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UPDATE no.21 April 2002 INCHES
April 2, 2002-The International Network on Children's Health, Environment and Safety
Dear member of INCHES,
In this update :
News items
Inter-American region
European region
African region
Eurasian region
Conferences
INCHES funding
Children's Environmental Health Topics
INCHES has new member - Peking University School of Public Health, Beijing, China. The school consists of three research institutes, three research divisions and two research centers, including the Institute of Environmental Health Administration, the Research Division of Health Economy, the Research Division of Industrial Hygiene Management, and the Research Division of Hospital Management. Since 1991, the school has completed 217projects. You can find them on www.bjmu.edu.cn/E_bjmu/E-bjmu1.htm
INCHES has new member – Institute of Child and Mother Health, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The Institute is an unique Institute as it works not only for the welfare of the children and mothers of Bangladesh but also for all children and mothers the world over, to respond to the needs of children and mothers in the country particularly in the field of health and nutrition. You can find more information: www.phs.ki.se/csp
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The American Environmental Protection Agency has given a grant to a consortium of PSR, ISDE and INCHES to work on environmental health in preparation of the World Summit on sustainable development. This means is that both ISDE and INCHES will get 3,500 US dollars to go toward some activities. PSR will get a more substantial amount to do activities. Certainly some funds are going to go to the events at the Prep Coms for the WSSD. Some funds will go towards the INCHES PSR UNICEF UNEP WHO side event at the World Summit for Children in May. And some funds will be dedicated to the research paper on CEH protection in law.
The Ministerial Communiqué of the MEETING OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT MINISTERS OF THE AMERICAS, MARCH 4-5, 2002, Ottawa, Canada , mentioned a few messages for the World Summit on sustainable development. There are three messages in which the ministers urge:
a) leaders at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to explicitly recognize the need to make the integration of action and approaches to human health and environment a focus for development by building stronger bridges between ministries responsible for national health and environment, and other ministries. This can be done through enhanced communication, strengthened collaboration, and the development of shared agendas.
b) More specifically, leaders at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to make the rotection of vulnerable populations, especially children, as they represent our future, a high priority.
c) Technical and financial cooperation organizations to mobilize expertise and resources to support the development and implementation of programs and policies aimed at vulneraqble populations.
INCHES has send a letter of support to the following meeting:
April 13, 2002, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and Cook County Hospital will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of their Great Lakes Center for Occupational and Environmental Safety and Health with a gala event at Chicago’s Science and Industry Museum. The Center serves Cook County Illinois, the Midwest, and the nation as a World Health Organization Collaborating Center. You are cordially invited to join in celebrating this event.
The mission of the Great Lakes Center is to “improve, promote and maintain the health of workers, children and communities.” The Center takes a global approach to implementing this mission. Special attention is devoted to the problems and needs of minority and disadvantaged workers, communities, the specific occupational and environmental health needs of our region, and to the development of innovative and interdisciplinary approaches to addressing these needs.
To reserve tickets, please call 312-996-7887 or reserve on-line: www.uic.edu/sph/glakes
UNEP INFORMATION NOTE
2002 UNEP Global Youth Forum being Held in Denmark 26 to 29 March 2002
ÅRHUS/NAIROBI, 26 March 2002 - One hundred youth from 60 countries, met at the Fuglsøcenter (near the city of Århus) in Denmark for the 2002 UNEP Global Youth Forum, held discussions on environmental topics vital to sustainable development in the 21st century. The Forum continued until Friday, 29 March 2002.
"This meeting is an essential one. Youth represent more than 50 per cent of the world's population and in many countries more than 60 per cent", said Shafqat Kakakhel, Deputy Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), in his opening remarks. " More than in the past, young people need to struggle in a united and concerted manner to protect this fragile planet - for ourselves and for succeeding generations."
Mr. Kakakhel reminded participants that globalization and poverty are important concerns for young people. He stressed the importance of providing opportunities for the benefit of all - whether rich or poor.
The Forum is expected to review sustainable development activities, a statement and an action plan for youth and sustainable development. These outcomes expected to contribute to preparations for the World Summit on Sustainable Development scheduled for Johannesburg, South Africa from 26 August to 4 September 2002.
"Sustainable development is about conflicts of interest. It is important to have dialogue to resolve these conflicts", said Johannes Flensted Jensen, the Mayor of the County of Århus. The Forum is part of the Youth for Sustainable Development Process that was launched in February 2001 by UNEP, the Government of Sweden and Nature and Youth, Denmark. The process is intended to facilitate and support youth involvement in the World Summit for Sustainable Development and its preparations.
"Continue to speak out, protest, campaign, mobilize youth and struggle for sustainable development with your own personal commitment as the driving force", urged Anna Jonsson (Sweden) and Philip Mcosano (Kenya),chairpersons of the May 2001 Borgholm Conference held to kick off the Youth for Sustainable Development Process.
www.globalyouth2002.org.
Enclosed please find the description of one of the research projects carried by the Department of the Health and Environment of the Institute of Public Health at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Professor Janusz
Haluszka Ph.D., M.D. is a head of the Department, and supervisor of this project.
contact: Marta Malinowska-Cieslik, Researcher; Institute of Public Health Jagiellonian University,
Krakow, Poland; Tel: +48-12 424 13 91; Fax:+48-12-421 74 47
TITLE: THE PSYCHOSOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF INJURY RELATED BEHAVIORS AMONG
SCHOOL CHILDREN.
Childhood injury prevention and control is one of the research activities of the Health and Environment Department of the Institute of Public Health at the Jagiellonian University, Medical College, Krakow, Poland.
In Poland the childhood deaths and disability is still a serious health problem. Comparing Poland with high-income countries, the level of after injury deaths is still much higher. The leading causes of the injury related deaths in children are traffic-related accidents (TRA), and drownings. The leading causes of injury related morbidity is falls and TRA again. The main field of the research activity is to analyze and to evaluate the psychosocial determinants of injury related behaviors among school children, particularly among early adolescents, aged 10-14. The significance of the perceived threat, the attitudes, perceived barriers and benefits, social influence, and self-efficacy is analyzed to explain and to predict injury preventive behaviors.
Another important study question concerns the sociodemographic and socioeconomic differences in injury risk behaviors among children. The conclusion from this study should be helpful in planning the injury prevention education programs for early adolescents.
We are pleased to inform you that we are fulfilling projects linked with children, health and environment already more than 5 years. Since this year we decided to expand our activities and would like to inform you in more details on what was done and our plans for future. This program of Green Cross Russia is called SocMEd
(Social-Medical-Educational)program.
Initially, it was launched in the areas of chemical weapons stockpiling in Russia (there are 7).
We have been executing the following project in these areas (on a regular basis):
- independent medical examination of the childrens' health in these areas;
- establishment of the system of regular medical monitoring of the children's health;
- recommendations elaboration for treatment and health improvement;
- medical staff training the first aid at emergencies on the chemical weapons stockpiles;
- winter and summer therapy camps for kids (ecocamps).
Our studies showed that a high level of mortality in these areas is a result of a combination of many factors - bad environmental situation, bad quality of drinking water, poor living conditions, social factors.
Therefore, the objectives of these therapy camps are:
- to put children in better environmental conditions;
- to give them better nutrition and vitamins;
- to give them medical treatment and invigoration;
- to train them a new, health life style, how to improve your health yourself in bad environmental situation;
- environmental education of kids, environmentally responsible behavior;
Since this year we are expanding our activities on this program in the following areas:
- implementing a new method of endoecological rehabilitation of the organism in the ecocamps which allows not only to cleanup the organism but to keep it clean later in a bad environmental conditions with simple medicines and herbs (a trial project was implemented in one camp last year and showed very good results in comparison with
traditional methods of treatment) ;
- to train doctors to this method to disseminate this experience to other areas;
- formation of "Mother and child (Families)" clubs to help parents to take care (including medical)of kids, to establish a system of mutual aid, instilling a healthy life style. All this is of particular importance in poor areas. In the frame of this project it is planned to publish information sheets and brochure for wide dissemination among local citizens;
- to establish better relations and cooperation with local and central public health bodies to coordinate our efforts and achieve more tengible results;
- to intensify PR campaign to advertise our activities and new methods of health improvement;
- to start these activities in other environmentally polluted areas of Russia rather than chemical weapons stockpiling.
Viazmina Olga, Coordinator, Socmed program, Green Cross Russia; 24, Granatny per., Moscow, 103001 Russia
phone (095)202-28-33, fax (095)290-01-52 ; http://www.greencross.org.ru
mailto:gcrus@online.ru
8-10 May. Environmental Health: Protecting Children. Olympia, Washington. Information: Ned Therien, Washington State Department of Health, PO Box 47824, Olympia< WA 98504-7824 USA, 360-236-3071 fax 360-236-2257, e-mail: ned.therien@doh.wa.gov
INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE "IMPACTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION ON HUMAN HEALTH"
1st International Scientific Conference "Impacts of Environmental Pollution on Human Health" which will take place 9-11 December 2002 in Novosibirsk in Scientific Center of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences.
Main conference topics:
1) Practices and methodological problems of assessment of interactions in "environment-health" system.
2) Current problems and objectives of ecological medicine.
3) Ecological background of health disorders.
4) Problems of assessment of ecological risk to human health.
5) Regional peculiarities of ecology-related diseases.
6) Endoecology and methods of correction of internal purity of human organism in areas of ecological distress.
Organizing committee:
- Presidium of Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Presidium of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences;
- Presidium of Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Presidium of Urals Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences;
- Scientific Center of Clinical and Experimental Medicine of Siberian
Branch of Russian Academy of Medical Sciences;
- Center of Ecological Policy of Russia;
- Novosibirsk State Medical Academy of Ministry of Public Health;
- Russian Ecological Academy.
Working languages: Russian and English.
Send (by fax or e-mail) an enclosed applicant's form in order to prepare the Conference properly.
Abstracts requirements:
Abstracts must be written in English and submitted by e-mail in attachment not later than 10 July 2002. Abstracts must not exceed 3 pages with 1.5 interval between lines, Times New Roman 12, all margins are 2,5 cm, and be formatted in Microsoft Word 6.0/7.0. The file must be named by the second name of author (the first author if many) – for example Smith.doc
First line - names of authors; second line - title of the report (in capital letters); third line - affiliation, city, country; then 2 intervals below - text of abstract without list of references. All references must be in a body of text (for example - J. Smith et al., 1999).
Contact information: Tel/fax: +7 ( 383-2) 33-64-56, +7 (383-2) 33-68-22; E-mail: gichew@mail.cis.ru
A donation has been received by mr. Freek Rijna, departing CEO of Riedel Company, Netherlands. The amount of more than 500 Euro was his farewell present from his employees.
In order to maintain the International Secretariat in Poland we are seeking more donations. Maybe some of the members can contribute a small amount.
Did you locate a possible sponsor? Do you a private sponsor? Can we mail some information on INCHES to one of your friends? Any donations (or suggestions of possible donors) are welcome at bank account nr.: 526292490 ABN AMRO (swiftcode ABNANL 2A), Dieren, the Netherlands.
Children's Environmental Health Topics
In this paragraph we would like to place some items that are important for their contents. If anyone wishes to send in an abstract on any topic related to children's environmental health and safety, mail it to the email address of the update.
Protecting children key provision in update of 30-year-old pesticide bill by LISA SCHMIDT OTTAWA (CP) - The federal government introduced new legislation on pesticides Thursday designed to update regulations and do more to protect children. "Many Canadians have been waiting for this law for a long time," said Health Minister Anne McLellan, who introduced the bill in the House of Commons. It has been over 30 years since Canadian pesticide laws were changed. If passed, the Pest Control Products Act would require special protection
for infants and children, an automatic review of pesticides after 15 years, more inspections and higher fines for violations.
"The government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians are better protected from health and environmental risks posed by pesticides," McLellan said.
"The bill reflects this commitment by modernizing and strengthening pesticide regulation and making
the registration system more transparent."
Environmental groups welcomed the bill, but complained there is no provision to ban the use of so-called cosmetic pesticides such as those used to keep lawns and golf courses green.
"Sadly it looks like there is no provision for a cosmetic pesticide ban which is something very near and dear to our hearts and to the hearts of a number of municipalities," said Angela Rickman, deputy director of the Sierra Club. Environmentalists point to scientific studies suggesting some pesticides threaten human and animal health. Children and pregnant women are believed to be especially vulnerable.
A Liberal-dominated committee recommended two years ago that pesticides for lawns, golf courses and parks be phased out over five years.
McLellan said it should come as no surprise that a ban on cosmetic use of pesticides would not be included, as the government had clearly signalled that in its response to the committee. She said such a ban would fall under provincial and municipal authority. "They can in fact make decisions around use and that is clearly within their constitutional jurisdiction. It is not within ours," McLellan said.
But Rickman said the federal government does have the authority and should take the lead. "I disagree that it's not within their jurisdiction. I think the problem is the Supreme Court has allowed municipalities to do it in the absence of the federal government doing it," she said.
Last June, the Supreme Court ruled the Quebec municipality of Hudson could ban cosmetic use of pesticides. About 37 municipalities across Canada have outlawed the cosmetic use of pesticides, led by Halifax which has set some of the strictest limits. The legislation, which McLellan hopes will pass before the House breaks for the summer, would set up a registry where the public can view evaluation reports on registered pesticides.
© Copyright 2002 The Canadian Press
Any reactions to this article?
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We are looking for some fact sheets on different children's environmental topics, like reducing risk from lead, risk from mercury, risk from pesticides, risk form solvents, risk from indoor air pollution, risk from environmental tobacco smoke. We would like to produce factsheets on these and other topics and have them translated in different languages. If your organisation has produced a fact sheet, please make it available to the network. We will try to have it translated and make it usuable for different countries. PLEASE MAIL your FACTSHEETS to: pvdhazel@inter.nl.net <mailto:pvdhazel@inter.nl.net>
We are also interested in powerpoint or similar presentations on these same topics. We are collecting them in order to put them on a CD for our members.
We received information from Tom Baughman, PhD (Environmental Toxicologist, West Chicago Regional Office, Illinois Department of Public Health, USA) on mercury. Below you can find a list of important websites where you can find relevant information on mercury. If you have a mercury problem you must be able to find information on one of these sites.
Mercury Websites:
Illinois Department of Public Health: Mercury Spills
http://www.idph.state.il.us/envhealth/factsheets/mercuryspills.htm
http://www.epa.gov/grtlakes/bnsdocs/hgsbook/index.html
Wisconsin Mercury Sourcebook
Contains information on various sources of mercury (home, school, occupational), and how to reduce (or eliminate) it.
http://www.mercury-k12.org/
Mercury in Schools; Focuses on mercury problems in schools.
http://www.ehs.berkeley.edu/pubs/flashpoint/6Spr96html/minmerc.html
U of California-Berkeley fact sheet describes why, because of high cleanup costs, minimizing mercury use makes sense.
http://www.epa.gov/pbt/hgaction.htm
USEPA action plan - mercury reduction.
Indiana Department of Environmental Management
IDEM Guidance for Household Mercury Spills: Current Operating Procedures
http://www.state.in.us/idem/ctap/mercury/spill.pdf
UW - Madison, EHS, Mercury Spill Cleanup Procedures
http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/EHSRM/LAB/labHg.html
UC - Davis, EHS, Guidelines for Mercury Spill Control - Safety Net #16
http://www.ehs.ucdavis.edu/sftynet/sn-16.html
New Jersey Dept. of Health & Sr. Services Guidelines for the Safe Clean-up of Mercury Spilled in the Home
http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/survweb/merchome.pdf
Controlling Metallic Mercury Exposure in the Workplace -- A Guide for Employers (2 parts)
http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/survweb/mercpt1.pdf
http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/survweb/mercpt2.pdf
Your Mercury Exposure: Important Information for People Exposed to Mercury at Work, at Home, and in the Community
http://www.state.nj.us/health/eoh/survweb/mercury.htm
EPA - Mercury - Emergency Spill & Release Facts
http://www.epa.gov/oerrpage/superfund/tools/merc/index.htm
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Media Advisory: ATSDR ANNOUNCES UPDATED TOXICOLOGICAL PROFILE FOR MERCURY
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/press/ma990419.html
ATSDR - TOX FAQs - Mercury
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/tfacts46.html
ATSDR - National Alert: A Warning About Continuing Patterns of Metallic Mercury Exposure
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/alerts/970626.html
OSHA/NIOSH - OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH GUIDELINE FOR MERCURY VAPOR
http://www.osha-slc.gov/SLTC/healthguidelines/mercuryvapor/recognition.html
California - Hazard Evaluation System and Information Service - Mercury Fact Sheet
http://www.ohb.org/merc.htm
Purdue University, EPA - Mercury in Buildings
http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/mercbuild/src/title.htm
What if I Spill Mercury?
http://pasture.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/mercbuild/src/cleanup.htm
Toxicity, Mercury by Barry Diner, M.D., Cornell University, New York Hospital and Barry
Brenner, M.D., Ph.D., Department of Emergency Medicine, The Brooklyn Hospital Center
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic813.htm
MMWR, June 16, 1995 / 44(23);436-437,443
Mercury Exposure in a Residential Community -- Florida, 1994
http://www.cdc.gov/epo/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00037313.htm
Mercury, elemental; CASRN 7439-97-6 (03/01/97) - EPA/IRIS Health assessment information
http://www.epa.gov/iris/irisdat/0370.DAT
Mercury Poisoning Project - rituallistic use of mercury
http://www.geocities.com/awendroff/
Last updated 12 June 2002
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