Category: Uncategorized

Climate justice leaders will develop equity-based framework to guide Michigan Healthy Climate Plan JPB Fellow Dr. Reames joins a panel of climate and environmental justice experts named to develop a justice and equity-based framework for the development and implementation of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s MI Healthy Climate Plan, which calls for a transition to a carbon-neutral Michigan by 2050 that includes communities disproportionately affected by climate change. The five-member Climate Justice…

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Assistant professor of environmental health sciences, Raphael E. Arku, has been selected as one of three recipients of the 2020 Walter A. Rosenblith New Investigator Award by the Health Effects Institute (HEI). The Rosenblith Award provides funding for up to three years at a total budget of $500,000. JPB Fellow Arku was awarded funding to study “Urban air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa: A study of prenatal exposures, birth outcomes, and lower-respiratory…

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Evolutionary psychology theories propose that contact with green, natural environments may benefit physical health, but little comparable evidence exists for brown, natural environments, such as the desert. In this study, we examined the association between “brownness” and “greenness” with fasting glucose among young residents of El Paso, Texas. We defined brownness as the surface not covered by vegetation or impervious land within Euclidian buffers around participants’ homes. Fasting glucose along…

Continue reading “New Article: Associations of Residential Brownness and Greenness with Fasting Glucose in Young Healthy Adults Living in the Desert”

Nail polishes have evolved considerably. Toxic elements, such as lead, have been found in nail polish, and it is unclear if new finishes using metallic effect pigments may be contributing to metals exposure in nail technicians. We characterized concentrations of trace elements in 40 nail polishes, 9 technicians’ urine, and 20 technicians’ toenail clippings from 8 nail salons in the Boston area in 2017. We also collected 24 salon surface…

Continue reading “New Publication: Exposures in nail salons to trace elements in nail polish from impurities or pigment ingredients – A pilot study”

The goal of this research was to investigate the multifaceted interrelationships between the built and social environments and the impact of this relationship on population-level health in the context of the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). More specifically, this study assessed the relationship between several social determinants of health, including housing quality, living condition, travel pattern, race/ethnicity, household income, and COVID-19 outcomes in Washington, D.C (DC). Using built environment and…

Continue reading “New Article: The role of built and social environmental factors in Covid-19 transmission: A look at America’s capital city”

Diana Ceballos, assistant professor of environmental health at Boston University, studies the burden of exposure to toxicants in the workplace, community, and home. When the New York Times published a widely read, two-part exposé of labor abuse and poor working conditions at New York City-area nail salons in 2015, Diana Ceballos was part of a team of occupational health experts called upon by the state Department of Health to assess salon working environments and nail technicians’ exposure…

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Climate shocks are increasingly disruptive to global food systems, with far-reaching consequences for resource-based communities. Yet quantitative assessments of community impacts rarely account for economic connectivity between alternative resources. We show that patterns of resource use influence the sensitivity of US West Coast fishing communities to unprecedented fishery closures in the wake of a recent climate shock. Patterns of participation in commercial fisheries were significantly altered during the fishery closures,…

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Nature has several benefits that impact a person’s overall well-being, according to a new research article, NatureRx@UMD: A Review for Pursuing Green Space as a Health and Wellness Resource for the Body, Mind and Soul. University of Maryand School of Public Health faculty members Dr. Jennifer Roberts (assistant professor, kinesiology) and Dr. Shannon Jette (associate professor, kinesiology) contributed to the American Journal of Health Promotion article, which explores three themes: “Admiration for Nature…

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Health disparities exact a devastating toll upon Indigenous people in the United States. However, there has been scant research investment to develop strategies to address these inequities in Indigenous health. We present a case for increased health promotion, prevention, and treatment research with Indigenous populations. providing context to the recent NIH investment in the Intervention Research to Improve Native American Health (IRINAH) network. We discuss the disproportionate costs and consequences…

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In Spring/Summer 2020, most individuals living in the United States experienced several months of social distancing and stay-at-home orders because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Clinicians, restaurant cooks, cashiers, transit operators, and other essential workers (EWs), however, continued to work outside the home during this time in order to keep others alive and maintain a functioning society. In the United States, EWs are often low-income persons of color who are…

Continue reading “New Publication:Clinicians, cooks, and cashiers: Examining health equity and the COVID-19 risks to essential workers”