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The Conditions That Shape Us

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Illuminating the Thresholds Between Risk and Recovery

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How can a place of calm in one moment…

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Become a place of chaos the next?

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Out of 103 food items known to cause death by choking in young children, hot dogs are responsible for up to 17% of these deaths.

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Harris CS, Baker SP, Smith GA, Harris RM. Childhood Asphyxiation by Food: A National Analysis and Overview. JAMA. 1984;251(17):2231–2235.

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What we can control:

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  • Cut food into small pieces
  • Chew thoroughly
  • Sit while eating
  • Don’t talk with food in mouth

“Parental knowledge of choking hazard foods has a significant protective effect in 8 out of 10 choking hazards foods surveyed”

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Conditions Matter

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Safety

Harmful

Threshold

Regenerative Agriculture:

  • Natural composting
  • Cover crops
  • No-till

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Certified Organic/Integrated Pest Management:

  • Manure
  • Biological Pesticides

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Intensive/Commercial:

  • Synthetic fertilizers
  • Synthetic pesticides
  • Fossil fuel dependence

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“The dose makes the poison” -Paracelsus

  • Route of exposure
  • Organism/Species
  • Age
  • Gender
  • Immune system
  • Stress
  • Genetics
  • Environmental conditions
  • Interactions with other chemicals
  • Gut microbiome
  • Etc.

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But Also:

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WTH?

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https://potomac.org/blog/2020/10/1/3-scary-threats

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PFAS

This is fine!

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Current studies have shown that exposure to certain levels of PFAS may lead to:

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  • Reproductive, hormonal, and developmental effects

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  • Increased risk of some cancers

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  • Reduced ability of the body’s immune system functioning, including reduced vaccine response

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  • Increased cholesterol levels and/or risk of obesity

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Health effects associated with exposure to PFAS are difficult to specify for many reasons, such as:

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  • There are thousands of PFAS with varying effects and toxicity levels

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  • People can be exposed to PFAS in different ways and at different stages of their life

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Lady Bird Lake, July 2023

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Threshold

Threshold

Threshold

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https://www.researchgate.net/publication/329185478_Youth_entrepreneurial_projects_for_the_sustainable_development_of_global_community_evidence_from_Enactus_program

Quality of Life

Economy

Environment

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Staying within thresholds of exposures of “risk” and relief have best outcomes

Chronic exposure to risk without relief is unsustainable

Constant shifting from acute risk and relief is unsustainable

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"He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

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https://www.ghd.com/en/the-future/future-of-water/blue-green-infrastructure

https://largelandscapes.org/news/invest-act/

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https://www.istockphoto.com/photo/herd-of-cattle-under-acacia-tree-in-a-tanzania-gm462575663-32724654

Texas Master Naturalists