Transportation

Personally, I commute daily from the East Bay into Inner Sunset. I drive to Bart, take Bart, and then take Muni to get to work daily. My experience with both Muni and Bart is overall not great, but it's the most convenient method to get to work. Both Bart and Muni tend to be delayed and stretched to capacity, often leaving no room to sit let alone breathe. Many riders on Bart are also rude and I've seen people pushing others onto the train to pack into an already full train. The Bart cars are poorly maintained, with ripped seats, leftover food, drinks and garbage in the trains. I get concerned about my health and safety being on Bart due to these issues as well as the recent increase in theft on Bart. The cleanliness of both Bart and Muni is concerning especially since both attract a lot of homeless people when it's cold and raining. A lot of times the stations and individuals smell like human waste.

Personally, I feel like Bart and Muni riders are more of a health concern due to the crowded trains and the lack of cleanliness. Pollution from Bart and Muni is probably not as significant as the pollution from cars. Despite the issues with public transportation, it reduces the numbers of cars on the road meaning less pollution from cars. This in turn should result in better health for the communities they serve and better overall air quality. Pollution from roadways and freeways does negatively impact the health of many communities and decreases air quality. Reform and investment into a safer and more efficient public transportation system would benefit commuters, communities and overall air quality.

Air Pollution

Community: Alameda County

Zip Code: 94587




Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?
The top polluters include:

Rank	Facility	City	Pounds
1	NEW UNITED MOTOR MFG. INC.	FREMONT	499,459
2	ARCH MIRROR WEST	NEWARK	44,985
3	PACIFIC GALVANIZING INC.	OAKLAND	23,445
4	ACME FIBERGLASS INC.	HAYWARD	14,147
5	U.S. PIPE & FNDY. CO. INC.	UNION CITY	13,995
6	HEXCEL CORP.	LIVERMORE	13,107
7	OWENS-BROCKWAY GLASS CONTAINER INC. PLANT #20	OAKLAND	12,179
8	ISOLA LAMINATE SYS. CORP.	FREMONT	10,099
9	BORDEN CHEMICAL INC.	FREMONT	8,107
10	OATEY CO.	NEWARK	7,200
11	AXT INC.	FREMONT	7,097
12	ENGINEERED POLYMER SOLUTIONS INC. (DBA VALSPAR COATINGS)	HAYWARD	4,409
13	CLEVELAND STEEL CONTAINER CORP.	OAKLAND	3,900
14	U.S. DOE LLNL EXPERIMENTAL TEST SITE (SITE 300)	TRACY	3,899
15	WYMAN GORDON CO.	SAN LEANDRO	3,333
16	TRIANGLE COATINGS INC.	SAN LEANDRO	3,288
17	W. R. GRACE & CO. CONN. DAREX CONTAINER PRODS.	SAN LEANDRO	2,327
18	ROHM & HAAS CO.	HAYWARD	2,012
19	GILLIG CORP.	HAYWARD	1,854
20	B & P MARBLE INC.

The top polluter is New United Motor Mfg Inc, which upon closer inspection, is ironically Tesla. The polluters in Alameda county are from companies that work with or produce fiber glass, metal products, rubber, plastics, textile mill products, stone products, glass, electronics, and chemicals.

What percent of the homes in your zip code have lead-based paint?
3% of houses in Alameda County have a high risk of lead hazards.

Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  
There are 2 reported Superfund sites in my zip code, both under Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. US Dept of Health and Human Services defines a Super fund as any land in the United States that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA as a candidate for cleanup because it poses a risk to human health and/or the environment.

What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?
According to the scorecard website, Lawerence Livermore Laborotory is owned by USDOE and operated by University of California. It was used in the 80's to test high explosives and housed several solid waste landfills, with waste from the LLNL main site, Site 300, and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory.

What did you learn about the air quality in your zip code?
The air quality in my zip code ranges from good to moderate. However, in 2003, the reported maximum PSI level was high, but it may not be the case currently. The main air pollutants in my county were reported to be ozone pollutants.

How about the water quality?
The water quality in my area isn't that great, since many bodies of water are contaminated with various pollutants. My area is 100% contaminated by mercury in lakes, estuaries, bays, coasts, reservoirs and ponds. It was shocking to see that California is ranked #2 in the US for states with the highest amount of animal waste.

How did your zip code fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?
Alameda county is fair on a social justice/environmental justice basis. There were not too many significant differences overall, but a few that stood out were in regards to income and race. For example, lower income families, lower income children and non-whites were reported to be disproportionately affected by facilities emitting air pollutants

Environmental Justice

Social determinants of health are factors that tend to adversely affect health, such as socioeconomic status, environment, and race/culture. Due to social determinants of health, primarily socioeconomic status, many African Americans reside in low income neighborhoods, which tend to house off-site commercial hazardous waste landfills. In 1987, the Commission for Racial Justice found that race was the strongest variable in predicting the location of waste facilities (Bullard & Johnson, 2000). Other than socioeconomic status, African Americans have been a historically marginalized population in the United States. Stemming from decades of slavery, medical mistreatment, segregation, socio cultural inequalities, legal mistreatment, and socioeconomic status, the idea of “Black Lives Matter,” was created. The notion of environmental justice is tied into the “Black Lives Matter,” because this movement is demanding that people acknowledge and remedy generations of mistreatment of African Americans. This movement is also bringing to light the structural, social, political and economics inequalities that exist for African Americans in the U.S.

According to the EPA, environmental justice advocates fair treatment, protection from health hazards and equal access for all regardless of race, color, ethnicity or income. I have a budding interest in environmental justice because of how it relates to health equity for all and can have the power to allow all communities to thrive.

It’s very common to see that minorities are housed near freeways, have lack of access to fresh food options, have more crime and pollution. It was upsetting read that environmental racism is still an ongoing issue in modern-times. I was in shock to see how many places there are in the U.S. that are known to be toxic, such as Mossville, LA which has been referred to as “Cancer Alley.” It’s upsetting to see that there are so many toxic areas with known health issues that are still inhabited by minorities. If places are that toxic, no one should be living there. It’s sad that despite the evidence and people getting sick, that no one is doing anything to make it stop.

Vulnerable Populations

In Dr. Rishi Manahanda's presentation he coined the phrase, "one’s zip code matters more than our genetic code." This deeply upset me but at the same time made me feel intrigued. Dr. Manahanda's talk advocated an upstream approach to health care, to address health conditions that were being exacerbated by the conditions in which they live in. Dr. Manahanda describes using an upstream to approach that begins where patients work and play in order to create a system to connect people outside of the clinic. The usage of community health workers who understand the communities they serve can assist with mitigating the effects of poor living conditions.

The second video, Little Things, explained how even low levels of childhood exposure can have a lifelong impact on humans. It's frightening to learn that mercury, flame retardants, PCBs, BPA, PBDEs, pesticides and lead are found in children throughout the U.S. Exposures to these toxins while in the womb can cause IQ levels to drop in children as well as permanent cognitive damage from exposure in children/fetuses. The cumulative impact of multiple toxins can also be detrimental.

After reading New EWG Database Reveals 16,000 Foods That May Be Packaged with BPA and discovering the harmful effects of BPA, I realized how important it is to be aware of BPA free branding/packaging. According to the article, scientific studies link it to cancer, infertility, diabetes, obesity and brain, nerve and heart disorders, and to cause reproductive problems.

Despite all the mounting evidence pertaining to the harmful effects of environmental exposures, the US is still focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets as the culprits to the obesity epidemic. We are only focused on sedentary lifestyles and diets out of ease. From a political standpoint, would be more costly and time consuming to stakeholders at the state and Federal level to mandate changes to decrease chemical exposures that are linked to obesity. Causing a policy change could also cause rifts among stakeholders who have strong ties in industry, chemical production, and other potentially toxic industries. In the grand scheme of things, it's easier to push the problem of obesity on the individual to incite an individual to change instead of an entire system. The government should seek to find ways to decrease exposure to chemicals linked to obesity to curb the epidemic, but will probably continue to use the easy way out of blaming lifestyle and diet. 

Biomonitoring

We are all essentially products of our environment, whether or not we'd like to be. It was eye-opening and scary to learn that what you consume, sleep on, live near and the products you use can be polluting your body. This video made me very uncomfortable to what I may have been exposed to as a child and what I may currently be exposed to as an adult. I was upset and shocked upon hearing about how children have higher levels of chemical exposure than adults. It’s very upsetting since children are still developing and more sensitive to potentially permanent impairment from chemical exposures. Chemical exposures are reported to be contributing to the epidemic of chronic disease among american children ranging from developmental disabilities, cancer, asthma, and birth defects. It was also deeply upsetting to learn that the EPA DOES NOT require manufacturers to test effects on human health before approval to put the product on the market. I believed that if any group was responsible for product safety that it would be the EPA. I don’t understand why the EPA wouldn’t want to ensure product safety for products that can greatly impact everyone’s health. What makes this even worse is that it takes only 90 days to test products and would probably help reduce the rise of childhood chemical exposure.

Household Products

I honestly don't put too much thought into household products, since I usually wear gloves or cover my nose/mouth when using heavy-duty products such as bleach. In regards to household products, I commonly use Clorox Disinfecting Wipes and Tide 3-In-1 Laundry Pods.

According to the National Library of Medicine's Household Products Database, Clorox Disinfecting Wipes rank 1, posing a slight health risks. Risks associated with these disinfecting wipes included possible eye, skin and respiratory irritation from the liquid and irritation to the GI tract if ingested. I'm pleasantly surprised that I can keep using Clorox Disinfecting Wipes (they're so convenient) since they pose a low toxicity rating.

I couldn't find the Tide 3-In-1 Laundry pods, but the next closest thing was the Tide Tide Pods Detergent + Stain Remover + Brightener, Ocean Mist. The National Library of Medicine's Household Products Database ranks this as a 2, meaning it poses a moderate health risk. These risks include the same risks mentioned from the Clorox Disinfecting Wipes, but also include skin dryness, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, as well as eye contact irritation. I wasn't too surprised by this and I probably won't change my consumer behaviors based on these finding since I usually do not come into direct contact with these liquids. 

With both of these products, I feel that most people should and do know about the potential risks associated with the chemicals in these products. Since these products pose slight to moderate health risks, I probably will not be changing my consumer habits anytime soon.

Personal Care Products

As a self-proclaimed product junkie, I'm always on the hunt for the latest beauty products. While I like to think I'm a fairly conscious consumer in regards to additives such as silicone in hair products, this is the first time that I've actually had to stop and consider the other toxic effects. For the purposes of this assignment, chose to examine an old staple and a newer product that I use often. One of the tried and true products I've used for years is TRESemme Tres 2 Hairspray. I wasn't too surprised when I saw the potential health risks associated with TRESemme hairspray. Generally when most hairsprays are sprayed, they tend cause cough from fumes or can be irritating if your eyes and mouth aren’t closed. The overall toxicity rating was rated moderate, with the highest concerns being irritation, allergies and immunotoxicity, mainly due to the fragrance. For this product, I probably will not change my consumer behaviors since it is a product that I don’t use frequently.

The second product I reviewed was Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner. I’ve seen rave reviews from many women online who wear their hair natural and decided to start using it as well within the last year. I was really surprised Mixed Chicks Leave-In Conditioner had endocrine disrupting chemicals, bio-accumulation and developmental/reproductive toxic chemicals. What was surprising to me many of the toxic chemicals in Mixed Chicks are due to parabens. I’ve seen many products advertising to be “paraben-free, sulfate-free, etc,” but honestly didn’t really think too much of it until now. This product contains propylparaben and butylparaben which are a high concern since they can cause biochemical or cellular level changes, endocrine disruptions and skin/lung/eye irritation. I will definitely consider other leave-in conditioners based on these findings and definitely think that there should be more dialogue on the dangers of parabens. I think that most people don't know about the risks of parabens (myself included), due to the already overwhelming market of beauty products on the market.


Ken Cook
The Ken Cook video was extremely eye-opening and informative. It’s surprising that the topic of pollution in people is something that isn’t commonly researched. I thought it was interesting that he collected blood form 10 Americans to be sampled for 413 chemicals. Cook stated the usual sources of exposure like food, air, or water, did not account for the chemical ingredients that were discovered in the lab tests. 287 chemicals were discovered in the lab results due to beauty products. It’s ironic because most people do not pay much attention to everyday beauty products such as tooth paste, gel, and facial cleanser. It was scary learn that industrial pollution begins early in life. Exposures to these toxic chemicals commonly will be exposed to unborn children through the umbilical cord and are considered to the most vulnerable. Many of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, hormone disruption, infertility, birth defects, neurotoxicity and can be toxic to the immune system. This can be very alarming to expecting parents and can cause significant negative impacts on the developing child. This is causing increases in health issues and disorders such as an 84% acute lymphocytic leukemia in children. In order to protect ourselves as well generations to come, we need to better educate the public and push for stricter government control over the safety of our everyday products.