lead concentrations above the acceptable limit. Write a paper on the events in Flint regarding lead exposure. Address and discuss the following: • Cause of lead exposure in Flint • Other sources of lead exposure in children and adults • Routes of exposure, body accumulation, and health impacts of lead • Populations vulnerable to lead exposure in Flint and in general • Current acceptable blood and water lead levels (add some historical perspective on how we got to these levels) •Outcome of any investigation regarding lead exposure in Flint • Implications of leaded gasoline (and why it was phased out) • Role of socioeconomic status on lead expo- sure in the U.S. • Various lead abatement strategies • Risk assessment for lead exposure, includ- ing risk management and communication •How events in Flint are connected to what happened or is happening in any local community of your choice regard- ing lead exposure •Lead-related policies in our state (Pennsylvania) Toxicology Fundamentals This course teaches students the fundamen- tals of toxicology and covers topics such as exposure routes of hazards, point and non- point sources of contaminants, toxicoki- netics and toxicodynamics of xenobiotics, determination of exposure limits of chemi- cals, regulatory toxicology, and the role of toxicity testing/toxicological reports by gov- ernment agencies. Sample Discussions Discuss the bioaccumulation of mercury and its health impacts on humans. Discuss and explain: • The concept of bioaccumulation • Bioaccumulation of mercury • Health impacts of mercury • Historical perspective on the health impacts of mercury Discuss the factors that aect the dose- response relationship of a chemical. Include: • Concept of a dose-response relationship •Define hormesis and its relevance in toxicology
• Give four examples of a dose-response relationship
chemicals released was vinyl chloride. As a future environmental health ocial, describe the risk assessment process for vinyl chloride in the context of a train derailment. Address the following based on informa- tion from a similar process by a government agency of your choice: • Agency you selected • Any historical perspective on vinyl chloride • Hazard identification • Dose-response assessment • Exposure assessment • Risk characterization, including any bio- markers associated with exposure • Risk management • Risk communication • Evaluation of the risk assessment process • Any laws guiding the risk assessment • Any personal suggestions to improve the risk assessment process Environmental Health Management This course embraces the role of leadership, teamwork, and systems thinking in address- ing environmental and occupational health issues. The course emphasizes the impact of leadership style by using government and nongovernmental agencies to drive eective management resources to solve environmental and occupational health issues. This course discusses the role of communities in conjunc- tion with agencies in implementing environ- mental and occupational health plans. Some of the topics covered include public health pre- paredness; threats from biological, chemical, nuclear, and radiological weapons; naturally occurring diseases and disasters; the impact of 9/11; legislation, regulation, and policies; biosecurity; surveillance and attribution inves- tigation; the preparedness cycle; public health emergency operation centers; exercises; and capacity building. Sample Discussion Discuss the strategic implications of global health from a management point of view using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study. Course Resources For our online class, we use resources from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA), Food and Drug Administra- tion (FDA), Federal Emergency Manage- ment Agency (FEMA), National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH),
Industrial Hygiene These courses provide the students with the fundamentals of industrial hygiene, including topics such as exposure monitoring of haz- ards; regulation of exposure and monitoring; exposure limits; industrial toxicology; under- standing of sampling of hazards and devices; state and federal laws on exposure to hazards; sampling media; exposure limits; ventilation and workplace safety; radiation, dermal, and noise exposure in the workplace; communica- tion of sampling and monitoring; ergonomics; result interpretation; thermal stress; worker protection; and control of contaminants. Sample Assignment Describe in detail the components of the basic local exhaust system and its role in pro- tecting workers from hazards. Describe: •All the components of the basic local exhaust system • How these components help to protect workers from hazards •Components that are more critical for worker safety and why Risk Assessment, Management, and Communication These courses give students information on the steps of risk assessment, the role of gov- ernment agencies in managing risk, and the importance of communicating risk to dierent audiences. Topics include risk assessment, the risk assessment–risk management paradigm, regulatory decision-making, measurement of exposure and application to risk assessment, monitoring of exposure throughout life stages, the role of epidemiology in environmental health research, the application of physiologi- cally based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) mod- eling to risk assessment, adverse outcome pathways, epigenetics in risk assessment, characterization of aggregate and cumulative risk, occupational risk assessment, childhood environmental health risk assessment, safer alternative risk assessment for environmental health, and risk communication. Sample Paper Project The train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, released chemicals into the environment, potentially exposing residents. One of the
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June 2025 • Journal of Environmental Health
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