Volume 5 Issue 2 (September 2006)
Harold Harvey
Environmental health covers a wide range of issues, sometimes viewed as problems. Problems bring the challenge of solutions. In this issue we offer papers which suggest solutions – or a step along the way to providing a solution – to selected environmental health problems.
A problem which received much attention in the local, national and professional media in 2004 was the apparent cluster of cases of osteosarcoma in young people around the West Cornish town of Helston. Mel Wright and Dr Derek Pheby, past Director of the Unit of Applied Epidemiology, UWE, report on their case control study, funded by the CIEH, which investigated the risk factors for a group of young cases around Helston. They found a very strong association (p=0.000376, by Mann- Whitney rank distribution test) between domestic radon levels and the development of osteosarcoma. This is consistent with other research, though we believe that this is the first time that this association has been demonstrated in this age group.
Another issue or problem which has received global media attention recently is the effect of the rise in ambient temperatures on human life and health. Ms Charles-Hernández, Dr Cifuentes and Dr Rothenberg from the Ministry of Health and the National Institute of Public Health in Mexico report that higher seawater temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico was followed by a 1.29 times increase of Vibrio parahaemolyticus detection in seafood (p=0.05) and that the prevalence of this bacterium in sea products increased 18.3 times during the warmer season (p=0.06).
Psocid infestations in domestic kitchens have been the subject of numerous complaints to environmental health departments over the years. Are these “food complaints”, where flour was contaminated in the shop or warehouse, or indeed, the result of contamination from resident infestations in the home? Dr Bryan Turner from Kings College, London, an expert on booklice, carried out a study specifically to answer this question. His results are reported in this issue of JEHR.
Dust mites, bacteria, and fungi are ubiquitous in household dust and can cause hypersensitivity responses, infections, and toxicosis of the respiratory system. These organisms cannot easily be detected by standard methods. In a detailed investigation Dr Suárez-Martínez, Miss González-Santos and Dr Montealegre, a collaborative team from three Puerto Rican universities, report on their evaluation of extraction methods for the isolation of PCR-quality DNA from indoor environmental dust samples. To our knowledge, this is the first time that an efficient, rapid and sensitive method for the extraction of PCR-quality DNA from the dust mites, fungi, and bacteria found in indoor environmental samples has been described.
Professors Sridhar and Adeoye and colleagues at the University of Ibadan present a solution to the growing problem of dealing with palm kernel waste in Nigeria, whilst Professor Rushton, Jill Stewart and Julie Clayton report on a study amongst housing professionals to gauge the effectiveness of public health partnerships in positioning housing as a central health determinant, and Maguire and Love describe the results and implications of their multi-phased qualitative study in which student participants put in a psychological effort to distance themselves from the frightening contents of TV anti-smoking advertisements, which use fear to promote healthy behaviours.
Guest editorial
Colm Smyth
President, The International Federation of Environmental Health
Environmental health hazards do not respect national or territorial boundaries. For environmental health practitioners, one of the most important resources we draw upon is transcending those boundaries in the sharing of experience and research with colleagues throughout the world.
The International Federation of Environmental Health is an organisation whose full members are national associations (currently 36 members) representing the interests of environmental health professionals throughout the world. The Federation is working to disseminate knowledge concerning environmental health and promote co-operation between countries where environmental health issues are transboundary. It promotes the interchange of people working in this sector and the exchange of member's publications of a scientific and technical nature.
This latest edition of the Journal of Environmental Health Research is yet again an outstanding example of how environmental health practitioners and academics from around the globe are striving to share their expertise with colleagues on a diverse range of topics.
This edition includes contributions from colleagues in Mexico, Puerto Rica and Nigeria as well as the United Kingdom. The topics covered are as diverse as food poisoning from sea food products, waste management, tobacco control, and dust mites.
The contribution to the knowledge base on understanding the behaviour of young adults in relation to smoking is particularly timely. Tobacco consumption kills five million people worldwide annually and in the next 25 years it will be responsible for more than one hundred and twenty five million deaths. The Federation is firmly committed to proactively supporting and participating in the global anti-tobacco alliance.
At times the demands on environmental health practitioners can make it seem that research is something of a luxury, to be indulged in at the expense of other more pressing demands. The Federation recognises that research and the sharing of common experience is actually a central element in our work.
The JEHR is to be commended for its continued efforts to ensure that high quality research is presented to the environmental health practitioner community and beyond.