What does the public know about environmental health? A qualitative approach to refining an environmental health awareness instrument.

Despite an increased level of interest in environmental health concerns among the American public, awareness of the risks associated with environmental hazards is generally lacking. Assessing population awareness is typically performed through surveys, yet a comprehensive national environmental health questionnaire is currently unavailable. In 2009, a Delphi study using environmental health experts from federal, state, and local government and academia identified 11 core areas of environmental health (air, water, radiation, food safety, emergency preparedness, healthy housing, infectious disease and vector control, toxicology, injury prevention, waste and sanitation, and weather and climate change) and provided content validity for 443 questions covering 25 specific topics for possible inclusion on a national instrument. The authors' study described in this article used the qualitative approach of focus groups to refine the questions. Questions were divided into four sections and randomly assigned to a focus group location; 32 individuals participated. Results indicated that many perceptions are based on misinformation (or lack of information), which may lead to poor environmental health decision making.

Temperature and food availability differentially affect the production of antimicrobial compounds in oral secretions produced by two species of burying beetle.

Carrion beetles of the subfamily Nicrophorinae search and bury a carcass that they utilize for reproduction. After burial, the carcass is coated with oral secretions that delay its decomposition. Previously, oral secretions of Nicrophorus marginatus were found to show antimicrobial activity, whereas secretion of N. carolinus lacked significant activity. Here, we tested the effects of temperature, sex of the beetle, and food type on the antimicrobial properties of oral secretions of both species. Unlike previous findings, we found that oral secretions of N. carolinus had antimicrobial activity. Temperature had significant effects on the amount of secretion protein. When protein concentrations were standardized to 1 micro/ml, N. marginatus secretions had higher antimicrobial activity at cooler temperatures, while N. carolinus had higher activity at warmer ones. The sex of the beetle did not affect antimicrobial activity for either species. Beetles of both species that were fed whole rats contained more protein in their oral secretions than beetles fed with equally sized pieces of raw ground beef. After standardizing the resulting protein concentrations to 1 microg/ml, antimicrobial activity of oral secretion increased for N. carolinus after rat feeding, but not for N. marginatus. Our results highlight key ecological differences between these closely related species. In addition, they demonstrate the importance of experiments being conducted under varying environmental conditions when evaluating species for potential antimicrobial compounds.