After studying all the materials for this week, there are some parts that are essential for an ideal chemical policy. The most essential I would like to focus is that we should be able to trust our government. We need to trust the law the government regulates releases only safe chemicals. In other words, the government should manage strictly the environmental policies and the federal agencies. It is sad that I cannot trust the government or other federal agencies easily anymore after discovering bad news about the chemicals. However, it is our job as public health care provider to build their trust again. Many people including myself do not investigate or research how much toxic chemicals or pesticides we are exposed by. Some people don't even doubt about toxic chemicals if they see the label as "Organic". All of the elements for The Louisville Charter for Safer Chemicals would contribute for the strict law, but I would emphasize more on "require safer substitutes and solutions" and "give the public and workers the full right-to-know and participate".
Regarding to "require safer substitutes and solutions", it is a serious problem that the United Stated "do not prioritize the production and use of inherently safe chemicals". They should set the goal to make safer substitutes and solutions with specific guidelines. In addition to, the government should ensure that the alternative products are really less hazardous than the previous products. This is because "the replacement is often just as hazardous or simply a reduction of the quantity or concentration of the toxic substance that has been targeted" in most time. It would take a lot of money, but the government should increase the fund for the agencies who regulate the chemicals or the companies, which produce environmental friendly chemicals.
I learned that the most effective way to prevent all the disease or crisis is education. I think it would be applied into public health in same way. Under the ideal chemical policy, the next step (after having a strict law by the government) we can do is educating people. This represents "give the public and workers the full right-to-know". We will continue to be exposed by toxic chemicals if we don't get educations. We would not know when, what, where and how we get exposed. This is also because of "limited practices currently inform workers and communities of some toxic chemical sources and exposures". Therefore, we need to be smarter to see which environment we are surrounded by. We need to know what are alternative solution for reducing the toxic chemicals if we indicate that. For example, the school can provide the class about the chemicals. Also, health care providers can teach the asthma patients to avoid the triggers that causes the asthma. The informations for the patients might be the specific areas or date/time they should not go out side. Also, educating the importance of wearing mask for the patients is another example. In terms of pesticides, people who use the pesticides directly should get educated to wear the protective tools, so it won't go inside their bodies.
Hi Yeana,
ReplyDeleteI wholeheartedly agree that education is the only way to truly affect change. The more knowledge you have, the more power you have. As you mentioned, it is the public health professional's role to help better disseminate this information through campaigns to a wider audience.
I also think the right to know is important for people who are at high risk for exposure due to their job. For example, when you work with chemotherapy significant resources go into educating the workers who are at high risk for exposure. Teaching points often include the harmful side effects, proper use of personal protective equipment, and the additional safeguards in place that offer further protection (example: closed system tubing). Additionally, workers often have an extensive physical exam and lab work completed to develop a baseline which allows for them to note/track changes over time. This same level of education and resources should be given to workers who may be exposed to pesticides on farms or chemicals in manufacturing plants.
Hello Yeana,
ReplyDeleteI agree that public health awareness, through education, is a very effective means of promoting the public's health. It is unfortunate to learn that the government often times is not seeking the best interest of the people. Instead, as you have suggested, we as public health professional, often times are the ones who are needed to stand up for the rights of the citizens. However, we cannot even begin to do this, if we ourselves are not educated on the risk that all of us are placed by the toxic products which are sold and distributed among us.