TOPIC OF CONCERN - International Environmental & Occupational Health
Our Involvement | Research | Other Resources
About International Environmental & Occupational Health
More than 2.6 billion people – forty per cent of the world's population – lack basic sanitation facilities, and over one billion people still use unsafe drinking water sources. As a result, thousands of children die every day from diarrhoea and other water-, sanitation- and hygiene-related diseases and many more suffer and are weakened by illness, according to UNICEF.
Each year, more than two million workers worldwide die from hazardous working conditions, according to International Labour Organization (ILO). Another 270 million will be injured and 160 million will be diagnosed with occupational disease.
The University of Washington Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences is involved with both environmental and occupational health issues internationally.
Our Involvement
Faculty
- Scott Barnhart, MD, MPH
- Janice Camp, MSN, MSPH, CIH
- Harvey Checkoway, PhD
- David Kalman, PhD
- Matthew Kiefer, MD, MPH
Courses
- ENV H 546 Pesticides and Public Health
Centers and Institutes
Service
Graduate student Erica Finsness' journal of her month in Cambodia with an NGO (Resource Development International - Cambodia) that focuses on water, sanitation, health promotion, and sustainability
News Coverage
An international perspective (Cambodia) DEOHS Graduate Program catalog, 2006.
Avian flu (Cameroon) DEOHS Graduate Program catalog, 2006.
Graduate student goes to Ecuador. DEOHS Biennial Report 2003-2005
Crossing borders. Environmental Health News winter 2004
Health & safety in Southeast Asia. Environmental Health News winter 2004.
Ecoamigos: Learning from life's lessons. Environmental Health News winter 2004.
Trouble in paradise: How a delicacy can make cooks sick. DOEHS Biennial Report 2001-2003.
Collaborating on Children's Health. Environmental Health News Autumn 2002
Working in Asia. Environmental Health News winter 2001
Research
Graduate Students
- George Astrakianakis, PhD (2005)
- Cotton dust, endotoxin exposure and the risk of lung cancer among female textile workers in Shanghai (Noah Seixas)
- Jonathan Hofmann, MPH (2004)
- Mortality among a cohort of DBCP-exposed banana plantation workers in Costa Rica (Matthew Keifer)
- Sinang Lee, MPH (2006)
- Translation of the fluorescent tracer technique from a research dermal exposure assessment method to a pesticide safety educational tool (Richard Fenske)
- Laura McLaughlin, MS (2006)
- Chlorine and UV-disinfection as drinking water treatment options for rural areas of less developed countries (John Scott Meschke)
- Phoung Thi Nguyen, MS (2004)
- Silica exposure assessment of refractory brick workers in Vietnam (Mike Yost)
- Son Phan, MPH (2006)
- A study of silicosis risk on Vietnamese refractory brick workers (Matthew Keifer)
- Dung Tri Phung, MPH (2006)
- The patterns of at work injuries in community in Viet Nam (Matthew Keifer)
- Phayong Thepaksorn, MPH (2006)
- The mortality of occupational accidents and injuries in Thailand (Matthew Keifer)
- Lisa R. Younglove, MPH (2004)
- Evaluation of exposure to chlorpyrifos and diazinon in pesticide applicators and their children in rural Nicaragua (Richard Fenske)
- Wenjie Zhu, MS (2004)
- Application of GPS/GIS in Chinese farmers for assessment of potential organophosphate pesticide exposures from crop residues (Michael Yost)
Peer Reviewed Publications
Astrakianakis G, Seixas NS, Camp JE, Christiani DC, Feng Z, Thomas DB, Checkoway H. Modeling, estimation and validation of cotton dust and endotoxin exposures in Chinese textile operations. Ann Occup Hyg. 2006 Aug;50(6):573-582.
Astrakianakis G, Seixas N, Camp J, Smith TJ, Bartlett K, Checkoway H. Cotton dust and endotoxin levels in three Shanghai textile factories: a comparison of samplers. J Occup Environ Hyg. 2006 Aug;3(8):418-427.
Bates MN, Rey OA, Biggs ML, Hopenhayn C, Moore LE, Kalman D, Steinmaus C, Smith AH. Case-control study of bladder cancer and exposure to arsenic in Argentina. Am J Epidemiol. 2004 Feb 15;159(4):381-9.
Camp J, Seixas N, Wernli K, Fitzgibbons D, Astrakianakis G, Thomas DB, Gao DL, Checkoway H. Development of a cancer research study in the Shanghai textile industry. Int J Occup Environ Health 2003; 9:347-356
Chai SK, Nga NN, Checkoway H, Takaro TK, Redding GJ, Keifer MC, Trung LV, Barnhart S. Comparison of local risk factors for children's atopic symptoms in Hanoi, Vietnam. Allergy 2004.
Chang CK, Astrakianakis G, Thomas DB, Seixas NS, Camp JE, Ray RM, Gao DL, Wernli KJ, Li W, Fitzgibbons ED, Vaughan TL, Checkoway H. Risks of biliary tract cancer and occupational exposures among Shanghai women textile workers: a case-cohort study. Am J Ind Med. 2006 Aug;49(8):690-698.
Chang CK, Astrakianakis G, Thomas DB, Seixas NS, Ray RM, Gao DL, Wernli KJ, Fitzgibbons ED, Vaughan TL, Checkoway H. Occupational exposures and risks of liver cancer among Shanghai female textile workers--a case-cohort study. Int J Epidemiol. 2006 Apr;35(2):361-369.
De Roos AJ, Ray RM, Gao DL, Wernli KJ, Fitzgibbons ED, Ziding F, Astrakianakis G, Thomas DB, Checkoway H. Colorectal cancer incidence among female textile workers in Shanghai, China: a case-cohort analysis of occupational exposures. Cancer Causes Control. 2005 Dec;16(10):1177-1188.
Gold LS, De Roos AJ, Ray RM, Wernli K, Fitzgibbons ED, Gao DL, Astrakianakis G, Feng Z, Thomas D, Checkoway H. Brain tumors and occupational exposures in a cohort of female textile workers in Shanghai, China. Scand J Work Environ Health. 2006 Jun;32(3):178-184.
Haque R, Mazumder DNG, Samanta S, Gnosh N, Kalman D, et al. Arsenic in drinking water and skin lesions: Dose-response data from West Bengal, India. Epidemiology 2003; 14(2):174-182.
Hughes JP, Polissar L, van Belle G: Evaluation and synthesis of health effects studies of communities surrounding arsenic producing industries. International Journal of Epidemiology 17:407-413, 1988.
Li W, Ray RM, Gao DL, Fitzgibbons ED, Seixas NS, Camp JE, Wernli KJ, Astrakianakis G, Feng Z, Thomas DB, Checkoway H. Occupational risk factors for nasopharyngeal cancer among female textile workers in Shanghai, China. Occup Environ Med. 2006 Jan;63(1):39-44.
Monge P, Wesseling C, Engel LS, Keifer M, Zuurbier M, Rojas M, Partanen T. An icon-based interview for the assessment of occupational pesticide exposure in a case-control study of childhood leukemia. Int J Occup Environ Health 2004; 10(1):72-8.
Nga NN, Chai SK, Bihn TT, Redding G, Takaro T, Checkoway H, Son PH, Van DK, Keifer M, Trungle V, Barnhart S. ISAAC-based asthma and atopic symptoms among Ha Noi school children. Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2003; 14(4):272-9.
Regalado J, Perez-Padilla R, Sansores R, Paramo-Ramirez JI, Brauer M, Pare P, Vedal S. The effect of biomass burning on respiratory symptoms and lung function in rural Mexican women. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2006 Jun 23; print citation
Wernli KJ, Astrakianakis G, Camp JE, Ray RM, Chang CK, Li GD, Thomas DB, Checkoway H, Seixas NS. Development of a job exposure matrix (JEM) for the textile industry in Shanghai, China. J Occup Environ Hyg. 2006 Oct;3(10):521-529.
Wernli KJ, Fitzgibbons ED, Ray RM, Gao DL, Li W, Seixas NS, Camp JE, Astrakianakis G, Feng Z, Thomas DB, Checkoway H. Occupational risk factors for esophageal and stomach cancers among female textile workers in Shanghai, China. Am J Epidemiol. 2006 Apr 15;163(8):717-725.
Wernli KJ, Ray RM, Gao DL, De Roos AJ, Checkoway H, Thomas DB. Menstrual and reproductive factors in relation to risk of endometrial cancer in Chinese women. Cancer Causes Control. 2006 Sep;17(7):949-955.
Wong EY, Ray R, Gao DL, Wernli KJ, Li W, Fitzgibbons ED, Feng Z, Thomas DB, Checkoway H. Reproductive history, occupational exposures, and thyroid cancer risk among women textile workers in Shanghai, China. Int Arch Occup Environ Health. 2006 Mar;79(3):251-258.
Conference Preseantions
Croteau G, Camp J, Yost M, Nguyen F, Nguyen B. Silica dust exposures in Vietnamese refractory brick plants, American Industrial Hygiene Conference, May 13-18, 2006, Chicago
Gleason R. Construction and general industry training in Costa Rica and Nicaragua, Workplace Health & Safety in the Global Economy, April 29–30, 2005, Eugene, OR
Hofmann JN, Guardado J, Keifer M, Wesseling C. Mortality among a cohort of DBCP-exposed banana plantation workers in Costa Rica. American Public Health Association, November 2004, Washington, DC
McLaughlin LA, Levy K, Beck NK, Smith JA, Eisenberg JN, Meschke JS. Laboratory efficacy compared to household effectiveness of chlorine use in rural coastal Ecuador, American Society for Microbiology, May 21–15, 2006, Orlando, Florida
