Environmental Public Health Journal 2019 | BCIT Institutional Repository

Environmental Public Health Journal 2019

Association of electronic cigarette usage and nicotine consumption frequency of young adults in British Columbia
Background Electronic e-cigarette ever users has been increasing as of 2015, the most prevalent ever users being young adults aged 20-24 years old. The implication of e-cigarette ever user developing into long term users is a emerging public health concern. Methods Electronic cigarette usage frequency and nicotine consumption was measured through a self-administered online survey of young adults (n= 54). Survey was advertised through social media sites between January 2019 till February 2019. Descriptive and inferential statistic was conducted using NCSS 12 to examine the association between electronic cigarette usage and nicotine consumption. Results Among young adults aged 19 to 24 years old, the frequency of e-cigarette usage was 51% high usage, 31% no usage and 16% medium and low usage. For nicotine consumption, respondents were 25% daily, 40% no use, 18% infrequent, and 14.8% frequent. Conclusion There is an association between more frequent electronic cigarette usage and higher nicotine consumption among young adults in British Columbia. Frequency e-cigarette users were found to consumption nicotine at higher frequency then non users. Further research is needed to fully understand the extent of the relationship of if e-cigarette usage promotes daily nicotine consumption or daily nicotine consumption results in higher e-cigarette usage., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published., British Columbia, Electronic cigarette, E-cigarettes, nicotine, young adults, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019.
Can risk rating tool results be used to predict results of inspection categories of dairy processing plants?
Background: Dairy products are consumed by a large portion of the population. The dairy processing plants (DPP) that produce these perishable products may create health hazards (chemical, physical, biological). In order to minimize any health risks from these products, DPP are inspected by regulating authorities. This study examined secondary data derived from the BCCDC dairy program’s semi-quantitative risk ranking tool (RRT) to examine trends over time with DPP inspections, and to assess risk factors within the tool. Methods: RRT based data from individual DPP inspections from 2015 through 2018 were entered into a master spreadsheet. The RRT has two overall risk categories, inherent and measured risk. Inherent risk categories in the tool were sourced from surveys of dairy plants, while measured risks in the tool were sourced from inspection visits (routine and in-depth), environmental and food result submissions from dairy plants and inspectors, and based on compliance and history. In total, 107 items were assessed within the eight categories. Descriptive analyses were conducted, and statistical analyses performed using NCSS 12 software (NCSS, 2018). Results: A total of 128 inspection reports from 30 different DPP were included in this study. From these inspections, 65% were considered low risk, 12% moderate and 23% high risk. DPP that were located on-farm were found to have significantly higher overall inspection risk scores than dairy plants located off-farm (average on-farm inspection risk ranking score = 694; average off-farm inspection risk ranking score = 153; p=0.0003, power=95%). When the microbiological scores category, derived from environmental swabs and food submissions, were compared to the inspection score category, these categories were statistically significantly correlated (p=0.0000, power=100%); when inspection score increases, so too does microbiological score. Higher risk scores were also found in DPP producing more than one category of dairy product (comparing one product versus 6 or 7 products, p=0.009, power=76%). Conclusion: Dairy inspections ensure DPP follow good manufacturing practices and therefore help to protect the population from disease outbreaks or other contaminations. This study demonstrated that there is increased risk of having a dairy processing facility located on-farm, that more complex dairy processing operations that produce more than one type of dairy product have higher risk rating scores and that higher inspection score violations positively correlated to positive microbiological scores. This study further showed that in the absence of microbiological results, a risk score could still be calculated by analyzing the inspection violations alone. The Food Safety Specialists at the BCCDC can use this data to focus their inspection time on higher risk areas and items to maximize time spent out in the field., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019., audit, dairy, processor, risk, British Columbia, inspection, BCCDC, milk
Co-use of cannabis with commonly used licit and illicit drugs
Background: Following the recent legalization of medical cannabis in Canada, and many other countries around the world, people are turning to this drug for both medical and recreational reasons. Naturally, as human’s age, many rely on medication to maintain a better quality of life. Surveys show that, once legal, there will be an increase in cannabis consumption. Many adverse health reactions may occur by concurrently taking cannabis and other medications. Methods: A survey was distributed in-person throughout Vancouver targeting people who do not consume cannabis. The same survey was distributed in Vancouver, but to people coming out of dispensaries, targeting people who do consume cannabis. The survey consisted of seven knowledge questions asking about possible adverse drug interactions occurring between cannabis and commonly used licit and illicit drugs. A chi-square analysis was used to compare knowledge of users and non-users of cannabis. Results: Both users and non-users seemed to be most knowledgeable on the interaction between cannabis and alcohol; 39 out of 57 users (68%) and 23 out of 30 non-users (77%) gave the correct response. As for all the other interactions, neither group was very knowledgeable. The distribution of questions that were answered incorrectly seemed evenly spread between the two groups. The knowledge between users and non-users were significantly different when participants were asked on the possible adverse reactions between cannabis and opioid drugs (p=0.005), and cannabis and sedative drugs (p=0.002). In these cases, cannabis users were more knowledgeable about cannabis interactions than non-users. Conclusion: This study indicates that the general public is not very knowledgeable on the possible adverse reactions that may come about as a result of mixing cannabis and other commonly used licit and illicit drugs. Actions should be taken to provide the public with tools that will aid them in making the right decision when thinking about concurrently using cannabis and other licit and/or illicit drugs., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019., Environmental health, Cannabis, Prescriptions, Drugs, Licit drugs, Illicit drugs, Drug interactions, Adverse interaction, Public health
A comparison of Escherichia coli data collected in False Creek by Metro Vancouver and Fraser Riverkeeper
Background: False Creek is a small inlet centered within Vancouver, British Columbia. Its long and narrow shape facilitates the build-up of contaminants and limits dilution of fresh water. The lack of flushing coupled with sources of fecal contamination results in high levels of Escherichia coli particularly in the summer months. High levels of E. coli in recreational water pose a health hazard to the public. Two organizations Metro Vancouver and Fraser Riverkeeper monitored E. coli levels in False Creek over the 2018 summer season. Methods: Data collected by Metro Vancouver and Fraser Riverkeeper over the 2018 summer season was collected and compared. The secondary data was analyzed from July 8, 2018 to September 29, 2018 from thirty-day geometric means. Each organization sampled on a weekly basis in False Creek, Metro Vancouver sampled from twelve locations and Fraser Riverkeeper sampled from seven locations. Both organizations used similar methodologies in the collection of data with both analyzing for microbiological enumerations of most probable number [MPN] of E. coli per 100/mL samples. All sample sites were divided into three locations representative of False Creek: West, Central and East. The data was then analyzed in terms of overall weekly samples by organization, locational weekly samples by organization and locational weekly samples overall. Results: The data was analyzed using an Aspin Welch Unequal Variance T-test to compare the overall weekly E. coli counts between the organization. Where p = 0.000 and power = 1.00. An Equal Variance T-test was used to compare the locational weekly E. coli counts from the West, Central and East regions of each organization. This yielded a p = 0.000 where power = 1.00. A Kruskal Wallis One-Way ANOVA was used to compare the locational weekly E. coli counts from the West, Central and East regions. This found p = 0.000 and power = 1.00. A MANOVA was used as a reiteration to compare the weekly E. coli counts at each location (West, Central and East) when collected by each organization. This confirmed the same p-value and power results from the three previous tests. Conclusions: There is a statistically significant difference between the two organizations. Not only in overall samples but there is a statistically significant difference between the two organizations when E. coli is amalgamated by location. When accounting for location only, the East region obtained statistically higher E. coli counts as the mean E. coli count for West was 90.8, Central was 248 and East was 1040., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019., public health, Vancouver, Canada, Escherichia coli, water quality, recreational water
Did anyone get sick this weekend?
Background Recreational water illnesses are not as well known as food borne illnesses in the media. There are several pathogens associated with ingesting surface water including Giardia, Cryptosporidium, and Toxoplasmosis. The use of technology for public health surveillance is also little known to the public and can provide much insight into other illnesses on social media not otherwise reported to public health and medical professionals. Illnesses on social media could represent a portion of unreported cases. These cases could be found on social media as a popular outlet for individual expression. Methods Social media posts were found using a variety of keywords including symptoms of significant waterborne illnesses and terms associated with human and environmental contamination. Social media posts were collected from forums and popular social media platforms such as reddit. The posts were then correlated with beach water quality data for a sampling site as geographically close to a case location as possible. Results Social media and water quality data collected from the Columbia river region were correlated. The correlation coefficient of 0.2335 indicates that there is no correlation between social media posts and beach water quality data. Numerous limitations may have impacted the correlation coefficient. Keywords associated with symptoms were more effective in obtaining quality threads and posts compared to other terms. Conclusions Correlating social media posts to water quality data in the Columbia river region does not provide statistically significant results. Manual gathering of social media data for public health surveillance is found to be inefficient and impractical. Further study is required in order to determine the effectiveness of using social media for public health data gathering. It remains to be seen whether correlating posts about illness on social media to water quality data is an effective method of surveillance for public health., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019., Social media, Kite surfing, Swimming, Itchy, Scratchy, Illness, Infection, Vomiting, Sick, Sewage, Sinus, Bacteria
Label perception of frozen ready-to-eat products and frozen not-ready-to-eat product
Background: Frozen meals are popularized in recent years due to their ease of preparation. This convenience factor greatly benefits busy workers who simply lack the time to cook a full meal. However, the risk of misidentifying these frozen products as cooked when they are in fact, raw, can lead to devastating consequences. This is important especially when the products are improperly prepared and undercooked. Some significant examples in recent years includes the Salmonella cases associated with frozen raw breaded chicken. These cases are partly due to the inadequate cooking of the product, as a result of misidentifying them as cooked even though they are raw. The purpose of this project is to determine how well the public can determine if a frozen product is cooked or raw based on the front side of the packaging, which is the first visuals that will be presented to the consumers in store. Methods: An electronic survey was conducted for Canadian residents to determine whether they can accurately interpret if a product is cooked or raw based on the front packaging. The survey also determines if the respondent’s age, gender, average number of supermarket visits in a week, and level of education will affect the accuracy of their interpretations. The survey was created and hosted online with SurveyMonkey, and distributed out in Reddit. The results are analyzed using the statistical software, NCSS 12. Results: Chi-square tests indicated no significant difference between the demographics groups and the accuracy of the label interpretations by the respondents. Five different products; chicken pot pie, fish fillets, breaded chicken wings, poutine bites, and tourtiere pie, were chosen for identification, each with their own label statements, respectively; “cook thoroughly”, “uncooked”, “fully cooked”, “heat thoroughly” and one with no label statement. The fish fillets, poutine bites and the tourtiere pie had the most varied answers from the respondents. The poutine bites and tourtiere pie had the majority of the respondents selecting the wrong answer or being unsure. The fish fillets had the majority choosing the correct answer, but given the simplicity of the label “uncooked”, it was surprising that only 45% of the respondents chose “require additional cooking”. Additionally, a few of the open ended comments from respondents indicate some desire for labels clarity in regards to fonts and color on the packaging, as well as having clear, standardized statements that clearly identifies the products as cooked or raw. However, there are some comments that indicate the current labels are adequate, and some comments mentioning about labelling on the back of the box. Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, it would appear that the demographic groups selected have no effect on the accuracy of label identifications of frozen products. The study also indicates that there is preference from the public to favours clear and straightforward labelling statements. The study identifies potential problems with some ambiguity in the label statements (or lack of label statements), and some potential issues with the noticeability of the statements to the consumers., Peer reviewed, Peer-reviewed article, Published, Project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Bachelor of Technology in Environmental Health, British Columbia Institute of Technology, 2019., Frozen ready-to-eat products, Frozen products, Labelling, Survey, Frozen meals