carry a food-borne pathogen.
References Abdel-Shafya, H. I., & Mansour, M. S. M. (2018, December). Solid waste issue: Sources, composition,
disposal, recycling, and valorization. Egyptian Journal of Petroleum, 27(4), 1275–1290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejpe.2018.07.003
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018a, November 5). Burden of foodborne illness: Findings.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/2011-foodborne-estimates.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018b, November 5). Burden of foodborne illness: Overview.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodborneburden/estimates-overview.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2018c). Foodborne germs and illnesses.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/foodborne-germs.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019a). Food poisoning symptoms.
https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/symptoms.html Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019b). List of selected multistate foodborne outbreak
investigations. https://www.cdc.gov/foodsafety/outbreaks/multistate-outbreaks/outbreaks-list.html Chen, P., Xie, Q., Addy, M., Zhou, W., Liu, Y., Wang, Y., Cheng, Y., Li, K., & Ruan, R. (2016, September).
Utilization of municipal solid and liquid wastes for bioenergy and bioproducts production. Bioresource Technology, 215, 163–172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2016.02.094
Pecci, K. (2017, December 12). Municipal solid waste: What is it and why is it a problem? Conservation Law
Foundation. https://www.clf.org/blog/municipal-solid-waste-is-a-problem/ Perrot, J.-F., & Subiantoro, A. (2018). Municipal waste management strategy review and waste-to-energy
potentials in New Zealand. Sustainability, 10(9), 3114. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10093114 Singh, O. V. (2016). Foodborne pathogens and antibiotic resistance. Wiley. Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. (n.d.). Resources on managing municipal solid waste.
https://www.tceq.texas.gov/assistance/waste/msw.html The Ohio State University. (2017, March). Liquid waste. https://u.osu.edu/wastemanagement/liquidwaste-
anthony-ulman/ U.S. Department of Agriculture. (2011). “Is it done yet?” [Poster].
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/836ce170-21a7-46fd-ac5d- d220df8d4726/IsItDoneYet_poster.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2019, April 12). Bacteria and viruses. FoodSafety.
https://www.foodsafety.gov/food-poisoning/bacteria-and-viruses#listeria
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U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.-a). Criteria for the definition of solid waste and solid and hazardous waste exclusions. https://www.epa.gov/hw/criteria-definition-solid-waste-and-solid-and- hazardous-waste-exclusions
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.-b). Municipal solid waste.
https://archive.epa.gov/epawaste/nonhaz/municipal/web/html/ U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2010). Clean Watersheds Needs Survey: 2008 Report to Congress
(EPA Report No. 832-R-10-002). https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015- 06/documents/cwns2008rtc.pdf
World Health Organization. (n.d.). Unsafe drinking-water, sanitation and waste management.
https://www.who.int/sustainable-development/cities/health-risks/water-sanitation/en/
Suggested Unit Resources
In order to access the following resources, click the links below. The video segment below comes from the full video titled The Secret Life of Landfill. It explores how trash mixes into a United Kingdom landfill that has been there for many years. DCD Rights Limited (Producer). (2018). History of human waste (Segment 3 of 9) [Video]. In The Secret Life
of Landfill. Films on Demand. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=169038&loid=542410
The transcript for this video can be found by clicking on “Transcript” in the gray bar at the top of the video in the Films on Demand database. The video segment below discusses how to properly handle food to prevent foodborne illnesses. It contains facts that everyone should know. Cerebellum Corporation (Producer). (2011). Food safety (Segment 4 of 6) [Video]. In The Savvy Eater. Films
on Demand. https://libraryresources.columbiasouthern.edu/login?auth=CAS&url=https://fod.infobase.com/PortalPl aylists.aspx?wID=273866&xtid=155009&loid=521960
The transcript for this video can be found by clicking on “Transcript” in the gray bar at the top of the video in the Films on Demand database.
Learning Activities (Nongraded) Nongraded Learning Activities are provided to aid students in their course of study. You do not have to submit them. If you have questions, contact your instructor for further guidance and information. Activity 1 After reviewing the unit lesson and your notes, visit your local waste management facility. What methods for reduction of liquid and solid wastes are available in your community? Also, review the most common foodborne diseases in your community and brainstorm how they could be prevented. Activity 2 Test your knowledge! Try the Food Safety Exercise to see how much you know about proper food temperatures. (PDF version of the Unit VI Nongraded Learning Activity)