Jaclyn's Environmental Health Blog

There are 3 water sewage facilities in San Francisco: Southeast, Oceanside, and North Point. The southeast water treatment facility is the largest in the city and can be found located in the Bayview neighborhood. This facility treats 80% of the city's flow of water; this equates to 57 million gallons of waste water per day. As this system was built in 1952, majority of the system is running on dated technology and will need to be updated to keep up with the city's needs. Oceanside treatment facility is located by the Great Highway and treats approximately 20% of the city's water flow; this equates to 17 million gallons of waste water per day. The water that has been treated here flows right back to the ocean. This facility is the newest facility built (1993), but needs constant maintenance due to the harsh marine weather by the ocean. The North Point treatment facility is located near fisherman's wharf and only operates when the Southeast facility nears its capacity...

"Ditch the plastic, fill from the tap!"  This would be my national campaign slogan to deter people from choosing plastic water bottles over using reusable bottles refilled from the tap. Thankfully, re-usable water bottles are becoming increasingly popular and it is hard to come across a person who does not own one. The campaign would emphasize the quality testing of the local tap water to gain consumer trust. A large portion of the campaign would be focused on increasing monetary support and expand the local water treatment systems. A specialized focus will be on underserved communities as these are known to be overlooked by governmental bodies. Our campaign would work to fix the Flint water crisis and ensure similar events to that extent will never occur again.

By looking at San Francisco County's consumer confidence report, I was able to learn more about where my drinking water came from and how it is treated. The county's major water source is from Sierra snowmelt flowing down into Hetch Hetchy Reservoir. Water is also collected from two local watersheds and surface water. The water arrives to the treatment plant for treatment before reaching the tap. The water is treated in the following ways: ultraviolet light and chlorine disinfection, pH adjustment for optimum corrosion control, fluoridation for dental health protection, and chloramination for maintaining disinfectant residual and minimizing the formation of disinfection of byproducts. The water quality report from 2017 showed all tested chemicals were within the range of the public health goal. I did not expect to see radioactive contaminants as an expected contaminant in the water. I delved deeper and looked into the lead testing off all SFUSD schools and was shocked to find...

This module was very timely for me as I had just watched a Netflix "Explained" episode on drinking water. We take things for granted when they are so easily accessible, like water. We can easily turn on the water in our home and we would have immediate access. We rarely think about how this clean water got to us and how much of it is left on the planet. Californians were reminded of how precious water was during the drought we recently came out of. Unfortunately, many Californians have probably gone back to their 'wasteful' ways now that we have emerged from the drought. The Clean Water Act of 1972 was pivotal in the way we view water. Prior to the act, rivers and other natural sources of water were carelessly polluted. There were no regulations in what individuals and large companies would dump into the water. The Act pushed for regulations and prevention of pollutants getting into our natural water sources. Without the act, the Chicago river would be hazardous ...

When I was younger, we actually had a guidance implemented on using fragrance free products. This was the time when AXE body spray was highly popular and teenage boys were spraying it everywhere. I think the teachers/administration/students were becoming nauseated by the fumes that the school had issued a guidance on using fragrance free products. They supported it as the fragrances  were irritating for those with allergies and/or scent sensitivities. This is something they now do with peanuts in schools. Since there are many children with peanut allergies, most schools now as that students not bring in peanut based products. Implementing a fragrance free policy in a school or hospital would be manageable. It would become difficult when trying to implement this same policy in gyms, universities, or workplaces. It becomes a touchy subject in these settings as you begin to control a person's personal choice. WeWork recently tried to implement a meat-free policy at their company, wh...

Most people do not know that radon is the second leading cause for lung cancer (I was unaware of this prior to the video clip). Radon is just as easily preventable as cigarette smoke. Just as you were to remove cigarettes from your home, you can work to reduce radon exposure within your home. Radon is a naturally occuring odorless chemical that is radioctive from decaying uranium in the ground. To assess whether your home has unsafe level exposures of radon, you will first need to buy a radon kit and send it in for results. If the results come back at safe levels, you will need to retest in a few years as radon levels constantly change. If the results come back at unsafe levels, you will need to hire an EPA Certified radon professional. A national awareness campaign should be implemented so all citizens are aware of the potential dangers. Extra focus should be put on areas where homes are more likely to have people living in basements as they are closer to exposures. I am thinking...

Perchlorethylene is a common cleaning product used in dry cleaning, which is rapidly excreted but can still do damage to the body. The chemical can cross the placenta in a pregnant woman's womb. The chemical not only poses a threat to workers in the dry cleaning industry, but also to the indivudals who take their clothes home. The fumes can be inhaled, especially if not cleaned properly. They have also been found to contaminate food of grocery stores next to dry cleaning places. Another lecture of interest was the lead used in gasoline and industrial factories. The lead that gets emitted cannot decompose because it is an element so it becomes settled in the streets, soil, etc. Using the TOXNET database, I looked up for more information regarding urea formaldehyde. From my search, I found that the acute oral dose for rats was 414 mg/kg and for rabbits, it was 1120mg/kg. There were no information regarding the lethal dose for humans as this would be inhumane to experiment this on...

The public transportation system in the San Francisco Bay Area could be revamped to be more efficient and clean. While we do have transportation above and underground, the system is still not as efficient as we see in other countries. Transportation within the central part of the city is great, but getting out to the more residential areas can be time consuming. I live in Visitacion Valley, which is by Cow Palace in the City. When I first moved to the home in 3rd grade, the only way to get into the city would be with the 8 bus. It wasn't until I was in high school when they finished building the muni line so that the T train could take residents into the city more efficiently. Overall, it is still much more efficient to drive so I use my car almost every day. With a better public transit system, I would be able to use my car less and ultimately contribute less to the overall pollution in the city. Having used public transport in other cities such as London, Paris, Hong Kong, a...

Using the website, http://www.scorecard.org/ , I was able to input my zip code and it provided me with environmental details of the neighborhood. The zip code I entered, 94134, pulled up the scorecard for the whole San Francisco County. The county ranked among the dirtier 30% of all US counties. The top 3 polluters are: SF Drydock Inc, Chevron Co., and PG&E Power Plant. SF Drydock is the highest polluter; it has a low cancer risk score but a 70% non cancer risk score. The top 3 pollutants in the county are: Xylene (mixed isomers), N-Butyl alcohol, and N-Hexane. In San Francisco County, 7% of houses have a high risk of lead hazards. There are approximately 210,000 housing units built before 1950.  The county was ranked among the top 10% of counties in the US in terms of number of Superfund sites. A Superfund site is any land in the US that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and has been identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup due to it's potential risk to ...

Though slavery was made illegal in 1865, we still see widespread discrimination against African Americans. Disparities can be seen within the healthcare system, education system, workplace, etc. We see systemic racism against African Americans and it doesn't seem to be going away soon enough. Environmental injustice against this community is often overlooked because it is not found in the news and not seen on a day-to-day basis unless you live in these affected communities. I do not find it surprising that corporations and dumps have found their way into dumping waste near these predominately African American neighborhoods. Could you imagine the backlash a wealthy white neighborhood would bring if they found out there would be a dump made in their neighborhoods? They have the money and power to stop such an endeavor while the low income minority communities would not even know that a dump is being made near by. Even if there were protests by the community, their yells would be m...

There is increasing amount of evidence to show that our children, one of the world's most vulnerable, are facing higher health risks due to chemical use. As an individual with a science background and sense of common knowledge, it is hard for me to waive off the potential negative effects chemicals have on children. Chemical production companies claim that their products are safe because hazardous effects cannot be seen with such little exposure in parts per billion. It is hard to accept their claim when we are seeing a rise in developmental disorders and other health effects among children. It has long been believed that fetuses in the womb are protected by the placenta but studies now show that children are exposed to the mother's chemicals in the womb. Children are exposed to toxic chemicals before they even have a fair shot at life. With evidence that fetuses are not protected in the placenta, we will see increased health disparities among income levels. "One'...

It is amazing to me that the government has still not stepped in to enforce tighter regulations around man made chemicals, despite blood burden tests showing high levels of chemicals in our bodies. It was especially alarming to find out the child, who was only 18 months at the time, had the highest levels of chemicals within their family. I would assume that the children would have the least amount of chemical exposure because they have spent less time being exposed to the chemicals. After the initial shock of hearing the high levels of chemicals in the child, I was filled with anger. How can we knowingly continue to let our children be exposed to these harmful chemicals?? Where is the government to protect us? It is clear that the chemical production companies are denying the potential health effects for their monetary gain. Though it is not easy to point a direct cause of an illness to one chemical, there is no doubt that the accumulation of chemicals is causing us health problems....

Ken Cook's discussion on "10 Americans" is a video every adult should watch. Chemical exposure in-utero is overlooked but we need to begin examining this more as we see an increase in overall health issues. Health issues that were never an issue in past generations are now becoming the norm. For example, rates of allergies, cancers, infertility, and autism are on a steady rise. It was shocking to find that the hundreds of chemicals found in the blood were from unborn children. These young children have not even had a chance to live yet and they already are exposed to detrimental health exposures. The children are our future and we need protect them and ensure that they all have a fair chance at life. There are currently approximately 1,400 chemicals that are banned by the European Union but still being used in the US. The US is so consumed with profits and are neglecting the health of it's citizens. More regulations need to be put in place to prevent new chemicals...

The first item I looked up was a candle because I have recently discovered the power a candle has to calm oneself. This is currently my favorite household item - I use it when I read or when I just need to unwind from a long day. Though the database did not have the specific candle I use, I chose a candle in the same form that I use (traditional wax). Before this class, I would have never thought candles would be a health hazard but when I started typing in 'candle' in the database, I began to worry that candles would be a serious health hazard. I was happy to find that the Health Rating was a '1' (on a 0 to 5 scale), which is a 'slight' health hazard. The website states that unnecessary exposure should be avoided, but necessity is subjective in this case. I don't use a candle every day and I could live without them but sometimes I do feel it is necessary in helping me de-stress.  The second item I looked up was my laundry detergent brand, "All"...

Using the Safe Cosmetics Database,  http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ , I first looked up my favorite cosmetic brand as I use quite a bit of their products - Benefit Cosmetics. I started using this brand as it was founded and headquartered right here in San Francisco. Since it was all started and developed here, it felt close to home and safe to use. They also do not do testing on animals, which is a huge plus for me. I was sad to see that my favorite mascara is on the list! The rating this product received was a "4", which is a moderate risk. I would need to research further as there is limited data for this and it makes me wonder why the other Benefit products do not show up on the website. Are they safe to use? The second product I looked up is my mouth wash, ACT Advanced Care. This was highly recommended to me by my dentist and I have not used any other brands since. Before this, I was using Listerine, which would leave a burning sensation in my mouth. ACT feels gentle yet e...