What you should know: salmonella and listeria and E. coli--oh my!

T hreats from the environment surround us. Last year, mosquitoes carrying West Nile Virus killed 283 people during the summer months. Then in September and October, an outbreak of salmonella in peanut butter occurred in 20 states. Listeria from Ricotta cheese led to 20 hospitalizations and four deaths in 14 states. And a bad batch of mangoes and another of cantaloupes led to more than 380 cases of salmonella. When you add in the fact that every day 10 people drown and 87 are unintentionally poisoned, the world can feel like a very dangerous place. Public health and safety has always been a focus of lawmakers and it continues to be, as they consider policies and programs that protect citizens from environmental dangers. Called “environmental health,” this umbrella term includes the laws that ensure food is safe and healthy to eat, that chemicals are managed in a safe manner, that vermin and pests do not spread disease. It involves the way we design our houses and communities and the products we use in our daily lives. It includes the standards that protect our drinking water, ensure waste water is clean, and determine “how safe is safe.” It is the complicated system of rules and policies—intertwined among federal, state and local governments—that allows this nation to live in clean, safe and healthy communities. Put simply, “environmental health is about ensuring healthy habitats for humans—where people live, work, learn and play,” says former Oregon Representative Gail Shibley (D), who recently directed the environmental health program in her state’s department of health. Part of this effort comes from the federal government, through rules established by the Food and Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Research and guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences guides decisions. But the vast majority of work on environmental health comes from state and local governments, who work day in and day out to guarantee that our food and water are safe to consume and our communities and homes are safe to live in. Here are five things environmental health experts want you to know. £1£ Safety First Safety is the No. 1 priority of environmental health workers. They ensure that our food is safe, that public and private water systems are free from contaminants, that the air inside buildings is free of radon gas and mold spores, and that the materials used in building homes and businesses do not contain asbestos, lead or other toxic products. “The U.S. has the safest food supply in the world,” says Joe Reardon of the Food and Drug Administration, “but we must work hard to maintain that safety.” That requires state and local authorities to identify threats, report outbreaks and work with the food industry to protect the public. Recent outbreaks from Listeria and salmonella in cantaloupes, salmonella in peanuts and E. coli in lettuce were all discovered in state environmental health labs. The same is true with drinking water. The state lab confirmed salmonella in the drinking water of Alamosa, Colo., in 2008, which cost the city $90 million to upgrade its system. Environmental health programs also inform the public about how to avoid threats in areas not regulated or inspected. For example, private drinking water wells are usually never tested. And homes are often not inspected for hazards from pesticides, chemical cleaners, radon gas, paint with lead, carbon monoxide and mold. The push for safer chemicals often comes from states as federal laws have not kept pace with the science. Recent legislation adopted in California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota and Washington revised chemical safety laws, making them more in line with international standards and current science than their federal counterparts. What You Should Know