James Sweeney, Author at Healthier Environment Living Program

Emerging investigator series: primary emissions, ozone reactivity, and byproduct emissions from building insulation materials

Emerging investigator series: primary emissions, ozone reactivity, and byproduct emissions from building insulation materials

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T21:22:59+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

Building insulation materials can affect indoor air by (i) releasing primary volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from building enclosure cavities to the interior space, (ii) mitigating exposure to outdoor pollutants through reactive deposition (of oxidants, e.g., ozone) or filtration (of particles) in infiltration air, and (iii) generating secondary VOCs and other gas-phase byproducts resulting from oxidant reactions. [...]

What’s the Most Sanitary Way to Store Your Toothbrush?

What’s the Most Sanitary Way to Store Your Toothbrush?

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T21:17:48+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

Have you ever done your business, flushed the toilet, then stopped to ponder the short distance between the whirlpool of human waste and your vulnerable toothbrush on the counter? Or are you a proponent of storing your toothbrush inside your medicine cabinet for this very reason? Either way, there are some interesting (and potentially off-putting) facts to know about [...]

The Hidden Air Pollution in Our Homes

The Hidden Air Pollution in Our Homes

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T21:13:36+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

Outdoor air has been regulated for decades, but emissions from daily domestic activities may be more dangerous than anyone imagined. Food magazines typically celebrate Thanksgiving in mid-July, bronzing turkeys and crimping piecrust four months in advance. By that time last year, Marina Vance, an environmental engineer at the University of Colorado Boulder, had already prepared [...]

Ask the Allergist: Breaking the Itch-Scratch Cycle

Ask the Allergist: Breaking the Itch-Scratch Cycle

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T21:01:25+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

Q: When my atopic dermatitis flares, it’s hard to keep from scratching – it only makes it worse. How can I stop this cycle? Stanley Fineman, MD: Atopic dermatitis is a chronic skin condition caused by inflammation in the skin, resulting in a lot of itching. It’s called the itch-scratch cycle: when patients scratch, it causes [...]

Keeping Kids Healthy and Ready to Learn

Keeping Kids Healthy and Ready to Learn

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:56:59+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

A Johns Hopkins pediatrics clinic fights asthma and other conditions at a Baltimore charter school. Jonathan, a fourth-grader at a KIPP public charter school in Northwest Baltimore, empties his impossibly stuffed pants pockets before hoisting himself onto the exam table in the doctor’s office. Photo Via Maxpixel by Creative Commons Zero - CC0 Read [...]

Why is it so important to capture submicron particles?

Why is it so important to capture submicron particles?

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:52:07+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

While some people may still think of air filters as a commodity product to be specified primarily on purchase price, this silent workhorse of the Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning (HVAC) system plays an important role in today’s modern buildings. Robert Martin of Kimberly-Clark Professional Filtration looks at how air filtration technology is now capable [...]

Canada implements new feed import requirements to mitigate ASF risk

Canada implements new feed import requirements to mitigate ASF risk

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:46:09+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

These specific ingredients were identified to be the highest risk based on a comparative analysis of livestock feed imports conducted by CFIA and they are not looking at import controls on any other feed ingredients at this time. The inspector of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency has declared an order imposing conditions in relation to [...]

The Other Manhattan Project: Kansas Landed A Billion-Dollar Lab To Stop Agroterrorism. It’s Overbudget And Overdue.

The Other Manhattan Project: Kansas Landed A Billion-Dollar Lab To Stop Agroterrorism. It’s Overbudget And Overdue.

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:31:03+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

In the wake of Sept. 11, federal officials said the United States needed a new, state-of-the-art facility to defend against bioterrorism and stop diseases that could devastate the country’s farm economy and threaten human lives. They chose Manhattan, Kansas, as the site of the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility. The plan was to have it [...]

Acute Flaccid Myelitis: Something Old and Something New

Acute Flaccid Myelitis: Something Old and Something New

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:26:27+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

ABSTRACT Since 2014, acute flaccid myelitis (AFM), a long-recognized condition associated with polioviruses, nonpolio enteroviruses, and various other viral and nonviral causes, has been reemerging globally in epidemic form. This unanticipated reemergence is ironic, given that polioviruses, once the major causes of AFM, are now at the very threshold of global eradication and cannot therefore [...]

Is Apple Cider Vinegar a Miracle Cure For Eczema? Here’s What the Pros Say

Is Apple Cider Vinegar a Miracle Cure For Eczema? Here’s What the Pros Say

By James Sweeney|2019-04-03T20:21:24+00:00April 3rd, 2019|

Anyone who's been diagnosed with eczema is familiar with the process of trying treatment after treatment and remedy after remedy. Thousands of products tout themselves as miracle cures, and beauty blogs and websites have dedicated entire sections toward soothing flaky, itchy skin with at-home, DIY treatments. As is the case with any sort of skin type [...]

About James Sweeney