Download or read book Decades of Dioxin written by Warren B. Crummett and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2002 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: By 1971 analytical scientists at Dow had good reason to believe that questions about "dioxin" (2,3,7,8-dibenzo-p-dioxin) had been appropriately addressed. This molecule had been identified as an unwanted trace contaminant in 2,4,5-trichlorophenol and its derivatives; synthesized and analytical standards prepared; characterized by all the known measurement techniques; and controlled in Dow products by newly developed analytical methods of confirmed integrity at levels 10 times lower than deemed necessary by Dow toxicologists. Thus we had not only fulfilled all the requirements of government agencies, we had gone the extra mile. No other product contaminant had been treated so rigorously. There was no doubt that Dow products were safe when used as directed. Once again we had proven that molecules could be successfully managed. Although there was already some noise decrying this conclusion, we were totally unprepared to weather the brouhaha which developed. "Dioxin" appeared to be a molecule that created fear and caused people to do strange (unscientific) things. Was it more than just a molecule? We now turned our attention to measuring the amount of "dioxin" in the environment. We were well prepared to develop methodology to do this. We had state-of-the-art equipment and some of the best chromatographers and mass spectroscopists in the world. We were confident we could find and measure "dioxin" (if present) in any matrix of interest at appropriate detection levels. Then we could determine how the dioxin got there and discover ways to completely control and manage the presence and movement of this molecule in the environment. This was our perception! This perception was reinforced by the merger of Dow analytical laboratories. For the first time powerful measurement tools would be under the same management as the separation systems. This created many opportunities for spectroscopists, chromatographers and instrument development folks to do extraordinary things together. The resulting laboratory, consisting of almost 200 technical people, was managed by a technical director and a technical manager. I was named technical manager, a position without a job description. We were not, however, positioned to communicate effectively with the world outside Dow. Those of us working in trace analysis had neither published much nor attended many scientific meetings outside the company. We had not honed either our writing or speaking skills. So our papers were rejected and we were seldom heard speaking. This took some years to correct as we didn't immediately recognize that we needed to have credibility with our peers in academia, government and other industry. In spite of this naivety on my part, I soon found myself serving on committees, task forces and study groups both within Dow and with government agencies in the United States and Canada. Immediately it became apparent to me that the integrity of analytical data at trace levels was a major problem. Different laboratories used different principles in the interpretation of signals. Consensus on data interpretation needed to be reached. But of even greater importance was the need to communicate with journalists. Each encounter with peers and others interested in "dioxin" became a great adventure filled with fun. Often these meetings were humorous, always challenging, sometimes testy scientists from industry always were portrayed as biased and even incompetent. So, "dioxin" appeared to cause people to do strange things. By means of anecdotal stories and essays this book attempts to convey the principal scientific and philosophical lessons learned, as well as reveal the astonishing behavior of those contributing to the frustration, agony and elation experienced by this industrial analytical chemist. Among the surprising lessons learned are: 1. Fear can create big business. 2. In a "crisis" situation, even
Download or read book Post Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange Contaminated C 123 Aircraft written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-05-20 with total page 110 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From 1972 to 1982, approximately 1,500-2,100 US Air Force Reserve personnel trained and worked on C-123 aircraft that had formerly been used to spray herbicides in Vietnam as part of Operation Ranch Hand. After becoming aware that some of the aircraft on which they had worked had previously served this purpose, some of these AF Reservists applied to the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for compensatory coverage under the Agent Orange Act of 1991. The Act provides health care and disability coverage for health conditions that have been deemed presumptively service-related for herbicide exposure during the Vietnam War. The VA denied the applications on the basis that these veterans were ineligible because as non-Vietnam-era veterans or as Vietnam-era veterans without "boots on the ground" service in Vietnam, they were not covered. However, with the knowledge that some air and wipe samples taken between 1979 and 2009 from some of the C-123s used in Operation Ranch Hand showed the presence of agent orange residues, representatives of the C-123 Veterans Association began a concerted effort to reverse VA's position and obtain coverage. At the request of the VA, Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure in Agent Orange-Contaminated C-123 Aircraft evaluates whether or not service in these C-123s could have plausibly resulted in exposures detrimental to the health of these Air Force Reservists. The Institute of Medicine assembled an expert committee to address this question qualitatively, but in a scientific and evidence-based fashion. This report evaluates the reliability of the available information for establishing exposure and addresses and places in context whether any documented residues represent potentially harmful exposure by characterizing the amounts available and the degree to which absorption might be expected. Post-Vietnam Dioxin Exposure rejects the idea that the dioxin residues detected on interior surfaces of the C-123s were immobile and effectively inaccessible to the Reservists as a source of exposure. Accordingly, this report states with confidence that the Air Force Reservists were exposed when working in the Operation Ranch Hand C-123s and so experienced some increase in their risk of a variety of adverse responses.
Download or read book The Chemical Scythe written by Alastair Hay and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2013-11-11 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Chemical Scythe is the first book in a projected series to be published by Plenum Press in association with the International Disaster Institute. The aim of the series, Disaster Research in Practice, is to provide scientific and readable accounts on the most urgent areas of disaster research. It is fitting, therefore, that Dr. Hay's investigation into the nature and effects of dioxins heralds the new series. The problem of chemical hazards is one that we will have to learn to live with in future decades. Dr. Hay's book is an authoritative account of the chemistry and proven and potential effects of dioxins, and of the impli cations for safety planning. He concludes with a cautious, yet optimistic note-that indeed we can learn to live with such hazards, providing that we are prepared to understand and plan for the unexpected. The accident at Seveso in 1976 alerted the world to an imperfectly un derstood but immensely alarming environmental hazard. Public debate and argument as to the implications of dioxins and, indeed, the use of herbicides as aggressive weapons in Vietnam, rage on. And yet it is only through the painstaking research exemplified in this book that it will eventually be pos sible to promote the vital accountability on the part of industrialists and governments.
Download or read book Environmental Medicine written by Committee on Curriculum Development in Environmental Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1995-05-12 with total page 988 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People are increasingly concerned about potential environmental health hazards and often ask their physicians questions such as: "Is the tap water safe to drink?" "Is it safe to live near power lines?" Unfortunately, physicians often lack the information and training related to environmental health risks needed to answer such questions. This book discusses six competency based learning objectives for all medical school students, discusses the relevance of environmental health to specific courses and clerkships, and demonstrates how to integrate environmental health into the curriculum through published case studies, some of which are included in one of the book's three appendices. Also included is a guide on where to obtain additional information for treatment, referral, and follow-up for diseases with possible environmental and/or occupational origins.
Download or read book The History Use Disposition and Environmental Fate of Agent Orange written by Alvin Lee Young and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2009-04-21 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For almost four decades, controversy has surrounded the tactical use of herbicides in Southeast Asia by the United States military. Few environmental or occupational health issues have received the sustained international attention that has been focused on Agent Orange, the major tactical herbicide deployed in Southern Vietnam. With the opening and establishment of normal relations between the United States and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in 1995, the time has come for a thorough re-examination of the military use of Agent Orange and other "tactical herbicides" in Southern Vietnam, and the subsequent actions that have been taking place since their use in Vietnam. The United States Department of Defense has had the major role in all military operations involving the use of tactical herbicides, including that of Agent Orange. This included the Department's purchase, shipment and tactical use of herbicides in Vietnam, its role in the disposition of Agent Orange after Vietnam, its role in conducting long-term epidemiological investigations of the men of Operation RANCH HAND, and its sponsorship of ecological and environmental fate studies. This book was commissioned by The Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense (Installations and Environment) with the intent of providing documentation of the knowledge on the history, use, disposition and environmental fate of Agent Orange and its associated dioxin.
Download or read book Veterans and Agent Orange written by Committee to Review the Health Effects in Vietnam Veterans of Exposure to Herbicides and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 1994-01-15 with total page 791 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Have U.S. military personnel experienced health problems from being exposed to Agent Orange, its dioxin contaminants, and other herbicides used in Vietnam? This definitive volume summarizes the strength of the evidence associating exposure during Vietnam service with cancer and other health effects and presents conclusions from an expert panel. Veterans and Agent Orange provides a historical review of the issue, examines studies of populations, in addition to Vietnam veterans, environmentally and occupationally exposed to herbicides and dioxin, and discusses problems in study methodology. The core of the book presents What is known about the toxicology of the herbicides used in greatest quantities in Vietnam. What is known about assessing exposure to herbicides and dioxin. What can be determined from the wide range of epidemiological studies conducted by different authorities. What is known about the relationship between exposure to herbicides and dioxin, and cancer, reproductive effects, neurobehavioral disorders, and other health effects. The book describes research areas of continuing concern and offers recommendations for further research on the health effects of Agent Orange exposure among Vietnam veterans. This volume will be critically important to both policymakers and physicians in the federal government, Vietnam veterans and their families, veterans organizations, researchers, and health professionals.
Download or read book Dying from Dioxin written by Lois Marie Gibbs and published by South End Press. This book was released on 1995 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'Now everyone has an opportunity to learn about dioxin and the issues surrounding it, in this well-presented, multifaceted book.' Theo Colborn, Senior Program Scientist, World Wildlife Fund (USA)In Dying From Dioxin, Lois Marie Gibbs and other scientists and activists describe the alarming details of the public health crisis surrounding dioxin, and explain how citizens can organize against this toxic threat.
Download or read book Waste Incineration and Public Health written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2000-10-21 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Incineration has been used widely for waste disposal, including household, hazardous, and medical wasteâ€"but there is increasing public concern over the benefits of combusting the waste versus the health risk from pollutants emitted during combustion. Waste Incineration and Public Health informs the emerging debate with the most up-to-date information available on incineration, pollution, and human healthâ€"along with expert conclusions and recommendations for further research and improvement of such areas as risk communication. The committee provides details on: Processes involved in incineration and how contaminants are released. Environmental dynamics of contaminants and routes of human exposure. Tools and approaches for assessing possible human health effects. Scientific concerns pertinent to future regulatory actions. The book also examines some of the social, psychological, and economic factors that affect the communities where incineration takes place and addresses the problem of uncertainty and variation in predicting the health effects of incineration processes.
Download or read book Systems Biology in Toxicology and Environmental Health written by Rebecca Fry and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2015-06-11 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Systems Biology in Toxicology and Environmental Health uses a systems biological perspective to detail the most recent findings that link environmental exposures to human disease, providing an overview of molecular pathways that are essential for cellular survival after exposure to environmental toxicants, recent findings on gene-environment interactions influencing environmental agent-induced diseases, and the development of computational methods to predict susceptibility to environmental agents. Introductory chapters on molecular and cellular biology, toxicology and computational biology are included as well as an assessment of systems-based tools used to evaluate environmental health risks. Further topics include research on environmental toxicants relevant to human health and disease, various high-throughput technologies and computational methods, along with descriptions of the biological pathways associated with disease and the developmental origins of disease as they relate to environmental contaminants. Systems Biology in Toxicology and Environmental Health is an essential reference for undergraduate students, graduate students, and researchers looking for an introduction in the use of systems biology approaches to assess environmental exposures and their impacts on human health. - Provides the first reference of its kind, demonstrating the application of systems biology in environmental health and toxicology - Includes introductions to the diverse fields of molecular and cellular biology, toxicology, and computational biology - Presents a foundation that helps users understand the connections between the environment and health effects, and the biological mechanisms that link them
Download or read book Mill Town written by Kerri Arsenault and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2020-09-01 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of the 2021 Rachel Carson Environmental Book Award Winner of the 2021 Maine Literary Award for Nonfiction Finalist for the 2020 National Book Critics John Leonard Prize for Best First Book Finalist for the 2021 New England Society Book Award Finalist for the 2021 New England Independent Booksellers Association Award A New York Times Editors’ Choice and Chicago Tribune top book for 2020 “Mill Town is the book of a lifetime; a deep-drilling, quick-moving, heartbreaking story. Scathing and tender, it lifts often into poetry, but comes down hard when it must. Through it all runs the river: sluggish, ancient, dangerous, freighted with America’s sins.” —Robert Macfarlane, author of Underland Kerri Arsenault grew up in the small, rural town of Mexico, Maine, where for over 100 years the community orbited around a paper mill that provided jobs for nearly everyone in town, including three generations of her family. Kerri had a happy childhood, but years after she moved away, she realized the price she paid for that childhood. The price everyone paid. The mill, while providing the social and economic cohesion for the community, also contributed to its demise. Mill Town is a book of narrative nonfiction, investigative memoir, and cultural criticism that illuminates the rise and collapse of the working-class, the hazards of loving and leaving home, and the ambiguous nature of toxics and disease with the central question; Who or what are we willing to sacrifice for our own survival?
Download or read book Dioxins and Health written by A. Schecter and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 1994-12-31 with total page 740 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book originated in a series of cross-disciplinary conversations in the years 1984-1990 between the editor, who is a physician-researcher involved in clinical and laboratory research, and a dioxin toxicologist. During the years in which the conversations took place, an extraordinary amount of new scientific literature was published related to dioxins, defined for purposes of this text as the chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins, dibenzofurans, polychlorinated biphe nyls (PCB's) and other compounds that are structurally and toxicologically similar to 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (2,3,7 ,8-TCDD), the most extensively studied and most toxic of this group of chemicals. Dioxins also began to interest not only chemists and toxicologists, but also specialists from diverse disciplines such as wildlife and environmental science, immunology, neuroscience,public health, epidemiology, med icine, government, law, sociology, and journalism. Specialists from such varied disciplines, while familiar with their own literature, frequently did not have time to follow the dioxin literature outside their specialty area. In addition, each specialty had unique knowledge, methods, and perspectives. Cross disciplinary conversation was necessary, but all too frequently, specialists from the various disciplines did not speak the same language, resulting in misunderstanding.
Download or read book Toxicological Profile for Chlorinated Dibenzo p dioxins written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book From Enemies to Partners written by Le Ke Son and published by G. Anton Publishing. This book was released on 2018-02-28 with total page 242 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Vietnam War the U.S. sprayed herbicides over South Vietnam to defoliate forests and destroy food crops. Most of the herbicides were code named Agent Orange and most of the Agent Orange was contaminated with dioxin, a highly toxic substance. Since 1991, scientists at the U.S. Institute of Medicine have shown dioxin to be a risk factor in a growing number of illnesses and birth defects. Their research is corroborated by the work of Vietnamese scientists. In 2007, 32 years after the end of the war, the governments of Vietnam and the United States began to address this war legacy on the ground in Vietnam. In the opening essay, How We Got Here and What¿s Next, Son and Bailey outline the moral reasoning for a fuller American response and present further steps the U.S. and Vietnam can each take in a joint humanitarian initiative to resolve the legacy of Agent Orange/ dioxin in Vietnam. The authors then address the critical issues of whether dioxin pollution still exists in Vietnam, what needs to be done to finish the job of clean up, how many victims of Agent Orange carry out their lives today, does dioxin exposure lead to birth defects, and the impact of Agent Orange on relations between the U.S. and Vietnam.
Download or read book The Fight Against Monsanto s Roundup written by Mitchel Cohen and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2019-01-08 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “We are being poisoned, and this book is sounding a well-informed alarm. Read it. Get educated and then join the thousands rising up against those who care more for profit than the health of our bodies and our earth.”–Eve Ensler, New York Times bestselling author Chemical poisons have infiltrated all facets of our lives – housing, agriculture, work places, sidewalks, subways, schools, parks, even the air we breathe. More than half a century since Rachel Carson issued Silent Spring – her call-to-arms against the poisoning of our drinking water, food, animals, air, and the natural environment – The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup takes a fresh look at the politics underlying the mass use of pesticides and the challenges people around the world are making against the purveyors of poison and the governments that enable them. The scientists and activists contributing to The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup, edited by long-time Green activist Mitchel Cohen, explore not only the dangers of glyphosate – better known as “Roundup” – but the campaign resulting in glyphosate being declared as a probable cancer-causing agent. In an age where banned pesticides are simply replaced with newer and more deadly ones, and where corporations such as Monsanto, Bayer, Dow and DuPont scuttle attempts to regulate the products they manufacture, what is the effective, practical, and philosophical framework for banning glyphosate and other pesticides? The Fight Against Monsanto's Roundup: The Politics of Pesticides takes lessons from activists who have come before and offers a radical approach that is essential for defending life on this planet and creating for our kids, and for ourselves, a future worth living in.
Download or read book Powerless Science written by Soraya Boudia and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In spite of decades of research on toxicants, along with the growing role of scientific expertise in public policy and the unprecedented rise in the number of national and international institutions dealing with environmental health issues, problems surrounding contaminants and their effects on health have never appeared so important, sometimes to the point of appearing insurmountable. This calls for a reconsideration of the roles of scientific knowledge and expertise in the definition and management of toxic issues, which this book seeks to do. It looks at complex historical, social, and political dynamics, made up of public controversies, environmental and health crises, economic interests, and political responses, and demonstrates how and to what extent scientific knowledge about toxicants has been caught between scientific, economic, and political imperatives. Soraya Boudia is Professor of Science, Technology, and Innovation Studies at the University of Paris-Est Marne-la-Vallée. Her scholarly work focuses on the transnational government of technological and health environmental risks. She has co-edited a special issue of History and Technology, "Risk and risk Society in Historical Perspective" (2007), and Toxicants, Health and Regulations Since 1945 (Pickering & Chatto, 2013), both with Nathalie Jas. Nathalie Jas is a Senior Researcher at the French National Institute for Agricultural Research (INRA). A historian and a STS scholar, her scholarly work analyses the intensification of agriculture and its social, environmental, and health effects. She has co-edited a special issue of History and Technology, "Risk and risk Society in Historical Perspective" (2007), and Toxicants, Health and Regulations Since 1945 (Pickering & Chatto, 2013), both with Soraya Boudia.
Download or read book Dioxins in the Environment written by Great Britain. Central Directorate of Environmental Protection and published by . This book was released on 1989 with total page 122 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2011-07-01 with total page 158 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Over 3 million U.S. military personnel were sent to Southeast Asia to fight in the Vietnam War. Since the end of the Vietnam War, veterans have reported numerous health effects. Herbicides used in Vietnam, in particular Agent Orange have been associated with a variety of cancers and other long term health problems from Parkinson's disease and type 2 diabetes to heart disease. Prior to 1997 laws safeguarded all service men and women deployed to Vietnam including members of the Blue Navy. Since then, the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) has established that Vietnam veterans are automatically eligible for disability benefits should they develop any disease associated with Agent Orange exposure, however, veterans who served on deep sea vessels in Vietnam are not included. These "Blue Water Navy" veterans must prove they were exposed to Agent Orange before they can claim benefits. At the request of the VA, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examined whether Blue Water Navy veterans had similar exposures to Agent Orange as other Vietnam veterans. Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure comprehensively examines whether Vietnam veterans in the Blue Water Navy experienced exposures to herbicides and their contaminants by reviewing historical reports, relevant legislation, key personnel insights, and chemical analysis to resolve current debate on this issue.
