Levels of Heavy Metals in Traffic-Related Particulate Matter along a Major Motorway in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area, Nigeria (20m Lecture)

 Background: Traffic-related particulate matter contributes extensively to ambient air pollution especially in urban centres. Hence, Populations found along major urban motorways are at higher risk of various health effects. This study was therefore designed to determine levels of heavy metals in the air along IdiApe-Iwo road motorway in Ibadan North-East Local Government Area.

Methods: Descriptive study design involving air sampling and particulate analysis for selected heavy metals was used. At all five sampling locations, levels of particulate matter (PM10) at intervals of 10, 20 and 30 metres away from the motorway were measured using calibrated fine particulate matter sampler. Measurements were done in the morning (7-10am) and afternoon (1-4pm) for 10 weeks. Filter papers obtained from the sampler from SL were digested and analysed for Lead (Pb), Iron (Fe), Copper (Cu), Cadmium (Cd), Zinc (Zn), Chromium (Cr) and Nickel (Ni) using atomic absorption spectrophotometry according to standard methods. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, ANOVA and Pearson correlation test at p <0.05.

Results: Daily PM10 level at each sampling location were AB (100.5 ± 36.3µg/m3), IA (96.3 ± 42.1µg/m3), BA (84.6 ± 41.7µg/m3), AL (110.1 ± 48.4µg/m3), and HJ (121.6 ± 59.8µg/m3) was 4-6times above the PM10 guideline limit of 20µg/m3. The mean levels of heavy metals were Pb (161.1 ± 108.3mg/m3), Fe (2.54 ± 1.09mg/m3), Cu (0.91 ± 0.31mg/m3), Cd (52.5 ± 30.7mg/m3), Zn (0.52 ± 0.39mg/m3), and Cr (0.19 ± 0.03mg /m3). Spatial variations in PM10 and heavy metal concentrations were found to reduce with distance further away from traffic by 23.5% and 18.7% respectively.

Conclusion: Levels of heavy metals at all sampling locations along Idi-Ape-Iwo road motorway exceeded permissible guideline limits for urban centres. Periodic air monitoring of motorways should be instituted. This should be targeted at reducing traffic-related particulate matter concentrations on our motorways especially from exhaust emissions.

Development of a vocational qualification for environmental health in Saudi Arabia (20m Lecture)

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is embarking on one of the largest technical and vocational training upgrades in the world, aimed at dramatically increasing annual training capacity from about 100,000 students today to 300,000 by 2020, while simultaneously developing the quality of the vocational training and assessment/qualification systems. The proportion of the Saudi workforce currently receiving vocational training is less than 10%, but the Kingdom has set an ambitious target figure of 40-45%, which would bring Saudi Arabia in line with the majority of developed countries. According to the accreditation agency, Saudi Skills Standards, “getting more young people – male and female – into high quality Technical and Vocational Training is the single most important factor for success in the labour market”.

AlphaPlus Consultancy in the UK has been appointed to work for Saudi Skills Standards as part of a project team to help develop national occupational standards and qualifications for 49 occupations – one of which is ‘Public Health/Environmental Health Officer’ - people who investigate health hazards in a wide variety of locations, and will take action to mitigate or eliminate the hazards. 
This session will explain how National Occupational Standards for environmental health in Saudi Arabia have been developed and reviewed, and how these standards were incorporated into the development of a vocational qualification in environmental health. Delegates will be invited to consider how the approach could be applicable in other contexts, particularly where increasing vocational training capacity is a priority.

Designing a training programme for the wider public health workforce in Wales (20m Lecture)

Over the past decade there have been major advances in public health workforce development in Wales and the UK. The UK’s Chief Medical Officer recognised in 2001 that “most people, including managers, have a role in health improvement and reducing inequalities, although they may not have recognised this”. The Public Health Skills & Career Framework describes knowledge and competence for core and defined areas of public health, split across nine different career levels, from people with little knowledge of public health who may undertake specific public health activities under direction, through to those whose main role is in public health practice, right up to multidisciplinary public health leaders who set strategic direction and determine priorities across organisations and areas of public health work.

Consultant-grade public health posts are now open to those from non-medical backgrounds, including environmental health, and many EHPs have taken up positions of this nature. Formal recognition of the status of public health practitioners has also been achieved through the establishment of a Public Health Practitioner Register. The next stage is to increase recognition of the role of the ‘wider workforce’.

This session will consider a recent project in Wales to scope and design a training programme to address core and defined competences for the wider workforce for public health in Wales. The session will discuss the approach taken to identifying what is required, and how existing training opportunities have been reviewed for potential incorporation into a flexible programme. Findings from consultation and engagement with employers and likely participants will be considered and the final programme design presented. Delegates will be invited to consider how they could support the role of the wider workforce in the promotion and protection of public health in their context.

Education to water, an educational mobilization in the French primary school (20m Lecture)

In France, an industrialized country where access to water is easy, it is also important to teach the children and teenagers, the importance of water in the daily life, nowadays and for the future. In this context, since 2001, a multidisciplinary pedagogic action is organized by the “H2O Association” and the Rector of Academy of Clermont-Ferrand (i.e., the main institution representing the Ministry of Education in the administrative parts of France).
At the beginning of the school year, children from primary schools work on different topics about the water (i.e., water and health, water as food, water as a major component of hygiene, water as an element of industrial or energy production, water and ecosystems ...). In April, an exhibition-meeting (called "Les Cours d'Eau d'H2O") is organized over two days by the “H2O Association” and the Rector of Academy. Many partners are showing their specificity with respect to water (i.e., institutions, communities, utilities, companies, associations ...) and they are communicating about water and culture, water and environment, water and health, water sports, water sciences, water and international solidarity, water and sanitation, weather, water and energy, water saving, water and agriculture... Every professionals of water have a stand and welcomes school children. Videos, quizzes, demonstrations, materials ... are used to train children to various aspects of water. For them, it is the opportunity to exchange with professionals about all the aspects of water. A specific educational document is distributed to each children. Moreover, they must complete a questionnaire specially elaborated by the exhibitors to oblige them to visit all the stands of the exhibition. Every year, more than three thousand children participate to "Les Cours d'Eau d'H2O".
Since 2001, an educational stand is animated by the students from the Faculty of Pharmacy (university of Auvergne), to teach the children about all the aspects of water and health. The characteristics of specific tools and the pedagogic approaches (film, quiz, leaflets ...), developed by the students and used during "Les Cours d'Eau d'H2O", will be presented.

Annoyance and perception of noise in rural and urban French areas (20m Lecture)

Traffic, urban, and occupational noises are now described as major environmental problems, which can greatly interfere with health. The degree of affect - especially noise perception and annoyance - can vary between subjects, according to their occupational status, their place of life and their pre-existing diseases. These points have been investigated by a cross-sectional study performed in an urban area (UA) and in a rural area (RA) of Auvergne (France). The aim of this study was to identify the main factors affecting noise perception and annoyance.

Data have been collected with a standardized questionnaire, applied to 484 subjects (242 living in UA and 242 in RA). Subjects were asked about their socio-demographic characteristics, exposures to occupational noise and to domestic noise, present diseases and feeling of health status. Statistical analysis were performed with Fischer test, Chi2 test or Fisher's Exact Test. Logistic regression models and multiple linear regression were used to identify factors of noise annoyance (with Stata v12).  484 subjects (308 women and 176 men) were included. Comparable mean ages are observed in both population (46.2 +/- 18.9 yrs in UA - 47.7 +/- 17.4 yrs in RA), with a significant female predominance noted in UA (67%) comparatively to RA (58%). Both populations recognized noise pollution as a major environmental problem. A majority of subjects has been occupationally exposed (66% in UA - 61% in RA), but few of them have used regularly individual hearing protection (14% in UA - 23% in RA). Most people live with their family (82% in RA - 70% in UA), mainly in house in RA (76%) or in apartment in UA (74%). In the vicinity of home, noise annoyance is mentioned and it is especially associated with road traffic, building tools, airports, neighbours, restaurants/pubs, rail traffic and industrial activities. In this study, the perception and the noise annoyance is specially explained by gender (females are more annoyed by noise than males) and age (the level of noise annoyance is inversely linked to the age); place of life (UA or RA) and pre-existing diseases were less contributive.

Food Service Inspectors Promoting Restaurant Worker Protection- a Pilot Assessment and Intervention Study (20m Lecture)

While conducting routine food safety inspections, Bay Area environmental health inspectors identified at least one occupational hazard in approximately 69% of the 261 food facilities inspected as part of a pilot project focusing on preventing work-related injuries. Over 200,000 such injuries occur in U.S. food establishments every year. Recognizing the unique access that environmental health inspectors have to the kitchen and other areas of food facilities when conducting periodic health inspections, UC Berkeley’s Labor Occupational Health Program (LOHP) recruited two Bay Area counties to partner in the development of a pilot assessment and intervention project. LOHP worked with the inspectors of each county to develop distinct protocols for hazard identification and intervention. San Francisco opted for a limited, less time consuming version of the pilot which included a 5-item checklist of sentinel worker safety hazards for the assessment, and an intervention consisting of sharing a letter explaining the pilot effort and providing the facility operator with a brochure on restaurant worker safety. Contra Costa County developed a more time-intensive version including a 15-item checklist with an intervention that distributed the OSHA brochure, targeted safety tipsheets, on-the-spot education, and referral for trainings with LOHP.

San Francisco found that 60% of the restaurants lacked certain required labor signage and 13% of the facilities had ventilation issues. Contra Costa County staff found the most common sentinel hazard was the lack of required labor postings, slippery floors, inadequately stocked first aid kits, and absence of non-slip mats. Key challenges to the project included inspectors having to balance “core” food safety responsibilities with the voluntary pilot activities focused on worker safety. Local environmental health departments will likely need to adapt the effort for their own use – one protocol will not “fit all.” The pilot showed promise in collaborating with, as one inspector put it, “the perfect people to be communicating” about worker health and safety in food facilities. The presentation will expand on the findings of the sentinel hazard assessment, feedback from inspectors and operators on the interventions, the evaluation of the two protocols, and how they may be applicable in the participants’ jurisdictions.