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The Exposure Research Lab at the University of Michigan School of Public Health has been studying how to make this informal recycling work safer. Rick Neitzel founded the lab when he arrived at Michigan Public Health in 2011. The lab studies how to keep workers safe and healthy throughout their careers, with particular focus on noise exposure and injury risks.
When Jennifer Smith considers the role researchers should play as environmental disasters devastate communities across the map, she is guided by her concern for the individuals connected to the countless personal stories, and an awareness of the immeasurable pain involved in places such as Flint, Michigan, and East Palestine, Ohio.
Sara Adar jokes that her kids have grown tired of her antics—as she puts it, they are “very much over me.” Although her 14-year-old twins still call her “Science Mom,” they no longer participate when she stops the car at a moment’s notice to go play in traffic, testing some level of environmental disturbance. Fortunately for the rest of us, Adar is still “playing in traffic.”
As climate change intensifies, it’s clearer than ever that our health is inextricably linked to our environment. In this issue of Findings, we explore the many ways in which our well-being is impacted by the air we breathe, water we drink, toxins we encounter and food we eat. However, the impacts are not the same for everyone.
Environmental health experts at the University of Michigan School of Public Health are immersed in understanding the connection between the health of individuals and communities and the environment—whether it’s the air we breathe, water we drink, food we eat, products we use or places we live and work.
Eating a hot dog could cost you 36 minutes of healthy life, while choosing to eat a serving of nuts instead could help you gain 26 minutes of extra healthy life, according to a University of Michigan study.