Tuesday, March 1, 2016

1st National Conference on Environment and Health coming

To the glory of God, the 1st National Conference on Environment and Health, powered by the LivingScience Foundation, Ile-Ife is scheduled to hold between May 17 and 18 this year.  Venue will be the Redemer's University, Ede.

Speakers already scheduled include Ambassador Ayo Oluknanni (recently retired Nigeria's Ambassador to Australia, and for many years the country's rep on United Nations Environment Program, etc); distinguished Professors such as Bode Asubiojo and Duro Oyedele (both from the OAU, Ile-Ife), and Africa's leading communicator and teacher on holistic and healthy lifestyle, Rev Tony Akinyemi.  The Vice Chancellor of the Redeemer's University, Prof Z.D. Adeyewa will be the chief host.

Details about the conference can be found at conferences.lsfnigeria.org.

Later, we shall be explaining the vital need for a Conference as this, where Environment and Health issues of primary concerns in the Country are evaluated and discussed by top experts from diverse fields and perspectives.

But, we wish to just draw your attention to the on-going hullabaloo on water in the city of Flint, Michigan, having elevated concentrations of the toxic element, lead.  Nigeria's situation, which is hardly discussed is several times worse! It is a shame if we really agree that we and our children are second-class humans whose mental health and general well-being is subordinate to other interests, driven largely by "foreign partners"

You can join the upcoming discussion of the situation at Flint, by CHE, at the link below:

Lead's Long Shadow: What the Story of Flint, Michigan, Means for All of Us
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Tuesday March 8, 2016
10:00 am Pacific/1:00 pm Eastern
This call will last for 90 minutes
RSVP for this call
[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=00101sL8Q8TUOCjqyE_Wgmd3_bnlW34olAyuZSty6j_DPtwvICn8mnEVUye1jKc2J2cLS_9GhI0Kp20tW0RlnYmUe1-QUrYRWJGuq8LRrdb0gxicWGzNu7ZlravVDQZ0MKzoy6V58k3FWDARAfPSZ6desFLXbT0npQ-sjpmIv_4rbdAYL8mNkMmWt5CaKBUgqOju0PFiI4o_9s9FKJTKDTJvvAI0KfutIJF&c=zQQLtX4_kI3D46C832xR8MUliY-R6DvfvoxT5CF1xFtI7t0UfQ83og==&ch=RtWaEJ5HuMkYyLRDASUZaCH9f6uilhUC1vaiKjc-LqFVPoE4LwEdKw==]
Lead is a confirmed neurotoxin. Children are the most vulnerable to  lead's health
effects, which can include a wide range of persistent and  costly challenges from
lower IQ levels to increased aggressive and  antisocial behaviors. It is now widely
recognized by researchers that  there is no "safe" level at which children can be
exposed to lead  without adverse effects on healthy neurodevelopment.
Lead in the drinking water in Flint, Michigan, dominated the headlines  recently
 when it was confirmed that residents of Flint had been  drinking, bathing, and 
  washing in water contaminated with lead for over a  year. In many cases, lead 
levels were found to be multiple times over  the amount allowed under the Clean 
Water Act. Despite community members  voicing their concerns for months, no action
was taken to protect public  health until mid January. Finally, a state of emergency
in Flint was  declared, and the National Guard was brought in to assist in delivering
 bottled water and water filters to all residents. Yet, for many, the  damage has
already been done. Children in Flint, and their families,  will now live in the 
long shadow of lead for years to come.
Unfortunately, this situation is not unique to Flint. Many other  communities across
the nation - primarily low-income

Marc Edwards, PhD, MSc

communities where  lead can be found in paint in older homes and apartments - face
similar  issues. Even if landlords provide residents information about possible 
 lead exposure, it's simply not feasible for most tenants to pay for the  lead to
be removed or to move elsewhere. For some kids, this means  having a harder time
 learning in school. For others, lead exposures  early in life may predispose them
to juvenile delinquency or even  criminal activities. Lead is even thought to have
played a role in some  recent high profile cases such as Freddie Gray's tragic death
in Baltimore in 2015
[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=00101sL8Q8TUOCjqyE_Wgmd3_bnlW34olAyuZSty6j_DPtwvICn8mnEVSHZUisgHBc7gXMvCxB4d3oFaQ1lpQOjZjtCQywPIH2eQZClXxH-fLt1d8yjSTUqWq6VxKRvfBMJ7ZDIAFm3XXmNUMHuhn0oQkir6qKl97n1O53vsQyQXLRNbfGGcf-08jkleL4DiHXqhAMoC0SuntumfOzMfDwBojy8vTK6gNbwSFL2JWS6tcTv8Qr63Ukzmgu96nurApBPgQyy2-aK-gZ9ND5YPk6PxjdO0gy_eSyUfqTKrBumBaQDN2umEmDAOHxkscgEivUBCzGXvh7USfbM3-SrEKU2cNM-t_tgqEllqggMc6luKYu3Xr48ZoqwrEWPEBY4eiU7&c=zQQLtX4_kI3D46C832xR8MUliY-R6DvfvoxT5CF1xFtI7t0UfQ83og==&ch=RtWaEJ5HuMkYyLRDASUZaCH9f6uilhUC1vaiKjc-LqFVPoE4LwEdKw==].
This call will feature two of the remarkable people who helped

Mona Hanna-Attisha, MD, MPH, FAAP

bring the dire  situation in Flint to national attention: Dr. Mona
Hanna-Attisha,apediatrician
in Michigan, and Dr. Marc Edwards, a nationally renowned  expert on municipal water
quality and an engineering professor at  Virginia Tech. In addition Dr. Bruce Lanphear,
a professor at Simon  Fraser University and expert on the health impacts of lead
 exposure on  children, will provide an overview of the science on lead and why 
it  continues to be a major public health threat. Finally, Tracy Swinburn,  MSc,
 will speak to the economic impacts of lead exposure.
RSVP for this call
[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?f=00101sL8Q8TUOCjqyE_Wgmd3_bnlW34olAyuZSty6j_DPtwvICn8mnEVUye1jKc2J2cLS_9GhI0Kp20tW0RlnYmUe1-QUrYRWJGuq8LRrdb0gxicWGzNu7ZlravVDQZ0MKzoy6V58k3FWDARAfPSZ6desFLXbT0npQ-sjpmIv_4rbdAYL8mNkMmWt5CaKBUgqOju0PFiI4o_9s9FKJTKDTJvvAI0KfutIJF&c=zQQLtX4_kI3D46C832xR8MUliY-R6DvfvoxT5CF1xFtI7t0UfQ83og==&ch=RtWaEJ5HuMkYyLRDASUZaCH9f6uilhUC1vaiKjc-LqFVPoE4LwEdKw==]
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Little Things Matter: Children's Health and the Impact of Low-level Exposures to
 Toxins on the Developing Brain

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