A new study supported by the JPB Fellowship Program finds dying trees are 30 times more likely to have been exposed to methane-contaminated soil, confirming long-held suspicions that gas leaks kill plants. Natural gas leaks from underground pipelines are killing trees in densely populated urban environments, a new study suggests, adding to concerns over such leaks fueling climate change and explosion hazards. The study, which took place in Chelsea, Massachusetts,…
2020 Carson Prize to JPB Fellow Sara Wylie
We are delighted to announce that the 2020 Rachel Carson Prize goes to Sara Ann Wylie, for Fractivism: Corporate Bodies and Chemical Bonds (Duke University Press, 2018). The Award Committee received 78 books to consider for the prize and shortlisted 10 works for this year’s prize, evaluating books for their overall scholarly quality, their contributions to the field of Science and Technology Studies, and their capacity to cast social or political issues…
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Chelsea Creek Debt Calculator
How much do you owe the Chelsea Creek? This calculator, by JPB Fellow Sara Wylie and students at Northeastern University, tells you how much you owe to those communities. Take this quiz to determine how often you utilize services provided by the Chelsea Creek area. At the end, you will discover what your debt is to residents here. Use this as a framework for further research and exploration, but most…
‘Take-Home’ Exposures Still Persist
Posted on March 23, 2020 by Senior JPB Fellow Diana Ceballos, PhD, MS, CIH, and Michael Flynn, MA Occupational health has evolved into a largely technical field dedicated to identifying and eliminating the physical, chemical, and biologic hazards found at the workplace (Peckham et al, 2017). Central to this approach has been the distinction between work-related and non-work-related exposures, injuries, and illnesses which has become a line of demarcation between occupational…
Latest Article: Adoption of Exposure Assessment Tools to Assist in Providing Respiratory Protection Recommendations
Selecting a proper respirator requires determining the ratio of an employee’s maximum use concentration (MUC) divided by the occupational exposure limit of a chemical. Current industrial hygiene practice often is to obtain a percentile estimate (e.g. 95th) of the measured exposure distribution to apply as the MUC. However, practitioners who are not yet familiar with statistical or mathematical approaches may choose the highest exposure data point as the MUC, a…
How the have-nots are coping with coronavirus
By Senior JPB Fellow Diana Hernandez. For a while, coronavirus was something happening on the other side of the world. As of this week, it’s a more imminent threat for many New Yorkers. And for those on the margins, it’s an especially serious threat. On Sunday, March 8, the first confirmed case hit the Bronx. Little is known about this individual, but as a local resident, I can say that…
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Senior Fellow selected to be a visiting scholar at the Russell Safe Foundation
The Russell Sage Foundation is pleased to announce the selection of 17 Visiting Scholars for the 2020-2021 academic year. While in residence at RSF in New York City, they will pursue research and writing projects that reflect the foundation’s commitment to strengthening the social sciences and conducting research to “improve social and living conditions in the United States.” Diana Hernandez, Senior JPB Fellow, was selected to join. Hernández will write a book…
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Article: Chemical Exposures, Health, and Environmental Justice in Communities Living on the Fenceline of Industry
Polluting industries are more likely to be located in low-income communities of color who also experience greater social stressors that may make them more vulnerable than others to the health impacts of toxic chemical exposures. This research describes recent developments in assessing pollutant exposures and health threats posed by industrial facilities using or releasing synthetic chemicals to nearby communities in the U.S. Read more about JPB Fellow Lara Cushing research.
CU Anschutz and CSU team up to fund inter-institutional health innovation projects
One of the pillars of the Colorado School of Public Health is its collaborative model that leverages the unique strengths of three Colorado universities into one school. Comprising the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado State University and the University of Northern Colorado, the collaboration now also manifests as internally-funded, inter-institutional research projects, thanks to a new jointly-funded grant program. One of the three studies funded is about public…
New Article: Trust, Conflict, and Engagement in Occupational Health
Trust, Conflict, and Engagement in Occupational Health: North American Epidemiologists Conduct Occupational Study in Communities Affected by Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Origin (CKDu). Science has been used as a tool of colonialism, and aspects of science privilege researchers in the global North (USA and Europe). The environmental justice and worker health movements in the USA and globally have influenced aspects of how occupational and environmental health research is conceived…
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