Environmental Health Disasters and What They Can Teach Us

Transcription

1 Environmental Health Disasters and What They Can Teach Us From Minamata: Words and Photographs by W. Eugene Smith and Aileen M. Smith. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, Department of Environmental Health Division of Epidemiology The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Autumn Semester, 2016 Course Numbers: BE/PH 8010 Time: Mondays, 1:20 2:50 PM Location: Room G-17, Kettering Laboratory, Environmental Health Complex Instructor: Dr. Kim N. Dietrich Professor of Environmental Health and Epidemiology The University of Cincinnati College of Medicine Office Hours: By appointment. 1

2 Scope: This course will encompass events as diverse and over time as the Great Smog in London, the International Spanish Influenza Epidemic, Hiroshima and Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Attacks, Bhopal Leak of Methyl Isocyanate, Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor Accidents, Minamata and Niigata Methyl Mercury Poisoning Disasters, the Aral Sea, the Chinese Dome of Sickening and Fatal Air Pollution, and Fatal Lead Poisoning of Infants and Young Children in Nigeria due to Artisanal Gold Mining. Methodology: This course will use film documentaries, assigned readings, internet-assisted learning, and lecture to stimulate written and oral discussion about environmental health disasters of mostly anthropogenic origin. Students will be inspired to develop their own platform presentations on past, current, or impending environmental health disasters. Warning: Some of the images that you will be exposed to in this course may be disturbing. Requirements: Class attendance Assigned readings/internet assisted learning Class participation Brief weekly written summary of each documentary presentation, lecture (if applicable), and reading(s). Each summary should include an opinion from the writer of the key environmental and public health lessons learned from the particular historical incident. Please submit your written summaries to or bring them to class. Platform presentation of 15 minutes on a past, current or potential environmental health disaster or crisis and efforts necessary for prevention or remediation. Presentation will be followed by 5-10 minutes of class discussion. Presentation must include a bibliography and printed copy of all power point slides with notes for class distribution. Please turn in a preliminary outline of your presentation by October 3 rd. 2

3 Week 1: (August 22 nd), An Introduction to Environmental Health Disasters: Definitions, Events and Discussion). Journal/Internet Resources: Lenntech (accessed 2015). Environmental disasters: Top 10 of anthropogenic and natural environmental disasters. Time (accessed 2014). Top 10 environmental disasters. Week 2: (August 29 th, Environmental Capitalism : Bhopal and Union Carbide). 1.) BBC, One Night in Bhopal Journal/Internet Resources: Broughton, E. (2005). The Bhopal disaster and its aftermath: a review. Environmental Health: A Global Access Science Source. 4:6 doi: / X-4-6. Week 3: (September 5 th, Holiday, Labor Day). Weeks 4-5: (September th, Environmental Socialism : Documentaries on the Aral Sea, Chernobyl Nuclear Plant Accident, and the Former Soviet Union). 1.) The Dried Up Aral Sea Disaster. 2.) The Shrinking of the Aral Sea: One of the Worst Environmental Disasters. 3.) The Battle of Chernobyl. Journal/Internet Resources: Small, I., van der Meer, J., Upshur, R.E.G. (2001). Acting on an environmental health disaster: The case of the Aral Sea. Environmental Health Perspectives. 109, Stone, R. (2006). Inside Chernobyl. National Geographic. 3

4 Week 6: (September 26 th, Hiroshima, Nagasaki and the Atomic Bomb as an Environmental Health Disaster). Guest lecturer: Dr. C. Ralph Buncher, Professor Emeritus, Department of Environmental Health. 1.) HIROSHIMA: BBC History of World War II. Journal Readings: Center for Nuclear Studies, Columbia University (2012). Hiroshima and Nagasaki: The long term health effects. Douple, E.B., Mabuchi, K., Cullings, H.M., Preseton, D.L., Kodama, K., Shimizu, Y., Fujiwara, S., Shore, R.E. (2011). Long-term radiation-related health effects in a unique human population: Lessons learned from the atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness. 5, S122-S133. Week 7: (October 3 rd, The Spanish Influenza Epidemic: A Lost Memory of an Environmental and Public Health Disaster). Preliminary outline of student presentation due. 1.) Influenza, Taubenberger, J.K. (2006). The origin and virulence of the 1918 Spanish flu virus. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 150, Weeks 8-9: (October 10 th 17 th : The Great Smog of London and the Peoples Republic of China and its Environmental Health Record). 1.) The Great Smog of London Parts I, II, and III. 2.) Under the Dome: Environmental Pollution in China Bell, M.L., Davis, D.L., Fletcher, T. (2003). A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London Smog episode of 1952: The role of influenza and pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112,

5 Li, W., Chen, B., Ding, X. (2012). Environment and reproductive health in China: Challenges and opportunities. Environmental Health Perspectives, 120, A184-A185. Rhode, R.A., Muller, R.A., (2015). Air pollution in China: Mapping of concentrations and sources. PLoS One. Week 10: (October 24 th, The Johnstown Flood : An Unnatural Disaster). 1.) The Johnstown Flood: The Most Devastating Disaster of its Time (Guggenheim). 2.) Johnstown Flood (Bussler): Winkelstein, W. (2008). The Johnstown flood: An unnatural disaster. Epidemiology, 19, 163. Weeks 11-12: (October 31 st -November 7 th, Minamata and Niigata : A Signal Event in Environmental and Developmental Toxicology). 1.) Minamata Disease: Keeping the Tragedy in Mind. 2.) Minamata: The Victims and Their World. Harada, M. (1995). Minamata Disease: Methylmercury poisoning in Japan caused by environmental pollution. Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 25, DiGangi, J. (2013). Opinion: a call for action on mercury poisoning in Minamata, Japan. Scientific American, October, Week 13: (November 14 th, Fatal Lead Poisoning Epidemic: Nigeria s Artisanal Gold Mining Disaster). 1.) Zamfara Lead Poisoning (Part 1, Rudnicki). 2.) Lead Poisoning: Sad Story of Nigerian Gold Rush (Part 1, Infocus). 5

6 Human Rights Watch (2011). A Heavy Price: Lead Poisoning and Gold mining in Nigeria s Zamfara State. VII for Human Rights Watch. Dooyema, C.A., Neri, A., Lo, U.C., Durant, J., Dargan, P.I., Swarthout, T., Biya, O., Gidado, SO., Haladu, S., Sani-Gwarzo, N., Nguku, P.M., Akpan, H., Idris, S., Bashir, A.M., Brown, M.J. (2012). Outbreak of fatal childhood lead poisoning related to artisanal gold mining in Northwestern Nigeria, Environmental Health Perspectives, 120, Burki, T.K. (2012). Nigeria s lead poisoning crisis could leave a long legacy. The Lancet, 379, 792. Week 14: (November 21 st, Student Presentations). Week 15: (November 28 th, Student Presentations). Syllabus revised 8/14/2016 6