Reference no: EM131065474

Environmental Health Policy Paper Proposal 2 pages minimum

In this unit, you will submit a proposal for the overall scope of your course project, the Environmental Health Policy Paper, which you will prepare for a local agency. The work you do in preparing the proposal will have a direct bearing on the structure and organization of the policy paper.

A proposal for an academic paper allows you to delineate the elements of your project for your instructor's approval and feedback. A good proposal identifies the research topic, provides background on the problem, discusses initial exploration of research sources, and sets down the schedule for the research and writing process. The proposal will be 2-4 pages in length, with concise, focused, and organized text, and will include the following:

• Background and Context of Your Research Topic. What is the nature of the problem that you will be addressing? How long has it been an issue in your community? How does it compare to similar problems in other communities? What remediation or intervention has already been attempted?

• Potential Solutions. What remediation approaches would be appropriate? What approach do you anticipate recommending? Why is your approach a more effective one? What criteria are you using to measure your success?

• Proposal Structure and Schedule. Describe the structure of your policy paper. Be sure to give this section careful thought as the Environmental Health Policy Paper is a major paper and will require planning to be well-executed.

• Annotated Bibliography. You should have at least 10 sources that are relevant and useful for the policy paper. Each entry must be annotated with a sentence or two that summarizes the source and explains its relevance to the project.

Pesticides are the only toxic substances released intentionally into our environment to kill living things. This includes substances that kill weeds (herbicides), insects (insecticides), fungus (fungicides), rodents (rodenticides), and others. The use of toxic pesticides to manage pest problems has become a common practice around the world. Pesticides are used almost everywhere -- not only in agricultural fields, but also in homes, parks, schools, buildings, forests, and roads. It is difficult to find somewhere where pesticides aren't used -- from the can of bug spray under the kitchen sink to the airplane crop dusting acres of farm land, our world is filled with pesticides. Also, pesticides can be found in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink.

I currently live in Aroostook County Maine; there are about 895 farms, which make up about 350,911 acres. Right across the road from my house is a big potato field- the majority of farms plant potatoes, corn, and broccoli. Out of the 895 farms there are only a handful of organic farmers. Pesticides have been linked to a wide range of human health hazards, ranging from short-term impacts such as headaches and nausea to chronic impacts like cancer, reproductive harm, and endocrine disruption. These are not health hazards that we should accept.

Because of the amount of farming done in our community, this is an environmental health problem that I think needs to be looked into. The local hospital would probably be the most appropriate audience for the info I get for my policy paper.