Scientific Panel Session at Saving Our Coastal Heritage - April 14, 2003

HEALTH OF THE BAY - HEALTH OF THE PEOPLE OF THE BAY

Summary of Proceedings

The Center for a Livable Future (CLF) of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) have been collaborating for several years to link the issues of human health and ecological health of the Chesapeake Bay region.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation compiles an annual report card on the Health of the Bay, State of the Bay Report that provides both a means for comparing the ecological health of the Bay from one year to the next and comparing current Bay health to the goal of a healthy Bay

There is a need to develop an equivalent public health tool for tracking the human health impacts of environmental degradation throughout the Chesapeake Bay watershed. The presence of biological, toxic and heavy metal pollutants that impact human health in and around the estuary are cause for concern.  Many of these same pollutants also affect the ecological health of the Bay. The Center for a Livable Future’s “Chesapeake Bay Health Indicators Project” examined criteria for selection of indicators, evaluated existing data sources, and presented case examples of environmental public health indicators specific to Maryland. Several national projects are also starting up programs to address these issues including the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Report on the Environment and the CDC’s National Environmental Health Tracking network.

The session will give an overview of the Chesapeake Bay Public Health Indicators Project, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s State of the Bay Report and three specific examples of issues that adversely affect both human health and bay health: Chemical and microbial contamination in urban fish, Cryptosporidium parvum, and leaking sewage infrastructure.

JHSPH Dean Al Sommer and CBF director Will Baker also gave a joint dinner address at the conference highlighting the connetions between human and environmental health adressed by the panel.

Overview of the Chesapeake Bay Health Indicators Project

Thomas A. Burke, PhD, MPH, Moderator for the session
Professor and Associate Chair, Health Policy and Management
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
 
In the last decade, despite significant advancements in the assessment and monitoring of environmental quality, there has been less progress made in assessing the relationship between the state of the ecological environment and its impact on human health. The Johns Hopkins “Chesapeake Bay Health Indicators Project: Linking Environment and Health” examined public health indicators for the Chesapeake Bay region.  Nationally there are a number of initiatives examining the link between health and ecological risks.  The U.S. EPA is preparing a National Report on the Environment that will break new ground in this area.  At CDC, the National Center for Environmental Health has developed a set of environmental public health indicators (EPHI) to serve as a foundation for the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Network.  It is hoped that the Hopkins Pilot initiative may serve as a foundation for future expanded efforts to track progress in improving both population health and the environment in the Chesapeake Bay region and provide a foundation for other regional and national efforts to link environment and health.

Overview of the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Report Card
Kim Coble, MSPH
Maryland Senior Scientist and Assistant Director
Chesapeake Bay Foundation

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has developed a set of 12 ecological indicators to help track the health of the Bay and to help drive policy decisions and directions.  The indicators are grouped in three categories: habitat, fisheries, and pollution. Within each category specific indicators were established that best reflect the wide breadth of the Bay's living resources, and the stressors that adversely impact the resources. CBF produces an annual ranking and reporting of the indicators.

Urban Fishing: People, Patterns, and Problems
Ellen K. Silbergeld, PhD
Professor, Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

The four main watersheds of the Baltimore metropolitan area (Gwynns Fall, Jones Falls, Herring Run and Gunpowder River) are heavily impacted by chemical and microbiological contamination. Fishing for recreation and consumption is important in the region.  We have evaluated fishing and consumption behavior among urban anglers, as well as the presence of pathogenic bacteria on and in fish.  The risks to health are significant. Dr. Silbergeld's findings were also featured in an article in the Baltimore Sun, available on JHSPH's Press Room page.

Susceptibility of the Chesapeake Bay to Environmental Contamination with Cryptosporidium
Thaddeus Graczyk, MSc, PhD
Associate Research Professor
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology and Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
 
Cryptosporidium parvum is a biological contaminant of surface waters originating predominantly from agricultural and urban runoff, wastewater discharges, and wildlife that is continuously present in the Chesapeake Bay.  Studies show that both human and bovine Cryptosporidium parvum are found at surface water sites affected by wastewater discharges and runoff from cattle farms. Monitoring oysters for commercial harvesting showed that the presence of Cryptosporidium oocysts in oysters coincided with the highest rainfall levels and stream flow into the Bay, and with the lowest water temperatures. 

Bacterial indicators and human pathogens in sewage: the importance of maintaining infrastructure
Kellogg J. Schwab PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
 
Many metropolitan areas have aging water and sewage infrastructure. The level of fecal contamination in the Baltimore region was assessed by routine sampling and analysis of water samples from selected sites.  All of the streams that were monitored were impacted by fecal contamination with increasing levels of both bacteria and bacteriophage indicators at successive downstream urban monitoring sites.  Water samples analyzed for the human pathogens, cryptosporidium and Noroviruses, were routinely positive.  The impacts of untreated sewage on human health and the aquatic ecosystem will be discussed.

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