Category Archives: public health

Think you’re running your generator safely? You might not know these poisoning risks

The deaths of four young people in Byron late last week from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning was rare for the state of Maine. We don’t often see such poisonings when homeowners use generators for auxiliary power, as that group did to get a refrigerator running in an off-grid cabin, according to state toxicologist Dr. Andy Smith. But all too often, […]

A Maine student’s homework, brought to you by Oreo

Ladies and gentlemen, a Maine student’s opinions about snow — brought to you by Oreo. You don’t often see a child’s schoolwork sponsored by a multinational cookie brand. But food marketers regularly advertise to students in Maine schools using less overt tactics, according to Tina Pettingill of the Maine Public Health Association. She used the Oreo worksheet, passed […]

Maine seeing record cases of chickenpox among children

A record number of Maine schoolchildren have been infected with chickenpox this school year, according to state health officials. From September 2014 through mid-May 2015, 84 cases of the highly contagious virus were reported in children, according to the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s nearly double the 44 cases reported during the same period of the 2013-14 school […]

As Maine weighs e-cigarette limits, ‘vaping’ among U.S. teens triples

Add this to the list of electronics consuming teenagers’ attention: cigarettes. Use of electronic cigarettes tripled among American middle and high school students over the course of just one year, from 2013 to 2014, according to new data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The statistics come as many states, including Maine, seek limits on the devices […]