Fellows News

Last year, the Boston Public Health Commission (BPHC) implemented new requirements for active ventilation at nail salons. Now, the first study of harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in nail technicians, led by School of Public Health researchers, finds elevated blood levels of toluene and ethyl acetate, but that better ventilation reduces the levels of these compounds in the air that the workers breathe. Read more about Senior Fellow Diana Ceballos’…

Continue reading “Nail Technicians’ Blood Shows Elevated Chemical Levels”

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, JPB Fellow Tony Reames discusses the growing energy divide between rich and poor in the U.S. and the urgent need to provide low-income communities with better access to affordable clean energy technologies. Read more.

NIOSH gives award for educating the public through Wikipedia Institutions know that Wikipedia is educating the world about the topics they care most about. Many want to understand how they can get involved in curating that information so it paints the most up-to-date and accurate picture of these topics. Thais Morata, a research audiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), and her group of collaborators have…

Continue reading “Senior JPB Fellow Diana Ceballos received a NIOSH award.”

An attempt to reduce air pollution in China’s cities had some unintended consequences. JPB Fellow Lara Cushing draws a comparison to California. Read more.

New research reveals that exposure to smoky air and the particulates created in wildfires can cause increased cardiovascular and respiratory hospitalizations for people 65 and older. Read more.

During the Chemicals in the Creek Open Water Data installation, researchers (including Senior JPB Fellow Sara Ann Wylie)  and community members floated data lanterns onto the Chelsea River in Massachusetts to create a physical representation of Clean Water Act violations by local oil storage facilities. Read more.

By JPB Senior Fellow Diana Ceballos Nail salon technicians, many nail salon owners as well, are some of the most inspiring hard-working entrepreneurial people I have met through my 15-years of research experience in occupational health. Many of them want the industry to be better and have expressed difficulty choosing safer nail products. I understood this best when studying the composition of plasticizers, which are chemicals that are added to…

Continue reading “Pushing Policy for Policies”

In 2015, a major toxic bloom of algae shut down the Dungeness crab and razor clam fisheries along the U.S. West Coast for up to 5 months. Commercial landings of Dungeness crab were down $97.5 million compared to the previous year and the fishery failures resulted in disaster declarations. In collaboration with the National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science and the University of Washington, NOAA Fisheries’ Northwest Fisheries Science Center…

Continue reading “Impacts of Harmful Algal Blooms in the U.S.”

Many consumer products, including electronics, contain flame-retardant chemicals that slow or prevent fire from starting or growing. In the workplace, employees may be exposed while manufacturing or recycling consumer products that contain flame-retardant chemicals. Monitoring and preventing exposure is critical since workplace exposure to some of these chemicals is linked to an increased risk for hormonal, immune, and reproductive disorders. Read more about JPB Senior Fellow Diana Ceballos‘s research and…

Continue reading “Flame-retardant Monitoring May Require Repeated Tests”