CEHA 2024

Colorado Public Health Works is a groundbreaking AmeriCorps Apprenticeship program providing career entry into the field of public health from local communities throughout Colorado. In 2022, the Denver Department of Public Health and Environment became the first local public health agency in the nation to combine a dual community health worker apprenticeship program with an AmeriCorps service - providing competitive pay, benefits, and career tailored career trajectories for young professionals. This is a new program that has not gained a great deal of momentum from environmental health agencies and other Colorado partners. This talk will aid interested environmental health leaders the how to of partnering with statewide and regional partners to secure dollars for AmeriCorps members and highlight the current environmental health work being conducted by Denver AmeriCorps members. 

The widespread abuse of Methamphetamine (Meth) and Fentanyl has grown exponentially in the last decade to worsen the current Opioid Epidemic.  The number of drug-related deaths has also grown exponentially, mainly driven by Fentanyl, with devastating impacts to countless families and businesses. This awareness-level presentation covers basic information for these two drugs to include: definitions, an Epidemic overview, methods of abuse and overdose effects, signs of meth usage/manufacturing, and some precautions to follow with best practices to help protect yourself from risk of exposure.

Whether conducting a death investigation, inspecting a restaurant, trying to catch a stray dog, following up on a chemical spill, or taking stream samples, working in the field is essential to maintaining public health—but it also presents unique risks to the employees carrying out these tasks. This presentation focuses on practical strategies for keeping public health workers safe during their daily operations. Attendees will learn about job hazard analyses, different types of hazards, proper use of personal protective equipment (PPE), situational awareness, and best practices for working in diverse environments. Whether you're navigating hazardous sites, interacting with the public, or conducting investigations in high-risk areas, this session will equip you with the knowledge and tools to stay safe and secure while fulfilling your vital role.

In collaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE), Colorado State University (CSU) conducted a comprehensive set of on-site assessments to evaluate indoor air quality and ventilation in Colorado workplaces. This program aimed to understand the distribution and concentration of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) across different non-residential environments, with the ultimate goal of improving indoor air quality. Our team deployed summa canisters to collect week-long air samples at eighteen of the fifty workplace sites selected for the program from October 2022 to May 2024. These air samples were analyzed at CSU to identify and quantify >50 unique VOC species. Total Volatile Organic Compounds (TVOC) sensors were co-located with summa canisters. These dual measurements provided a robust dataset, enabling us to identify prevalent compounds and evaluate their potential associations with specific workplace activities. Our initial findings reveal significant variability in VOC profiles and concentrations across different facility types, regions, and seasons. Specific VOCs will be presented based on their abundance and potential health hazard. Our presentation will summarize all analytes and their concentrations, alongside comparative analyses of indoor to outdoor VOC ratios. Additionally, we will discuss sites with unique VOC types and levels, as well as those with uniform profiles, presenting possible hypotheses for these observations. By integrating our data with existing literature, we aim to highlight normal VOC ranges, potential sources, and associated health risks in non-residential settings. This work improves understanding VOC dynamics in diverse work environments and provides insights into improving indoor air quality. Our findings contribute to filling knowledge gaps and inform regulatory strategies for VOC management in workplaces, emphasizing the relevance of hazard ratios for health risk assessment. The presentation will conclude with recommendations for future research directions and practical applications of our findings to enhance workplace health and safety standards.

Gregg started his career focused on air toxics monitoring and modeling in the Denver Metro region.  Over that time, Gregg has explored and analyzed numerous air toxics and ozone precursor datasets.  Trends for most air toxics and ozone precursors that have been monitored are down significantly over that time.  For ozone, we have seen maximum measured 1-hr concentrations decrease over time but the 8-hour average metric for ozone compliance has been uneven and stubborn.  Wildfire smoke, especially during hot and dry summers in western North America appears to have some impact on ozone during bad fire years, but the relationship is still very unclear.  

With new air toxics monitoring in place or on the way across Colorado, Gregg will offer insights to be on the lookout for as monitoring programs expand.  

Love My Air – Colorado Local Entity Air Network (LMA – CLEAN) is a proven regional approach to local community air monitoring, community engagement, and policy systems and environmental change to reduce air pollution and promote air quality awareness. This presentation provides a high-level overview of the project, current progress, and future directions. LMA – CLEAN presentation opens an opportunity for further discussion on community air monitoring work as part of public health purpose on improving and protecting the health of people and communities.

Currently, only four public health agencies in the State of Colorado have an inspection program to respond to cases of children with elevated blood lead levels, or lead poisoning. As other counties are beginning to consider or develop lead inspection programs, please join this timely presentation to look at some of the common, and not so common sources, that contribute to lead poisoning in children. This presentation will dig into real-world examples of lead hazards identified during investigations, including housing, occupations or hobbies, and cultural items such as folk medicines and cookware. 

A case study presentation of two challenging public accommodations that included a collaborative effort between public health, regional building, fire department, and sheriff SWAT...resulting in license revocation, immediate closure, and extensive capital improvements. This will include some programmatic barriers, positive outcomes, and substantive next steps!