American Association of Poison Control

It is very easy to ingest harmful chemicals which could poison you. Many people get poisoned sometime in their lifetime. It could be a very serious poison which could possibly lead to death if not treated, or it could also be a type of poison causing great problems to your health. Many poisons are also common things that you have around you at home. If you take more than what is recommended for a medication you could get poisoned. Cleaning products are also poisonous is your drink them on accident. You also have to be careful what you eat because many plants can make you very ill.  

Most of the people that do get poisoned, it is usually unintentional. A medicine might be prescribed at a wrong dosage for you. You would be taking what your doctor recommended thinking it was okay, but it could harm you if it is too high of a dose.  A large number of poison exposure is from children under the age of six. These children do not know what is good and what is bad. These children will try to eat poisonous substances if they are not monitored closely. You can always keep chemicals and hazards to children in a high cabinet so they are unable to have access to it.  Using baby proofing tools will also not let them have access to things that are poisonous. These tools will lock cabinets and you will only know how to open them.

If you suspect a poisoning has occurred you can call the American Association of Poison Control. These are professionals that know how to deal with many situations. They will walk you through what to do next. This poison control number has saved many lives. If you are curious about different poisons they also have many things on their website you can read about. 

FAT TOM

            Food is eaten every day, food can also contain harmful bacteria. The bacteria can grow on food very rapidly. Measures are taken to stop food from going bad like putting it in the fridge. Many other measures are also practiced. Restaurants are not always clean and safe with food. That is why inspectors come in. Inspectors look for things like cleanliness around where food is prepared. Also they inspect how the food is stored and kept.  Restaurants and places that handle food follow guidelines to ensure food safety.

            The food workers follow “FAT TOM” which all of the letters stand for something. This abbreviation is an easy way to remember regulations and safety. The F stands for food. Bacteria looks for food to grow on. Food has nutrients and this bacteria needs that to grow. The next letter A stands for acidity. Acid is measured on a ph scale. A ph of 7 is neutral and below that is acid, the lower the number the more acidic. Bacteria does not like acids, so foods that are high in acid do not contain much bacteria. If the food has little to no acid, bacteria is more likely to grow on this. The next letter is T which stands for temperature. Food that sits out is attacked by bacteria. This is why fridges were made. Storing foods at low temperatures reduces the growth of bacteria. The longer food is left out the warmer it gets and bacteria love this. The next T stands for time this is closely related to temperature. The longer the food stays out the warmer it gets and the more bacteria grow on it. The O is for oxygen, some bacteria need oxygen to grow and some do not need it. The last letter stands for moisture. The higher the moisture the more bacteria. These guidelines should always be followed for the safety of humans. 

Sewage Treatment Sstem

                Everyone produces wastes that leaves the house. Some of this is garbage that can be throw away in trash cans. Some of this is sewage that all humans produce. In America many houses have sewage systems. Houses also use water from sinks and showers, all of this has to go somewhere. People in the city most likely have sewage pipes running away from the house and to a large sewage treatment facility for the town. Some people either prefer to have their own treatment system or they live out in the country too far away for the city to deal with their sewage. This is called a sewage treatment system that is put in the yard close to the house.

                Having a new system put in to your yard will require you to reach out and find someone to consult. You should contact your local health district first. They will send someone out to your house to look at the land you have considering where this sewage system can be placed. Many factors play into where this system can be. Once a site is chosen the soil will be evaluated for thickness and also how close it is to a water system or your drinking water that is used for the house. A designer will help you choose which kind of system you want and evaluating the cost and time spent on the system. You will then hire a contractor and your sewage treatment system will begin to be built.  Once it is built the health department will come out and see if everything is installed and built property. You do not want sewage leaking out of the tank and into your yard. Sewage has many disease it carriers if you or your water supply was infected. The sewage system will then start to run and you will observe if any odd smells or anything odd happens. If not your sewage treatment plant will be up and ready for you to use. 

Coliform Bacteria

                Coliform is a rod-shaped bacteria that is found in many different places. One of these places it is found is in human waste and in the intestinal track.  This bacteria is also found in animals. Animal and human waste contain many different types of bacteria than just coliform. Coliform from fecal matter has contaminating water before which leads to diseases. The more coliform bacteria in the water the less sanitary it is. There is also different types of where coliform comes from that can cause contamination. This bacteria can be found in the soil. Fecal matter gets into the soil and can be carried by water to different places. A term that is used when fecal matter contaminates food is called E.coli. Humans can obtain E.coli from eating under cooked meat from many different animals. Another place where coliform is found is in well water. The bacteria can seep through the well walls is the well is damaged or old. Infected water can be tested for this bacteria. You can also boil the water to make it safe again.

                This bacteria does make humans very sick if it gets inside of them. It causes severe cases of diarrhea. This can dehydrate someone very quickly. It can also cause vomiting, fever and abdominal pain. Your body tries to get this bacteria out of your system. You can buy water testing kits to see if your water is safe to drink and to see if it has any coliform in it. If you do find coliform in water scientists can study it at a lab. You are also able to consult water specialists. These specialists are highly trained and have most likely dealt with this before. Filtration to you water can also work to remove this bacteria, but they will not always work. If your water is discolored it is best to call someone and ask about it. 

Air Quality

                Air quality is very important for the environment and also to humans. Humans breathe about 20,000 breathes every day. Many people are also unaware that some of the air they breathe in is very polluted. Polluted air is most likely around big cities. Factories and vehicles are the biggest problems. Short term exposure causes irritation in the nose throat and lungs. If you are exposed to poor air equality for a long period of time it leads to poor lung function which could possibly lead to lung cancer.

                People are able to check how the air quality is around where they live. The United States has an Environmental Health Agency. This agency has a website and a map that’s shows you how the air quality is around the United States. Air quality is measures on a chart, or air quality index. This chart goes from good being the lowest to hazardous being the highest.  It is based off of numbers 1 being the less hazardous to the highest being 500. The range 1-50 is considered good where the pollutants pose no health effects. In the middle of the numbers this is considered unhealthy and that people may begin to experience health effects. The highest numbers on the chart are labeled as hazardous. Looking at two cities, Cincinnati and Cleveland they have significant different air quality numbers.  The air in the Cleveland area is more polluted than the air in Cincinnati. Many of the numbers from Cleveland are considered unhealthy. If you would live in this area considered unhealthy you would develop health effects from it. These health effects could range from lung disease to even death. The air quality in Cincinnati is considered to be good. The numbers on the chart are low and in the lowest range. Living in a place that is very high with pollutants in the air is very unhealthy and poses great damage to a person’s health. 

Round-Up

            Roundup is a common product that is used to kill weeds. It is used around houses and also in fields by farmers. People use it in landscaping to kill weeds. Farmers use it to protect their crops from weeds. These weeds destroy crop fields. The farmers needs to use this to protect crops because that is how they make money.  

            Humans are exposed to chemicals every day. House hold cleaning products are used around us every day which contain many chemicals. Chemicals are also sprayed on our foods. Some of these chemicals are proving to cause health effects. Round-up contains some chemicals that are extremely unhealthy and deadly for us to get exposed to. An example of one of these chemicals is glyphosate. The amount of glyphosate in roundup is about 41%. This chemical is very effective in killing weeds. This chemical has also been said to severely damage human cells. The company that sells round-up says that it is environment friendly and it leave the soil clean. When round up is sprayed you can either come into contact by breathing it in or getting exposure to it on your skin.  Scientists are now linking round-up to health problems. These are severe health issues that cause people trouble for their whole life. A strong correlation is towards the chemical glyphosate and ADHD. This chemical causes problems to the thyroid hormone. They are also finding traces of this chemical that links to autism. Many radiation exposures and some chemicals leads to cancer, so does this chemical. The things in round-up are causing so many health problems and the list goes on. This will and can end your life. It is not safe at all to use and should be reevaluated to be sold. It should be looked at to take this product off the shelves and find something safer to use than this product.  

Nuclear Power Plants

                 Nuclear power plants provide electricity to many communities. With every form of energy it has pros and cons. Nuclear plants can let off large amounts of radiation. These plants do take seriously safety measures to contain the radiation and not let any leave the plant. With all these precautions and safety measures it still happens.

                Radiation is invisible to the naked eye but the side effects are not. Humans get exposed to radiation almost every day. X-rays are an example these are small exposures that should not cause large health problems concerning humans . If humans were to get exposed to a large concentration of radiation it is known to cause fatal cancer. Animals are similar to humans and can also be greatly affected by radiation. Radiation can kill off animal species quickly. Radiation that leaks into lakes or rivers gets spread across a large distance. Animals use these water sources to get water to survive. If radiation would be in these water ways animals digest these right into their systems. The animals become really sick and will most likely die depending on how much they were exposed. Fish and other species that live in the water get poisoned by this radiation and die quickly as well because they have so much in their system.  Radiation that was carried by water also gets into soil and seeps into the ground. Plants roots are in this soil that could be toxic with radiation. They use soil and water as the main life sources for them. If this is poisonous the plants suffer and die. Humans eat plants and animals and if they were effected by radiation it will bring deadly consequences. A radiation leak from a power plants gets spread out so quickly and are so deadly. Should we even have nuclear plants anymore. Many scientists are studying this and outweighing factors.      

Zika

Viruses live on many surfaces and also in many hosts. This makes them spread to people at exceptionally fast rates. Each virus is different from the structure, to where they thrive. Animals and insects also can get sick from viruses or they can be carriers of them. The carriers pass on the virus to a host. An example of this is from mosquito to human. These viruses have to be studied so we are able to learn about them. If people know nothing about them they are unable to learn from them and also are unable to find preventive ways against it. A vaccine is one type of way to prevent viruses. A virus we do not know much about yet is the Zika virus.

            The Zika virus is a big concern to many people. This virus is being studied around the globe because not much is known about it. Many research sites think that the Zika virus is spread by mosquitoes and is leading to birth defects if a women is pregnant and is infected with this particularly virus. Many preventative measures are taking place because so much is unknown about this virus. The CDC has put some helpful tips up on how to prevent this virus. The CDC advises pregnant mothers to not travel to places where the virus is present. If you do have to travel to places where the virus is present take mosquito preventing measures, including mosquito nets and repealing sprays.

            Mosquitoes carry many disease so measures have been taken to stop mosquitoes from populating. Brazilian people sprayed a chemical to help control mosquito population. This chemical is now being tested because they think it might be the cause of the Zika outbreak now. This chemical causes malformations in the mosquitoes. The Zika virus is still being studied very hardly because nothing has yet to be proven. 

Environmental Sustainability

            As the human population thrives and the population rises the environment suffers. The environment supports all different kinds of organisms. It provides food and habitat for survival. Habitats are being destroyed for human use which kills off or makes it hard to survive for other animals and plants. The human use of fossil fuels is destroying the air we breathe and also parts of earth.

            The definition of Sustain is “able to be maintained at a certain rate or level”. This term is used in the environment also. Environmental sustainability means to not use someone so much that it is gone forever. People should not cut down more trees than what can grow back. Trees provide oxygen to many things. Oxygen is a must to survive. If all the trees are gone lack of oxygen will take over. Trees can be planted, but they grow so slowly that the rate of removing trees for people use is much higher.  To sustain trees we should wait for others to grow back before we continue to cut them down. People also use more than they need. If something provides money like lumber to build houses it will be used without much consideration of the long term effect. Rules and regulations are put into effect to conserve things that we need for earth. Many studies have shown that we are destroying earth and not giving it enough time to replenish. At the rate the population of humans are growing people are taking over lands where other organisms live. This destroys organisms and they become extinct. Some things earth only produces once. An example is nonrenewable resources. Once it is used it in gone forever like oil. Oil is used for many things and once it is all used up another resource is used in replace of that and then that becomes gone also. It is a long depleting cycle.

            Earth gives us many things and people should take care of it. If people do not start some big changes now the future is at great risk. 

Stress

Stress affects our everyday lives some of it is noticeable and some is not. Too much stress can lead to health problems. Problems that could eventually kill us. Some big stressors in society is work, money and appearance. The definition of stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances”. Part of stress is in the mind. Overthinking to yourself or worrying about something is an example. People try to be as normal as possible so they do not stand out this also causes much thought and effort which leads to stress. Mental stress leads to emotional issues. Being emotional is a side effect of stress. Emotional stress leads to physical appearance. Being flustered or rushing around is something people notice. Being stressed causes you to act this way.

Earlier in life we depended on stress to survive. It kept us alive. Now we use stress in everyday situations which is not good for us. A job is a huge stressor in life. Some jobs have many different factors that could be more stressful, physical demanding jobs or jobs you are closely monitored might be more stressful than others for people.  Depending on what position you have, a boss or someone with higher authority will be most likely to be less stressed than an employee who works for them. Students in college have so much pressure on them. From classes and exams. It has been studied that people under stress preform worse. Students are under so much stress to do well in classes that stress makes them not do well. It is a cycle that is hard to break.

Relieving stress is a must, people relieve stress in many different ways. Stress has been studied very hard and experts have found good ways to relieve it. One way to relieve stress is listening to music. Music calms you down which then lowers your heart rate and blood pressure. It always lowers a hormone that is linked to stress. Any form of exercise also is a good way to relieve stress. It is proven that exercise helps. It releases endorphin's which improves your mood. It might be hard to fall asleep while stressed, but a good night of sleep will help you feel focused for the next day. Stress relief has so many options you just have to find what helps you out the most.  

CDC

The internet has a lot of information it provides to people. Not everything on the internet is true. Many websites have false and misleading facts. This makes it hard to distinguish what is real and what is something that is just made up. As some unreliable websites are out on the web many reliable ones are also. A very reliable website with information we can use to discover the latest diseases or an outbreak in our food is called cdc.gov. The CDC is a government controlled organization. The CDC stands for Center For Disease Control and Prevention. The website provides great insight that is easy to maneuver.

The CDC website has many categories you can find information about. From the environment to health effects. If you would like to click on the environmental section it breaks down even further into different categories. Some of these categories are outdoor air, climate change, and air pollution. These bigger categories break down into different smaller sections. All of the categories provide in-depth reliable information you can trust. The setup is very simple for anyone to use. The links of different categories are highlighted and labeled. The CDC promotes health and the environment it has facts about what individuals can do to help out. This website has a map of each states environmental condition and you can click on a state and see what factors are happening. By clicking on the search data people are able to research categories from air quality to cancers. You can pick which year you want to look at and it brings up information. This is a great research website to have. The features this website provides makes it fun and has a hands on approach. This draws people to the website. Any age is able to use this website to great ease.

Heuristics

The human brain has many functions. It never stops working, it is constantly keeping our body running. The brain is responsible to make decisions in a split second. The definition of Heuristics is “a mental shortcut that allows people to solve problems and make judgmentsquickly and efficiently.” The brain has to have a quick response or it could cost you your life. Time is a vital part to life, but we do not have all the time in the world is it very limited. Every day is a new learning experience. The human brain takes what is has learned and adapts. An example of how we use heuristics is by using common sense. People have learned to look both ways before crossing the street. A person verses a car we know that the car is going to hurt the person. The common sense if knowing not to walk out in front of a car. The human brain does come with flaws. The brain forms opinions before processing them. “Heuristics can also contribute to things such as stereotypesand prejudice.” When we form quick opinions we do not go over all the facts. In almost an instant people form opinions on if they like that person or not. This is why first impressions are so important.

People learn from going to school and being taught something. Everything you need for life once you get out of school is not all taught to you through schooling. We have to teach ourselves many things. Every day we adapt and learn how to do something. People are able to use trial and error to learn something and figure out which way they like better. What works for that person they will use it again, if something did not work out they will not try it again. Intelligence helps you to decide what you want in life and how you are going to proceed into the next day. Heuristics is a very important thing to have it is used on a daily basis.