Identification of the Final Project Topic
For this week’s assignment:
Identify an environmental or occupational exposure to a chemical or group of chemicals in which you are interestedthe topic for your final project. For ideas about topics, you can consult the following sources:
The textbook
The environmental health topics section of the CDC website
The environmental health topics section of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) website
The toxic substances section of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) website
The case studies in environmental medicine from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) website
The hazards and exposures section and the chemicals section of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH’s) website. NIOSH is a part of the CDC.
Determine how your chosen exposure affects human populations, i.e., the health problems or disease caused by this chemical or group of chemicals.
Choose a topic that is not overly broad. For example:
Choose one chemical: Lead exposure will make a better topic than exposure to toxic heavy metals, which include lead, mercury, chromium, cadmium, etc. (described in the textbook).
Choose a specific population at risk: This population is exposed either to one chemical or to a closely related group of chemicals, such as pesticide exposure to children in agricultural families or occupational exposure to organic solvents among pregnant women.
Write a 3 to 5-page paper in a Microsoft Word document addressing the following:
Describe the chosen environmental or occupational exposure.
Explain the importance of this exposure problem to human health in terms of both of the following issues:
The extent of exposure, e.g., the estimated number of people exposed
The seriousness of disease or diseases associated with the exposure to the substance or group of substances
Describe the population you will study (e.g., the whole population, individuals living in poverty, children, pregnant women, workers in specific occupations, etc.
Explain why you are interested in the environmental or occupational public health problem you selected and the population you selected.
This is going to lead into the final project
For the final project, you will create an environmental-occupational public health analysis report. Each week, you will complete a portion of the report and will progressively integrate concepts from the course. This project will provide an opportunity for you to learn in-depth about a specific environmental or occupational determinant of public health focusing on the magnitude and significance of the problem, affected populations (potentially disparities), and the current strategies for elimination or reduction of the problem. The week-wise final project assignments are structured as follows:
Week 1: Topic identification
Week 2: Statement of the problem
Week 3: Background information on the problem
Week 4: Landscape and stakeholders
Week 5: Range of options for addressing the problem
Each week, you will write a report, addressing the questions posed in the assignment for that week.
