F.A.T. T.O.M.

Food safety is very important and anyone who works in the foodservice industry should be knowledgeable on what FAT TOM means. Iowa State University shows very well how to understand the acronym. FAT TOM is a acronym where each letter explains on how food borne pathogens can grow. The F is for food and the nutrients that are in the food is wha the bacteria feed off of for it to allow to grow. Some pathogens require complex foods while other only require simple kind of nutrients. Most protein rich foods like meat, milk, eggs and fish are hazardous and so are cooked potatoes and leafy lettuce. A is for acidity or the degree of acidity or alkalinity of a substance. Bacteria grows best in an environment that it is neutral or slightly acidic the best being between a 6.6 and 7.5 on the pH scale. T is for time or also known as the two hour rule. These pathogenic organisms reproduce by cell devision and when they are exposed by the the other parts of FAT TOM then the speed of reproduction increases significantly. The second T is for temperature and better known for the TEMPERATURE DANGER ZONE. The temperature danger zone is the zone between 41 and 135 degrees fahrenheit. When the food is outside the temperature danger zone it lets the bacteria grow much slower than it would if it was not in the danger zone. O is for oxygen and the organisms that need oxygen to grow are called aerobic. Botulism is a rare food borne illness caused by a bacteria that does not need oxygen to grow and this is called anaerobic. This is why home canned items can not be used in food services. M is for moisture and the moisture content of the food. The water activity is the amount of water available for use and is measured on a scale of 0 to 1.0. Yeast, bacteria and fungus multiply rapidly with a high water activity level above 0.86. Foods that are preserved with salt or sugar have a lower water activity because the salt and sugar deprive the microorganisms of the water.

Food service workers can help food safety by just washing their hands according to the CDC. According to a study of 321 workers the most hand washing was done when there was food preparation involved and not while other activities are done. Hand washing is also more likely to occur when they are not busy and in restaurants that teach food safety training. It is important to have a hand washing sink in sight of of the workers because statistically they will wash hands more often.

This next picture is just a picture I came across when researching FAT TOM.

Steps for Constructing a New Sewage Treatment System

If you want to construct a new sewage treatment system on your property there are six steps that must be followed to ensure that it is done correctly. These steps are from The Ohio Department of Health and can be found on their website.
The first step is contacting your local health district for specific information on sewage treatment systems permits or when beginning to plan for land development with a sewage treatment system. The health district staff will visit your cite and begin the evaluation process.
The second step is to get a site and soil evaluation. The natural soil is the most commonly used media for final treatment of sewage effluent from a home. A complete evaluation of the soil on the property is needed and it will determine the thickness, slope, topography and the location of nearby water sources and drinking supply. This service can also be provided by private companies as well.

The third step is working with a sewage treatment system designer to find out what type of system is best for you. You want to pick one that is best for the cost of your installation, long term use and the maintenance requirements.

The fourth step is getting quotes and bids form STS contractors. Local health districts can provide a list of registered contractors. Fully discuss all the steps with your contractor. When the contractor begins installation you want to look over what is going on and document what is going on and even take pictures if you would like.
The fifth step is passing the final inspection by your local health district. This is to make sure that it is done properly so that it protects your investment, public heath, and disease prevention.
The final step is to make sure that the system works correctly.
According to Zillow the cost of septic tank systems varies widely from as little as $1,500 to upward of $4,000. Most of the tanks are made of concrete but they can also come made from steel, fiberglass or polyethylene. The tank itself usually costs $600 to $1,000.

Cleveland vs. Cincinnati Air

The AQI or the air quality index is for reporting the daily air quality. The following information is from EPA of Ohio. It tells the viewer how clean or polluted the air is. There are five levels of health concern when looking at air quality and there are also five different pollutants that are examined when solving for the AQI. The five major pollutants are are regulated by the Clean Air Act are ground-level ozone, particle pollution, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and nitrogen dioxide. The AQI values can range from 0 to 500 and they are unhealthy after they reach 100. From 101-150 it is considered unhealthy for sensitive groups which can be people with asthma or children. From this map we can see that Cincinnati is yellow at AQI of 21 which is not terrible but the Ozone is at 97 which is almost at the harmful level. Two surrounding areas Colerain and Batavia are in the same boat is Cincinnati with a green AQI score but a yellow Ozone score. Cleveland is the opposite with having a safe Ozone 48 score but a higher AQI score of 64. Two of the closest areas Mayfield and Sixth District which are both green with good scores.

According to cleveland.com the air is improving but is still has some of the dirtiest air in the nation. The highest concentration of lead in the air is centered in the Slavic Village neighborhood where the Ferro glass-making plant is there. The area is getting better because the federal polluction stardards have become stricter in recent years. There is still particle matter in the air which can be dangerous. Particulate matter are the microscopic pieces of soot, smoke, dirt, dust and liquid that is in the air. This can cause eye, lung and throat irritation, cause trouble breathing, lung cancer, low birth weight in babies, and trigger heart attacks according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As these continue to go down in northeast Ohio the life expectancy improves. This picture is Clevelands air which does not look that amazing but it is better than it was 15 years ago.

Ohio Water health

Coliform according to the Bureau of Environmental Health coliform is a bacteria that is a collection relatively harmless microorganisms that can live in large numbers in soils and in the intestines of warm-blooded (humans) and cold-blooded animals. Coliform aids in the digestion of food.
Finding Coliform or other bacteria in water doesn't mean that it is bad for you. If this coliform is present then there may be other bacteria present as well. The health symptoms related to drinking or swallowing water contaminated with fecal coliform bacteria generally range from no ill effects to cramps and diarrhea (gastrointestinal distress). The presence of any fecal coliform in drinking water is of immediate concern as many diseases can be spread through fecal transmission. According to public health testing for every type of disease causing organism takes a very long time and could be quite expensive. There are three different tests that can be preformed for the coliform and each level has a different risk towards human health. If you have water that has the coliform bacterial then you should not drink the water before boiling it for at least one minute. If you have a well you can disinfect it by chlorinating it but the water may taste like chlorine. To reduce coliform contamination groundwater in a properly contracted well should have minimal-to-no coliform bacteria. If coliform are found in a well it means that bacterial and mineral slimes have built up on the walls and will need to be cleaned by a professional.

In this photo this shows that when there is coliform found there is most likely going to be other forms of bacteria in the sample. Even though there are not may E. coli pathogens they are very dangerous and can cause harm to your body if ingested.

This diagram just shows the different pathogens that can be in the total sample if there is coliform in it. There can be salmonella in the coliform that isn't fecal. 

A summary of coliform is that it is not dangerous but it is an easy way to tell if the dangerous bacteria is in the environment. People get water from wells in rural areas should regularly check for this bacteria to make sure they aren't at risk.

Round up and the effects on human life

Round up is a weed killer that is seen to have some negative health effects on the human body from one ingredient. According to Environmental Health News glyphosate, which is Roundups active ingredient, is the most widely used herbicide in the United States. Research suspects that Roundup might cause pregnancy problems by interfering with hormone production, possibly leading to abnormal fetal development, low birth weights or miscarriages. It is scary that this can happen because the chemicals can get on to the food we eat and it can get directly inside our bodies. Monsanto, Roundup's manufacturer, contends that the methods used in the study do not reflect realistic conditions and that their production, which has been sold for decades, is safe when used as directed. I think that this is something that is said so the company will not be pursued as badly by the media.  The EPA classifies glyphosate as a Group E chemical, which means that there is strong evidence that it does not cause cancer in humans. However in a French study researchers tested four different Roundup formulations all with glyphosate at concentrations below the recommend lawn and agricultural dose and tested them on animal cells and they damaged all the cells. In the article from National Pesticide Information Center and they claim that exposure to these glyphosate can give you cancer and reproductive problems. They also state that children are at higher risk than adults because they are more susceptible to these chemicals. These chemicals can bind tightly to soil and they can stay there for 6 months depending on the climate and the type of soil it is in.  It can also effect the plants and animals that can be in the water or environment that it gets into. I believe that this product should be looked at more closely and corporations should be more responsible for what they do to the environment.

What are the potential health effects from exposure to nuclear power plant leaks into the environment for humans, animals, plants.

Two of the most notorious nuclear power plant leaks are Chernobyl (Ukraine) and Fukishima (Japan).
Both of them having harm to every kind of life including humans, animals and plants alike. According to livescience.com radio active material decays and does harm to the human body in two ways by either directly killing the cells or causing mutations in the cells DNA. If those mutations are not repaired then they can turn cancerous. Radioactive iodine was found in the environment and it can be absorbed by the thyroid gland creating thyroid cancer. However this radioactive iodine does not stay in the environment very long because of its short half life. Iodine stays in the environment for about two months after the incident. Children can get sick from eating the Iodine radiated food because they have smaller thyroid glans so it would be a larger concentrate on them. Radiation sickness is how much radiation is absorbed in the body and the symptoms of it are the bleeding and shedding of the gastrointestinal tract. This is a picture of a two headed mutated turtle from Fukishima.

A different post from livescience.com tells us that almost 30 years after the chernobyl incident the animal population has an interesting change. Moose, roe deer, red deer and wild boar are still living the area and even more amazing is that the wolf population has increased seven times the population in the nearby reserves. This study did not look at the reproductive success of the animal species though. There have been animals that have been affected by the radiation like the local butterfly population by turning the grass blue butterflies pale in color. The plant life has been normal but the plants now have radiation in them from the soil being contaminated with radiation. There are also dogs who still live in the dead zone.

Zika Virus Prevention and Conrol

The Zika virus is a very serious problem and is now on global emergency according to the World Health Organization on the New York Times. The Zika virus is linked to cases of women having children with microcephaly. These children have very small heads and do not have fully developed brains. The global health agency is trying to strike a balance between alerting the public and scaring it. The symptoms are very mild and sometimes nonexistent so some people might not even know that they are carrying it. Action needs to be taken because if more countries get infected like Haiti for example a country with little public health infrastructure and no mosquito control could be in real big trouble. The WHO is taking this more serious than before because they were criticized for being late on saying that ebola was an emergency in 2014. Right now for prevention for the disease according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there is not a vaccine to prevent the disease and the only way to prevent it is mosquito bites. If you are overseas and are sleeping then bring a mosquito bed net to protect yourself against the bites. Use insect repellent and try to wear long sleeve shirts so there is more clothing protecting your skin.

This is an interesting picture that tells you what you can do to protect yourself and what the symptoms are if you think you may be infected. If you do think you may have it then get a blood test right away.

In this picture there is a baby that has microcephaly and it is really sad to see this happening to these innocent children. There are conspiracy theories that a chemical used to try to control the growth of mosquitos by targeting their larvae in water may have a connection in what is happening. If that is the cause of the problem then who is liable for this happening?