Cancer The air we breathe: WHO says air pollution is carcinogenic and urges action – scientists contend industry is hindering progress
October 23, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman 3Comment

On October 17, the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) announced that it has classified air pollution as a human carcinogen. Although the composition of air pollution and exposure levels vary widely from place to place, IARC says its assessment is applicable worldwide and notes that exposures in rapidly industrializing countries […]

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Public Health Practice Hazards behind a chicken dinner: US poultry workers ask USDA and OSHA to protect their safety
September 9, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman

Nearly 50 billion pounds of chicken (about eight billion chickens’ worth, or 37 billion pounds of poultry products) were processed in the United States in 2012 by about half a million workers, many of whom handle more than 100 birds per minute. This labor involves standing in chilled processing plant facilities, cutting, gutting, scalding, defeathering […]

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Public Health Practice Heat Kills: As temperatures climb, workers succumb to heat
August 28, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman 3Comment

On July 5, James Baldasarre, a 45-year old a Medford, Massachusetts US Postal Service employee who had worked for USPS for 24 years, died from excessive heat. According to news reports, shortly before collapsing in the 95-degree heat, Baldasarre texted his wife to say, “I’m going to die out here today. It’s so hot.”  On […]

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Public Health Practice Improving chemical safety: Better band-aids or systemic change?
August 8, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman 4Comment

“If you don’t understand why something is harmful, the best you can do is stay away from it,” Paul Anastas said to me a few years ago, explaining the basis of the United States’ risk-based chemicals management policies. “We currently deal with chemical security through guns, guards and gates rather than by redesigning materials,” continued […]

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Public Health Practice Frac sand exposure study FOIA: 13 months and still no response from CDC
July 10, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman 6Comment

Field studies conducted at hydraulic fracturing well sites by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in 2010 and 2011 found exposures to respirable crystalline silica well in excess of safety limits set by both NIOSH and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). […]

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