General Interest
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WTAE Interview on Water Usage for Shale and Natural Gass Extraction
Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook (Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) - SUMMARY: The EPA is announcing the availability of a final report titled, ``Child-Specific Exposure Factors Handbook'' (EPA/600/R-06/096F), which was prepared by the National Center for Environmental Assessment (NCEA) within EPA's Office of Research and Development (ORD). This report updates a 2002 interim final version of the handbook. It provides updated information on various physiological and behavioral factors used in assessing children's exposure to environmental contaminants.
These factors include: Water ingestion; soil ingestion and non-dietary factors; inhalation rates; dermal factors including skin surface area and soil adherence factors; consumption of retail and home-grown foods; breast milk intake; body weight; activity pattern data; and consumer product use. This updated version also provides analysis of exposure factors data using the age groups for children as recommended in the
2005 EPA Risk Assessment Forum report document titled, ``Guidance on Selecting Age Groups for Monitoring and Assessing Childhood Exposures to Environmental Contaminants'' (71 FR 6775, February 9, 2006).
ADDRESSES: The document is available electronically through the NCEA Web site at http://www.epa.gov/ncea or you may access the document directly at http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=199243.
In the near future, a limited number of CD-ROMs and hard copies of the executive summary will be available from EPA's National Service Center for Environmental Publications (NSCEP), P.O. Box 42419, Cincinnati, OH 45242; telephone: 1-800-490-9198; facsimile: 301-604-3408; e-mail:
nscep@bps-lmit.com. Please provide your name, your mailing address, the title and the EPA number of the requested publication.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The Information Management Team, National Center for Environmental Assessment (8601P), U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 1200 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW., Washington, DC 20460. Telephone: 703-347-8561; fax: 703-347-8691; e-
mail: nceadc.comment@epa.gov.
Natural Gas Extraction How to Protect Your Private Water Supply – CD program available developed by Penn State Extension water specialists
The two-part course covers the basics of gas well drilling, illustrates how drilling can impact private wells, and offers strategies that homeowners can use to protect their water supply.
- Research-based information from University experts
- Easy-to-understand content; photo story format
- Interactive feature that lets the viewer communicate questions to anextension specialist
- Self-paced learning; approximately two hours total viewing time
- Compatible with PC formats
Preliminary results of dredging show Allegheny impact
Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - Pittsburgh,PA,USA
Conrad Volz, of West Deer and director of Pitt's Center for Healthy Environments and Communities, is identifying possible metals and toxins churned up by ...
By Mary Ann Thomas
Monday, October 6, 2008
On Friday, October 17, 2008, the PA DEP Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulation will host an Environmental Forum on Emerging Contaminants. Mr. Joe Duris, from the United States Geological Survey – Michigan Water Science Center, will present research conducted on the occurrence of pathogenic Shiga-toxin producing Escherichia coli (STEC) and markers of fecal sources in surface water from a 27-station water quality network in Pennsylvania using Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) methods. In addition, Dr. Ronald MacGillivray, representing the Delaware River Basin Commission, will present the results of a Pilot Monitoring Survey in the main stem of the tidal Delaware River that sampled and analyzed ambient waters for pharmaceuticals, personal care products, perfluorinated compounds, hormones, sterols, nonyl phenols and polybrominated diphenyl ethers. Please see uploaded abstracts and speaker biographies.
The forum will commence at 10 AM and end by noon and will be held in the 2nd floor auditorium of the PA DEP Rachel Carson State Office Building. For more information, please contact Arianne Proctor, at arproctor@state.pa.us. Complete information for Ms. Proctor is listed below:
Arianne Proctor
Program Analysis and Support
Bureau of Water Standards and Facility Regulation
Department of Environmental Protection
PO Box 8467 Harrisburg, PA 17105-8467
(717) 783-7578 Fax: (717) 772-3249
The Center for Healthy Environments and Communities will present four (4) abstracts at the Ohio River Basin Consortia for Research and Education’s 2008 Fall Symposia, on Thursday October 30th and Friday October 31st at Carnegie Mellon University’s WaterQuest Program. Registration and information for this event can be found at http://www.ce.cmu.edu/orbcre/. Chuck Christen will be delivering an oral presentation on the “Community-Based Participatory Research Aspects of the Allegheny River Stewardship Project” on October 31st at 9am.
The 14 Annual Heinz Awards has named Thomas FitzGerald, 53, founder and director of the Kentucky Resources Council its 2008 recipient in the Environment category. The Heinz Awards recipient receives a medallion inscribed with the image of Senator John Heinz on one side and a globe passing between two hands on the other. The medallion symbolizes the partnership, continuity and values carried on to the next generation. The hands also suggest passing on the stewardship of the earth to future generations. A $250,000 award for unrestricted use also goes to the recipient. The Heinz Awards are given by the Heinz Family Foundation. Click here for more information on this year’s recipient and the Heinz Awards.
Report to the Advisory Board, University of Pittsburgh Academic Center of Excellence in Environmental Public Health Tracking (Part of the Centers for Disease Contol and Preventions' Nationwide Environmental Public Health Tracking Program) by Dr. Dan Volz, September 3, 2008; Manuscript in Process on Concentrations of Pharmaceutical Estrogens and Xenoestrogens in Water and Preliminary Results of Total Suspended Solids (Turbidity) downstream from Allegheny River Gravel Mining Operations. Click for ABSTRACT and PRESENTATION
Air
Disease and the Environment
Quick Environmental Exposure and Sensitivity Inventory
Toxicant-Induced Loss of Tolerance – An Emerging Theory of Disease?
Energy
Womens Health and the Environment New Science, New Solutions, September 25th, Pittsburgh Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA; Remarks of Conrad (Dan) Volz, DrPH, MPH, Air and Water Science Panelist, “Science that Bridges the False Divide Between Ecological and Human Health-Ecological and Human Health Risks from Coal Combustion Products” PRESENTATION TALK
The Impacts on Water Quality from Placement of Coal Combustion Waste in Pennsylvania Coal Mines, Earth Justice and Clean Air Task Force. Report.pdf
Clean Air Task Force, PA Minefill Report. Link to YouTube video summary
Pittsburgh Post Gazette: Report Criticizes Dumping of Fly Ash in Mines
Environmental Health
September 25, 2008, Dr. Dan Volz will be speaking at the Women's Health & the Environment Conference sponsored by The Heinz Endowments. This event will take place at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Dr. Volz will be part of the New Science Panel.
Citation for Chronic Illness Linked to Coal Mining Pollution
Environmental Forum on Emerging Contaminants, PA Department of Environmental Protection, January 24th, 2008; A landscape perspective on antibiotic resistance, Brown and Wohl; The relationship between Channel Catfish Estrogenicity Index and the density of combined of combined and sanitary sewer overflows and metal contamination in Southwestern Pennsylvania fish, Volz et al.
- View Abstracts and Biographies
- Download Video Software to View Presentations
- Play Presentations (3 Parts)
Silent Spring Revisited, the award winning radio program, The Allegheny Front, examines the next steps in practicing the environment and our health from the chemicals around us. In commemoration of Rachel Carson's 100th birthday, Dr. Volz is a contributor on Track 2. Play Audio
Land
Water
Urban Stormwater Management in the United States. 2008, The National Academies of Science-Report in Brief
August 8, 2008 NY Times Magazine: "A Tall, Cool Drink of ... Sewage?"
American Chemists Society, Pittsburgh Chapter, Duranti's Restaurant, Pittsburgh, PA. October 28, 2008, Dr. Volz will deliver a talk on findings from river projects. Abstracts
What Concerned Citizens Should Know About Water; The Most Important Public Health Problem of the 21st Century?, Conrad (Dan) Volz DrPH, MPH, 2007, Public LECTURE
New York State Water Crisis Looms. Initial steps being taken to address issue. Sunday, August 24, 2008, Sara Foss, Gazette Reporter
The Ohio River Basin Consortia for Research and Education (ORBCRE) is holding its annual symposium from October 29-31, 2008 at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, PA. The purpose of this annual symposium is to briing together environmental researchers from throughout the basin to present research and discuss events in the Basin. This year’s theme is Urban Water and Watershed in the Ohio River Basin. More information on the symposium as well as on line registration is available at http://www.ce.cmu.edu/orbcre/.
The Regional Water Management Task Force is an 11-county effort to improve water management and water quality in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Our region is endowed with an abundance of water, but we also face many challenges to learn more visit their website at http://www.iop.pitt.edu/water/index.htm
Resource on Asthma and Air Pollution in PA
Please see this resource including background information on this issue, strategies to address it, pertinent agencies, and additional resources.