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Cultivation and paternalism in the service of the market
Published in Stephan Kloos, Calum Blaikie, Asian Medical Industries, 2022
Brockington and Duffy (2010) advise caution with regard to the resolutely positive, win-win rhetoric of market-based solutions to “saving nature.” Such images of benevolence are accentuated in the case of medicinal herbs through the nobility attributed to the act of healing. Referring to the local “Min River lily” (Lilium regale E.H. Wilson, minjiang baihe岷江百合),6 a Qiang doctor illustrated perfectly how industrial solutions can “solve” industrial problems:If we make good use of local varieties and develop industries, planting in the original ecology of the “common people”, then it will benefit the people. The benefit for the country is in treating the lung diseases of many people. If our lungs are healthy, there will be more genes resisting smog, and our immunity will be improved. As a result, many medical costs will be reduced for the country, which will benefit the country. In this way, a company also develops and achieves win-win results.
Understanding the Metabolomics of Medicinal Plants under Environmental Pollution
Published in Azamal Husen, Environmental Pollution and Medicinal Plants, 2022
Prachi Sao, Rahat Parveen, Aryan Khattri, Shubhra Sharma, Neha Tiwari, Sachidanand Singh
Quality soil yields healthy plants and products that play a vital role in vegetation. Several methods are used to combat the risk of soil erosion and ill plants (Cunningham et al., 1995). Madseniana, discovered at Cornell University, breaks down organic materials. Most species of Paraburkholderia madseniana sp. nov. are known for their ability to break down aromatic chemicals, and they can develop root nodules to store atmospheric nitrogen (Wilhelm et al., 2020). Worldwide, the detrimental effects of air pollution on the ecosystem are evident (Saxena et al., 2013; Seyyednejad et al., 2011). Smog-free towers are a competent invention to reduce air pollution. The tower sucks in pollution and expels clean air using electricity equivalent to the amount of a water boiler. The tower has faced a backlash from China after the country considered it incompetent because of not achieving desirable results (Laxmipriya et al., 2018). Another invention, the fog catcher, works in the direction of harvesting fog, working on a non-complex mechanism. The mist is caught in vertical nets trickling into a system where it is filtered and mixed with groundwater, ultimately providing clean water to households. The fog catcher has been developed by Qadir et al., but this method is not efficient on a large scale (Qadir et al., 2018).
Community and environment as determinants of health
Published in Ben Y.F. Fong, Martin C.S. Wong, The Routledge Handbook of Public Health and the Community, 2021
Thomas Man-chi Dao, Bean S.N. Fu
Ground-level ozone ([O3]) is produced by volatile organic compounds (VOCs, ozone precursors) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) via photochemical reaction under sunlight. It is also one of the important greenhouse gases causing global warming. The sources of VOCs are mainly from solvent-based paints, printing inks, organic solvents and petroleum products. The source of NOx is mostly from factories and fossil fuel burning. The combined effect of ozone with small air pollutants particles causing smog in sunny days. Smog reduces visibility. It is hazardous to human health as it irritates our eyes, nose and respiratory tract. It triggers an asthmatic or COPD attack and is associated with increased respiratory mortality.
Impact of long-term exposure wildfire smog on respiratory health outcomes
Published in Expert Review of Respiratory Medicine, 2020
Atcharaporn Ontawong, Surasak Saokaew, Busabong Jamroendararasame, Acharaporn Duangjai
Similarly, long-term exposure to wildfire smog is linked with respiratory diseases, especially among women and children [4]. Moreover, previous studies indicated that smog exposure could induce inflammation [9,10] and lead to increased pro-inflammatory cytokines in the blood serum of wildland firefighters [11]. Forest fires in Thailand annually occur during the dry season from December to April. Phayao province is one of the impact areas of wildfire events of Thailand. In addition, Pong District has the highest amount of hotspot in Phayao province (19 points from 15 points in 2017). Evidence shows an association between PM2.5 and PM10 levels and health implications in the fire season of Phayao province. During the smog period, the number of patients who are hospitalized with cardiovascular disease, respiratory diseases, and dermatitis in Phayao province has increased from 219 (2018) to 325 (2019) [12].
Evolution of Federalism in Environmental Health: Federal, State, and Local Government Control
Published in Journal of Legal Medicine, 2020
Jennifer R. Black, Matthew Penn, Laurel Berman
Because of the limitation on federal authority, many states enacted many environmental laws prior to 1970.19 For instance, once air pollution and smog were understood as threats to global ecology and public health, many states enacted laws that aimed to prevent, rather than just abate, air pollutants.20 One of the earliest state laws related to air pollution was Ohio’s black-smoke law in the 1890s, which required steam boilers to be constructed or altered to prevent smoke emissions.21 After this, California was the first state to enact a law aimed at air pollution other than black smoke: the Air Pollution Control Act of 1947.22 This law authorized all counties in California to create air pollution control districts.23 The Los Angeles County Air Pollution Control District was created in 1947 as a result of this law and was the first air pollution control district in the United States. The district sought to regulate obvious sources of air pollution, such as oil refineries and power plants.24 When smog was still prevalent in the state after that law was implemented, California passed legislation in 1957 providing statewide authority—through the new Bureau of Air Sanitation within the California Department of Public Health—to regulate motor vehicle emissions.25 Also around the time California was implementing these laws, Oregon created a state air pollution control agency in 1951, which was the first state agency in the country to have broad authority over air pollution control.26
Avoiding Stereotypes
Published in Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 2019
What about my other preexisting views of China? Smog, crowds, squat toilets, shopping? The smog was not bad—maybe because we were traveling at a different time of year than our earlier trip. Our guide told us that it often was a problem and that it was common to see people in the large cities wearing masks over their noses and mouths to protect themselves from pollution. He was concerned that American tourists would avoid visiting China because of what they had heard about the smog. He talked also about the efforts the government made to clean up the air prior to the Olympics in 2008. Coming from Beijing, he was proud of his city and pointed out the impressive infrastructure that was put in place rapidly to host the Olympics. According to McMahon (2018), China’s ability to handle rapid urbanization lies in the scale and speed at which it's been able to build infrastructure: roads, high speed rail, subways, power plants, ports. He contends that few places have handled urbanization and the accompanying development as well as China.