Background
Ultrafine particulate is classified as particulate matter that is 0.1 micron in diameter and smaller. According to the BC Ministry of Health (2000), air-borne particulate matter generated by combustion is the dominant air pollution problem in British Columbia from a public health perspective. Vehicle exhaust is a major contributor of ultrafine particulate (UFP) in the atmosphere (Zhu, Hinds, Kim, Shen & Sioutas, 2005). Studies have linked high levels of ultrafine particulate matter to increases in emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and days lost from school and work (B.C. Ministry of Health, 2000). The purpose of the study was to examine the horizontal distance from Highway No. 1 where exposure to elevated concentrations of ultrafine particulate was likely due to vehicle emissions on this major roadway.
Methods
A portable P-TRAK manufactured by TSI was used to collect the data for this project as it provided real time data and was able to datalog (TSI, n.d). The P-Trak measures ultrafine particles by condensation counting technology in units of particles per cubic centimeter (cm3). The sampling was conducted in Burnaby at the Burnaby Lake Regional District Park. A background sample was collected at a greater distance from Highway #1 and compared to the subsequent samples that were collected at distances of 50, 100, and 250 meters in the park.
Results
Thirty samples were collected at each location for a total of 120 data points. The Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) indicated that the data was not normally distributed and that there was a significant difference of UFP concentrations at all of the locations. Correlation/regression determined that there was moderate relationship between UFP concentrations and distance from the highway and that with each meter traveled from the 50 meter start point next to the highway there was a 120 particles/cm3 decrease.
Discussion
The results of this study indicated that traffic on Highway No. 1 is responsible for elevated UFP concentrations in the vicinity of the Highway. Furthermore, it was determined that UFP concentrations exceeded background levels at an offset of at least 250 meters from the roadway. Finally, it was determined that UFP levels decreased as the distance from the freeway increased. These results indicate further research should be conducted to determine the influence of UFP concentrations on human health and establish an acceptable exposure limit. The findings of this study should be considered during planning for land use next to major roadways. For example, commercial/industrial buildings could be placed closest to roadways where public buildings that serve the most vulnerable including daycares and hospitals should be located at greater distances., air quality, vehicle emissions, ultrafine particulate, roadway proximity
The purpose of this research project was to analyze and generalize the overall viewpoints of managers as well as PHI/EHOs towards the possible future creation of the new Public Health Technician position as well as to determine any impacts of this position on the PHI/EHOs. Due to the massive baby boomer retirements, there seems to be an apparent shortage of PHIs in the health authorities across Canada. Therefore, one of the ideas being considered in order to meet the future PHI demand is the creation of a Public Health Technician (PHT) position as a follow up to the idea suggested by Dr. Richard Musto, Executive Medical Director, Calgary Health Region. For the purposes of this project, the author invited PHI/EHOs as well as managers, directors and MHOs from various health authorities across Canada to complete a 3-5 minutes survey comprising of 14 questions via e-mail. The participants were given two weeks from February 6th to February 20th 2009 to complete the survey and send in their responses. The data collected was then analyzed using a Chi-Square Test with the help of the NCSS software at a significant level of α = 0.05. The Chi-square test determined that there is no association between the current status of employment of the public health personals and their belief that there is a shortage of PHIs in Canada (p-value = 0.43). The test also determined that there is no association between the current status of employment of the participants and whether or not they believed that the creation of the new PHT position would solve the problem of the perceived shortage of PHIs in Canada (p-value = 0.76). Overall, of the 77 public health personals who were surveyed, 61% believed that there is a shortage of PHIs in Canada. 91% of the participants had heard about the incoming of the PHT position and 65% believed that the creation of the technician position will not help solve this problem of shortage of PHIs in Canada. Most of them believed that increasing more awareness about the PHI profession would be a better alternative in dealing with the PHI shortage than creating a PHT position., environmental public health, public health technician, perceived PHI shortage
The following study was devised to determine whether dented cans should be sold in stores and if the refusal of dented cans from churches is a wise decision. The experimental procedures were set out to determine whether there is a significant difference in the proportions of contaminated cans to uncontaminated cans for two groups of dented cans and a group of non-dented cans. The pertaining legislation specifies to what extent a can should not be sold, however the extent of damage is usually at the discretion of an employee. Since the extent of damage could not be determined by the general public, this study looks at the type of damage. Two groups of dented cans were created to test if there is a difference in the likelihood of contamination between rim dents and body dents. A compression device was used to deliver a consistent force to each dented can. The forces at which the cans were subjected to were determined during a pilot study. The body and rim dented cans were subjected to 180 Newtons and 400 Newtons respectively. Two positive and two negative controls were made to test the microbiological component of this study. A total of 90 cans were tested for environmental organisms via the Pour Plate method. The results were statistically analyzed using the Chi-squared test. One out of 30 body dented cans showed the growth of microorganisms. In both the rim dented can group and the non-dented can group, no growth was found. The results of the study show that there is no association between dented and non-dented cans and the presence of environmental organisms as it reveals that the probability level of 0.363769 is greater than the set probability value of 0.05 and thus is not statistically significant., food safety, dented canned foods, environmental organisms, sterility, rim or body dent
Environmental surfaces, though they may appear clean, can harbour vast quantities of harmful pathogenic microorganisms. Therefore, it is imperative that proper cleaning and sanitation measures are in place to reduce the number of these microorganisms. This becomes even more important when those exposed to these environmental surfaces are a vulnerable group, such as elementary school children. To protect these children, surface sanitizers can be utilized to drastically reduce the amount of microorganisms present. One such sanitizer, SHC 50 General Sodium Hypochlorite Cleaner, was investigated to determine its effectiveness at reducing the microbial count on the desks of a grade on class. Twice a month the janitorial staff uses the sanitizer to clean the grade one desks. Within forty eight hours before and after the desks were cleaned, ten desks were swabbed and plated on 3M Aerobic Count Plate media and the resulting bacterial colonies enumerated. This was repeated for four separate cleaning periods. The final result was that the mean colony count of microbes on the school desks for the 'before' sampling period was 42 cfu/50cm2 , while for the 'after' sampling period it was 18 cfu/50cm2 . A chi squared analysis of the 'before'/'after' mean colony counts was used to evaluate whether the desks tested for before and after samples produced bacterial colony counts exceeding the recommended guidelines of 100cfu/50cm2. Of the eighty samples, only one 'before' cleaning sample exceeded the guidelines. The result was a p value of 0.314267 was obtained, resulting in the null hypothesis not being rejected and implying that there was no association between the mean aerobic plate count before and after sanitation of the desks. A one tailed independent samples t test was also performed, providing a p value of 0.0000 (99.9%). These result showed that there was a statistically significant difference in mean colony counts between the 'before' and 'after' cleaning periods. It could therefore be concluded that the SHC 50 General Sodium Hypochlorite cleaner was effective at statistically reducing the microbial load on the desks., sanitation and disinfection, environmental surfaces, elementary school children, microbial counts
