New Methods Detect “Hotspots” of Cumulative Exposures in California Communities

Richmond, California, is one of the four cities chosen to study the level of outdoor particulate matter and how air quality effects the health of the community. New Methods Detect “Hotspots” of Cumulative Exposures in California Communities is this issue’s r2p Spotlight.

Outdoor levels of particulate matter air pollution in Richmond are among the highest in California. The city is a busy hub of truck, rail, and marine transportation and home to Chevron Richmond, one of the major refineries in the United States. Yet it is the cumulative exposure to multiple stressors in this community such as noise, crime, and poverty, and their potential to amplify the health effects of specific exposures like air pollution, that now concerns scientists and policymakers.

The Northern California Household Exposure Study, conducted by UC Berkeley professor Rachel Morello-Frosch with colleagues at Brown University, Silent Spring Institute, and Communities for a Better environment, compared environmental exposures in a fence-line community bordering the Chevron Richmond refinery with a group of Bay Area homes located in rural Bolinas, California, where the air is cleaner. read more

Charting the Future of Exposure Science

The US National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a major report offering a strategy to advance the future of exposure science. It includes a road map of technologic developments and strategic collaborations to move the field from a focus on single exposures toward an integrated approach that takes both human and ecologic systems into account. read more

Paid Internships Attract Students to Occupational and Environmental Health

Each year, COEH awards nine week summer internships to undergraduate students. The program titled, “Short Term Educational Experiences for Research in Environmental Health for Undergraduate Students,” or STEER, pairs interns with mentors in such fields as toxicology, biology, epidemiology, exposure assessment, ergonomics, and geospatial analysis from UC Berkeley’s School of Public Health.
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SAVE THE DATE!

COEH Past, Present, and Future

May 10, 2013
9:00 AM - 5:15 PM
Brower Center, Downtown Berkeley

Theme: Protecting Communities and Workers in the California of Tomorrow. Learning from Our Past and Building on Our Strengths.

Celebration Reception to Follow
5:30 PM - 7:00 PM

The Don Whorton Writing Award is offered by the Northern California Center for Occupational and Environmental Health. The award program strives to honor the late Dr. Whorton by encouraging and recognizing important new voices in occupational and environmental research.

Learn more at:
http://coeh.berkeley.edu/students/
WhortonAward.html