Air pollution is air pollution, indoors or out. Good indoor air quality (IAQ) contributes to a favorable learning environment for students, protects health, and supports the productivity of school personnel. In schools in poor repair, leaky roofs and crumbling walls have caused additional indoor air quality problems, including contamination with…

Ten or even five years ago, it would have been a major undertaking for a school district to convert to a comprehensive green cleaning program. At that time there was little precedence and no "roadmaps" for doing so. Thus schools faced numerous challenges that included: (1) what defined a green cleaning product; (2) should a comprehensive program…

Today's children are growing up in an environmentally damaged and technology orientated world. The advent and advances of technology, has resulted in the production of millions of electronic devices, which eventually become waste when they reach their end-of-life. These devices contain toxic components that are not only polluting the environment…

The use of silver in commercial products has proliferated in recent years owing to its antibacterial properties. Food containers impregnated with micro-sized silver promise long food life, but there is some concern because silver can leach out of the plastic and into the stored food. This laboratory experiment gives students the opportunity to…

Lead is a good example of a metal that was used for many things over centuries--in water pipes, paints, on roofs, and in leaded petrol, for example--but was superseded as scientists discovered "new" metals, and because its toxicity became a problem. It was originally an important element in pewter utensils, alloyed with tin; it made the…

The prevalence of autism has increased approximately four times in children in nearly one decade (California Health and Human Services Agency, 2003). It has been reported that explanations such as immigration, shifts in the interpretation of diagnostic criteria, improved identification, or diagnostic accuracies cannot explain the observed increase…

Much like unpalatable foods, filthy restrooms, and bloody wounds, moral transgressions are often described as "disgusting." This linguistic similarity suggests that there is a link between moral disgust and more rudimentary forms of disgust associated with toxicity and disease. Critics have argued, however, that such references are purely…

Abstract Context: Limited research suggests that translational approaches are needed to decrease the distance, physical and cultural, between farmers and health care. Purpose: This study seeks to identify special concerns of farmers in Alabama and explore the need for a medical education program tailored to prepare physicians to address those…

In her article, "The Scientification of Skin Whitening and the Entrepreneurial University- Linked Corporate Scientific Officer," published in this issue, Amina Mire (2012) deconstructs the tacit investments implicit in such discourses of beauty, in particular those linked to cosmetic products that purport to fight the "war on aging" through the…

Young children and early care and education (ECE) staff are exposed to pesticides used to manage pests in ECE facilities in the United States and elsewhere. The objective of this pilot study was to encourage child care programs to reduce pesticide use and child exposures by developing and evaluating an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) Toolkit for…

This year's Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics' (Forum) report provides the Nation with carefully selected key national indicators of children's well-being and monitors changes in these indicators. The purposes of this report are to improve reporting of Federal data on children and families; make the most relevant data on the…

"Towards Healthy Schools: Reducing Risks to Children" is the fourth in a series of triennial state of the states' reports from Healthy Schools Network and its partners in the Coalition for Healthier Schools, dating from 2006. Previous reports assessed state-by-state environmental health hazards at schools, offered compelling personal…

This study examined the capability of computer simulation as a tool for assessing the strategic competency of emergency department nurses as they responded to authentically computer simulated biohazard-exposed patient case studies. Thirty registered nurses from a large, urban hospital completed a series of computer-simulated case studies of…

Sulfur mustard is an alkylating agent with highly cytotoxic properties even at low exposure. It was used widely against both military and civilian population by Iraqi forces in the Iraq-Iran war (1983-1988). Although various aspects of mustard gas effects on patients with chemical injury have been relatively well characterized, its effects on…

People around the world are concerned about affordable energy. It is needed to power the global economy. Petroleum-based transportation and coal-fired power plants are economic prime movers fueling the global economy, but coal and gasoline are also the leading sources of air pollution. Both of these sources produce greenhouse gases and toxins.…