TIPRP for Animal Health Workers in Zoo Animal Health

TIPRP for Animal Health Workers in Zoo Animal Health

            For the zoo animal health worker, the degree of exposure and risk for RFR-EMI can be higher due to the higher probabilities of overall risks (Lucas, M., Day, L., Shirangi, A., & Fritschi, L. (2009). The cohorts in this group will be 30 zoo animal health workers from the San Diego Zoo, the Woods Hole Animal Health Department, and Disney’s Wild Animal Kingdom (DWAK). A zoo veterinarian from  DWAK may have to travel three to four times per year. The zoo veterinarian will be exposed four times to RFR from airline travel including exposure from the imaging devices at the airports for security checks.  She/he is then exposed to RFR from devices at home including smart meters and computers. In addition, if the clinician is an aquatic veterinarian, she/he may have to conduct scuba dives and can be exposed to RFR from submarine cables and/or extremely low magnetic field (ELF) emissions due to anti-submarine warfare exercises (Maronpot, 2013; National Research Council, 2012). The personal dosimeters will have to be water proof as well as some of the personal protective apparel. The TIPRP for the veterinarians’ patients will be unique with many interesting variations.

Discussions

The wet-suit, diving mask and gloves of the aquatic veterinarian will have to be redesigned to provide protection from surface and sub-aquatic exposure to RFR-EMI.  Health safety guidelines for zoo and wild life veterinarians will have to be radically upgraded to ensure protection from non-ionizing radiation due to TMTH. Many institutions representing many disciplines will have to collaborate to upgrade the protection of specialists in zoological medicine from RFR-EMI. The organizations include the US National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences (US NIEHS), International Association of Aquatic Animal Medicine (IAAAM), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), OSHA, the American Association of Zoo Veterinarians (AAZV), and the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA).

Recommendation

NIOSH and OSHA in the United States should mandate low exposure levels (LOELs) and no exposure levels (NOELs) for RFR-EMI with respect to zoo and wild life veterinarians. In addition, annual exposure limits to RFR-EMI for zoo veterinarians will have to be established globally.

Conclusion

            TIPRP can be a catalyst for the protection of non-domestic animal health workers from RFR-EMI due to increased applications of TMTH.