6011 Week 9: Food Safety and Waste Management
How did the Medical Waste Management Act come about?
-Medical waste washing up on shores got public attention. This gave rise to red bags and sharps containers.
Explain the regulatory scope written into the RCRA
-if one drop of hazardous waste is in the barrel, it's all HW -you have 90 days of on-storage at approved storage site (from when the last drop is added) before you must remove it. -you cannot treat the waste. Things must be labeled properly. Proper training, spill kit, secondary containment, etc. are required. RCRA landfill must be lined, and the liners must be welded.
How many pounds of municipal waste does each person in the US produce per day?
4.5 lb per person per day
What do we do with coal ash in the US?
40% of coal ash is used for beneficial uses such as flooring or wallboards, or mixed with cement to make cement stronger and to contain coal ash. 60% is either landfilled or used in surface impoundments. Landfilled coal ash is problematic because of dust, which can affect airways of nearby residents. Surface impoundments are also hazardous because after a long time they can leak out into the environment.
How many food borne illnesses occur in the US each year?
48 million per year (1 in 6 Americans each year)
How many food borne illnesses occur globally each year?
600 million (420,000 cases end in death)
Describe the historical events leading to the CERCLA waste management law
CERCLA = Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 Aka Superfund CERLCA is for poorly managed or abandoned waste sites. It was inspired by a disaster at Love Canal, in Niagara, Upstate New York: -in the 1930-1950s, Hooker Chemical dumped 21,000 tons of toxic waste, then the land gets filled over. -in 1953, the land is sold to the city for $1 (though Hooker Chemical was hesitant and they recommended not putting a school on the site because they knew they had buried toxic chemicals). -in the 1960s homes were built near the site. -in 1978, waste was found oozing out of the ground and panic ensues. President Carter declares a federal health emergency. My other toxic dump sites are discovered. -in 1980, CERCLA got passed.
Explain the regulatory scope written into the CERCLA
CERLCA determines a National Priorities List (NPL) of hazardous waste sites. Nobody wants to be on this list. Government or responsible party(s) must clean up. It is a very tough law because the polluter pays. CERCLA is: retroactive - all past and current owners are liable. Strict - liable, regardless of whether laws of the day were followed Joint and several - one small waste generator can be liable for all If the responsible parties can't clean it up then the EPA will clean it up using tax dollars.
Describe the health impacts for the globalization of waste management (e.g. recycling overseas etc)
China's recycling ban: -72% of the world's recycling materials went to China, but in 2017 China cut back dramatically by demanding cleaner materials. They require 0.5% contamination, which is virtually impossible for the countries needing their recycling services. -now the paper and plastic markets have collapsed, and they now go to landfills. -Malaysia and Thailand began receiving the recycled goods, but got overwhelmed and began trashing their land and infiltrating the ocean. -
What are some of the issues with recycling e-waste?
Electronics are made for cheap production, not repair or recycling. E-waste is the fastest growing sector of MSW Less than 20% is recycled, and only for rare metal/plastics The majority of the US e-waste goes to Asia due to poorly regulated locations E-waste is only 2% of waste stream but 70% of hazardous waste stream!
What are the symptoms of food borne illness?
Fever, nausea, vomiting, dehydration, upset stomach, cramps, diarrhea
Explain the role of the various regulatory agencies responsible for food safety
FoodNet: The CDC has FoodNet, which conducts surveillance for 10 food borne pathogen infections in 10 states. It must be diagnosed with laboratory testing of samples from patients. HACCP - Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point. Emphasizes prevention, rather than inspection of final product. It maps the production process and identifies "critical control points" in which risk of contamination is greatest, e.g. the temperature at which food is stored. It uses thorough record keeping critical to verification and continuous improvement.
What are types of violations in food safety inspection?
Imminent health hazards: violations that are significant threat or danger to health. They require immediate correction or immediate closure of the establishment. Examples include operating without hot water, severe temperature abuse of food, or severe vermin infestation. Food borne illness risk factors: e.g. inadequate cooking temperatures, improper holding temperatures, cross-contamination, and poor personal hygiene. Good rental practices: pest control, equipment maintenance, plumbing, water, and physical facilities.
Explain the difference between infection and intoxication
Infection is the illness resulting from live bacteria, e.g. Salmonella, Campyolbacter, E. Coli, and Listeria all cause food infection. Intoxication is ingestion of certain kinds of bacteria that create or contain toxins in which are harmful to humans (e.g. Clostridium botulinum produces the botulinim toxin and causes food intoxication).
Explain issues/conditions that challenge food safety and some basic food safety practices
Issues/conditions that challenge food safety: The delay between exposure to the pathogen and onset of illness can be a few days, making it difficult to remember what you ate. Not everyone presents to a doctor, and not every doctor takes the extra strep to sample stool to identify the pathogen. Other issues include inadequate food safety equipment for restaurant workers or anyone working along the food processing chain. Basic food safety practices: Restaurants: Letter grading in restaurants, where over 50% of food borne illness arises. This program has appeared to work. Home: wash hands and surfaces often, separate raw meat from other foods, cook raw food to a high enough temp, chill leftovers straight away.
Describe the effects of the 1990 Pollution Prevention Act
It shifted thinking from "end of the pipe" to "up the pipe." The most desirable action is source reduction, and the least desirable action is disposal of waste.
Which state has the highest number of NPL hazardous waste sites?
New Jersey
Describe issues with e-waste associated with mobile devices
Over half of the periodic table is found in a typical smartphone! There are more mobile devices on the planet than people The average user repealed their smartphone every 2 years The world produces roughly 2 billion cell phones/year Smartphones have "forced absolescence" which means they are designed to fail.
______ a contamination is always the cheaper option
Preventingw
Describe the historical events leading to the RCRA waste management laws
RCRA = Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) came about because of an incident in Times Beach, Missouri in 1976. Times Beach had about 2000 people, but is now a ghost town From 1972 to 1976, Russell Bliss was hired to sprayed waste oil onto dusty roads to keep the dust down. He didn't know the waste oil was mixed with dioxin Over 4 years, Bliss sprayed 160,000 gallons of oil on 23 miles of road The EPA declares a health emergency, and the RCRA law gets passed in 1976. All the residents are evacuated, the soil gets burned, and the town is de-incorporated, and the CDC recommends to not re-inhabit Times Beach.
Where do the majority of food borne illness outbreaks occur?
Restaurants (followed by home and other sources)
Roughly how many deaths occur in the US every year due to food borne illness?
Roughly 3000 deaths
Describe the historical events leading to the SARA waste management law
SARA = Superfund Amendment Reauthorization Act of 1986 Basically a reauthorization of a superfund Back in 1984, Union Carbide, a US corporation, was a pesticide plant in India in Bhopal, an impoverished part of India. This is considered the worst Industrial accident in history. At midnight, 42 tons of methyl isocyanate (MIC) reacted with water and overpressurized the tank. It gets released into Bhopal, India. Many woke from burning sensation in lungs, hundreds trampled in a panic. Death toll in dispute varies from 4000 to 25,000. Tens of thousands with long-term health effects. Result: Outrage and fear resulted in the US over Bhopal, leading to SARA.
Explain the regulatory scope written into the SARA
SARA created the Emergency Planning and Community "Right to Know" Act (EPCRA) so that citizens have the right to know about chemicals in their community. It required emergency planning for spills and releases. It also established the Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) ->The TRI must report all chemicals, although they aren't as publicly known anymore due to fears over bioterrorism after 9/11.
Explain terminology such as solid, hazardous, municipal waste
Solid waste - any discarded material from industrial, commercial, government, mining, and agriculture, including solid, liquid, semisolid, or contained gaseous material. Hazardous waste - listed or characteristic solid waste. ->Listed hazardous waste can come from nonspecific sources (such as toluene, methyl ethyl ketone, etc.) or can come from specific sources (e.g. sludge from steel-making plant). -> Characteristic hazardous waste is anything that is toxic, reactive, ignitable, or corrosive. Exclusions include domestic waste, fossil fuels, mining wastes, oil and gas refining waste, and hydro fracking. Municipal waste - (MSW)
Identify the source, health effect and protective measures for Campylobacter
Source - consuming food or water contaminated with Campylobacter jejuni, which is commonly found in the intestinal tracts of healthy animal (especially chickens) and in untreated surface water. Raw and inadequately cooked foods of animal origin and non-chlorinated water are the most common sources (e.g. unpasteurized milk, undercooked chicken, raw hamburger, raw shellfish). Health effect - campylobacteriosis results Protective measures - pasteurizing milk; cooking raw meat, poultry, and fish; preventing cross-contamination between raw and cooked or ready-to-eat foods.
Identify the source, health effect and protective measures for Salmonella
Source: often associated with eggs or any egg-based food, salads, poultry, beef, pork, processed meats, meat pies, fish, cream desserts and fillings, sandwich fillings, raw sprouts, and milk products. Health Effects: Protective measures: Cooking at 160 degrees F! Or refrigerating prevents them from growing (though they still survive while in the fridge).
What are the challenges in food borne illness outbreak surveillance?
The time lag between exposure and illness can be 1-3 days. By then it is difficult for someone to remember what they ate. A person then has to present to the doctor, the doctor then has to take a stool sample, and a public health lab receives pathogen strain. By the time the case reported as part of an outbreak, it has been 2-3 weeks.
How is food contaminated?
Water Soil Rodents and insects Animals and birds Processing/packaging Humans (practicing improper hygiene)
What is the CDC's definition of a food borne disease outbreak?
When two or more people become ill from consuming the same contaminated food or drink
