M5.7: Sewage facilities

There are 3 sewage treatment plants in San Francisco:

• Southeast Treatment Plant (SEP) located in Bayview Hunters Point 
• Oceanside Treatment Plant (OSP) located on the Great Highway near SF Zoo
• Northpoint Wet-Weather Facility (NPF) located near Fisherman's Wharf 

According to the SF Public Utilities Commission, on each non-rainy day, more than 80 million gallons of wastewater is collected and transported to one of the facilities mentioned above. At these facilities, pollutants such as human waste, oil, and pesticides are removed from the wastewater before it reaches the SF Bay and Pacific Ocean. In 6 days, the amount of wastewater can fill a football stadium from top to bottom. 

M5.5: Campaign for tap water

I really appreciated the bottled water video in showing how safe it is to drink tap water and that bottled water is just marketed to seem cleaner. Back in elementary and middle school, everyone around me was drinking Arrowhead bottled water but I thought their water tasted nasty! I didn't understand why so many people would buy that brand. Back then it was definitely not cool to be carrying a reusable water bottle. My parents and I had moved to the states around that time and because we didn't have a car, we couldn't buy big packs of bottled waters so they just bought a few at a time for me and I would refill the bottles with tap water. I felt totally lame back then but I'm glad it turned out that way! My campaign slogan would be "bring back clean tasty tap water!"

M5.4: Consumer Confidence Report

2017 CCR for San Francisco (I couldn't find the report through EPA which was interesting)

• What is the source of your drinking water?   
• Hetch Hetchy (unfiltered)
• Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant 
• Harry Tracy Water Treatment Plant 

I'm not sure where water from the two plants originated from but my guess is it's from Hetch Hetchy.

• What chemicals were found in your water that were higher than expected?
• boron was detected at 1.74ppm in the raw water stored at one of the watersheds. Although the detected boron level is above the California Notification Level of 1ppm, the treated water born level from Sunol Valley Water Treatment Plant was 0.2ppm
• What chemicals did you NOT expect to find in your water?

I didn't find anything that surprised me. The list was typical in my opinion. It included: 

aluminum (erosion of natural deposits & some surface water treatment residue), chloride (runoff/leaching from natural deposits), color (naturally occurring organic materials), specific conductance (substances that form ions when in water), sulfate (runoff/leaching from natural deposits), total dissolved solids (runoff/leaching from natural deposits), copper (internal corrosion of household water plumbing systems), lead (internal corrosion of household water plumbing systems), boron, bromide, calcium, chlorate, hardness (as CaCO3), magnesium, potassium, silica, sodium, and strontium.  

• Are there associated health risks with the chemicals found in your water?  

I looked into boron since it was mentioned. Boron exposure is associated with short-term irritation on the upper respiratory tract, nasopharynx, and eyes. There doesn't seem to be long-term affects.

It seems the water quality in San Francisco is safe and good to drink from the tap. I used to drink straight from the tap but since we have a filter at home I thought why not, better safe than sorry. I don't drink bottled waters. It's less common to see people with plastic water bottles nowadays which is great. 

M5.2: Safe drinking water

The Water Facts video was intense and extremely depressing. We are losing so much water compared to the speed at which we can replenish it. The world population has tripled in the last century and water consumption has increased six-fold, according to the video. I was shocked that Mexico City has sunk 30 feet due to ground water loss and 2 million people lack piped water. Another shocker is that ground water can take up to hundreds of years to replenish some of the largest aquifers.

The Clean Water Act was created to control water pollutions. It ensures surface water is within safe range for recreational use as well as regulate filling and pollutions that are disposed into the environment. This Act is important in keeping our water clean so we are not exposed to harmful chemicals via water. I'm not sure if the Act includes regulations on how much water we can use. If not, there should be regulation on that so we can slow down groundwater depletion.

M4.5: Think about it: Fragrance-free policy

A general fragrance-free policy would include:

• no use of candles and air fresheners inside the building 
• cologne, perfume, scented lotions and hand sanitizers, scented makeups and hair products cannot be worn within the building 
• use of scent-free cleaning products 

There has been a growing number of scented stationary products, so a fragrance-free policy at a school would include no scented stationary products within the building. 

Depending on the location, I would partner with HR or the school clinic/wellness center to create flyers and disseminate the information. The effective start date of the policy would be announced one month prior so employees and students can prepare to switch up their personal care products. 

M4.6: Radon

To develop a national radon awareness campaign, I would partner with the American Lung Association, public health departments, housing and urban development and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The campaign would include an educational component describing the health hazard of exposure to radon, how we are exposed to it, and how to prevent/reduce exposure. It would include resources for where to get a radon test kit. Public health departments will coordinate community outreach events where community members can attend to learn about radon and buy a testing kit. In low-income neighborhoods, there will be an allocated number of free testing kits to pass out on a first come first serve basis. Follow-up is an important of the campaign. Hypothetically, low-income neighborhood houses will have a higher level of unsafe radon exposure and residents unable to fix the problem. Therefore, the campaign will provide resources for radon mitigation. For sustainability, the campaign will also work to pass laws for radon-resistant construction and renovation.

M4.2: National Library ToxNet

Human health effects associated with exposure to:

Urea formaldehyde

• short term exposure to low concentration of formaldehyde can cause irritation to skin, eyes, nose, and throat
• causes cancer of the nasopharynx and leukemia 
• for females, it can lead to menstrual disorders, inflammatory disease of the reproductive track, sterility, anemia, and low birth weights among offspring

Bleach (sodium hypochlorite)

• irritation of skin, eyes
• pain and inflammation of mouth, pharynx, esophagus, stomach, erosion of mucous membrane
• circulatory collapse, shallow respirations 

I was especially disturbed by the health effects associated with exposure to bleach, especially the exposure stories included. I use bleach at work so I'm now extremely conscious of coming to contact with it. 

M3.3 Environmental justice

It's no surprise how cyclical and connected race, poverty, zip code,
and education are in predicting a person's quality of life. This reading reminded me of a plan for an oil drilling site in South LA that has been terminated due to protest from environmental and neighborhood activists and the city's new enacted rules for oil drilling. The drilling site would have affected many people of color that are living in the apartments nearby. If anyone's interested, here's the article.

It's easy to feel hopeless on topics related to justice. Environmental justice is related to food justice as much as it is to social justice. One thing that helps me feel hopeful is knowing that because everything is interconnected, if we can improve one area, it will also have a cyclical affect and improve other areas. Eventually, we can break the cycle of poverty, poor living conditions, low education level, and poor quality of life that are particularly associated with the black and Hispanic community.

M3.5 Transportation

I barely take public transportation now...I used to walk or ride the bus to school from elementary school years all the way to college. But ever since I moved home 2 years ago, I've stopped using public transportation. San Francisco is definitely a city where we don't have to have a car to survive In certain situations it's actually better to not own a car (i.e. work/live in Downtown). During my gap year, I worked full time at a school and drove to/from work. I wasn't physically active and was constantly sick (on average I was sick every two months). I was so tired from being sick, I finally started working out more and I'm at a much better place now.

In recent years, ride-sharing services like Lyft and Uber have dominated the transportation scene and many people have switched to using the pooling service instead of taking the bus or driving to a place that's hard to find parking. Both Lyft and Uber have recruited more drivers which means there are more cars on the streets. Even though ride sharing is a good feature, the increase in cars also increase exposures to pollutions in the city.

M3.4 Air Pollution

• Who and what are the top polluters in your zip code?

The top 3 polluters of the San Francisco County are 1) Dry Doc Inc. (shipbuilding and repairing company), 2) Chevron, and 3) Pacific Electric & Electric 

The top 3 pollutants are 1) xylene, 2) N-butyl alcohol, and 3) H-hexane

• What percent of the homes in your zipcode have lead-based paint?

7% of houses (about 22,000 housing units) in SF County have a high risk of lead hazard.

• Are there Superfund sites in your zip?  (In your BLOG, make sure to tell us what a Superfund Site is)

A Superfund site is a land that has been contaminated by hazardous waste and identified by the EPA to be cleaned up because it poses health risks to the population and environment. In 2004, SF County was ranked among the cleanest/best 10% of all counties in the U.S. The only Superfund site identified is the Treasure Island naval station - Hunters Point Annex.

• What can you tell us about the Superfund sites that are near where you live?

The Hunter Point Annex  is currently undergoing construction. Operations of the facility over several decades produced many solid and liquid wastes, including paints, solvents, fuels, acids, bases, metals, PCBS, and asbestos. Fortunately, no drinking water wells are potentially threatened.

• What did you learn about the air quality in your zipcode?

SF County ranked the dirtiest/worst 10% of all counties in the U.S. The top 3 facilities that contributes to smog and particulates emissions are 1) United Airlines Maintenance, 2) Golden Gate Bridge highway, and 3) Astoria Metal Corporation. The main sources of hazardous air that poses cancer and other health risks come from diesel buses and trucks, dry cleaners, and gas stations. 

• How about the water quality?

This was the most surprising to me. I always thought SF has good clean water but according to the Clean Water Act ranking, SF County ranked 80-90% dirtiest/worst counties in the U.S. for surface waters with impaired or threatened uses. The 1998 Clean Water Act status recorded 30% of surface water have reported problems. A lot of the data for SF County are dated so I'm interested to see what the level of pollution is now. 

• How did your zipcode fair on a social justice / environmental justice basis?

All across the distribution of environmental burdens, people of color, low income, non-high school graduates, working-class people, and renters (compared to homeowners) had a higher burden compared to Whites. 

M3.2 Vulnerable populations

Some points that stood out to me/thoughts that came from the videos and readings are:

• we need more upstreamists who can identify public health problems, their root causes, and be able to mobilize resources toward solutions.
• children are more susceptible than adults to environmental hazards. Their exposures can be multiple folds than that of their parents. 
• environmental hazards are preventable...however, we are not good at preventing. we have weak laws/lack of policies that do not protect consumers from exposures to hazards. therefore, we spend millions dealing with the aftermath. 
• how much can we trust the BPA free labels?

M3.1: Biomonitoring

I would be shocked and scared for my health. I would want to know how I was exposed to all of the chemicals that I was tested positive with and eliminate/reduce exposure to them. I'm curious and concerned after watching the video because I have lived long term in many countries such as China (for 8 years) and Japan (for 4 years), as well as long stays in Botswana and Taiwan. I know I have been heavily exposed to second-hand smoke because my dad smokes and it's normal to smoke everywhere in China (i.e. inside restaurants). The potential health effects are scary and I'm concerned for my parents who have lived in China for much longer and could potentially have more harmful chemicals in their body.

M2.4: Personal care products video comment

I totally agree that Ken Cook's presentation is excellent and engaging. I'm surprised that chemicals that have been banned decades ago are still lingering in the environment today, affecting individuals and developing fetuses. It's extremely concerning...There are so many (health) policies that do not protect people. The Toxic Substance Control Act allowed asbestos to be continued to be produced and used when the first Bush administration tried to outlaw it. It's totally an unreliable law. Cook brought up the Kid-Safe Chemicals Act of 2008 and I went on congress.gov to see where the bill is or if it has passed. But it seems that the last action was bill referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works in 2008. I'm disappointed that a bill so important for the health of babies and generations of people has not been passed!

M2.3: Household products

I looked up Lysol toilet bowl cleaner and Arm & Hammer baking soda. According to the website, baking soda is fairly safe. It is not an eye or skin irritant. It's non-toxic and non-carcinogenic. The handling instruction did mention that sodium bicarbonate reacts with acids to produce carbon dioxide gas which can accumulate in confined spaces. I'm surprised that it's so safe...the website even mentions that swallowing small amounts (1-2 tablespoons) is not likely to cause injury as long as stomach is not overly full. My dad loves to use baking soda to clean around the house so it's good to know this is a safe way to do so. 

Lysol cleaner on the other hand is corrosive. It damages skin and is an eye irritant. It is suggested to be used in a well-ventilated area. This is the part that concerns me because my bathroom only has a window vent on the roof of the bathroom and its quite a distance from the toilet bowl...every time we clean the bathroom, the smell of the different bathroom cleaning agents would be so strong we have to put on a mask while cleaning and close the bathroom door as soon behind as soon as we're done. This exercise is making me think of purchasing more safe bathroom cleaning supplies.  

M2.2: Personal Care Products

I looked up Cetaphil moisturizing lotion and Paul Mitchell's tea tree special shampoo. I've used the Cetaphil lotion for many years now (probably 6 years) because it's a gentle and non-irritating lotion that is easy to get and cheap. I believe it's a dermatologist recommended brand as well. I'm not surprised to see that it scored an overall low-medium, 3 point hazardous score. The second product is the Paul Mitchell's tea tree shampoo, which I've recently started using. It scored a moderate, 5 hazard score. I think hair products tend to have more chemical agents, at least the ones people know about. It takes some research to find ones that have less harmful additives and of course those are way more expensive. I'll definitely be continuing to use the Cetaphil lotion. I've been looking into clean hair products and the tea tree shampoo is not one so I will probably move on with it after I finish using the product.

I believe we should all be aware of what's in the products we put on our body. I struggled with severe acne so I'm especially conscious about what I put on my face. Not everyone knows about the risks because many times we believe what's on the shelf in stores should be tested and safe. Another reason is that it may take years for the risk to manifest visibly so people are not aware. 

On a related note, I use these two websites to check the safety of my skincare/makeup ingredients:
https://www.paulaschoice.com/ingredient-dictionary
http://www.cosdna.com/  (this one's recommended by one of my dermatologists)