M5.7 Blog: Your Sewage Facilities

Where I live, in Turlock, there is only one sewage facility. The town I live in is pretty small, so I wasn't expecting to find too many in this area. The facility is located somewhat near the edge of the city, which is away from a lot of housing. Although, since the city is growing in size every year, I think in few years we will find it to be near the center of the city!!

M5.5 Blog: Campaign for Tap Water

M5.4 Blog about your Consumer Confidence Reports (CCR) and water quality

When searching on the website provided, the water source for my city did not come up. I did search on Google for TID since that is our water source and it is the only one we have where I live. The report that I found was from 2017, and it contained information which shocked me! There were radio actives found in our water and it stated that they come from natural deposits. Also, Tetrachloroethylene found in our water which states on the report that it comes from factories, dry cleaners, and auto shops. I personally thought that we have clean water, but we do use a filter and this is a recent change that we have made at my house. We did use bottled water for a long time, but have made a change to filtering our water through the fridge, and I am glad we made this change!!

M5.2 the public health importance of safe drinking-water

The Clean Water Act was passed in 1972, which changed the world we live in more than I could personally even wrap my head around. Until the year 1972, there were no specific controls over the the pollutants found in our water. After this act was passed, the EPA received authority to set control programs in order to ensure our water is clean and safe to drink. This is something that plays a huge roll in our lives, since water consumption is so important for our bodies. This is something that if I have never thought about, that a simple law such as this will implement such big changes in our lives.

M4.5 Think about it / Group Exercise

MPH 632 - Assignment 4.5

Group 5:  Paulina Avila-Martinez, Anthony Fiorentino, Sintia Shabaz,

Given that there are potential health effects associated with the fragrances in our personal care products, how might you develop and implement a fragrance-free policy in a hospital, school, or other institutional setting? Consider how you would deal with the fragrances that are in employees’ personal care products. In your blog groups, share your ideas for what the elements of an ideal chemical/fragrance policy should be. How would your policies eliminate/decrease our body burdens and exposures?

The elements used in fragrances should be those that do not diffuse quickly, so those around are not affected with the product. Also, the smells should be kept to natural scents only, that way they do not cause respiratory problems. In order to eliminate these smells at public places, policies should be placed on strong smells. This is something that will be hard to enforce at first, but can be helpful in the long run. Even though personal care products are very important, they are creating a significant public health hazard.

Employers would be best-served by a policy that explains the individual and public health risks in a straightforward manner, and specifying which products are the most prevalent will aid in their elimination. Once the most commonly used and most harmful fragrances are identified they would be relatively easy to restrict.  Additionally, a “Smell something - Say Something” style policy could encourage vigilance and autonomy among employees during such a process. On a broader scale, institutional policy-makers could consider improving ventilation systems as a tertiary means of reducing the harm associated with fragrances.

A good start to tackling the problem would be educating the community about the health risks of fragrances in order to start to promote a fragrance free work or school environment. Providing educational materials such as flyers, posters, announcements and newsletters can help to bring awareness about the danger. Fragrance-free policies should highlight the importance of being considerate of those with respiratory sensitivities and the benefits of being fragrance free overall in creating healthier work and classroom environments. Encouraging natural alternatives or scent free options can also help promote the health and wellbeing of everyone. Essentially, the ideal policy would say no to fragrances by educating people on the harm, providing alternatives, and promoting the health benefits of ensuring a healthier no-fragrance environment for all.

M4.6 Blog Assignment: Radon

My campaign in order to raise awareness about the harm of radon would consists of sending brochures and going door to door in neighborhoods to inform the public. I think that most people, including myself do not know about the harms that radon can have. Also, most people do not know how inexpensive and easy it is to test for radon. This is information that I would include in my brochures. 

After informing the public about the harm of radon, I would work with the county I live in to enforce radon testing for all homes. I think that it is important for people to be pushed to test, and that consequences are necessary if testing is not done. Also, I do not think most people would have an issue testing since the cost is so low! 

M4.2 Blog Assignment: National Library ToxNet

Urea Formaldehyde is found in both liquid and powder. The powder form can be found in pressed wood that was used in homes. The powder form can be inhaled easily and cause breathing difficulties,  which is not as bad as the long term impact of this product. If used for long term, it could cause cancer. The other form of this product comes in liquid, which can be absorbed through the skin and cause irritation for its short term effect.


Bleach is commonly known to be used for cleaning. This product can cause irritation to eyes, mouth, and skin. If bleach is inhaled, it could cause respiratory problems such as asthma. This is just some of the known effects of this product, but it has been continuously used throughout homes.

M3.3 Environmental Justice Blog

After reading the articles provided on environmental justice, it is sad to say that I am not surprised as how to the movement started. Looking at my city and my surroundings, I feel that things have still not changed. When looking at parts of cities that are considered the "poor" area of the town, we can see that they have poor water quality and their issues are not given much attention. A lot of the time when I drive through the downtown of our city, I find a lot of garbage just laying around the side walks. When driving through the parts of the city that consists of middle-high class residents, I find that streets are really well taken care of. 

From my following experience, I have noticed that the color of the people does not matter, it is usually the low income community that is impacted by such things in out community. Although, I can see this happening in much bigger cities and impacting those of a certain color or race. 

M3.2 Vulnerable Populations

Considering the question "Why are we still ONLY focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets when addressing obesity in the US?" In my opinion we only tend to focus on dieting and certain lifestyles when addressing obesity, because we as the public are not informed well enough about all other causes that lead to obesity. I feel that a lot of information is "hidden" from the public eye in order for large companies to continue making million of dollars. If information regarding obesity is linked to certain chemicals found in our food, and this is made public information, I think that consumers would be more cautious. 
Another question to look at is "Why are we not also looking at ways to decrease exposures to those chemicals that may be contributing to the epidemic?" Again, I feel that since these exposures are not given to the public so easily, it is hard to eliminate them out of daily use. In order to decrease our exposure to products that contain BPA, it needs to be labeled clearly on containers. I think by clearly labeling products, consumers would be able to decrease exposures. Also, educating consumers on these hazardous chemicals could decrease exposure. 

M3.1 Biomonitoring

By watching the video in regards to biomonitoring, I was quiet disheartened to find out that so many damages could be caused to our bodies. When hearing that Anderson Cooper was exposed to some of these chemicals back in the 1970's and yet they were still found active in his blood, I was really shocked. I would think that over the years chemicals are "washed" out of our bodies and that we no longer have to worry about them, but it seems to me now that they are there to stay permanently.

Another issue that I found shocking was that the things we think about the least could be harming our bodies the most. Something like makeup, which I wear often, could be causing infertility. This is something that would never cross my mind, and it terrifies me that how careful we really need to be in order to protect our bodies and our children from the harm around us!!

M3.4 Air Pollution

Living in Stanislaus county, I always knew that pollution was greater than expected. The top polluters in my county come from dairy companies, which is something that doesn't surprise me since there are so many of them around the area. Only 2% of homes in my county contain lead based paint, which shockingly this number is not too high!
There are three Superfund Sites found in Stanislaus County. According to the search engine, the websites were the Modesto Ground Water Contamination, Riverbank Army Ammunition Plant, and Valley Wood Preserving.
A Superfund Site is responsible to remove hazardous materials from a specific area, and one that is near where I live is the Modesto Ground Water Contamination.
In my county, the air quality is good 55% of the time every year. This is something that did not really shock me, because the valley consists of a lot of farming. Every so often chemicals are sprayed on farms, and this causes the county to have bad air quality. The water quality on the other hand, is shown to be not so bad and this makes me happy!
My zip code shows that the environmental and social justices are divided up pretty much equally. Although, in some cases it does have a smaller impact on those who are slightly above the poverty line.

M3.5 Transportation

Public transportation is very important to have across the country. I feel that this is something we lack in the United States. I have traveled to many countries, and the convenience when using public transportation enforces all to use it rather than their own automobiles. I live in the Central Valley and one of the biggest issues we have is the lack of public transportation. Wanting to go somewhere using the city bus, would be something that you would need to plan ahead of time, because the bus comes only every few HOURS! This makes it very inconvenient, and pushes the public to use their own vehicles.

Also, I have noticed that we lack proper bike lanes where I live. This makes it dangerous riding your bike in the street. If we want to push the public to use more public transportation the proper tools need to be provided, without the necessities no one will be able to make this change. Knowing that this change can improve the health of many I think that law makers need to support these changes fully. 

M2.4 Blog Assignment: Ken Cook and Advocacy Organizations on Toxics in Personal Care Products

Watching the video that was made by Ken Cook has truly opened my eyes. When thinking about harming our bodies by the chemicals around us, I never thought it would have even a greater harm causing a major health shift for the future. I am currently pregnant and after watching this video, I have learned to take those extra precautions!
When Cook was talking about ensuring products are safe prior for them being released for sale, I always thought this is the way steps were taken. It seems like that bigger companies are concentrating more and more on making money rather than the consumer safety. Although, there are things that cannot be avoided in todays society and cause major harm, I think it is important to do everything possible to avoid what is in our hands.
With the use of technology today, there are certain matters that cannot be avoided because the exposure is everywhere. As Cook mentioned in his speech, the projectors and screens that are around us could be causing a great amount of chemical release that could damage our bodies. At the same time, I think the use of technology is important, but one needs to limit himself/herself to the exposure.

Household Products

For household products that we use on daily basis and often, I chose to look up the laundry detergent that we use. To wash our clothes, we use Arm & Hammer Ultra Liquid Detergent. The toxicity for this product was rated with a 2, which is moderatly toxic. I was surprised to find this out, only because I thought it would be much higher. Since this product is not organic, I figured the toxicity would be higher than it was. There were some warnings for using this product, but I was not shocked because these warnings are typically found on most cleaners. I will continue to use this product, since it was actually a lot safer than I had anticipated. 

The second product that I chose was the dish soap that we use to wash our dishes. We use Dawn Liquid Dishwashing Detergent, we do use different scents, but for the purpose of this product I decided to look up the Jasmin and Lavender scent. This product was rated 1 for toxicity, which is considered slightly toxic. This is a very good sign, and makes me feel comfortable to continue using this product. 

For cleaning bathrooms, I do mix some of this particular soap with white vinegar. At our home, we do not like to use bleach and now I know that we are making the right decisions. 

I believe that both of these products that I chose contain the appropriate labeling on packages, which gives all consumers the information that is required.