- Home
- Quick Links
- About DEOHS
- Prospective Students
- Research & Centers
- Business/Labor Resources
- Faculty/Staff/Students
- Alumni
- Make a Gift
Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
About DEOHS
Clean Air | Agricultural Safety and Health | Service to the State | Toxicology and Genetics | Global Health | Higher Education
Clean Water | Community Partnerships | Occupational Health and Safety | Preparing for the Future | Research to Practice
Continuing Education
Clean Air
Air Pollution Exposure and Blood Pressure
In large cities, neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status tend to have
higher levels of air pollutants than wealthier communities. Using a nationwide epidemiologic study of 50,000 women, Stephanie Chan (MPH, 2011) found that exposure to increased concentrations of fine particulate matter, one component of air pollution, was associated with increased systolic and diastolic blood pressure.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/research_day/graduates/thesisabstract/abstract11/chan.php
UW Center for Clean Air Research
The UW Center for Clean Air Research conducts studies on the cardiovascular health effects of near-roadway pollution. The center is part of the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s large-scale effort to study complex mixtures
of air pollutants and their effects on vulnerable populations, including children,
the elderly, and people with chronic cardiac or respiratory disease.
http://depts.washington.edu/uwccar/
Argicultural Safety and Health
Pesticide Safety
The Pacific Northwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (PNASH), in partnership with local growers, applicators, and state agencies, has shown that pesticide handlers are at greater risk for exposure when they mix and load pesticides and decontaminate equipment. These and other hazards are being addressed with regional stakeholders in a new guide, Practical Solutions for Pesticide Safety.
http://depts.washington.edu/pnash/
Stories to Teach
PNASH uses the power of storytelling as an educational tool in a project called
Reality Tales. To promote safe farm practices, compelling narratives in Spanish about farm workers and their families are aired on radio stations around Washington state and streamed online from PNASH’s Listening Library. Heat illness, ladder safety, and pesticide exposure are among the topics covered.
http://depts.washington.edu/pnash/audio_library
Service to the State
Protecting Winery Workers
Washington state, with more than 650 wineries, is the second largest producer of wine in the United States. Many of the smaller wineries use seasonal or minimally trained volunteers. With funding from the Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, the Field Research and Consultation Group is developing accessible health and safety information specifically for this industry.
http://depts.washington.edu/frcg/
Health and Safety Training
Department faculty and staff are dedicated to improving the health and safety of workers in Washington state. For example, Lecturer Richard Gleason (photo below left) has taught occupational health and safety classes for the past 15 years to graduate students and to working professionals through the Pacific Northwest Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Education Center.
https://osha.washington.edu/
Toxicology and Genetics
Nanotoxicology Center
The federally funded UW Nanotoxicology Center integrates expertise from
multiple disciplines and institutions to investigate the potential toxicity and
environmental effects of nanomaterials, in particular quantum dots (Qdots).
The center develops standardized techniques, analytical tools, and mathe-
matical models to assess health impacts and inform the safe design of Qdots.
http://depts.washington.edu/nanotox/
Genetics and Pesticides
Some individuals may be more at risk of adverse health effects if exposed to high levels of organophosphate pesticides. Department researchers have discovered that people with particular genotypes for paraoxonase 1 (PON 1) are more susceptible. PON1 is an enzyme in our bodies that plays an important role in breaking down these pesticides into much less toxic forms.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/faculty.php?Costa_Lucio
Global Health
Shanghai Women Textile Workers
Partnering with researchers from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Fudan University in Shanghai, China, Professor Harvey Checkoway is studying a cohort of Shanghai women textile workers. The researchers are investigating occupational exposures, especially endotoxins, in relation to risks for various cancers and parkinsonism.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/faculty.php?Checkoway_Harvey
Clinical Rotations in Brunei
For the second year, trainees in the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Residency program have traveled to Brunei on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia to complete one-month clinical rotations. Working alongside occupational medicine physicians from Brunei, the residents see patients, assist in worksite health and safety visits, and share best practices with their Bruneian colleagues.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/prospective/acad_programs/oemp
Higher Education
Students Conduct Research in the Community
Our students’ research may have far-reaching impacts. For example, Anna Schmidt (MS, 2011) found a low-income population in South Seattle was comparable to other high fish-consuming populations, such as Native Americans. Regulators use fish consumption rates to set water quality standards. This study suggests that low-income populations should be considered in policy decisions.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/research_day/graduates/thesisabstract/abstract11/schmidt.php
Global Environmental Health Course
Global Environmental Health, a new course offered by Associate Professor
William Daniell, examines environmental health concerns in the context of social, economic, and other factors that mitigate the effects of environmental hazards or otherwise influence population health. Broadening student perspectives to the global level brings new understanding to their public health experience.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/faculty.php?Daniell_William
Clean Water
Protecting Salmon
Professor Evan Gallagher researches how metals such as copper can interfere with the ability of salmon to detect predators and locate their natal streams. His research can help inform policies that make water safer for salmon. Recent Washington state legislation limits copper in vehicle brake pads that makes its way into waterways through urban runoff
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/faculty.php?Gallagher_Evan
Good and Bad Algae
The Algae and Human Health Symposium, co-organized by the Pacific Northwest Center for Human Health and Ocean Studies, highlighted positive and negative effects of algae. The author of The Irish Seaweed Kitchen shared health benefits and recipes, and state and federal agency representatives described surveillance strategies to track algal blooms and efforts to better protect humans and animals.
http://depts.washington.edu/pnwh2o/
Community Partnerships
Measuring Children’s Pesticide Exposure
The Center for Child Environmental Health Risks Research partners with agricultural communities in Washington’s Yakima Valley to reduce children’s exposure to pesticides. PhD student Jenna Armstrong is working with center researchers and partners to investigate the accuracy of measuring organophosphate pesticides and their potentially toxic byproducts in air and dust.
http://depts.washington.edu/chc/
Holding Mother Earth Sacred
The Northwest Center for Occupational Health & Safety sponsored a tour of “Holding Mother Earth Sacred” to the UW Spring Pow Wow, Northwest Indian College, Duwamish Tribe Longhouse, and Squaxin Island Tribe Museum Library and Research Center. The photo exhibit features tribal communities’ efforts to develop energy resources, create jobs, and improve worker health and safety.
http://depts.washington.edu/nwcohs/
Occupational Health and Safety
Worker Safety Training
The Field Research and Consultation Group uses real-time video exposure
monitoring as a training and assessment tool that shows workers and management the effectiveness of exposure controls and identifies specific sources of worker exposure. The tool has been used in nail salons, arc welding, grinding, and radio frequency welding operations.
http://depts.washington.edu/frcg/
Metal Recycling
Immigrant laborers are at greater risk of injury than native-born workers. Professor Noah Seixas and colleagues partnered with a scrap metal recycling business (photo left) and its workers’ labor union to define how the company’s safety committee can effectively address safety and health issues in this high-hazard environment. The project is funded by the state’s Department of Labor & Industries.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/faculty.php?Seixas_Noah
Preparing for the future
Impact of Climate Change
UW School of Public Health scientists examined deaths from extreme heat in
the Northwest and predicted that mortality rates will grow substantially as
temperatures increase over the next 20–40 years. Projections show severe heat will disproportionately affect the elderly. Researchers are working with local health agencies to develop action plans to protect vulnerable populations.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/newsletter/EHnews-AutWin2010/climate.html
Public Health and the Built Environment
The design of places where we live, work, and play can affect physical and mental health and address inequities. New interdisciplinary courses focus on research and tools that document associations between the built environment and human health. Students learn how to assess the public health impacts of transportation and land-use projects and how to convey this information to decision makers.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/newsletter/EHnews-w2011/ph.html
Research to Practice
Crab Fishing Safety
Dungeness crab fishers work on small vessels in precarious conditions. To improve safety, the Field Research and Consultation Group worked with Oregon Health Sciences University and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Alaska Field Station to survey commercial crab fishers on practices and have them field-test life vests.
http://depts.washington.edu/frcg/
MRSA Study and Fire Station Protocols
A collaboration between our department and Snohomish County Fire District 1
led to the first-ever study of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in Northwest fire stations and on fire personnel to determine the extent of contamination. Study findings led to a number of protocol changes to improve decontamination of environmental surfaces inside fire stations and trucks.
http://depts.washington.edu/envhlth/newsletter/EHnews-a10/mrsa.html
Continuing Education
Training Day Laborers
Our Continuing Education Programs (CE) partner with Casa Latina, a Seattle-based non-profit that assists seasonal workers. Through funding from the
Occupational Safety & Health Administration, CE created a half-day course in Spanish to teach workers to recognize hazards they may face and how to stay safe. Casa Latina staff offer the course monthly.
https://osha.washington.edu
National Health Care Ergonomics Conference
With the Washington State Safe Patient Handling Committee and the Oregon
Coalition for HealthCare Ergonomics, CE helped organize the June 2011 National Health Care Ergonomics Conference in Tacoma, Washington. Local and national speakers addressed strategies and policies to better prevent injury to patients and healthcare workers.
https://osha.washington.edu
©
2012 Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences
School of Public Health, University of Washington
Box 357234, Seattle, Washington, USA 98195-7234
Phone: 206-543-6991, Fax: 206-616-0477, email ehadmin@u.washington.edu
The School of Public Health's logo (Soul Catcher) is a Northwest Coast Indian symbol of physical and mental well-being. It was designed by artist Marvin Oliver and is a registered trademark of the School.