scholarly journals Radon in child care centers: An examination of state laws and regulations in the United States

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 005-017
Author(s):  
Benjamin Poku ◽  
Sayed Hussaini

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking in the United States (US); however, there is a lack of state policies and regulations to address radon gas exposure. This study aimed to explain if state radon legislation for child care centers is associated with the percent of counties within the state in radon zone 1(above 4 pCi/L). The research method was secondary analysis. Data were obtained from EPA radon website, journal resources, state laws and regulations, and official state government websites. The existing radon laws were assessed based on the EPA radon zones. Then, independent T-Test with a significant level of P<0.05 was used. The finding of this study indicated 39 US states have at least one county or more in radon zone 1, and 11 states have no counties in radon zone 1. Eleven states have legislation associated with child care centers, and 39 states have no such regulation in place. Twenty eight percent (28%) (n=39) of states with at least one county or more in radon zone 1 have radon regulations for child care facilities. The findings reveal that states located in EPA radon zone 1, partially or completely, were Eighty eight percent (88%) likely to not have different regulations requiring the radon testing in child care centers than states that are not in zone 1. In other words, the association between state radon legislation for child care centers and the percent of counties in radon zone 1 is remarkable but not significant (p-value = 0.12).

2021 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-205
Author(s):  
Allison Dunatchik ◽  
Kathleen Gerson ◽  
Jennifer Glass ◽  
Jerry A. Jacobs ◽  
Haley Stritzel

We examine how the shift to remote work altered responsibilities for domestic labor among partnered couples and single parents. The study draws on data from a nationally representative survey of 2,200 US adults, including 478 partnered parents and 151 single parents, in April 2020. The closing of schools and child care centers significantly increased demands on working parents in the United States, and in many circumstances reinforced an unequal domestic division of labor.


2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew N Hashikawa ◽  
Manya F Newton ◽  
Rebecca M Cunningham ◽  
Martha W Stevens

Author(s):  
Kelsey Gordon ◽  
Paul Terry ◽  
Xingxing Liu ◽  
Tiffany Harris ◽  
Don Vowell ◽  
...  

Exposure to Radon, a colorless, naturally occurring radioactive gas, is one of leading causes of lung cancer, and may pose a significant long-term risk for school age children. We examined the regulations and statutes in each US state related to radon in schools to delineate key features of policies and discrepancies among states that may have public health implications. Search terms such as “radon”, “school”, “mitigation”, “certification”, “licensing”, and “radon resistant new construction” were used to scan current statutes from each state legislature’s website and regulations from official state government websites for relevant regulatory and statutory requirements concerning radon in schools. State regulations related to the testing, mitigation, and public dissemination of radon levels in schools are inconsistent and the lack of nationwide indoor radon policy for schools may result in unacceptably high radon exposure levels in some US schools. We highlight the features and discrepancies of state laws and regulations concerning radon in schools, and offer several constructive means to reduce risks associated with radon exposure in school children.


2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (6) ◽  
pp. 170130 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhradeep Roy ◽  
Nicole Abaid

Understanding how people form opinions and make decisions is a complex phenomenon that depends on both personal practices and interactions. Recent availability of real-world data has enabled quantitative analysis of opinion formation, which illuminates phenomena that impact physical and social sciences. Public policies exemplify complex opinion formation spanning individual and population scales, and a timely example is the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. Here, we seek to understand how this issue captures the relationship between state-laws and Senate representatives subject to geographical and ideological factors. Using distance-based correlations, we study how physical proximity and state-government ideology may be used to extract patterns in state-law adoption and senatorial support of same-sex marriage. Results demonstrate that proximal states have similar opinion dynamics in both state-laws and senators’ opinions, and states with similar state-government ideology have analogous senators’ opinions. Moreover, senators’ opinions drive state-laws with a time lag. Thus, change in opinion not only results from negotiations among individuals, but also reflects inherent spatial and political similarities and temporal delays. We build a social impact model of state-law adoption in light of these results, which predicts the evolution of state-laws legalizing same-sex marriage over the last three decades.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 ◽  
pp. 237802312110320
Author(s):  
Emma K. Lee ◽  
Zachary Parolin

Access to child care centers reduces the care burden of parents, promotes child development, and creates employment opportunities. During the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, however, many child care centers closed or reduced capacity because of restrictions and declining demand for in-person care. The authors use anonymized and aggregated mobile phone data to track year-over-year changes in visits to child care centers across most counties in the United States during each month of the pandemic. The findings reveal that two-thirds of child care centers closed in April 2020, while one-third remained closed in April 2021. Moreover, non-White families are more likely to be exposed to child care closures than White families. The findings point to widening inequalities in access to child care and potential inequalities in the pace of labor market recovery after the pandemic subsides. The authors make their monthly updated database on child care closures publicly available.


Commonwealth ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie Sweet-Cushman ◽  
Ashley Harden

For many families across Pennsylvania, child care is an ever-present concern. Since the 1970s, when Richard Nixon vetoed a national childcare program, child care has received little time in the policy spotlight. Instead, funding for child care in the United States now comes from a mixture of federal, state, and local programs that do not help all families. This article explores childcare options available to families in the state of Pennsylvania and highlights gaps in the current system. Specifically, we examine the state of child care available to families in the Commonwealth in terms of quality, accessibility, flexibility, and affordability. We also incorporate survey data from a nonrepresentative sample of registered Pennsylvania voters conducted by the Pennsylvania Center for Women and Politics. As these results support the need for improvements in the current childcare system, we discuss recommendations for the future.


Author(s):  
E. Douglas Bomberger

On 2 April 1917, President Woodrow Wilson urged Congress to enter the European war, and Congress voted to do so on Friday, 6 April. On the 15th of that month, Victor released the Original Dixieland Jazz Band’s record of “Livery Stable Blues” and “Dixieland Jass Band One-Step”; it caused an immediate nationwide sensation. James Reese Europe travelled to Puerto Rico in search of woodwind players for the Fifteenth New York Regiment Band, and the Creole Band ended its vaudeville career when it missed the train to Portland, Maine. German musicians in the United States came under increased scrutiny in the weeks after the declaration of war, as the country prepared to adopt new laws and regulations for wartime.


2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s62-s62
Author(s):  
Timileyin Adediran ◽  
Anthony Harris ◽  
J. Kristie Johnson ◽  
David Calfee ◽  
Loren Miller ◽  
...  

Background: As carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) prevalence increases in the United States, the risk of cocolonization with multiple CRE may also be increasing, with unknown clinical and epidemiological significance. In this study, we aimed to describe the epidemiologic and microbiologic characteristics of inpatients cocolonized with multiple CRE. Methods: We conducted a secondary analysis of a large, multicenter prospective cohort study evaluating risk factors for CRE transmission to healthcare personnel gown and gloves. Patients were identified between January 2016 and June 2019 from 4 states. Patients enrolled in the study had a clinical or surveillance culture positive for CRE within 7 days of enrollment. We collected and cultured samples from the following sites from each CRE-colonized patient: stool, perianal area, and skin. A modified carbapenem inactivation method (mCIM) was used to detect the presence or absence of carbapenemase(s). EDTA-modified CIM (eCIM) was used to differentiate between serine and metal-dependent carbapenemases. Results: Of the 313 CRE-colonized patients enrolled in the study, 28 (8.9%) were cocolonized with at least 2 different CRE. Additionally, 3 patients were cocolonized with >2 different CRE (1.0%). Of the 28 patients, 19 (67.6%) were enrolled with positive clinical cultures. Table 1 summarizes the demographic and clinical characteristics of these patients. The most frequently used antibiotic prior to positive culture was vancomycin (n = 33, 18.3%). Among the 62 isolates from 59 samples from 28 patients cocolonized patients, the most common CRE species were Klebsiella pneumoniae (n = 18, 29.0%), Escherichia coli (n = 10, 16.1%), and Enterobacter cloacae (n = 9, 14.5%). Of the 62 isolates, 38 (61.3%) were mCIM positive and 8 (12.9%) were eCIM positive. Of the 38 mCIM-positive isolates, 33 (86.8%) were KPC positive, 4 (10.5%) were NDM positive, and 1 (2.6%) was negative for both KPC and NDM. Also, 2 E. coli, 1 K. pneumoniae, and 1 E. cloacae were NDM-producing CRE. Conclusion: Cocolonization with multiple CRE occurs frequently in the acute-care setting. Characterizing patients with CRE cocolonization may be important to informing infection control practices and interventions to limit the spread of these organisms, but further study is needed.Funding: NoneDisclosures: None


2002 ◽  
Vol 96 (4) ◽  
pp. 822-823
Author(s):  
Joyce Gelb

Sally Cohen has written an important and comprehensive analysis of child-care policy in the United States, challenging the conventional wisdom that no such federal policy exists and that child care is not a major government priority, in contrast to other democratic welfare states (e.g., the Scandinavian countries and France).


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