Department Title Changes At School of Public Health

The School of Public Health, with a change of names, has acquired a new department.

Dade Moeller, associate professor of Environmental Health Engineering and head of the new Department of Environmental Health Sciences, said the name change, from Department of Industrial Hygiene, indicates "a broadening of our responsibilities to include natural as well as industrial hazards to health."

Moeller said the department has traditionally been concerned with problems arising in the urban, industrial environment, such as air pollution and waste disposal. But the department hopes to initiate research projects to study risks to health arising in nature, such as cosmic radiation and radioactive material in the earth, he said.

Radiation Exposure

Exposure to natural radiation, Moeller said, is nowhere near a dangerous level but has been increasing. Just using brick or concrete instead of wood as a building material exposes people to more radiation, he said. Similarly, some foods emit more radiation than others.

The department has applied to the U.S. Public Health Department for finances to start research projects along these lines.

Better Designs

Moeller said the results of the research could lead to better designs for buildings and safer food production.

Projects the department is currently engaged in include:

* Better designs for nuclear reactors to lessen the danger of accidental exposure to radiation.

* The use of battery-powered respirators for workers exposed to hazardous vapors.

* Urban waste disposal by shipboard incinerators.

Moeller said he will meet next week with representatives from New York City's Environmental Protection Association to check out the possibility of the new garbage disposal system in New York.