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Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide relevant and useful information for environmental health practitioners. In a recent membership survey, we heard your request for information [...]

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide relevant and useful information for environmental health practitioners. In a recent membership survey, we heard your request for information [...]

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide relevant and useful information for environmental health practitioners. In a recent membership survey, we heard your request for information [...]

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide relevant and useful information for environmental health practitioners. In a recent membership survey, we heard your request for information [...]

Editor's Note: The National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) strives to provide relevant and useful information for environmental health practitioners. In a recent membership survey, we heard your request for information in the Journal that is more applicable to your daily work. We listened and are pleased to feature this column from a cadre of environmental health luminaries with over 300 years of combined experience in the environmental health field. This group will share their tricks of the trade to help you create a tool kit of resources for your daily work. The conclusions of this column are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of NEHA, nor does it imply endorsement of any products, services, or resources mentioned., Safety? How boring. Before you dismiss this bit of advice and go to the next page, please hear us out. When we think back on our collective careers as environmental [...]

The article offers insights into the techniques of checking the accuracy of thermometer in the field of environmental health. Topics mentioned include the importance of calibrating the instrument based on specifications, the use of ice bath to calibrate electronic thermometers, and the need to record calibration results to verify due diligence in the performance of environmental health professionals.

The article suggests effective cleaning practices to help operators in the food production industry reach a higher level of sanitation in their facility and reduce the risk of injury or illness. These include discouraging double-dipping of mops and cloths, urging maintenance of all custodial equipment, setting a program that directs handwashing between cleaning tasks, promoting color coding of equipment, and paying attention to the condition of the cleaning hardware and ancillary equipment.

The article provides an overview of the different types of inspections and where and when they are appropriate in the environmental health field. It discusses the basic inspection types including regulatory and multimedia compliance which uses objective and subjective criteria, auditing or on-site verification activity, forensic which relies on time-dependent observations, and evaluation which is performance-based, goal-oriented and data-driven.

The article discusses practical strategies on field sampling by the National Environmental Health Association (NEHA) in 2023. Topics covered include the sampling types of selecting a representative part for finding parameters of the whole, and of selecting a small part for inspection, a sampling strategy that focuses on probability for easy calculation of errors, and systemic, stratified, and cluster sampling. Also noted are the factors to consider in selecting a sampling scheme.

The article shares tips to environmental health practitioners for estimating microbial overloads and assessing microbiological risk. These include surveying the immediate area of concern and assessing the macro- and micro-environments that might influence bacterial growth and movement, estimating the type and number of organisms, adding time into the predictive model, incorporating the concept of natural decay into the estimates, and considering the basic premises of environmental microbiology.

The pilot study discussed in this article assessed formaldehyde levels in portable classrooms (PCs) and traditional classrooms (TCs) and explored factors influencing indoor air quality (e.g., carbon dioxide, temperature, and relative humidity). In a cross-sectional design, the authors evaluated formaldehyde levels in day and overnight indoor air samples from nine PCs renovated within three years previously and three TCs in a school district in metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia. Formaldehyde levels ranged from 0.0068 to 0.038 parts per million (ppm). In both types of classroom, overnight formaldehyde median levels (PCs = 0.018 ppm; TCs = 0.019 ppm) were higher than day formaldehyde median levels (PCs = 0.011 ppm; TCs = 0.016 ppm). Carbon dioxide levels measured 470-790 ppm at 7:00 a.m. and 470-1800 ppm at 4:00 p.m. Afternoon medians were higher in TCs (1,400 ppm) than in PCs (780 ppm). Consistent with previous studies, formaldehyde levels were similar among PCs and TCs. Reducing carbon dioxide levels by improving ventilation is recommended for classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]