Environmental-Health Books

We own an environmental contracting company and we are responsible for training our employees. This is the best book that we have seen to date. It is simple to read and easy to use. One of our services is hazardous material training for our client base. We are planning to use this book in the training classes. We enjoy how the book is laid out and how one subject rolls into the next. The subject matter is right on track for our industry. It is about time a book like this was printed. We are planning to generate revenue from the sale of this book and the upcoming classes that we are developing.

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Perhaps the most complicated and convoluted set of regulations is those concerning hazardous waste, its handling, disposal, and response to its release. Of course it can be considered that the Federal Government did err by calling process by-products hazardous waste instead of following its performance-based philosophy as demonstrated in the OSHA regulations. Regulatory compliance could have been so much simpler if the definition employed was - this by- product has the potential of being hazardous if miss handled, such miss handling entails the following. Alas, this is not the case and we are burdened with a set of regulations that can turn youth aged overnight.

There is hope however, and a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel can be seen. Coming like Dumas' Three Musketeers of old, galloping into the fray and seeking to make order out of chaos come the Hackmans with their Hazardous Waste Operations & Emergency Response Manual and Desk Reference. Since receiving this volume, it has become a ready and useful reference. It provides 16 chapters along with a CD-ROM of essential compliance information. A true compendium of valuable and useful data, guidance, and analyses.

For example, consider Section 2. Hazardous Waste Defined: Contained therein are the following major topics: The OSHA Definition, EPA Definitions, The DOT Definition and Training Aids and Resources. These are then further broken down into sub topics. Such organization, scope and thoroughness provide a valuable tool when evaluating a particular situation or compliance methodology. Other sections cover such topics as Material Hazards, Chemical Incompatibility, Toxicology, and Sampling and Monitoring to name a few. The most substantial section is entitled Superfund Sites and Brownfields: Site Investigation, Control and Remediation. This alone is broken into 22 subsections, each of which is further subdivided.

Perhaps one of the best technical writers of the last century was Samuel Glasstone. His volumes on Chemistry and Nuclear Engineering were very easy to read, understand, and use. This is because he endeavored to number every new topic so that easy reference could be made. This also provided logic to the subject matter, which assisted in the flow of the information that was providing. The Hackmans have effectively employed this numbering technique, and by doing so have provided not only simple logic and understanding to complex subject matter, but have also provided easy access to the information provided in the text.

The text is enhanced by a Glossary of 91 pages plus a 12-page list of Acronyms. Both of these reference aids are important and necessary because of the complexity of the subject matter and that Federal Regulations breed and feed on acronyms and convoluted terminology. It is almost impossible to maintain understanding and awareness of all of them. In fact, the extensive glossary is a welcome adjunct because of the myriad of technical terms and regulatory definitions a fractioned needs to employ and understand. For example, in this glossary, the term hazardous substance is defined by 7 specific requirements; CERCLA, Federal Water Pollution Control Act, Section 112r of the Clean Air Act, Toxic Substances Control Act, DOT, Solid Waste Disposal Act and OSHA. This depth and breadth is valuable because it enables a comprehensive evaluation of a particular situation and assists in eliminating or at least minimizing the chance of an omission error.

It must be remembered that many practitioners are experts in a particular technical or regulatory area. As such, they need a tool that assists them in understanding and in becoming aware of requirements outside of their area of expertise. The provision of comprehensive definitions and information helps to foster such a broad perspective.

In addition to the book a special CD is provided as an additional resource. According to the authors this CD serves three purposes: It provides downloadable and printable resources for trainers - these include a sample HAZWOPER Worker exam, It provides a selection of NIOSH Databases which includes the NIOSH Manual of Analytical Methods and the NIOSH Pocket Guide to Chemical Hazards, and lastly it provides 18 appendices to the text - these appendices include Limits for Air Contaminants ("Z Lists") 29CFR1910.1000 and the OSHA HAZWOPER Standard, 29CFR 1910.120. Just the contents of the CD is worth the purchase price of the text. All in all, according to the contents, the CD covers 33 separate topics.

When dealing with the complex issues that practitioners face every day, the information contained in the CD forms a comprehensive foundation of knowledge, data and information. This is presented in a concise and easily usable format. Also, instead of creating a second volume, the authors wisely chose this option of the CD to compliment the text, thereby producing one volume packed with essential information and resources.

One of the major frustrations a practitioner faces is that it is usually necessary to consult various references in order to address a particular situation. When a volume comes along that provides an encyclopedia of useful and necessary information, it does simplify many other time-consuming information search tasks. The profession has benefited from this work because it provides that simplification. The authors have brought together information from diverse sources into one volume. One volume, that has already proved its value to my practice.

The only shortcoming is that the use of color, especially in the signs and placarding examples would have been useful and would have assisted in making its reference value even greater. Seeing these items in the colors specified by the regulations would have enhanced the understanding of their meaning and employment. Perhaps just a color insert or inside cover display would have served this need adequately.

This volume has become a useful and welcomed addition to my reference library, and well worth the modest price.

JUST AS THE HUMAN BODY IS PREY TO VIOLENCE AND trauma (both physical and psychological), and manifests that trauma through illnesses in certain parts of the body; and just as it is possible to heal that trauma by releasing the blocked energy locked inside the area where the violence has manifested itself-so the Earth's body has sites where human violence (both to the Earth itself, other human beings, and other animals) has led to trauma that needs to be healed. The knowledge of the Earth's bodily energies is present in Asian cultures through feng shui-a science where objects are located to harmonize with the natural energy patterns of the environment around them. In the West, this knowledge is expressed through the practice of geomancy-a wisdom tradition that argues that our planet is crisscrossed with energy lines. At the nodal points of these lines, human beings have constructed sacred sites (such as Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and Sedona, Arizona) that reflect the powerful energies that meet there. Marko is a Slovenian artist and healer who specializes in visiting sacred sites and places where enormous suffering has taken place, and trying to heal the wounds. He does this by what he calls "lithopuncture." Just like acupuncture, which recognizes that the body is an interconnected network of energy channels called meridians and tries to release the energy blocked by trauma or illness, so lithopuncture involves placing monoliths-effectively large acupuncture needles-in key places to release the blocked energy of the Earth and revitalize the environment, both human and natural. "To the inner vision," writes Marko in his book, Healing the Heart of the Earth, "an acupuncture point looks like a sort of energy vortex penetrating vertically into the earth. Within itself it collects information on the properties of the specific subtle phenomenon with which it resonates. These points can be detected at very specific spots on the ground. There they hand over the information they hold to whomever attunes to their focal point." Marko has performed lithopuncture in Northern Ireland, where in 1992 he was invited by the county council of Derry-scene of some of the most violent encounters between Catholics and Protestants in the ongoing 30-year conflict-to revitalize certain places that the council felt had continuous problems. He placed an acupuncture bronze plate in the sidewalk of a Derry street and a lithopuncture stone on the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic. Sometimes lithopuncture is neither suitable nor possible. When this is the case, Marko uses human beings-both residents and visitors-literally to harmonize the natural environment. Groups gather in a circle and sing certain notes, which vibrate with the natural harmonies of the landscape and retune the discordant wavelengths of the area. "Musical sound has a strong power for breaking through and enabling access to a place, no matter how heavily blocked and suppressed it is," Marko writes. "Music can serve to cleanse and revitalize power points and also to regenerate a space completely. In the same way that spring revitalizes the forces of nature, music too carries within itself the energy that reawakens life; therefore, sound can bring a place that has, for example, been put to sleep by destruction, oblivion and the like back to vibrating, awakening, and reactivation. Its pulse beings to beat again, its currents to flow." Marko used singing when he visited the site of the former Berlin Wall. "When viewing the site with my inner vision," he says, "I noticed to my surprise, a deep black canal inside the no-man's-land where two energy lines run alongside each other, a thicker yellow one and a thinner red one. As my intuition interpreted it, this was a `rope' made of two `strands' with the help of which West Berlin was to be choked on an energetic level." "Our work consisted of two kinds of acupunctural singing," he continues, "coupled with color visualization and guided imagery. From what the participants related to us afterwards we were able to reconstruct the whole grueling process of `alchemically' transforming the Wall's energies at that place." The result was startling: instead of a black tunnel, Pogaĉnik saw a white band at the same place on the surface of the earth, which reflected the colors of the rainbow. This was a sign that the transformation had been successful. Marko confirms the descriptions given in detail by Rudolf Steiner of the elemental world and its main beings - gnomes, undines, sylphs and salamanders, discussed by Rudolf Steiner in his book "Man as Symphony of the Creative Word" Marko feels that more and more people are going to awake to the sensitivity of the Earth and what should take place on it. Pogaĉnik echoes James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis in arguing that the Earth is a living organism, an organism we have to be responsible for. In both his works, including his first book Nature Spirits and Elemental Beings: Working with the Intelligence in Nature, Marko suggests that we all have to wake up to what this planet really is, and act on what we can do to make sure it is healthy. ¨

Providing insight into the world supporting physical reality, Pogacnik is a true genius. His profound perceptions and straightforward explanations reveal a true and clear heart-mind. A must have for anyone working with the earth or interested in raising consciousness.

This is a very well written and presented book about the physical elements of our community design that compel us to discriminate certain forms of transportation over others (i.e., motorized over car). The implications are about health--getting enough "moderate" exercise each day. "Moderate" exercise is more accessible than the various forms of specialized exercises we have (i.e., sports teams, going to the gym). Exercise can be utilitarian in nature--it doesn't have to be specialized. For instance, transportation can be a form of exercise. When it is utilitarian--built into activities we have to be doing anyway--it saves time, instead of being "another thing to add to the schedule" it is killing two birds w/one stone.

Certain features and designs in the built environment are more helpful in encouraging the general population to using forms of moderate exercise (i.e., walking, biking) as transportation.

The idea of "utilitarian exercise" is cool--I wish they would have talked more about other (nontransportation) forms, such as gardening, etc.

The book also contains an excellent but brief review of the history of community health and planning at the beginning--how "solving" the health problems of the past era have led to the health problems of this era. The goal this time is to find a real solution--not one that leads to different types of health problems all over again.

Most satisfyingly, it is very well written and easy to read through. Any jargon is well-explained, and it is kept to a minimum. Based on quantitative science, it never (to my recollection) leaps to conclusions its data could not support--rather the authors highlight questions which the data produce and need to be pursued further.

This book is one of the first to address the relationship between suburban sprawl and Americans' sedentary habits. The authors point out:
1) that Americans drive more and walk less than residents of other affluent nations
2) that Americans have become more sedentary and fatter in recent decades
3) that Americans exercise more when they live in more pedestrian-friendly environments, and
4) that Americans are unable to walk as much as they would like because most American cities and suburbs are built by highway engineers and government planners to discourage pedestrian traffic; streets are too wide to safely walk, zoning codes mandated densities so low that shops are often not within walking distance of residences, and federal housing regulation has encouraged streets to be disconnected to each other that nearly all journeys require a stop at a high-speed, congested arterial.
Because this book was built in 2003, the authors devote relatively little space to the connection between sprawl, lack of exercise and obesity. In recent years, some studies have begun to document this connection, and I hope that the authors come out with a second edition addressing these issues.

The author is the student who excelled at the University of Toronto, where Thomas F. Homer-Dixon is a professor (and himself author of "Environment, Scarcity, and Violence"), and is now a professor at the University of Southern Florida.

Although the Central Intelligence Agency got this right in the 1970's, clearly warning U.S. policymakers that AIDS and related diseases were "the" catastrophic threat to national security and regional stability in the closing quarter of the 20th century, and although the United Nations and its various agencies have clearly understood the relationship between disease, environmental degradation, and instability--with all that instability brings in terms of crime, forced migration, and so on, the author gets five stars for doing an absolutely brilliant job of putting all of this knowledge--and his own original contributions--into a readable volume that can be understood by the most loosely-educated policymakers we have, as well as the voting public.

The author does a superb job of both crediting others (e.g. Laurie Garrett, whose stunning book "BETRAYAL OF TRUST: The Collapse of Global Public Health" we reviewed last year) while weaving his own insights into the story. ERIDs are "emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases." They matter more now because, as the author summarizes it, modern man is in a very different situation today: "individuals can travel around the world rapidly by airplane, and overpopulation and the growth of megacities have created entirely new 'disease pools' that will allow new pathogens to emerge and flourish."

The author has done a fine job of documenting how "human-induced worldwide environmental destruction" is both releasing pathogens from their hiding places in rain forests, launching new microbes that wreak havoc on aquatic life, and proliferating resistant strains of micobial terrorists we do not understand. Bacteria, in brief, are a thousand to a million times more deadly that any terrorist gang, and we would be wise to get our priorities straight as we set about pretending to govern.

As a general statement, the author appears to have done very very well as identifying intervening variables that could be analyzed, and his conclusions on what needs to be done are "President ready." He not only makes his case, he ends by calling for a massive increase in "health intelligence," and thereby demonstrates a wit lacking in most academics.

The notes are excellent, there is no bibliography, and the index is so mediocre it might as well not have been included--there is also no biography of this talented author, a grevious lack. The book should be reissued with this deficiencies being corrected.

For vexing reasons, political scientists have long neglected the role of health in understanding societal stability and regime transitions. Price-Smith begins to fill this void by offering this excellent genesis for the field of health security. Using some of the models developed by Thomas Homer-Dixon regarding nonrationality and complex causality, Price-Smith critically examines how HIV, malaria and TB, among other, could have potentially devastating consequences--for the developing and the developed world.

What makes this book all the more useful is that Price-Smith goes beyond the anecdotal or journalistic accounts that have dominated our understanding of public health's relationship to politics. He provides both rigorous statistical analysis and compelling case studies to prove his points. His writing style is clear and unassuming, a welcome approach for those without an extensive public health/biology background.

Hi there my name is Gary Burleson. I am a student of Cynthia Fincher at the University of North Texas. We discuss many topics of Cynthia Fincher's book "Healthy Living in a Toxic World" in class and I have found that as a student I have only started scratching the surface of many serious issues. There are many things I didn't even think about until I enrolled in Ecological Psycology and Cynthia Fincher brought them to my attention. I strongly encourge everyone to read her book, it is very informative. This book will open every persons eyes who read it to many issues that are going on and will countine going on unless we as people can take alternative measures. Gary Burleson

This book is a wonderful reference. It describes the little (and inexpensive) things you can do to make your environment safer for your immune system. There are tables of reference. The ideas provided on cleaning products, personal hygiene, medical, are everything you need to know to help yourself.

It is short and condensed. You can read it quickly and use it for a reference for years to come. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to make their "space" a life-long healthier way to live.

I recommend this book to everyone in the renovation field. The content on older homes is very important in limiting future liability and callbacks. The chapters on lead paint and asbestos alone could save the contractor thousands of times the cost of the book

I recently purchased my first home and had so many headaches to deal with just on the basics of the transaction, I wasn't initially sure how to address possible environmental issues or where I would find the time to figure them all out. The Home Environmental Sourcebook, with its practical, well-organized and easy to understand information, solved my dilemma. It allowed me to investigate environmental issues of particular concern (e.g., lead paint, asbestos) quickly by providing concise information by topic area and letting me know where else I could find more detailed information. The book was also helpful in that a quick scan of topics covered in the book helped identify issues which I hadn't been considering, but which were ultimately important not only in my decision-making process, but in the very negotiation of the purchase contract. Highly recommended.

Before reading this book, I'd been inclined to believe that the WTO could effectively force member nations to prioritize international trade above values like public health or a clean environment. Trish Kelly (TK) makes a good case that this hasn't clearly happened yet, at least.

TK's argument is based on the nine trade disputes relating to health and the environment that have actually been adjudicated under the WTO's Dispute Resolution Mechanism (most of which included decisions by the Appellate Body). Although in most cases a member's regulations were ruled unreasonable, TK's detailed analysis shows that usually this was because of problems with the member's actual implementation or with evidence, rather than because the regulation was impermissible in principle. In some cases, such as the asbestos case, import bans were even upheld. Moreover, since the "losers" were usually developed countries, they were able to game the compliance phase so that their sovereignty emerged pretty unscathed as a practical matter, too.

TK takes pains to point out lingering ambiguities, such as in the Appellate Body's view of whether public health considerations may be prioritized over commercial ones. She is often highly critical of the legal reasoning of the panels, and even of the Appellate Body, and offers suggestions for improving panel performance. She also describes academic and NGO reaction to many decisions, and includes a sprinkling of cites to critical opinions in the chapter bibliographies. An interesting subplot in the book, relevant for NGOs, is the WTO's evolving attitude toward "amicus curiae" briefs from outside parties. Throughout the book, TK's writing style is dry, but generally clear.

That said, it's important to recognize what this book does and does not do. It does stick to actually-adjudicated cases through early 2007. It does not "address virtually all of the environmental and health controversies surrounding the WTO" (@7). Many disputes under TRIPS relating to drug patents are mentioned only briefly, if at all. TK doesn't conjecture about potential future conflicts, even simply to point out where they might arise (such as concerning biotech seeds under TRIPs). There isn't any discussion of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, which has potential impact on health care and on trading in carbon rights, among other pertinent areas.

Also, if you're looking for some background philosophical perspective on sovereignty, the precautionary principle, risk assessment and other broad concepts that provide context for understanding the WTO decisions, you'll need to look elsewhere. TK does discuss the precautionary principle in the specific context of several cases, but implicitly accepts that the burden of proof should be on the party who wants to place limits on action. For an analysis of why this might not be so straighforward, see, e.g., the 2006 article by Alessandra Arcuri available on SSRN. (BTW, the lack of any separate entry for the precautionary principle is just one of features that makes the book's index maddening to use.)

A final limitation is that, aside from a few brief allusions, the book tends to look at the WTO more or less in a vacuum. Generally, other treaties are discussed only to the extent they factored into arguments made by parties to a particular dispute. But many of the most problematic antagonisms between the values of commerce and those of health, environment and freedom from hunger are implicated in bilateral and regional trade agreements. The goal of such agreements is often for developed countries to grab concessions missing from the WTO agreements -- e.g. the US's program of encouraging trading partners to agree to "TRIPS-plus" provisions about intellectual property. It's not necessarily a flaw of the book that it deals with this broad topic with only a passing reference (@189). But if you're really interested in the WTO's impact on those fields, you need to consider this wider context.

This book provides a useful, concise synthesis of reams of information. Its analysis is narrow, but generally even-handed. It should be helpful to anyone wanting to get his or her feet wet in understanding WTO's experience with dispute resolution and with some important social and scientific issues of the day. Just keep in mind that it describes only part of "the impact of the WTO."

The World Trade Organization has been a highly controversial subject in the past thirteen years of its existence. Trish Kelly, Senior Lecturer at Vanderbilt University, looks to provide a comprehensive analysis on them in "The Impact of the WTO". Kelly asks if perhaps people's criticism over the WTO's practices has been overstated, and examines each of the issues - such as gasoline, hormones, asbestos, GMOs, among others - highlighting both sides of the WTO's impact on all of them. "The Impact of the WTO" is essential to any discussion involving the group and is highly recommended to economics and political science library collections.

this book i read in '80s after 3 years of Primal sceam therapy at home with family & friends into self-healing. It helped me learn how birth effects all humans, tho few truely believe it with feeling compassion for newborn or remember birthing with mother. Only one other book explains lifelong birthing patterns into adulthood relationships by 2 Rebirthers, that Janov always rejects as spiritual illusions of bias defences. I disagree for me, but maybe true for others? The midwives & homebirthers also know some patterns of imprints, tho its so deep & forgotten,most deny birth-trama lasts long now. However PTSD is now considered normal for hospital-born babies, grown up & sleep-walking thru life unconscious of most causeffects patterns & cycles. Real crying & screaming are natural instincts of babies & children, that adults have lost & forgotten how good it feels afterwords, even realizing the causes of pain & lettingo into flowing, growing & glowing love!

I read this book back in the eighties when it came out. Since then, I've probably read it three more times. Janov has written many books on primal therapy and early childhood trauma. Obviously, this book is more specific to birth and its life-long effects. We owe Janov a lot of thanks for his research into early trauma.

Most people are skeptical. After all - if we can't remember something - how could it affect us?

But it does. Most people go through life never understanding their symptoms. Their symptoms always seem to be some mysterious "it" they can never explain. That mysterious "it" is early trauma that has yet to be resolved. Too bad mainstream psychology has never accepted what Janov has discovered, even though it is well documented.

That being said, there are a couple of mistakes Janov has made in his conclusions about the resolution of early trauam. (1) Only a trained therapist (read expensive) is capable of safely helping people access & resolve their earliest traumas. (2) You must eventually be able to feel the full emotional intensity of the original trauma.

This has been proven wrong with Redirecting Self-Therapy (RST) as discovered by retired neuroscientist Ellie Van Winkle. Her therapy is producing the same results as Primal Therapy - but as a free self-therapy. Ellie has proven that anger - and only anger - must be discharged to completely resolve past traumas. Ellie's therapy offers a unique way of doing this. One does NOT have to experience/feel the other emotions of the original trauma - like fear or catastrophic loneliness. It is only suppressed anger that need be expressed. RST has been called "primaling made easy" by some. It is much faster and easier than Primal Therapy. Can't provide a link here, but you can do your own search later for Redirecting Self-Therapy.

WONDERFULLY WRITTEN. VERY INSIGHTFUL AND INFORMATIVE. A GREAT ADDITION TO YOUR KNOWLEDGE BASE, WHETHER VIA COLLEGE OR PERSONAL/ SELF- EDUCATION WISE.

If you are interested in the Environmental Technology field this book is a great introduction to the basics of Environmental Technology. This book is used as a textbook in many Intro to Environmental Technology classes. I took Ann Boyce's on-line class, Introduction to Environmental Technology, where her book is intergrated into great discussions and projects. If you are interested in taking the class that goes with this book just visit the college website and check out the on-line classes section!

As we watch news reports of the world in chaos and trouble this Book offers not just salve to ease the pain of some of these small communties but also real solution as they being to restore their dignity with justice for all involved.
The Model SEED/Scale is one that I believe should be studied and applied in some of the rural areas, small towns in this part of Southwest Oklahoma. This method is about a reformation of attitude, self-awareness , and possibilites for growth and change bringing the best healthiest new life possible.
I think that Churches could apply the model as well as a way to restoring justice and change withn themselves and within the communities they serve. Revitalization is something that churches in rural arears everywhere talk about I believe this model could be applied with success.
This book should have a broad readership. It could help change the world.
Rev. Bobbie G. McGarey, Southwest Oklahoma Presbyerian Parish Pastor, Frederick, Temple, Walters, Chattanooga, and Grandfield. Oklahoma.

The poor communities of the world are, unfortunately, a laboratory for many thousands of mostly failed experiments in how to improve their situation. This important and valuable book builds on decades of practical experience by the authors in the successful, durable transformation of poor communities. The authors' key insights are (1) the necessity for change to be driven by the collaboration of the community, outside experts, and local government; (this may seem obvious, but many projects fail because they treat one of these three groups as an enemy or obstacle rather than a vital element), (2) to have measurable results, (3) to use the power of the community to modify behavior that is an obstacle to success. This book should be read by donors as well as those directly involved in development activities such as community leaders, government officials, and NGO workers.