A Comparative Cancer Risk Evaluation of MTBE and Other Compounds (Including Naturally Occurring Compounds) in Drinking Water in New Hampshire

Methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) was added to gasoline in New Hampshire (NH) between 1995 and 2006 to comply with the oxygenate requirements of the 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act. Leaking tanks and spills released MTBE into groundwater, and as a result, MTBE has been detected in drinking water in NH. We conducted a comparative cancer risk assessment and a margin-of-safety (MOS) analysis for several constituents, including MTBE, detected in NH drinking water. Using standard risk assessment methods, we calculated cancer risks from exposure to 12 detected volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including MTBE, and to four naturally occurring compounds (i.e., arsenic, radium-226, radium-228, and radon-222) detected in NH public water supplies. We evaluated exposures to a hypothetical resident ingesting the water, dermally contacting the water while showering, and inhaling compounds volatilizing from water in the home. We then compared risk estimates for MTBE to those of the other 15 compounds. From our analysis, we concluded that the high-end cancer risk from exposure to MTBE in drinking water is lower than the risks from all the other VOCs evaluated and several thousand times lower than the risks from exposure to naturally occurring constituents, including arsenic, radium, and radon. We also conducted an MOS analysis in which we compared toxicological points of departure to the NH maximum contaminant level (MCL) of 13 µg/L. All of the MOSs were greater than or equal to 160,000, indicating a large margin of safety and demonstrating the health-protectiveness of the NH MCL for MTBE.     

Full-service community schools: a strategy--not a program

The concept that drives the emerging full-service community school movement is this: Schools cannot address all the problems and needs of disadvantaged children, youth, and families. Community schools are operated jointly by school systems and community agencies, are open extended hours, and may provide the site for after-school programs, primary-care health services, mental health counseling, parent education and involvement, and community development. No two community schools are alike. They grow out of a planning process that involves all stakeholders, school personnel, community-based organizations, city and county government, parents, and students. The Quitman Street Community School in Newark, New Jersey, exemplifies this approach.     

Gambling decisions: an early intervention program for problem gamblers

An implementation and one-year follow-up of the Gambling Decisions program attempted to answer several important questions. First, is controlled gambling a viable treatment option for some gamblers? Can earlier stage problem gamblers be separated for treatment from those with more severe problems? Finally, would problem gamblers utilize a community health agency for treatment of their excessive gambling? A pretest/posttest design was chosen where the efficacy of the program was assessed using repeated measures ANOVA analysis. Results showed that an average loss of $608 over a 4-week period was reduced to $113 immediately after the 6-week program and to a loss of $73 at 12 months. The average number of hours spent gambling per 4 weeks was significantly reduced from 23.5 at pretest to 6.5 at the 12 month posttest. Significant decreases were also observed in the number of days per week that clients gambled, and clients reported significant reductions in everyday life problems related to gambling after completing the program.     

Using Integrated Geospatial Mapping and Conceptual Site Models to Guide Risk-Based Environmental Clean-Up Decisions

Government and private sector organizations are increasingly turning to the use of maps and other visual models to provide a depiction of environmental hazards and the potential risks they represent to humans and ecosystems. Frequently, the graphic presentation is tailored to address a specific contaminant, its location and possible exposure pathways, and potential receptors. Its format is usually driven by the data available, choice of graphics technology, and the audience being served. A format that is effective for displaying one contaminant at one scale at one site, however, may be ineffective in accurately portraying the circumstances surrounding a different contaminant at the same site, or the same contaminant at a different site, because of limitations in available data or the graphics technology being used. This is the daunting challenge facing the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), which is responsible for the nation's legacy wastes from nuclear weapons research, testing, and production at over 100 sites in the United States. In this article, we discuss the development and use of integrated geospatial mapping and conceptual site models to identify hazards and evaluate alternative long-term environmental clean-up strategies at DOE sites located across the United States. While the DOE probably has the greatest need for such information, the Department of Defense and other public and private responsible parties for many large and controversial National Priority List or Superfund sites would benefit from a similar approach.     

A Terror Management Perspective on Ageism

In the present article, we present a theoretical perspective on ageism that is derived from terror management theory. According to the theory, human beings manage deeply-rooted fears about their vulnerability to death through symbolic constructions of meaning and corresponding standards of value. We extend this perspective to suggest that elderly individuals present an existential threat for the non-elderly because they remind us all that: (a) death is inescapable, (b) the body is fallible, and (c) the bases by which we may secure self-esteem (and manage death anxiety) are transitory. We review some recent empirical evidence in support of these ideas and then discuss possible avenues for combating ageism.     

Housing characteristics and adequacy of the physical care of children: an exploratory analysis

This study explored the relationship between housing conditions and the adequacy of the physical care of children. The sample included 106 caregivers who were participating in a neglect prevention demonstration project in a low-income, inner-city neighborhood. Children who lived with caregivers who had unsafe housing conditions were less likely to receive adequate physical care. Findings confirm the importance of addressing concrete housing conditions as part of an ecological approach to preventing child neglect.     

Gender differences in factors that influence time spent planning for retirement

Retirement research has shown that planning activities are influenced by a variety of demographic and psychological variables. However, few investigations have focused on how demographic and psychological factors influence the time and effort men and women allocate to retirement preparation. In the present study, 184 individuals completed a survey designed to assess future time perspective (FTP), worry about retirement, age, and income level. Hierarchical regression techniques were used to examine how these variables influenced the amount of time men and women spent planning for and thinking about retirement. Results revealed that women spent less time thinking about retirement than men, and gender was differentially related to the factors predictive of this activity. From an applied perspective, these findings suggest that separate retirement intervention programs are warranted that meet the unique needs of working men and women.     

Counselling Disabled People: a counsellor's perspective

For many years professionals have assumed that disability is a problem for impaired individuals and that it is the disability that causes emotional or psychological problems. Whether this is true and whether a specific model of counselling is needed to help disabled people to cope with the emotional effects of their disability has not been widely researched and this is examined in this piece of research. The causes of psychological distress are discussed and the ways in which counsellors work are studied. Using a grounded methodological approach, disabled and able bodied counsellors of disabled people were interviewed as this was considered to be the most sensitive way of exploring this area. The findings show that more often than not it is the client's lack of control over their physical and social environment and not the impairment that causes emotional difficulties. Counsellors indicated that, through the facilitation of counselling, a sense of self empowerment in practical, emotional and social areas could be achieved and this was the central theme emerging as the most distinctive aspect of counselling clients with physical impairments.     

A multitrait-multimethod investigation of interpersonal distance

Prior research has investigated the validity of interpersonal distance measures with respect to only one trait — comfort. This study expanded the previous research by measuring interpersonal distance along the trait dimensions of comfort, control and privacy. In addition, measures were taken along three different measurement techniques: stop distance, silhouette placement, and a paper and pencil measure (CID). The results were interpreted in terms of a multitrait-multimethod matrix. Results indicated that these measures were reliable and valid and the traits did have convergent validity. However, all of these measures were uncorrelated with a disguised distance measure of interpersonal distance.