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Murder, chemicals, climate & quakes
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April 16, 2008
Merritt murder suspect arrested
Water bottle controversy intensifies
Deadly traffic
Earth Day at SFU
A big one, if not THE big one, is coming
Merritt murder suspect arrested
Allan Dwayne Schoenborn, the father accused of killing his three children in Merritt, is in police custody. Merritt police say that Schoenborn was located this morning on the outskirts of town. SFU criminologists, Robert Gordon and Neil Boyd, who have been following this case, can offer thought on a plethora of angles that are likely to emerge from its coverage.
Robert Gordon, 778.782.4305, 604.418.6640 (cell), rgordon@sfu.ca
Neil Boyd, 604.947.9569, 778.782.3324, nboyd@sfu.ca
Water bottle controversy intensifies
A new U.S. report neither condemns nor clears a chemical used in water and baby bottles and to line cans, but that isn’t stopping Canadian retailers from pulling products with biosphenol (BPA) off their shelves. An American National Toxicology Program report doesn’t conclude that BPA is dangerous but does say: “There is some concern for neural and behavioural effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures.” Tim Peckham, a postdoctoral fellow and senior research associate in SFU’s chemistry department, can talk about the stability of hard plastics in products made with chemicals such as BPA.
Tim Peckham, 778.782.5580, tpeckham@sfu.ca
Deadly traffic
A new study released in England closely links exhaust fumes from road traffic and other sources of fuel combustion to what the researcher calls excess deaths due to pneumonia. Cross-referencing three sets of data -- atmospheric emissions, published causes of death and expected causes of death -- in England for the period 1996-2004, George Knox of Birmingham University attributed some 4,000 extra pneumonia deaths each year to engine pollution. Tim Takaro and Ryan Allen, both in SFU's Faculty of Health Sciences, study pollution’s impact on health and can comment on the study.
Ryan Allen, 778.782.7631, allenr@sfu.ca
Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Earth Day at SFU
Traffic pollution has long been linked to climate change, a global problem that will have profound effects on human health in the next few decades. SFU environmental health expert and physician Tim Takaro will discuss the connection between health and climate change at an Earth Day brown bag lunch celebration at the university’s Burnaby campus on Tuesday, April 22. Takaro can talk about how climate change is linked to deaths from excess heat, increased intensity and frequency of storms and shifting infectious-disease patterns worldwide. He can also elaborate on the health risks of using food-based alternative fuels to reduce pollution. Takaro will be one of two speakers at the Earth Day lunch time session, noon to 1:00 p.m., at EDB (education building) 8620. Candace Bonfield, a sustainability coordinator at SFU, will share some insight into reducing carbon footprints and increasing energy efficiency.
Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Fiona Burrows, 778.782.3928, fiona@sfu.ca
A big one, if not THE big one, is coming
It won’t be the killer earthquake (over seven magnitude) that scientists predict could hit the Pacific Northwest at anytime. But scientists are now 99 per cent sure that a powerful earthquake will hit California within the next 30 years. SFU earth scientist and earthquake specialist John Clague says that a new model designed to determine the probability of major earthquakes is totally believable. Using seismology, earthquake geology and precise measurements, the model says that the chances of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake not hitting California by 2038 are only one per cent.
John Clague, 778.782.4924, jclague@sfu.ca
Water bottle controversy intensifies
Deadly traffic
Earth Day at SFU
A big one, if not THE big one, is coming
Merritt murder suspect arrested
Allan Dwayne Schoenborn, the father accused of killing his three children in Merritt, is in police custody. Merritt police say that Schoenborn was located this morning on the outskirts of town. SFU criminologists, Robert Gordon and Neil Boyd, who have been following this case, can offer thought on a plethora of angles that are likely to emerge from its coverage.
Robert Gordon, 778.782.4305, 604.418.6640 (cell), rgordon@sfu.ca
Neil Boyd, 604.947.9569, 778.782.3324, nboyd@sfu.ca
Water bottle controversy intensifies
A new U.S. report neither condemns nor clears a chemical used in water and baby bottles and to line cans, but that isn’t stopping Canadian retailers from pulling products with biosphenol (BPA) off their shelves. An American National Toxicology Program report doesn’t conclude that BPA is dangerous but does say: “There is some concern for neural and behavioural effects in fetuses, infants and children at current human exposures.” Tim Peckham, a postdoctoral fellow and senior research associate in SFU’s chemistry department, can talk about the stability of hard plastics in products made with chemicals such as BPA.
Tim Peckham, 778.782.5580, tpeckham@sfu.ca
Deadly traffic
A new study released in England closely links exhaust fumes from road traffic and other sources of fuel combustion to what the researcher calls excess deaths due to pneumonia. Cross-referencing three sets of data -- atmospheric emissions, published causes of death and expected causes of death -- in England for the period 1996-2004, George Knox of Birmingham University attributed some 4,000 extra pneumonia deaths each year to engine pollution. Tim Takaro and Ryan Allen, both in SFU's Faculty of Health Sciences, study pollution’s impact on health and can comment on the study.
Ryan Allen, 778.782.7631, allenr@sfu.ca
Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Earth Day at SFU
Traffic pollution has long been linked to climate change, a global problem that will have profound effects on human health in the next few decades. SFU environmental health expert and physician Tim Takaro will discuss the connection between health and climate change at an Earth Day brown bag lunch celebration at the university’s Burnaby campus on Tuesday, April 22. Takaro can talk about how climate change is linked to deaths from excess heat, increased intensity and frequency of storms and shifting infectious-disease patterns worldwide. He can also elaborate on the health risks of using food-based alternative fuels to reduce pollution. Takaro will be one of two speakers at the Earth Day lunch time session, noon to 1:00 p.m., at EDB (education building) 8620. Candace Bonfield, a sustainability coordinator at SFU, will share some insight into reducing carbon footprints and increasing energy efficiency.
Tim Takaro, 778.782.7186, ttakaro@sfu.ca
Fiona Burrows, 778.782.3928, fiona@sfu.ca
A big one, if not THE big one, is coming
It won’t be the killer earthquake (over seven magnitude) that scientists predict could hit the Pacific Northwest at anytime. But scientists are now 99 per cent sure that a powerful earthquake will hit California within the next 30 years. SFU earth scientist and earthquake specialist John Clague says that a new model designed to determine the probability of major earthquakes is totally believable. Using seismology, earthquake geology and precise measurements, the model says that the chances of a 6.7 magnitude earthquake not hitting California by 2038 are only one per cent.
John Clague, 778.782.4924, jclague@sfu.ca