Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
06:03
A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees
Published on: September 4, 2016
Fouling one's own nest revisited
1Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore.
American Journal of Industrial Medicine
|July 1, 1993
Summary
Workers can unknowingly transport workplace hazards home on clothing and shoes, leading to serious childhood poisonings. Addressing workplace hygiene and exposure is crucial for preventing these paraoccupational health risks.
Area of Science:
- Occupational Health
- Environmental Health
- Public Health
Background:
- Paraoccupational exposure, the transfer of workplace hazards into the home environment, is a recognized public health issue.
- Childhood intoxications are a significant concern stemming from paraoccupational exposure.
- Workplace hygiene and adult occupational poisonings are indicators of potential paraoccupational exposure risks.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the problem of paraoccupational hazard transport from workplaces to homes.
- To identify and analyze markers associated with paraoccupational exposure.
- To suggest strategies for mitigating preventable exposures.
Main Methods:
- Review of recently reported cases of paraoccupational exposure.
- Analysis of work clothes and shoes as common vehicles for hazard transport.
- Examination of workplace hygiene, adult occupational intoxications, and 'cottage industry' phenomena as exposure markers.
Main Results:
- Work clothes and shoes are frequently identified as vehicles for transporting workplace hazards home.
- Poor workplace hygiene, adult occupational poisonings, and the 'cottage industry' phenomenon are associated with paraoccupational exposure.
- These exposures are often preventable.
Conclusions:
- Paraoccupational exposure poses a significant risk, particularly to children.
- Identifying and addressing workplace hygiene issues and exposure pathways is essential.
- Implementing mitigation strategies can prevent these easily avoidable exposures.
Related Concept Videos
01:06Fixed Action Patterns
A fixed action pattern (FAP) is a specific, hard-wired sequence of behaviors that occurs in response to an external stimulus, called a sign stimulus. The behavior is “fixed” because it is essentially unchangeable—proceeding similarly across individuals of a species every time it occurs.
02:45Self-Discrepancy Theory
One influential perspective on what motivates people's behavior is detailed in Tory Higgin's self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987). He proposed that people hold disagreeing internal representations of themselves that lead to different emotional states.
02:05Self-Presentation: Self-Monitoring and Self-Handicapping
People can go to great lengths to protect their self-image and present themselves in ways that they want others to see them. Sociologist Erving Goffman presented the idea that a person is like an actor on a stage. Calling his theory dramaturgy, Goffman believed that we use “impression management” to present ourselves to others as we hope to be perceived. Each situation is a new scene, and individuals perform different roles depending on who is present (Goffman, 1959). Think about the way you...
01:12Hindsight Biases
Hindsight bias leads you to believe that the event you just experienced was predictable, even though it really wasn’t. In other words, you knew all along that things would turn out the way they did. Can you relate this to the phrase "Hindsight is 20/20" now?
04:49Robbers Cave
During the 1950s, the landmark Robbers Cave experiment demonstrated that when groups must compete with one another, intergroup conflict, hostility, and even violence may result. At the Oklahoman summer camp, two troops of boys—termed the Rattlers and the Eagles—took part in a week-long tournament. During this time, their negativity culminated in derogatory name-calling, fistfights, and even vandalism and destruction of property. However, this work also revealed that such tension could be...
01:41Social Traps
Social traps are negative situations where people get caught in a direction or relationship that later proves to be unpleasant, with no easy way to back out of or avoid. The concept was orignally introduced by John Platt who applied psychology to Garrett Hardin's "Tragedy of the Commons", where in New England herd owners could let their cattle graze in the common ground. This situation seems like a good idea, but an individual could have an advantage. If they owned more cows, the larger...