Environmental-Health Books

Finally, a practical, down-to-earth, common sense ergonomics guide for business. Written for the layman, Dan MacLeod's Office Ergonomics Kit is just that. It's a kit with all the essential parts to get a company's ergonomics program up and running.The book provides ample support and guidance for every aspect of managing an ergonomics program.

It's easy to get a program started with this manual. Employee and management training is a breeze with the slides that are provided on a floppy disk. You can tailor the Power Point presentation to your company needs. Another disk is full of helpful planning and program management aids. What a bonus!

As manager in corporate safety of the world's leading express freight company, I have found this guide to be invaluable. We use this kit as the basis for our ergonomics program.

Every year in the U.S., enlightened consumers, vegetarians, and organic farmers join together in a cry of "Save our Planet" for the observance of Earth Day. The organizers of the first Earth Day founded a group called Environmental Action, and it is their staff along with lead author Ruth Caplan that have produced this very useful political primer. The subtitle for this book is "The Action-Oriented Guide to Help You Protect and Preserve Our Environment", which is a good indicator of the book's commitment to the original Earth Day mandate.

Unlike many other green environmental primers that bombard the reader with alarming statistics that pointedly uncover our ongoing environmental deterioration, each issue is patiently explained by the author and the Evironmental Action staff. In addition to sharing a number of simple things a consumer can do to help clean up the earth such as using non-toxic rather than toxic chemical household cleaners, this book advises one to "get political". In practical but often unlibertarian terms, the authors explain how to pressure policy makers and what to demand of them on an environmental issue.

Caplan and the Environmental Action staff also explore the 1980s' emerging activists for ecological democracy, including profiles of individuals who have made the commitment to "think globally and act locally" through changes in their lifestyles and organizing their workplaces or communities. It is difficult to get discouraged by the overwhelming global picture when compared with the very small impact of one individual's voice and actions, after you read these profiles of successful ecological activists.

The last chapter is "A Call to Action: Becoming an Environmental Activist", which explains how to start your own environmental organization and operate it effectively. Here the authors fail to examine the similarities between the corporate mode of non-profit organizations and the structure of corporations and resulting structural determinism. Oftentimes the corporatization of environmental organizations leads to the same self-destructive political behavior that steers the military-industrial complex. Perhaps another structure is necessary for environmental organizations to achieve cooperative ends? But in the authors' defense, an Arizona firefighter would agree that you sometimes fight fire with fire.

The first frontier for America was the vast, seemingly limitless plains and the second was seemingly limitless cheap energy. The next frontier will be the age of energy conservation and renewable resources and a life style where people collect the sun to heat their homes, cycle to work to save energy and keep fit, use as little water as possible, produce their own vegetables and thereby enhance the quality of their lives and environment. Organic gardening composes a major part of the book because it promotes the idea of self-reliance and encourages people to examine their lifestyle and patterns of consumption; it leads to the idea of homesteading where personal productivity becomes part of a family's lifestyle by bringing the production of food back into the hands of the family that will eat it. Cheap energy and food provide little incentive to plan a frugal way of life and seek the joy that comes from simplicity, smallness, quiet and meditation; garden homesteading is one of the few tangible ways of experiencing the thrill and satisfaction of building your own secure reserves and seeking relief from habits of waste and consumption.

Organic thinking began with Sir Albert Howard in the 1920s with farming systems based entirely on renewable resources through recycling of animal manures and left over plant materials by composting at high temperatures through bacterial action. Howard perceived danger in the advocacy of synthetic substitutes that ignored the organic portion of the plant and predicted declining fertility, hunger, increased disease and pollution. Rodale's father seeing Howard's predictions coming true during the Dust Bowl era and grasping the wisdom of his methods created a research farm using only manure and wasted organic matter as fertilizer without using any poisonous pesticides and found he had fine crops, healthy animals, productive gardens and bigger harvests. As these results gained importance with the energy crisis, environmental contamination by agricultural chemicals, destruction of the ozone layer, methods adopted by the food processing industry, inflation and the complex and an expensive food distribution system the author established a second 305 acre farm devoted to finding how to do more with less and improving the efficiency of organic methods.

New gardeners frequently make the mistake of planting what they want to eat, rather than what grows healthily, inviting disease because climate, soil or moisture conditions are not right for every plant. Old gardeners have learned what nature will allow them to do successfully and have learned to use ecological sense and adopt a live-and-let-live approach to pests and disease, preferring to build up soil fertility so it will be healthy and productive, giving plants the health to combat natural enemies. Earthworms and other organisms killed by agricultural chemicals produce a natural plant growth stimulant; nitrogen-producing bacteria boost the capacity of the land by building the humus content of the soil. There will always be some disease but by listening to nature's signals and by using that information to build strength naturally, plants will be healthy.

A garden that is too clean can be the enemy of helpful insects. Whenever possible keep a sod cover where helpful insects can find refuge as there is a surprising insect-controlling power in weeds; it is important that we stop thinking of insects as bad. Lawns can be turned into vegetable gardens by making holes and planting corn, tomatoes, squash or similar large-growing vegetables; mow the grass between the rows, mulch with lawn clippings, leaves, hay or even saw dust. Mulching keeps moisture in the soil and prevents weed growth. Drip irrigation puts water where it does most good, succession planting allows you to grow several different plants in the same area, crop rotation reduces weed problems, and careful selection of insect-resistant plant types reduces insect problems.

Weather records reveal a picture of stable and favorable weather conditions over the last 50 years providing the best conditions for food production that we could have hoped for. There is a dangerous complacency with new agricultural technology that is ill equipped to cope with the weather outside the expected norm. During the 1960s the world had a 105-day food reserve, but now it is very much lower and crop failures could have a devastating effect. We should multiply the number of people able to produce at least some of their own food in their own gardens.

We are what we eat. The average American is eating food that is increasingly doctored with chemicals and of decreasing nutritional value. The best diet should focus on the relatively small number of foods that are excellent in all respects and avoid those which are harmful or lack solid value. We should develop a habit of thinking of foods occupying a sliding scale of quality and concentrate on a number of good foods. Many people are overweight caused through poor diet. Unconventional sources such as wild foods are can improve diet cheaply while sprouted soybeans rival meat in nutritive value, mature within five days, can be planted at any time, require neither soil nor sunshine, are as rich as tomatoes in vitamin C, are free of waste and can be cooked with little fuel. Health is the product of many complex factors working together and this book tells us how to take our health into our own hands. Future gains in life expectancy will come from changes in our habits and life styles. 'Our Next Frontier' is actually about living a healthy, rewarding and long life. We should not view health as the absence of disease as health comes from the way we live and not from doctors and hospitals.

Written more than 20 years ago, this book is not dated in any way - in fact time has highlighted Rodale's fears and proved the wisdom of his approach. If you have questioned the habit of eating food products from the supermarket or if you have questioned your life style, this is an excellent book to reflect on.

Anyone who sets foot in a darkroom should read this book. A little scary at times, but information you need to be aware of. Especially important for creative workers who often forget about the side effects of the materials they work with.

This series of books is the ultimate reference for industrial hygienists. While the sheer size of Patty's is daunting, it should be on every IH's bookshelf. If you need to know anything about the toxicology of a chemical or other workplace health hazards, chances are it's in Patty's.

This is a groundbreaking book. It has a very wide scope. The authors look at nutrition, electromagnetic radiation, water and air quality, agricultural practices, synthetic and toxic chemicals, and more.

Before reading this book, I was already very aware of environmental issues and wanted to get involved to help make the world a healthier and more sustainable place. However, after reading the book, I realised that the situation is even worse than I at first thought, and, according to environmentalists like David Suzuki, humanity doesn't have much time left to reverse its direction.

Like many other books on ecology and health, it can become depressing at times because it reveals so much of what is wrong with the world. However, I view it as a strong call for action to all informed and intelligent human beings living on this planet, especially the ones living in the developed world.

Fortunately, the authors don't just describe what is wrong, they provide their readers with concrete suggestions (in the form of a list of tips at the end of every chapter) as to how they can decrease their impact on the environment and improve their health.

Please buy this book and spread the word.

By the way, because their is so much to read and assimilate in our "Information Age", I recommend to other readers that they investigate speed reading and perhaps even other systems of improving mental performance. This might make it easier to make your way through all the interesting books listed at www.amazon.com!

Tony Buzan's books are well worth reading and Richard Welch's "Subliminal Dynamics" and "Mental Photography" might be worth investigating. Check out the website for more info.

Despite the dry title, this is a remarkable piece of science, and reads like a riveting, scientific whodunnit. As Epi wonks know all too well, the elusive WNV/asthma link is something of a public health Great White Whale, and Karpati et al have more or less harpooned it and landed it. Even without the authors' considerable gifts, these data practically leap off the page - Karpati only has to softly underscore a few key points and the whole message shifts into sudden, crystalline focus.

This paper should be required reading for epidemiologists and, for that matter, any other health care professional that aspires to clear, convincing scientific prose.

Pesticide exposure has long been a danger and studies have documented dangers to all levels of society, but what makes Pesticides: A Toxic Time Bomb in Our Midst so important for any college-level collection strong in health, safety, and agriculture as well as social issues is its comprehensive examination of pesticide use, its effects, and alternatives to pesticides. Insights on applied agricultural uses of pesticides and how people are exposed - primarily in the home - accompany charts of statistics and heavily footnoted references in an invaluable guide highly recommended for any collection strong in environmental awareness, safety, and social issues.

Written by pesticide expert Graham Matthews (Emeritus Professor, Dept. of Biosciences, Imperial College of London), Pesticides: Health, Safety and the Environment is a scholarly resource for agriculture science students and professionals concerning the history, application, hazards and future of pesticides. Pesticides: Health, Safety and the Environment seeks to balance the increased food and agricultural productivity pesticides can bring a heavily populated planet with the necessary precautions of applying pesticides only when needed and according to a strict registration process with guidelines, in order to minimize harm to human beings and the environment. Black-and-white photographs illustrate the close examination of techniques of pesticide application, how to prevent operator exposure to harmful toxins, dealing with spray drift, bystander, resident and worker exposure, and hopes for the future to keep the harmful side effects of pesticides under tight control. An expert scientific text filling a much-needed void in scholarly and instructional writings on pesticide application technology and procedures. Also highly recommended is Professor Matthews' previous book, "Pesticide Application Methods".

The Plan Ahead Handbook: Be Prepared In Case of Health, Fire or Natural Disaster/Evacuation Emergency

What a wonderfully useful and clear little handbook. My mother, who's 91, visited this weekend, and I used this handbook to sit down with her and gather a lot of the vital information that I never was able to learn before. Having a clearly structured and succinct handbook provided the tool I needed to help both her and myself approach these sensitive issues of how I could best help her as she got older. I'm very grateful to these authors for providing so useful, inexpensive, and concise a text. Thank you.