Vector-Borne Diseases, Toxic Metals, Pesticides, and Air Pollution

Week 4 and 5: Zoonotics and Climate Change

What is a vector-borne disease?

Vector-borne diseases are human illnesses caused by parasites, viruses, and bacteria that are transmitted by mosquitoes, sandflies, triatomine bugs, blackflies, ticks, tsetse flies, mites, snails, and lice. Know some examples of common vector-borne diseases such as cholera, dengue, and malaria. Be able to name a few common vectors (mosquitos, ticks, fleas) and a disease they carry.

Difference between direct and indirect modes of transmission

Indirect has a vector.

Role of Climate Change on Vector-Borne Diseases

Week 6: Toxic Metals: CERCLA and Superfund Sites

Clean up of waste sites. Toxic and hazardous and radioactive. Superfund is a United States federal government program designed to fund the cleanup of sites contaminated with hazardous substances and pollutants, referred to as 'Superfund sites'.

Bioaccumulation

Toxic substances such as heavy metals become more concentrated and potentially more harmful as they move up the food chain.

Modes of Exposure to Metal

Mouth, Skin, Lungs.

Major Toxic Heavy Metals- Arsenic: Diabetes, Beryllium, Cadmium: Osteoporosis in women, Height loss in men, Chromium: Respiratory problems, Mercury, Lead: Causes serious central nervous system effects and other adverse health consequences even when ingested at low levels, Nickel: Fibrosis of the lungs.

Week 6: Pesticides and Health

Dicamba, Can be applied to leaves or soil. Farmers are concerned with 'drift' which may be driving up use of dicamba-proof soybeans, Xtend. DDT: Mosquito spray, Insecticide, classified by EPA as 'mildly toxic', DDT was cancelled use because it persists in the environment, builds up in fatty tissues, and can cause adverse effects on wildlife.

Environmental Estrogens

Any of a group of synthetic substances that when absorbed into a person's system, function in a similar way to estrogen (female sex hormones).

Week 7: Air Pollution

Ozone

Stratospheric Ozone

6-30 miles above earth’s surface, reduces the amount of harmful UV radiation to reach the earth’s surface.

Tropospheric Ozone

('What we breathe')- contributes to 'smog' or 'haze'.

What is Smog?

A type of severe air pollution. Under sunlight, VOCs react with nitrogen oxides emitted mainly from vehicles.

Natural Sources of Air Pollution

Causes property damage, Reduces visibility in national parks, Harms forests, Harms lakes and other bodies of water, Injures wildlife/buildings.

Anthropogenic Sources of Air Pollution

Stationary

Electric generating plants, Factories and manufacturing complexes, Oil refineries, Chemical plants, Incinerators.

Mobile

On-road vehicles, Off-road vehicles, Nonroad vehicles.

Clean Air Act and the 6 Chemicals it Regulates

Ground level ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, lead, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide.

Strategies for Air Pollution CAP

Government sets allowances on a given industry or ideally, the whole economy.

TRADE

Companies buy and sell allowances that let them emit only a certain amount, as supply and demand set the price. Trading gives companies an incentive to save money by cutting emissions in the most cost-effective way.