May, 2024

Articles This Month

1. Training Opportunities

2. Licensing Updates 

3. FDA Warns About Use of Topical Pain Relief Products

4. Welcome, Paula!

5. Study Shows CWD Unlikely to Move from Animals to People

6. Trailer Court/Campground Inspection Forms

7. Environmental Health Leadership Academy

8. Cold Water Plunges

Webinars - Please register in advance using the link below. EHFS webinars are for state and local health officials, sanitarians maintaining CEs, and partner organizations only.

Burn Out, June 4^th at 10AM: Jen Racicot (MA, NCC) will be joining us from the Montana Public Health Training Center to give a presentation on burn out at work, including prevention and intervention measures. Launch Meeting - Zoom

Other Opportunities

DPHHS Summer Institute: This year, Summer Institute will be hosted in-person in Helena at the Delta Hotel from July 15^th-19^th and hosted virtually from July 22^nd-25^th if you are unable to travel. Hotel information can be found on the Summer Institute website. EHFS will be hosting sessions on licensing, mobile food, cottage food, and more.

If you have questions related to upcoming trainings or would like to be added to the Training Announcement List, please contact Karenna at Karenna.Doctor@mt.gov.

-Karenna

• The 1^st quarter payment has been processed, please check to see if you received what you expected.
• Please sign the cottage food applications prior to sending them, unsigned applications will be sent back for signature.

-Gail

Earlier this year the FDA issued a warning regarding the use of over the counter (OTC) topical analgesic (pain relief) products used before, during, and after body art procedures. The warning includes six companies in violation of federal law for marketing such products. Some of these topicals contain lidocaine at higher concentrations than permitted. High concentrations (over 4%) of lidocaine absorbed through the skin may cause serious injury such as irregular heartbeat, seizures, and negative interactions with medications/dietary supplements. The six companies/products in violation include:

1. TKTX Company: TKTX Numb Maximum Strength Pain Reliever, Mithra+ 10% Lidocaine, TKTX During Procedure Numbing Gel 40% and J-CAIN cream [LIDOCAINE] 29.9%
2. SeeNext Venture, Ltd.: NumbSkin 5% Lidocaine Numbing Cream (15 grams), NumbSkin 5% Lidocaine Numbing Cream (30 grams) and NumbSkin 10.56% Lidocaine Numbing Cream
3. Tattoo Numbing Cream Co.: Signature Tattoo Numbing Cream and Miracle Numb Spray
4. Sky Bank Media, LLC, doing business as Painless Tattoo Co.: Painless Tattoo Numbing Cream and Painless Tattoo Numbing Spray
5. Dermal Source, Inc.: New & Improved Blue Gel, Superior Super Juice, Premium Pro Plus, Five-Star Vasocaine and Maximum Zone 1
6. Indelicare, doing business as INKEEZE: Ink Eeze Original B Numb Numbing Gel, Ink Eeze B Numb Numbing Spray Black Label and Ink Eeze B Numb Numbing Foam Soap

When conducting body art inspections, please be on the lookout for similar products. Warn artists not to use OTC pain relief products with more than 4% lidocaine, do not apply OTC pain relief products heavily over large areas of the skin, and do not wrap skin treated with OTC pain relief with plastic or other dressing as this may increase serious side effects.

More information can be found on the FDA’s website.

- Sadie  

Hello. I’m Paula Diaz, a student at Montana State University in Bozeman. I’m majoring in Microbiology with a focus on Environmental Health. My academic interests are environmental risk assessment, toxicology, epidemiology, and statistics. Outside of work, I love spending time with my dogs. Cerberus is an 18-year-old Jack Russell-Pomeranian mix, and Foxxy is a mixed-breed rescue dog from a Montana reservation. We think she’s about 8 years old and she kind of looks like a fox. I also have a bearded dragon. My partner and I like to camp and hike. I also like mountain biking (but only on the easy stuff 😉), painting, drawing, gardening, and reading. I’m currently reading Spillover by David Quammen, and The Soul of an Octopus by Sy Montgomery.  I’m looking forward to learning and helping however I can.

-Paula

Scientists with the National Institutes of Health recently conducted a study confirming a substantial species barrier preventing transmission of chronic wasting disease (CWD) from cervids to humans.

Although it is very unlikely that humans will contract CWD from eating cervid meat, a small number of people may have genetic susceptibility that was not accounted for during the study. Emergence of new strains with a lesser barrier to infection remains possible. MT DPHHS will continue our efforts to educate, encourage single batch processing, and recommend discarding suspect positive meat.

The full article can be found here.

-Sadie

Please ensure that you are using the EHFS September 2022 Trailer Court/Campground Inspection form for any trailer court/campground inspections completed this year. The 2022 Form reflects the 2022 Rule Change. The 2016 Form includes items that are no longer regulated and others that have changed. For quarterly audits, the 2016 Form will no longer be accepted.

Additionally, Youth Camp and Work Camp Inspection Forms are available. The most current versions are dated March 2023. Please use these forms, rather than a Trailer Court/Campground Inspection Form, if inspecting a youth or work camp.

You can find PDFs of the above forms on the Sanitarian Resource Page. You can also request print copies from our office using the Printed Material Request Order Form.

-Karenna

An exciting learning and leadership experience tailored specifically for Environmental Health professionals. Environmental Health Leadership Academy Application (neha.org) NEHA has extended the deadline for the EHLA to June 14th. The intensive, interactive 12-month program incudes 4-hour monthly virtual modules to learn and collaborate with peers as well as mentoring sessions. Scholarships are available.

As a graduate of this program, I recommend it immensely. You will gain beneficial contacts across the country, grow your skills and leadership capabilities, and get to wear some snazzy outfits. Reach out if you have any questions -Kira

Cold Plunges Are the Future! 

They are not in my future, because I can’t stand cold water baths, but they seem to be making a fast break into Montana business.

Why cold water plunges? Many people use cold water plunges for physical benefits such as the reduction of inflammation and others are drawn to the experience as a form of mental health therapy to reduce anxiety and stress. Some people simply seem to think it’s just fun to socialize by the river and dunk themselves in 36°F water.  BRRRRRRRRR

Cold plunge tubs that are provided for public use and are not drained and cleaned between bathers are considered public facilities and should go through a plan review and licensing process. We have seen people proposing the use of stock tanks, as well as commercially manufactured self-contained cold tubs. Most of the units I have seen do not operate with sanitizers and are built using components that are not listed and labeled to NSF 50. This is very similar to issues we have experienced with self-contained residential spas. They are very difficult, if not impossible, to approve for public use under our current standards. 

Please feel free to direct questions concerning cold plunges to our office.

Sincerely,

Erik

Contact Information

EHFS Staff Listing

EHFS | Phone: (406) 444-2837 | Fax: (406) 444-5055

hhsfcs@mt.gov | Environmental Health and Food Safety Section