OVERVIEW:

For first timers to this page, begin with item 1: "Getting started."

1. Getting started

2. In case of problems

3. Course Syllabus

4. Terms

5. People in Environmental Health

6. Frequently asked questions

In case of problems...

With time, I hope you will find this web site to be very helpful. 
However, I also know that technology can sometimes turn on us! 
With that in mind, please consider the following common sense recommendations:

1. When all else fails, contact me! You can contact me:

• by phone (818-677-4708),
• by fax (818-677-2045),
• by email,
• during office hours, or
• in class.

2. Don't forget the other traditional sources:

• Consult the syllabus.
• Consult the textbook. if appropriate.
• Talk with your classmates.

3. Click here for county libraries with internet access.

Syllabus:

1. Course Description
2. Course Objectives
3. Instructor
4. Grading

1. COURSE DESCRIPTION 

This course will review the major terminology and concepts used in environmental health, focusing on the evaluation of exposures, identification of health effects, and development of strategies for the control of environmental hazards. These concepts will be applied to a variety of current problems, not only in the United States but throughout the world.

[3] credits

2. COURSE OBJECTIVES:

     
     The purpose of Health Sciences 353 is to introduce 
     basic terms, core concepts, and fundamental skills used by 
     environmental health professionals.  On completion of this 
     course the student should be able to: 
 
     1. analyze environmental agents in terms of their 
        sources, basic attributes, and fate;
 
     2. identify adverse effects from each agent on 
        human health (acute and chronic), ecosystems, and 
        other risks (including economic and psychological); and 
 
     3. select protective measures for each effect with 
        systematic controls consistent with laws     
        (emphasizing risk communication and management).

C. Instructor: Tom Hatfield

                            John Schillinger

                            Brett Koontz

                            Owen Seiver

 Dept. of Environmental and Occupational Health
 California State University
 Northridge CA 91330 U.S.A.  
 
 Phone:           Office:   818-677-7476 
                      FAX:     818-677-2045                    
 

D. Grading

Online exams: You will be issued a user-id and a password to take the online exams.

Each online exam has 15 questions.  
There will usually be 2 exams per week (no more, but sometimes less).
You're encouraged to use the modules while answering the questions.
The results of these exams are automatically recorded, and you will instantly know your score.
Total possible points: 360.

Online Essays: We will cover the use of Hypernews, which will be used to turn in your essays.

Three essays are required during the semester, each about 900 words in length.
Almost any topic is acceptable, as long as it is related to environmental health and is approved by the instructor. 
Total possible points:  150.
 
 

 

Review of Terms

A central part of this course is to understand the terminology that is part of environmental health. Below, I have listed the terminology that is expected to be covered. Please make a point of reviewing these terms regularly.

1. Communicable disease

2. Food Safety

3. Solid and Hazardous Wastes 

4. Air Quality

5. Wastewater

6. Radiation

 

Communicable Disease:

1		50	droplet nuclei
2		51	Airborne
3		52	"common cold"
4		53	influenza
5		54	tuberculosis
6		55	coccidioidomycosis
7		56	Waterborne
8		57	typhoid fever
9		58	paratyphoid fever
10		59	cholera
11		60	shigellosis
12		61	amebiasis
13		62	giardiasis
14		63	Helminthic
15		64	trichinosis
16		65	schistosomiasis
17		66	ascariasis
18		67	onchocerciasis
19	malfeasance	68	taeniasis
20	misfeasance	69	"pneumonia"
21	nonfeasance	70	tapeworms:
22		71	beef, pork, fish
23		72	enterobiasis (pinworm)
24		73	filariasis
25		74	hookworm
26		75	Vectorborne
27		76	malaria
28		77	yellow fever
29		78	dengue fever
30		79	arthropodborne viral encephalitis
31	demographic transition	80	rocky mountain spotted fever
32	communicable disease	81	tularemia
33	agent, reservoir, host	82	colorado tick fever
34	pathogenicity, virulence	83	q fever
35	incubation period	84	relapsing fever
36	infection	85	scrub typhus
37	carrier	86	scabies
38		87	plague
39		88	murine typhus
40		89	lyme disease
41		90
42	fomite	91	leptospirosis
43	vectors	92	rabies
44	infestation	93	ringworm
45		94	tetanus
46	coliforms	95	anthrax
47	enteric	96	leprosy
48	helminths	97	psittacosis
49	zoonoses

Food Safety:

1	foodborne illness	45	ciguatera
2	"ptomaine"	46	potato poisoning
3	intoxication	47	spoilage
4	infection	48	flat sour
5	chemical poisoning	49	TA
6	salmonella	50	sulfide
7	typhimurium	51	canning:
8	enteritidis	52	blanch
9	campylobacter	53	exhaust
10	listeriosis	54	retort process
11	type a viral hepatitis	55	dishwashing
12	brucellosis	56	additives:
13	trichuriasis	57	DES
14	staphylococcus	58	nitrites
15	clostridium	59	MSG
16	botulinum	60	sulfites
17	perfringens (welchii)	61	toxicity
18	Vibrio parahemolyticus	62	hazard
19	Bacillus cereus	63	safety
20	pasteurization	64	Delaney Clause
21	ultra high temp.	65	GRAS list
22	ultra pasteurization	66	pest, vector
23	HTST	67	rodents
24	holder	68	Rattus norvegicus
25	phosphatase	69	Rattus rattus
26	thermometers	70	Mus musculus
27	gastroenteritis	71	cockroaches:
28	sterilize	72	American
29	disinfect	73	Oriental
30	sanitize	74	German
31	embargo	75	Brown-banded
32	toxins:	76	lice:
33	exotoxin, endotoxin	77	Pediculus capitis
34	enterotoxin, neurotoxin	78	Pthirus pubis
35	aflatoxin	79	Pediculus humanus
36	anisakiasis	80	epidemic typhus
37	thermoduric	81	fleas
38	thermophilic	82	Ctenocepalides
39	mesophilic	83	Xenopsylla cheopis
40	psychrophilic, cryophilic	84	flies
41	favismism	85	Musca domestica
42	snake root	86	mosquitoes:
43	paralytic shellfish poisoning	87	Anopheles
44	scombroid fish poisoning	88	Culex
		89	Aedes

 

Solid and Hazardous Wastes:

1	mode of action:	41	waste
2	stomach poisons	42	garbage
3	contact poisons	43	rubbish
4	dessicants	44	pyrolysis
5	fumigants	45	composting, humus
6	spiracles, tarsi	46	resource recovery:
7	LD-50, dose response curves	47	reuse, reclamation, recycling
8	inorganics:	48	source reduction
9	Boric acid	49	sanitary landfill:
10	Sodium fluoride	50	landfill gas (LFG)
11	Paris Green, Silica gel	51	refuse derived fuel (RDF)
12	botanicals:	52	leachate
13	Pyrethrum (pyrethroids)	53	area methods, trench method
14	Rotenone (rotenoids)	54	incineration:
15	Nicotine	55	rectangular
16	chlorinated hydrocarbons: DDT	56	vertical circular
17	organophosphates:	57	rotary kiln
18	Parathion, Malathion	58	photodegradation, biodegradation
19	DDVP (Dichlorvos)	59	lignin
20	Diazinon	60	Hazardous Wastes
21	carbamate:	61	ignitibility, reactivity
22	Carbaryl (Sevin), Aldicarb	62	corrosivity, toxicity
23	rodenticides	63	non-specific sources ("F-list")
24	anticoagulants:	64	specific sources ("K-list")
25	warfarin, pival,	65	acute hazardous waste
26	fumarin, PMP, diphacinone	66	hazardous waste manifest
27	quick kill:	67	information clearinghouse
28	Strychnine, 1080, 1081	68	materials exchange
29	red squill	69	wet air oxidation
30	cyanide, ectoparasites	70	neutralization
31	zinc phosphide, ANTU, Norbromide	71	precipitation
32	2,4,5-T, 2,4-D	72	distillation
33	Anopheles, Culex, Aedes	73	TSD facility
34	Gambusia affinis	74	stabilization
35	integrated pest management:	75	surface impoundments
36	autocide	76	deepwell injection
37	pheromones	77	residuals repository
38	juvenile hormones	78	FR, CFR, CHEMTREC
39	antifeedants	79	RCRA:
40	FIFRA, ToSCA	80	HMTA, HSWA, SQG
		81	CERCLA:
		82	NCP, CERCLIS, HRS, NPL, RQ,
		83	SARA:
		84	ATSDR, TPQ, EPCRA,

Air Quality:

1	environmental health	39	Clean Air Act:
2	sanitarian	40	emission standards
3	health	41	ambient standards
4	environment	42	pollutant standards index
5	epidemiology	43	atmosphere
6	prevalence, incidence	44	troposphere
7	interactions	45	stratosphere
8	synergism	46	acid rain
9	potentiation	47	greenhouse gases
10	antagonism	48	CFCs
11	air pollution	49	watershed runoff
12	criteria pollutants	50	percolation
13	particulates:	51	leaching
14	dust	52	zone of aeration
15	smoke	53	zone of saturation
16	fumes	54	water table
17	mist	55	eutrophication
18	sprays	56	primary standards
19	TSP	57	secondary standards
20	PM-10	58	Minimata disease
21	photochemical smog	59	methemoglobinemia
22	plume	60	bacteriological quality
23	wind rose	61	water hardness
24	sinks	62	turbidity
25	cyclonic conditions	63	ion exchange
26	anticyclonic conditions	64	water softening
27	inversion	65	activated carbon
28	urban heat island	66	coagulation
29	cilia	67
30	Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	68
31	cyclone separator	69
32	wet scrubber	70
33	electrostatic precipitator	71
34	fabric filter	72
35	absorption	73
36	adsorption	74
37	positive crankcase ventilation (PCV)	75
38	exhaust gas recirculation	76
39	catalytic converters:

 

Wastewater:

1	pit privy	47
2	septic tanks	48
3	perc test	49
4	filtration	50
5	chlorination	51
6	free residual chlorine	52
7	hypochlorous acid	53
8	hypoclorite ion	54
9	chloramines	55
10	alternatives to chlorination	56
11	swimming pools	57
12	wastewater	58
13	BOD, COD, TOD, TOC	59
14	primary, secondary, tertiary treatment	60
15	activated sludge	61
16	trickling filters	62
17	reverse osmosis	63
18	sludge digestion	64
19	assimilative capacity	65
20	sedimentation	66
21		67
22		68
23		69
24		70
25		71
26		72
27		73
28		74
29		75
30		76
31		77
32		78
33		79
34		80
35		81
36		82
37		83
38		84
39		85
40		86
41		87
42		88
43		89
44		90
45		91
46		92

Radiation:

1	pit privy	43	half life
2	cesspools	44	radioactive
3	septic tanks	45	biological
4	perc test	46	effective
5	radiation	47
6	ionizing radiation	48
7	ion	49
8	radioisotope	50
9	free radical	51
10	fundamental interactions	52
11	gravitational	53
12	electromagnetic	54
13	strong interactions	55
14	weak interactions	56
15	elementary particles	57	inverse square law
16	baryons	58	half value layer
17	nucleons	59	jurisdiction (NRC,EPA,DOE)
18	hyperons	60
19	mesons	61
20	leptons	62
21	photons	63
22	directly ionizing radiation	64
23	alpha particles	65	mining, milling
24	beta particles	66	refining, conversion
25	other charged particles	67	fuel rods
26	indirectly ionizing radiation	68	control rods
27	gamma	69	moderators
28	X-ray	70	heavy water
29	neutrons	71	types of reactors
30	measures	72	light water (LWR)
31	curie, becquerel	73	boiling water (BWR)
32	roentgen, exposure unit	74	pressurized water (PWR)
33	RAD, gray	75	high temp. gas-cooled (HTGR)
34	REM, seiverts	76	breeder (LMFBR)
35	LET	77	radioactive wastes
36	RBE, QF	78	spent fuel rods
37	sources of radiation	79	transuranic
38	natural (terrestrial, cosmic)	80	high level
39	artificial	81	low level
40	effects (acute, chronic)	82	mill tailings
41	somatic, genetic	83	radon
42	alopecia	84	carbon dating
		85	food irradiation
		86	iodine tracers
		87	neutron activation