Geothermal Gases--Community Experiences, Perceptions, and Exposures in Northern California.

Lake County, California, is in a high geothermal-activity area. Over the past 30 years, the city of Clearlake has reported health effects and building evacuations related to geothermal venting. Previous investigations in Clearlake revealed hydrogen sulfide at levels known to cause health effects and methane at levels that can cause explosion risks. The authors conducted an investigation in multiple cities and towns in Lake County to understand better the risk of geothermal venting to the community. They conducted household surveys and outdoor air sampling of hydrogen sulfide and methane and found community members were aware of geothermal venting and some expressed concerns. The authors did not, however, find hydrogen sulfide above the California Environmental Protection Agency air quality standard of 30 parts per billion over one hour or methane above explosive thresholds. The authors recommend improving risk communication, continuing to monitor geothermal gas effects on the community, and using community reports and complaints to monitor and document geothermal venting incidents.

Training in environmental health research for action: the Shanghai-California Environmental Health Training Program.

The Shanghai Center for Disease Control and Prevention (SCDC) was created in 1998; in 2001, with support from Fogarty International Center, the intergovernmental Shanghai-California Environmental Health Training Program was formed. Providing U.S.-based training to SCDC managers allows them to return to Shanghai and share their knowledge. Indexing Chinese journals will enable more exchange of information and will support improvements in Chinese scholarship. Increased international contact will result in greater trust and more rapid warnings to international colleagues, with resultant faster responses to emerging public health threats. Building research capacity in SCDC will allow for more rapid translation of results to policy. The progress of the Program toward establishing a regional (Shanghai) biological specimen bank is an example of building institutional capacity to enhance research that can serve as a lasting foundation for public health research and policy decisions in both Shanghai and China.