Warmer World Brings Health Worries

  • The back of a female patient with a doctor who is using a stethoscope to listen to her lungs. (Photo courtesy of the National Cancer Institute)

Public health advocates say governments and
individuals should take more precautions as global
warming continues. Chuck Quirmbach has more:

Transcript

Public health advocates say governments and
individuals should take more precautions as global
warming continues. Chuck Quirmbach has more:

Most scientists say a warmer climate will bring some good things for public health, like
longer food growing seasons in parts of the world. But Dr. Georges Benjamin also
believes the forecasts of what bad things might happen.

“We know that climate change certainly could increase air pollution, leading to increases
in things like asthma, allergy and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”

Benjamin heads the American Public Health Association. The group is issuing a
blueprint for health professionals and the public to combat climate change.

The effort includes calls for government to provide more shelter and health monitoring
during heatwaves, and recommendations for people to be more careful during high
temperatures and heavy rainfalls. The group will also urge Congress to consider health
issues when it debates legislation to curb global warming.

For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Salads Causing Sickness

  • Vegetables in the produce section of a supermarket in VA. (Photo by Ken Hammond, courtesy of the USDA)

During the past 35 years, people have been getting
sick from contaminated produce more often. That’s according
to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Rebecca Williams reports:

Transcript

During the past 35 years, people have been getting
sick from contaminated produce more often. That’s according
to a recent study from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. Rebecca Williams reports:

After hundreds of people got sick from contaminated spinach and
lettuce, researchers started looking back at three decades of disease
cases. They found that people are getting sick from contaminated produce
more often. Bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella are often the cause.

Michael Lynch is one of the study’s authors. He says Americans are eating
more salads, but that doesn’t totally explain why there are more disease
outbreaks.

“We were a little surprised that that didn’t entirely explain the increase
but what else is contributing to that is not clear.”

Lynch says contamination can happen anywhere between the farm and your salad
plate. He says it’s important to thoroughly wash lettuce before eating it.
But he says that might not be enough to avoid getting sick.

He says stronger controls are needed at every step to try to prevent
contamination.

For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.

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Parallels Found Between West Nile Virus and Polio

Scientists are comparing the effects of West Nile virus to Polio, because they share similar symptoms. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton has more:

Transcript

Scientists are comparing the effects West Nile Virus to Polio because they share
similar
symptoms. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Jenny Lawton has more:


Researchers say both the West Nile virus and Polio can live in the body for years
before
launching an attack against the nervous system. And there’s evidence both can lead
to other
medical problems years after the initial illness.


In the case of polio, this delay is known as “PPS,” or “post polio syndrome.”


Science journalist, Janet Ginsburg, says those kinds of outbreaks begin with a range
of symptoms.


“And a lot of people had a flu-like illness, just like West Nile fever. These
people today are
showing up with PPS. So you have this model of polio.”


Ginsberg says more research needs to be done before a connection is certain.


There have been fewer than a couple of dozen cases of the West Nile virus in the
Great Lakes
States so far this year.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Jenny Lawton.

Indoor Environment Can Be a Headache

A so-called "sick building” can do more than make workers ill — it can
also cause headaches for the building’s owners and managers. If the
situation isn’t handled right, they risk widespread panic,
evacuation…and even major lawsuits. But now a new book offers
caretakers of sick buildings some practical guidance. The Great Lakes
Radio Consortium’s Wendy Nelson reports: