Icelandic Eruption to Have Far Reaching Health Consequences

Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano has now been erupting for nearly a month - intensifying over the last week, with no end in sight. As the ash plume continues to spread across Europe, those affected will go far beyond the airlines and travelers.

The ash plume will also affect all those that breath the air it saturates - people and animals alike, especially if it falls as acid rain. The World Health Organization says that “as long as the ash remains in the upper atmosphere, there will not likely be an increased risk of health effects, but people with chronic respiratory conditions such as asthma, emphysema, or bronchitis may be more susceptible to irritation if the ash is in the lower atmosphere in high concentrations.”

“If people are outside and notice irritation in their lungs, a runny nose, or itchy eyes, they should return indoors and limit their outdoor activities,” said Dr. Maria Neira, director of the public health and environment department at WHO.

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America’s Kids Getting Healthier, Despite Ailing Economy

Data regarding students binge drinking (five or more drinks in a row) from 1980 to 2008. Source: The National Institute on Drug Abuse‘s Monitoring the Future Survey.

In spite of the difficult financial times we currently find ourselves in, there is something to celebrate- Americans and their kids are developing better health habits, especially in the areas of drinking and smoking.

The Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics just released its annual report, America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well Being (2009). It found that “heavy drinking declined from the most recent peak of 13 percent in 1996 to eight percent in 2008 for eight-grade students.”

There was an even greater improvement among 10th-grade students, whose drinking fell from 24 percent in 2000 to 16 percent in 2008.

“We also saw a decline in the percentage of 10th-graders who engage in heavy alcohol consumption- binge drinking,” said Dr. Duane M. Alexander, director of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the U.S. National Institutes of Health, which participated in the compilation of data for the report.

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