ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH ACTION TOOLKIT

2020

WELCOME!

Dear AMSA leader,

We are very excited to implement the first ever Environmental Health Action toolkit this year. This not only debuts the new committee but also strives to advocate for climate change nationally and globally! This year, we are recognizing the 50th Earth Day with multiple resources that you can use to educate your peers and advocate for sustainable climate solutions with your AMSA chapter. In this toolkit, you will find information focused on reducing “food prints”, eliminating medication waste from our water supply, and advocating for the Green Streets Act.

We are happy to work with you all to make a tailored plan for your chapter!

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Thank you,

Susan Zhang, NSU Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine

Falguni Patel, Alabama College of Osteopathic Medicine

Shivani Mallela, American International Medical University, St. Lucia

Meet the Environmental Health Committee

• Susan Zhang, Chair
• eh.chair@amsa.org

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• Falguni Patel, Advocacy Coordinator
• eh.advocacy@amsa.org

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• Shivani Mallela, Programming Coordinator
• eh.programming@amsa.org

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• 29% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions is attributed to transportation – more than any other sector.
• Approximately 40 million Americans’ drinking water gets contaminated by improper disposal of medications down the toilet
• Nineteen of the 20 warmest years on record have occurred since 2001
• Eating one vegetarian meal one day a week for a year could save the equivalent of driving 1,160 miles  
• 23% of all global deaths are linked to the environment 
• U.S. health-related costs of the current effects of ozone air pollution have been estimated at $6.5 billion nationwide

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DID YOU KNOW ?

CHAPTER ACTIVITIES & ACTION

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Chapter Activity

How green is your food print?���

• The production, transportation, storage, cooking, and disposing of food is currently responsible for about 25% of the world’s annual carbon emissions
• Approximately 50% of total food emissions is solely from the production and processing of beef and lamb
• On average, U.S. household food consumption emits 8.1 tons of CO2 each year.
• Every individual has a measurable “FoodPrint” based on what foods they choose to eat, where they choose to buy their food and how much they choose to waste. ��

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Take Action��

Call to Action: KNOW YOUR FOODPRINT!

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• CALCULATE your FoodPrint using BBC’s Foodprint Calculator
• KNOW your personal resources OVERSHOOT day with Global Foodprint Network calculator
• ADJUST your meals to go more green. Start slow!
• SPREAD the word - encourage family and friends to make similar dietary changes
• HOST a cooking or recipe sharing event at your school
• START a pledge to reduce beef and meat consumption for Earth Day
• SHARE your story on your social media or with AMSA

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RESOURCES:

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• How our Food Systems Affect Climate Change

https://foodprint.org/issues/how-our-food-system-affects-climate-change/

• BBC Climate Change Food Calculator

https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-46459714

• Earth Day’s Every Bite Counts Campaign

https://foodprints.earthday.org/everybitecounts/

• Global Foodprint Network

https://www.footprintcalculator.org/signup

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Chapter Activity:

What’s In Your Drinking Water?

• The majority of the population dispose of medications by flushing them down the toilet, contaminating approximately 40 million Americans’ drinking water.
• Contaminants such as immunosuppressants and antibiotics are commonly found in groundwater sources that are used for drinking water (source: United States Geological Survey).
• The amount of pharmaceuticals that is filtered out by our water treatment facilities - if any - is unknown.
• While current research of the effects of drinking contaminated water is limited, studies have shown that it has changed aquatic life in contaminated areas.

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Take Action

Call to Action: DRUG TAKE BACK

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• Discard your unused medications the environmentally safe way! Use the image in the previous slide for reference. Tell family and friends and spread the word!

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• Follow the links (next slide) to find a location near you that will collect your unused medications, especially narcotics.

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RESOURCES:

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• FDA APPROVED DISPOSAL OF MEDICATIONS

https://www.fda.gov/media/74164/download

• PERMANENT & PERIODIC DRUG TAKE BACK EVENTS

https://www.fda.gov/drugs/disposal-unused-medicines-what-you-should-know/drug-disposal-drug-take-back-locations

• FOR MORE INFORMATION or RESEARCH:

https://www.healthline.com/health-news/heres-the-drugs-that-can-show-up-in-drinking-water#What-the-study-found

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/pharmaceuticals-in-the-water/

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Green Streets Act

Let’s advocate for a cleaner planet and healthier environment by calling our Senators together!

S.2084/H.R. 5354 GREEN STREETS ACT

• Establishes national goals to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions from transportation systems
• Directed towards the Department of Transportation to establish minimum standards for states to use in order to decrease greenhouse emissions per capita vehicle miles traveled (VMTs) on the National Highway System
• Calls for metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) to consider projects that reduce greenhouse emissions and to publish an analysis of impact on per capita VMTs and mobile source greenhouse gases for each project

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For more information, please reference:

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2084?q=%7B%22search%22%3A%5B%22Environmental%22%5D%7D&s=1&r=70

https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/5354

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Green Streets Act

Greenhouse Emissions and Climate Change

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Advocate for the Green Streets Act

Call to Action: CALL YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS!

�AMSA strongly supports efforts to reduce the effects of climate change. Taking action now by letting YOUR Congress members know you too, support efforts to reduce the effects of climate change.

You can reach your two US Senators and your US House Representative by calling 202-224-3121. Ask the operator to connect you to the individual office. If you do not know who your Congress members are, or want the direct line to their office, you can look them up here: http://whoismyrepresentative.com/. Alternatively you can email your Congress members with the above link as well.

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Raise Your Voice, Add Your Name, Speaking Out Makes A Difference�Medical Students - Make the Call to Congress to help the Green Streets Act!�We’ve made it easy for you, see next slide for a script, it will only take a few minutes!

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Call to Advocate for the Green Streets Act!

We’ve made it easy for you, here’s a script, it will only take a few minutes!

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Hi, this is (Insert Your Name), and I am a pre-medical/medical student with the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) and a constituent of your district.

�I am calling to ask (Insert Your Congress Member’s Name) to support S.2084 GREEN Streets Act aimed at reducing greenhouse gases nationally. Climate change and environmental health affects everyone, particularly in terms of health care. The direct damaging cost of climate change on health is to be an estimated $2-4 BILLION/year by the year 2030. Climate change can affect the quality of water supply, invariable natural disasters, air pollution and so on. By recognizing climate change as an issue by supporting the Green Streets Act, which aims to reduce overall climate change, you are supporting better health overall. I urge Senator/Representative (Insert Name) to support this bill. Climate change’s impact on health must be recognized in order to reduce health costs, improve quality of life, and save lives. Thank you so much for your time!

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Green Streets Act - Take 2

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Please also sign AMSA’s petition in support of the Green Streets Act:

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https://forms.gle/NFiW9BFDzfnYvYhU6

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Share the petition with your classmates!

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Little bit about COVID-19

• Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a newly discovered infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-Cov-2).
• Most people infected with the COVID-19 virus will experience mild to moderate respiratory “flu like” symptoms and recover without any hospitalization. However, older people, and those with underlying chronic medical conditions are more likely to develop serious illness.
• The concern at the moment is that the disease is highly contagious with the reproductive number (the number of secondary infections generated from one infected individual) is understood to be between 2 and 2.5 for COVID-19 virus, higher than for influenza.
• While the true mortality of COVID-19 will take some time to fully understand, the data we have so far indicate that the crude mortality ratio (the number of reported deaths divided by the reported cases) is between 3-4%, the infection mortality rate (the number of reported deaths divided by the number of infections) will be lower.
• Common symptoms are Dry cough, High fever, tiredness. In severe cases, shortness of breath chest pain, sore throat, diarrhoea are also seen.

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What can I do?

• Since there is no licensed vaccine or therapeutic is available as of now the best course of action is to be well informed about COVID and prevent it. Some of helpful measures:

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• Get more information at:

https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019

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How is air pollution linked to COVID?

•A study done by researchers at Harvard University using data from over 3000 counties across the united states (comprising of 98% of population) found statistically significant evidence that an increase of 1 g/m³ in long-term PM2.5 exposure is associated with a 15 % increase in the COVID-19 mortality rate. These long-term levels of PM2.5 refer to microscopic particulate matter in the air formed via burning fossil fuels.

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•Another study was done at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany using Nitrogen oxide (gas mainly emitted by cars, trucks, power plants and some industrial plants) as a parameter. The analysis shows that of the coronavirus deaths across 66 administrative regions in Italy, Spain, France and Germany 78% of them occurred in just five regions, and these were the most polluted.

•Both the studies are linked below:

Ø https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/covid-pm

Ø https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720321215#!

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Future Projects

Thank you for using the Environmental Health Action Committee’s Action Toolkit!

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But our work is not done.

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The fight against climate change and for environmental health is ongoing. AMSA is dedicated to advancing the voice and advocacy efforts of medical students fighting for solutions to combat climate change and the wide variety of environmental and health issues associated with climate change. Future projects include:

• Plant a Tree Day
• Establishing Environmental Health Education in Medical School Curriculums
• Establishing a Green Score Card for Medical Schools
• And lots more!

If you are interesting in becoming more involved with AMSA’s Environmental Health Action Committee, please feel free to contact eh.chair@amsa.org