Silica

Silica is a popular building material that is naturally mined from the earth’s crust. Most basic building materials, like bricks and concrete, contain this material. By itself, silica is not really a danger to anyone. You can stand around it for a long time without any health effects occurring. The danger comes when the material is crushed, pulverized or otherwise turned into a powder. Due to this, workers are usually the ones exposed to the dangerous health effects.

When silica is turned into a powder, it easily enters the lungs and sits there. This can cause little fissures in the lungs, making it very difficult to breathe. If people are working with silica, make sure they are in well ventilated areas and that they are wearing protection so the silica does not enter their system.

Lead

Lead was a very popular building material, but it has since fallen out of favor due to mass media coverage of its hazards. Much like silica, lead usually affects people working on a construction site. Unlike silica, standing near the lead and touching it can be enough to give someone health problems.

Lead is very well-known for its ability to cause cancer and a range of other health problems. If you have lead in a building, it is usually best to get a contractor to remove and replace it with a safer metal, like aluminum or steel. This is also true for lead paint, which cracks and chips off of walls.

Treated Wood

Wood used for construction is often treated with chemicals that keep insects away and it prevents rot. If the wood is used properly, then there should be little concern for your health, as the chemicals will stay directly in the wood and no one will be exposed to it.

However, fumes can escape from the wood by cutting or burning it. This causes the toxins to escape into the air. Any surrounding people or animals can be in danger if they breathe in too much of the chemicals. These chemicals are known for causing cancer, making it very difficult to breathe and a range of other problems. They are also massive hazardous for the surrounding environment.

Nickel

Much like lead, nickel used to be a popular construction material until people found out how dangerous it could be. Usually nickel is paired with other metals, so you are exposed to a very small amount of it. For example, alloying nickel and steel can give the steel desirable properties.

Nickel has many of the same health hazards that lead has, and you can easily be exposed to the hazards if you stand around too much nickel for an extended amount of time. Nickel is a carcinogen, and it is known for causing respiratory problems like asthma and bronchitis.

Asbestos

Asbestos is perhaps the most infamous building material. There have been lawsuits, high-profile stories and vast movements concerning the use and removal of asbestos. This material is known for causing mesothelioma, and it is still used in many buildings and household items. Asbestos, much like silica, is not dangerous by itself. But, when cracked or broken, the resulting dust becomes very hazardous.

The dust is easily trapped in the lungs, which causes a devastating type of lung cancer. The latency is about 15 to 20 years, so you will not develop mesothelioma until many years after your exposure. If this material is discovered, it should be immediately removed.

Conclusion

These are the top five hazardous construction materials. If you are using them, then consider stopping or wear proper protection. If you discover these materials in a building or house, like asbestos or lead, then consider talking with a contactor about removing the materials. Playing it safe can keep you from getting cancer or respiratory problems.

Author bio:

Ken Lyons writes for Express Roofing, a home improvement company that specializes in roofing in Billerica.

One statistic that might come as a surprise is that eight foods – wheat, soy, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, regular fish, egg and milk – account for 90% of all allergic reactions. While some of these allergens may go away as children grow older, others like peanuts and shellfish are lifelong conditions. A severe allergic reaction is extremely serious and potentially life-threatening, so schools must take measures to ensure that classrooms, hallways, the cafeteria and other public spaces are safe for children with food allergies.

Parents, principals, teachers and support staff play important roles in keeping classrooms safe for kids with food allergies. One way to make sure that the entire community is on the same page is for the principal to send home an all-school newsletter, letting families know what the school will be doing to create a safe environment for students with allergies, and providing instructions and suggestions for what families can do too.

Here are some important, yet very simple things schools and families can do:

• At the start of the year, make sure that the school faculty and staff are aware of which students have food allergies and that health and contact information is up to date and easily accessible. Training on how to recognize the symptoms of a reaction and what to do next should be provided before classes begin.
• For school celebrations like birthdays and holidays, consider serving only fresh fruit and vegetables as snacks. Another option is to use something else entirely for celebrations, like stickers, pencils, homework coupons or books. In addition to keeping the classroom safe, these ideas also encourage healthy eating habits for children who may not eat many fruits and vegetables at home.
• Any time food is served, make sure to clean surfaces with disinfectant and make sure children wash their hands thoroughly before and after eating.
• Food sent from home should be commercially prepared and contain a preprinted ingredient statement. Before distributing it to the class, the teacher (and child if he/she is old enough) should check the ingredient labels for any potential allergy-causing ingredients. Schools’ policies may vary on this, so before parents bring in any homemade treats, they should obtain permission from the school.
• Holiday celebrations don’t need to focus on just the food that goes with them! Let the kids enjoy their holiday treats at home. The school experience can include costumes, music, stories, games, and arts and crafts related to the holidays.

Understanding and managing food allergies requires a collaborative effort among parents, staff and students. While it may seem overwhelming at first, with a little planning, a classroom should easily be able to create the necessary safe environment for its students with allergies.

Guest post submitted by Karen Lederer, who works with the online programs at Dominican University http://www.dominicanu.com/

Issues regarding safety

When people want to lose weight fast, one of the first things they do is to get ready with their sneakers and a running shoe and start jogging. But interestingly, not many people are aware of the importance of jogging or its usefulness. In fact, most of them are unaware of the fact that these forms of exercises can be harmful to you when not followed according to certain specifications. May be you need to discuss your jogging pattern with your trainer, before you embark on one such mission.

When it comes to jogging, most people have the common perception that it is a safe activity to indulge in and there is no need for them to seek anybody’s opinion. However, their ideology is far from truth. For people dealing with weight related issues, it is important to seek opinions from their physicians. In most cases, these people are not allowed to jog from different reasons. It is mandatory to carry out jogging under strict supervision. It shouldn’t be carried out just because they’re easy to follow.

Can cause damage to your body

When you choose hard surfaces like a road or a pavement for jogging purposes, it can damage your ligaments and knees. Hence, your body could be at the receiving end at the end of it all. In fact, most people have suffered from broken cartilage, knees and even fractures when they have jogged continuously on hard surfaces.

Individuals who are obese need to be extra careful while indulging in jogging as it can be quite strenuous for their knees and can end up damaging them permanently. Even those individuals who are overweight or unfit to exercise can end up having lots of problem when they start to jog all of a sudden. People suffering from obesity, diabetes and heart problems need to stay away from jogging.

What you need to watch out for

You shouldn’t try jogging or running hard in conditions that are too hot or humid. This is particularly so, if you a candidate for heat strokes and dehydration. Similarly, pregnant women shouldn’t indulge in these activities as it can raise their body temperature and heart rate.

Author Bio:
Nitin Ajwani likes networking with health professionals and discussing Scrubs Uniforms.

Lung Cancer in Detail

Cancer of lungs is a kind of malignant growth occurring primarily in lungs. It is one of the fastest spreading cancers and can damage several important tissues of lungs and other areas of body in a very short period. The cancer is easy to detect in early lung cancer stages if proper attention is given to abnormalities that may occur in lungs. Lung cancer symptoms are quite basic in nature for at least first few stages and may be confused with other forms of non-cancerous disorders like basic breathing problems, bronchitis or certain allergies causing problems in breathing.

Proper lung cancer awareness is extremely important to control overall numbers of cases concerned with the disease. It also encourages a person to carry medical examinations on regular basis and gives benefit of early detection of tumors. According to statistical reports, average chances of survival of a lung cancer victim range between 45-49% in first lung cancer stage. It is around 30-31% in second stage while 5-14% in third one. Chances of survival of a victim in last phase are not more than 4% even if proper and timely lung cancer treatment is taken. Hence, the number of fatalities related to the disorder are higher even than deaths related to breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined.

Lung cancer is of two basic types as Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC) and Small cell Lung Cancer. NSCLC comprises more than 80% of overall cancer cases while small cell lung cancer is detected among less than 20% of victims. The disease is more common in adults above 45 years and occurs in almost equal numbers in men and women.

Smoking is the most general and leading lung cancer cause. Around 17.2% males and 11.6% females having habit of smoking are prone to the disorder. The rate for non-smokers is around 1.3% and 1.4% for males and females respectively. Even passive smoking is injurious to lungs and can instigate cancer therein. Around 10-15% of people suffering from cancer of lungs are non-smokers. Exposure to asbestos and radon gas, previous treatments of cancer of lungs (especially chemotherapy and radiotherapy), living in an environment with very high pollution in air, high presence of arsenic in drinking water, and exposure to carcinogenic chemicals like uranium, diesel exhaust, vinyl chloride, gasoline, beryllium, chloromethyl ethers, mustard gas, and nickel chromates can also lead to early tumor growth in lungs.

Basic lung cancer symptoms include severe difficulties in breathing and chest pains. Frequent severe cough is another major alarming signal. Unexpected weight loss and appetite loss are some other signs that should prompt a person to go for diagnosis. Formation of tumors is a general symptom detected once the cancer cells begin to grow and spread to different areas.

Lung cancer needs to be tackled skillfully under medical supervision. Some of the basic lung cancer treatments include surgery, radiation treatment, cryosurgery, and chemical treatment. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan, lung biopsy, CT (Computed Tomography) scan, thoracentesis, PET (Positron Emission Tomography) test, and sputum test are some basic diagnostic methods.

I’m Caren Lee and I’m studying on various cancers and one of my specialization is in lung cancer.

Read on http://www.cancer8.com/lung-cancer/