Watershed Info No 1040
Daniel Salzler No. 1040
EnviroInsight.org Five Items March 13, 2020
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1. Top Ways to Protect Your Workplace from Coronavirus. By Sydny Shepard, Occupational Health and Safety magazine.
Information and statistics on the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, are changing rapidly creating worry, chaos and misinformation to be spread along with the illness. To combat both the spread of the virus and the negative emotions in connection with it, employers need to have an open dialogue with their employees about the virus, it’s potential impact on the organization and what employees can do to protect themselves
Here’s our top tips for protecting the workplace and employees from spreading the virus, and in effect, helping to create a more thoughtful discussion between employers and employees Remind employees that the best way to prevent the spread of the illness is to regularly wash their hands and avoid touching their mouth, eyes or nose. The CDC recommends washing your hands with water and soap for a duration of 20 seconds, rubbing and lathering the backs of the hands, between your fingers and under your nails. In order to effectively time out 20 seconds while washing your hands, you can hum or sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice from beginning to end To reinforce and remind employees that they should be washing their hands regularly, place signs around the building and especially in public areas such as bathroom and food preparation spaces.
WARNING!
How many of you use hand sanitizers at least occasionally to clean your hands? We’ve known for a long time that the chemicals in hand sanitizers are unhealthy, and also drying and irritating the skin.
Unfortunately a new study now links them to cancer… raising (even tripling!) your risk of thyroid cancer. The Study (published in Occupational and Environmental Medicine Feb 15, 2017):
Researchers looked at data on over 900 patients… 462 adults with thyroid cancer in 2010 and 2011 and compared them to 498 matched controls.
Researchers carefully calculated exposure to biocides and pesticides based on reported use and detailed information on occupational exposure.
Biocide exposure was highest for occupations in medicine or cleaning… healthcare providers in hospitals, home health aides and building cleaning workers having the highest exposures.
The Results:
Women with any occupational exposure at all were 48% more likely to develop thyroid cancer.Men with any occupational exposure at all were 300% more likely to develop thyroid cancer — 3 X the normal rates of thyroid cancers!
The over all risk of using biocides increased thyroid cancer rates by 65% For those with highest cumulative exposures (associated with jobs that require hand sanitizer use such as health professions) the risk of thyroid cancer more than doubled.
These biocide chemicals are known hormone disrupters… for example, Triclosan has been shown to interrupt and decrease the levels of several different thyroid hormones (necessary for growth and metabolism.)
The Bottom line:
Don’t use chemical based hand sanitizers. They dry out your skin, increasing the chance of cracks and fissures in your skin (an entryway for germs) and they disrupt your growth and metabolic hormone levels, and increase your risk of thyroid cancer — up to 3 FOLD higher thyroid cancer risk.
Source: https://www.intuition-physician.com/hand-sanitizers-linked-to-thyroid-cancer-heres-your-safer-alternative/
2. Arizona’s Water Future: Challenges and Opportunities
March 17th, 2020 11:30 TO 1:30
ARIZONA GREEN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE LUNCH AND LEARN
Arizona’s Water Future: Challenges and Opportunities
Lincoln Institute of Land Policy
11010 N. Tatum Boulevard, Suite D-101, Phoenix, AZ 85028
The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, the centerpiece of a new initiative to integrate land use planning and the management of an increasingly scarce resource. How conversant are you on one of the most critical issues facing businesses in Arizona? Join us for a deeper dive into the current issues on water policy and planning and learn how your engagement in this area is critical for Arizona’s future and the future of businesses in this state. We will start our lunch and learn with an overview of the issues followed by a business engagement discussion. Our host for this event is the Babbitt Center. Our presenter is Jim Holway Director, Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
We will be discussing some of the items listed below:
- What is our overall water outlook in the Valley and in Arizona in 5 years,10 years, 20 years, 40 years?
- Where are we with the Water Contingency Plan?
- What role does the Babbitt Center for Water and Land Policy have in water policy and land use policy and who are the other major players in water policy and their roles?
- What are the main considerations with the convergence of water and land policy?
- Will businesses have a sufficient water supply for manufacturing and operations?
- Are there existing and emerging technologies, business solutions, policy changes or other solutions that can help us with our water supply?
- What are the most promising and effective water conservation measures that businesses and people and cities/states are doing?
- What water policy issues are on the horizon for business to know about and engage with?
- Will we be able to maintain our lifestyle with impending water reductions
- What impact can reduced water supplies have on our real estate market and overall economy?
- How can we live prosperously with a reduce water supply?
- What impact will reduced water supplies have on landscaping such as grass, trees, plants, etc. in our homes and commercial buildings?
- What impact will the water reductions have on farming and what does that do to our food supply and economy?
3. Oak Creek Clean-Up. Volunteers needed! Midgley Bridge is a popular creek destination during Spring Break. Join us for a morning spent hiking alongside Oak Creek, removing trash left behind from creek-goers.
Come prepared, inspired, and ready to make a change. Each year we remove hundreds of pounds of waste left be behind from spring creek-goers.
We will meet at the Midgley Bridge parking lot at 7:30am, March 23rd.
Please bring appropriate attire. Hiking shoes are necessary as we will be walking on a hiking trail and across rougher terrain. Remember to pack snacks and water to fuel your work in protecting Oak Creek! All cleanup and safety supplies will be provided. We can’t wait to work together to make an immediate change in our watershed. We hope to see you there!
Please contact us at info@oakcreekwatershed.org with any questions and to register.
4. Tucson To Offeer Free Toilets To The poor. TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) – Did you know inefficient toilets can be the biggest water wasters inside the home?
That’s why Tucson Water is offering low-income families free replacement of their older toilet. Mobile-home parks, condos and townhouses are eligible If you are a homeowner, homes that qualify must be built in 2010 or earlier. Toilets that qualify for replacement are usually made before 2008. If you’re unsure, the date of manufacture is generally stamped inside the tank or lid of the toilet. Officials said replacing an old, leaky toilet will actually save a single-family home around 7,500 gallons of water annually. That means at least $80 a year will go right back into customers’ pockets.
“It meets our objective overall in terms of reducing water use and increasing the efficiencies with which we use water. CHRPA (City and Community Home Repair Projects of Arizona) gets a big benefit because their job is to support the community and make this a better community to be in while helping these low income customers,” said Fernando Molina, Public Information Officer, Tucson Water Department.
5. The History Behind St. Patrick’s Day. Source: HomeAnswers. CultureOn March 17th every year, Americans gather together to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Most large cities hold an annual parade to honor the patron saint of Ireland. People dress up in green clothing, eat traditional foods and enjoy a few drinks to honor the day. There are quite a few traditions that go along with celebrating this special day in March. But what is the history behind St. Patrick’s Day? Discover how this saint came to represent everything Irish on March
17th, not only in the US but around the world. St Patrick Isn’t Even Irish. Patrick was born in 385 AD. His real name was Maewyn Succat, but his precise birthplace is not really known. It’s been speculated that he was born in Italy, since his parents were believed to have been Roman aristocrats. However, it’s more likely he was born in England, Scotland or Wales, where the Roman Empire controlled that part of the world. When he was 16 years old, Patrick was stolen from his family and brought over to Gaelic Ireland as a slave. Working as a shepherd for six years, Patrick believed that God told him to escape to the coast and make his way home. He did just that and thereafter dedicated his life to the Church. He went back to Ireland 30 years later as a missionary, to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity. It was then that he changed his name to Patricius (Patrick), Latin for “father figure.” The first color associated with St. Patrick was blue, not green. It’s a light shade of blue that is still evident on ancient Irish flags. Over time, though, green became the color that symbolized everything Irish. St. Patrick’s Day celebrates the color green because: The iconic shamrock used by St. Patrick is green. Ireland is known as the Emerald Isle for its lush green field. Traditional Irish legend has it that you are invisible to leprechauns if you wear the color green, thereby protecting you from being pinched by one of these fairy creatures What Do Snakes Have To Do With St. Patrick? It was believed that St. Patrick used his powers to ban all snakes from Ireland. Supposedly, he was able to chase the reptiles to the sea by standing at the top of a hill known as Croagh Patrick, and shooing them away with a wooden staff. In actuality, records show that it was too cold for snakes to have ever existed in Ireland during the Ice Age. The seas around Ireland have since kept snakes from making their way to the Emerald Isle. The snakes may have been a metaphor for Patrick for driving the Pagans from Ireland by spreading Christianity across the country.
The Most Important Thing To Drink. In Ireland, drinking a pint of Guinness is a longstanding tradition. That tradition has made its way to America, particularly on St. Patrick’s Day. Guinness is a dark Irish beer that has an acquired taste, yet 13 million pints of it are imbibed around the world every March 17th. These days, many American bars tint the beer green in honor of the day.
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