Farmers markets (FM) have become increasingly popular almost tripling over the past two decades due to the rising interest in local and/or organic foods. Within this same time period, notable farmers market foodborne illness outbreaks; such as E. coli O157:H7 and strawberries and Salmonella and peas; have occurred, and emphasize the importance of food safety practices at farmers markets. Some farmers may be encouraged to follow Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) to limit the contamination of fresh produce; however, GAPs programs are complex and also very driven by wholesale buyers. Furthermore, many FM growers are unfamiliar with GAPs or do not believe it is applicable to them. The Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA) was passed in 2011, and shifted the food safety paradigm from a reactive to proactive approach introducing seven different rules including the Preventive Controls for Human Foods (PCHFR) and the Produce Safety Rule (PSR). Each FSMA rule does contain exemptions for smaller-scale operations (e.g., farms, facilities) that allows them to be excluded from the rule, or excluded from certain aspects of the rule. Generally, most FM vendors may satisfy exemptions from the FSMA regulations (e.g., be exempt from the FSMA Produce Safety Rule because of commodities); however, to our knowledge, no studies have assessed the regulatory compliance requirements of FM vendors to the FSMA regulations. This dissertation explored the regulatory requirements of FM vendors, and the accessibility of FSMA materials for these audiences. Additionally, due to the sudden and unprecedented global COVID-19 pandemic, an objective was added that explored how COVID-19 influenced behavior changes among this audience. Interviews were conducted and found that all vendors (100%) were exempt from the PCHFR and that most vendors (67%) were exempt from the PSR, some were qualified exempt (28%), and a few (5%) were covered. This study also found that farmers market vendors received information mainly from University Cooperative Extension sources. The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted hygiene and health practices at FMs. Market personnel (managers and vendors) implemented many different hygiene and health practices at their markets. The major source of COVID-19 food safety information for market personnel was local and federal government; as well as University Cooperative Extension. Accessibility analyses showed that many FM or COVID-19 resources were not accessible due to populations that rely on produce safety resources generated by Cooperative Extension due to (i) navigation or web accessibility errors, (ii) high literacy level requirements, and (iii) lack of keep (i.e., resources were not up-to-date, or continuously managed or monitored). These findings will inform the development of FM targeted resources, that are also, accessible to a more diverse and inclusive audience. One example is a produce safety resource on the updated agricultural water requirements that is developed to an 8th grade reading level, with no broken links or additional navigations errors, and if a PDF version is available, proper headers and titles. / Doctor of Philosophy / Farmers markets (FMs) have increased in popularity over the two decades with because of interest by consumers to support local agriculture, buy organic products, or because they believe these foods to be safer from bacteria and viruses. Shopping at a FMs does not necessarily make the products any safer compared to buying it from a grocery store. It is important that farmers markets follow proper food safety practices during the growing, harvesting, and preparation of produce for sale. One example is the prevention of animal feces from getting on the produce or in a water source that would be used. Another would be to follow proper hygiene practices such as handwashing after using the bathroom. These two examples and others are detailed in a law passed by President Obama in 2011 called the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), which allows the Food and Drug Administration to begin its proactive instead of reactive food safety approach. FSMA does not have to be followed by all food entities. Depending on how much a farm makes in revenue (<$25,000) or if they grow products deemed as "not risky,", they may be exempt. These types of products such as potatoes, beets, and corn are safer because they will be cooked before consumption killing any bacteria or viruses that may exist. Other products such as romaine lettuce and tomatoes are usually consumed fresh without cooking and are thus riskier if there are any bacteria or viruses on it. Interviews were conducted to understand if farmers market vendors need to comply with FSMA. Most vendors are not required to follow FSMA because they gross less than $25,000 or their products were already covered by other food safety regulations such as meat being covered by the USDA. Additionally, how the COVID-19 pandemic influenced FMs was explored. Two surveys, one for vendors and one for managers, were distributed to stakeholders. FMs adapted really well to the challenging COVID-19 landscape and implemented COVID-19 preventive measures such as social distancing, mask wearing, and providing hand sanitizer and handwashing stations to continue to operate and keep their customers and employees safe. After understanding the characteristics and the unique challenges to food safety implementation that these market personnel may face, additional research was done to understand if currently available resources were accessible. Accessibility was evaluated using website and PDF accessibility checkers and a readability level checker. Resources should be easy to navigate and written to around a 8th grade level to make it easy to understand. There is a lack of well-crafted, accessible resources that address the unique challenges that farmers market personnel may face. These considerations should be considered when creating these materials.

L’importance des facteurs de risque professionnels dans l’asthme est bien établie, mais le rôle de certains agents doit être clarifié. Les objectifs de la thèse sont d’évaluer les liens entre les expositions aux produits de nettoyage et l’asthme, et d’étudier l’impact et la prise en compte du biais du travailleur sain, dans l’étude Epidémiologique des facteurs Génétiques et Environnementaux de l’Asthme (EGEA, 2047 sujets dont 1477 adultes avec des données professionnelles). L’exposition aux produits de nettoyage a été estimée par une expertise et une matrice emploi-exposition. Chez les femmes, l’asthme actuel était associé à l’exposition aux détartrants (OR=2.4 (1.1-5.3)), et aux sprays (2.9 (1.0-8.1)) et à l’ammoniac (3.1 (1.2-7.8)) chez les aides-soignantes. Les détartrants et l’ammoniac sont des irritants. L’exposition aux produits de nettoyage était associée à l’asthme sévère et sans sensibilisation allergique. Deux analyses ont souligné l’importance du biais du travailleur sain dans l’asthme. Un biais de sélection à l’embauche a été observé chez des sujets avec un asthme sévère dans l’enfance. Un modèle marginal structural a permis de prendre en compte le biais du travailleur sain dans l’étude de l’effet des expositions professionnelles sur l’expression clinique de l’asthme au cours de la vie. En plus du rôle d’asthmogènes connus, le rôle d’agents moins bien établis, comprenant des irritants (1.6 (1.0-2.4)) était suggéré. Les résultats sont cohérents avec un rôle des irritants dans l’asthme lié au travail. Ils soutiennent une utilisation plus large d’approches d’analyse causale pour contrôler le biais du travailleur sain dans les études des risques professionnels. / It is well-recognized that workplace exposures importantly contribute to the burden of asthma, but the role of some agents needs to be clarified. The aims of the thesis are to evaluate the relationships between occupational exposure to cleaning products and asthma, and to study the impact and the control of the healthy worker effect bias, in the Epidemiological study on the Genetics and Environment of Asthma (EGEA, 2047 subjects including 1477 adults with data regarding occupations).Exposure to cleaning products was estimated by an expert assessment and a job-exposure matrix. In women, current asthma was associated with exposure to decalcifiers (OR=2.4 (1.1-5.3)), and to sprays (2.9 (1.0-8.1)) and ammonia (3.1 (1.2-7.8)) in personal care workers. Decalcifiers and ammonia are irritants. Exposure to cleaning products was associated with severe asthma, and asthma without allergic sensitization. Two analyses underlined the important impact of the healthy worker effect in asthma. A healthy worker hire effect was observed in subjects with severe asthma in childhood. Using a marginal structural model, we studied the effect of occupational exposure on asthma clinical expression over a lifetime, while controlling for the healthy worker effect bias. Elevated risks of asthma were observed, not only for known asthmagens, but also for other agents which role in asthma is less established, including irritants (1.6 (1.0-2.4)). The results are consistent with a role of irritants in work-related asthma. They support a broader use of causal inference approaches, to control the healthy worker effect bias in studies of occupational risk factors.

L’objectif principal de ce travail est d’étudier les mécanismes d’oxydation lors de la photocatalyse (TiO2 irradié sous UV-A) appliquée à la dégradation des microorganismes et leurs effets sur les composants cellulaires. L'étude de l'efficacité antimicrobienne de TiO2 sur un panel de microorganismes (bactéries, spores, champignons) réalisée dans différents milieux (TiO2 en milieu riche, 'sec', en phase liquide) montre l’influence des méthodes d’évaluation, de test et de comptage sur les efficacités d’inactivation. Des études menées en présence de molécules scavengers d’anions superoxydes (O2°-) mettent en évidence l’implication des O2°- dans l’effet antibactérien et dans la peroxydation lipidique. Au niveau protéomique, diverses cibles d’action potentielles du TiO2 sont aussi proposées. Enfin, une partie applicative détermine l’efficacité antimicrobienne de dispositifs photocatalytiques équipés de mousses alvéolaires de β-SiC et de diodes électroluminescentes, et met en avant les propriétés auto-désinfectantes sous lumière solaire de textiles photocatalytiques fonctionnalisés par la technique layer-by-layer. / The main objective of this work is to study the oxidation mechanisms of UV-A photocatalysis on TiO2 applied to the degradation of microorganisms and their effects on cellular components. The study of the antimicrobial efficiency of TiO2 towards a panel of microorganisms (bacteria, spores, fungi) in different media (TiO2 in rich or 'dry' environment, in liquid phase) shows the influence of the evaluation methods, test and counting on the inactivation efficiency. Studies carried out in the presence of scavenger molecule of superoxide anions (O2°-) highlight the involvement of O2°- in the antibacterial effect and lipid peroxidation. Proteomics analysis leads to propose various potential targets of the TiO2 action. Finally, an application part deals with the design of photocatalytic devices based on LEDs and β-SiC alveolar foams for air disinfection, and of sunlight active self-disinfecting layer-by-layer functionalized photocatalytic textiles.

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