The top objects that changed safety, culture, and health

One hundred objects have shaped public health and safety for the last 100 years, says Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health.

On its Global Health Now Website, the school describes all 100 objects, some weird, some obvious, to celebrate its centennial. (globalhealthnow.org)

Here are some important ones:

Bike helmets – They have been around since 1860 but in wide use only since 1975. Helmet use reduces the odds of severe head injury by 50 percent. Since 1975, annual bicycle deaths have dropped about 25 percent.

Fly swatters – Imagine a more humble object that does so much. This was the invention of a Kansas Boy Scout troop that nailed spare pieces of window screen to yardsticks. The swatters were free at the Kansas State Fair. The swatter has been pivotal in the public health campaign against flies, which carry typhoid, cholera and infections.

Hard hat – So effective and necessary, hard hats have become virtually the icon of modern safety. First used by construction workers in the 1900s, the hard hat has evolved from hardened tar into the tough plastic gear we know today. Their suspended interior adds extra protection from falling objects. Their use in construction is now law.

Safety goggles – About 2,000 workplace eye injuries occur every day. About 70 percent are caused from flying or falling objects. Safety goggles alone prevent (or just make less severe) about 90 percent of these injuries.

Horseshoe crab – The blue blood of the horseshoe crab contains a critical agent for detecting deadly bacteria. The blood compound is so sensitive that it can detect the equivalent of one grain of sand in a swimming pool. In an era of chemical imitations of many natural things, the blood of the horseshoe crab has never been replicated. More than 600,000 are caught each year and bled. About 20 percent die in the process. The rest are returned to the sea.

Garbage Trucks – Arguably one of the innovations that made modern life possible, the garbage truck allows us to take trash off the streets, out of sewers and rivers and out of sight and smell. That’s a good thing because each American generates about 7 pounds of trash every day. The first hydraulic garbage truck was patented in 1938.