TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council TI - Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals: Volume 4 SN - DO - 10.17226/10902 PY - 2004 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10902/acute-exposure-guideline-levels-for-selected-airborne-chemicals-volume-4 PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Environment and Environmental Studies AB - The Bhopal Disaster of 1984 resulted in the death of around 2,000 residents living near chemical plants and irreversible injuries to more than 20,000 other residents. These numbers can be attributed to the community's lack of awareness concerning the chemicals' existence, dangers and effects, and/or how to react in case of emergency. The disaster emphasized the need for governments to identify hazardous substances and to aid local communities in developing plans for emergency exposures. As a result, the United States government issued the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA) of 1986; requiring the identification of extremely hazardous substances (EHSs) by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). EPA was also tasked with assisting Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) in conducting health-hazard assessments to develop emergency-response plans for sites where EHSs are produced, stored, transported, or used. The EPA identified nearly 400 EHSs in terms of their immediate danger to life and health (IDLH) as their first step in assisting these LEPCs. In 1991 the EPA went on to request that the National Research Council (NRC) Committee on Toxicology (COT) develop criteria and methods for developing emergency exposure levels for EHSs for the general population. The COT, who had published many reports on emergency exposure guidance levels at the time, designated the task to a subcommittee. The subcommittee focused on Guidelines for Developing Community Emergency Exposure Levels for Hazardous Substances. Four years later the National Advisory Committee for Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances (NAC) was created with a focus on identifying, reviewing, and interpreting relevant toxicologic and other scientific data and developing acute exposure guideline levels (AEGLs) for high-priority, acutely toxic chemicals. In Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Selected Airborne Chemicals:Volume 4, the NAC outlines acute exposure guideline levels for chlorine, hydrogen chloride, toluene 2,4, hydrogen fluoride, 2,6-diisocyanate, and uranium hexafluoride. ER - TY - BOOK AU - Institute of Medicine TI - Forging a Poison Prevention and Control System SN - DO - 10.17226/10971 PY - 2004 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10971/forging-a-poison-prevention-and-control-system PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Health and Medicine AB - Poisoning is a far more serious health problem in the U.S. than has generally been recognized. It is estimated that more than 4 million poisoning episodes occur annually, with approximately 300,000 cases leading to hospitalization. The field of poison prevention provides some of the most celebrated examples of successful public health interventions, yet surprisingly the current poison control “system” is little more than a loose network of poison control centers, poorly integrated into the larger spheres of public health. To increase their effectiveness, efforts to reduce poisoning need to be linked to a national agenda for public health promotion and injury prevention. Forging a Poison Prevention and Control System recommends a future poison control system with a strong public health infrastructure, a national system of regional poison control centers, federal funding to support core poison control activities, and a national poison information system to track major poisoning epidemics and possible acts of bioterrorism. This framework provides a complete “system” that could offer the best poison prevention and patient care services to meet the needs of the nation in the 21st century. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council A2 - Norman B. Anderson A2 - Rodolfo A. Bulatao A2 - Barney Cohen TI - Critical Perspectives on Racial and Ethnic Differences in Health in Late Life SN - DO - 10.17226/11086 PY - 2004 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/11086/critical-perspectives-on-racial-and-ethnic-differences-in-health-in-late-life PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Behavioral and Social Sciences KW - Health and Medicine AB - In their later years, Americans of different racial and ethnic backgrounds are not in equally good--or equally poor--health. There is wide variation, but on average older Whites are healthier than older Blacks and tend to outlive them. But Whites tend to be in poorer health than Hispanics and Asian Americans. This volume documents the differentials and considers possible explanations. Selection processes play a role: selective migration, for instance, or selective survival to advanced ages. Health differentials originate early in life, possibly even before birth, and are affected by events and experiences throughout the life course. Differences in socioeconomic status, risk behavior, social relations, and health care all play a role. Separate chapters consider the contribution of such factors and the biopsychosocial mechanisms that link them to health. This volume provides the empirical evidence for the research agenda provided in the separate report of the Panel on Race, Ethnicity, and Health in Later Life. ER - TY - BOOK AU - National Research Council AU - Institute of Medicine A2 - Richard J. Bonnie A2 - Mary Ellen O'Connell TI - Reducing Underage Drinking: A Collective Responsibility SN - DO - 10.17226/10729 PY - 2004 UR - https://nap.nationalacademies.org/catalog/10729/reducing-underage-drinking-a-collective-responsibility PB - The National Academies Press CY - Washington, DC LA - English KW - Health and Medicine KW - Behavioral and Social Sciences AB - Alcohol use by young people is extremely dangerous - both to themselves and society at large. Underage alcohol use is associated with traffic fatalities, violence, unsafe sex, suicide, educational failure, and other problem behaviors that diminish the prospects of future success, as well as health risks – and the earlier teens start drinking, the greater the danger. Despite these serious concerns, the media continues to make drinking look attractive to youth, and it remains possible and even easy for teenagers to get access to alcohol. Why is this dangerous behavior so pervasive? What can be done to prevent it? What will work and who is responsible for making sure it happens? Reducing Underage Drinking addresses these questions and proposes a new way to combat underage alcohol use. It explores the ways in which may different individuals and groups contribute to the problem and how they can be enlisted to prevent it. Reducing Underage Drinking will serve as both a game plan and a call to arms for anyone with an investment in youth health and safety. ER -