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Environmental Health Preventing chemical disasters: Labor and community groups say action must accompany words

June 12, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman 1Comment

Following the deadly April 17, 2013 explosion at the West, Texas fertilizer plant – and a series of other catastrophic incidents involving hazardous materials – President Obama directed federal agencies to improve chemical facility security and safety. Their report makes recommendations but does not mandate any immediate action. Meanwhile, dangerous chemical releases occur at workplaces around the US almost daily.

Cancer OSHA’s proposed silica regulation: Let the public hearings begin!

March 17, 2014 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Over the next three weeks, more than 200 individuals are scheduled to testify at OSHA’s public hearing on its proposed silica regulation. Unlike other regulatory agencies, OSHA’s rulemaking hearings are overseen by an administrative law judge. Those who testify can cross-examine and be cross-examined by other witnesses and agency officials.

Cancer Will farm workers be better protected? EPA proposes new pesticide protection standards but farm worker advocates see some steps backward

March 3, 2014 Elizabeth Grossman

“For us it’s personal,” said Jeannie Economos, Farmworker Association of Florida Pesticide Safety and Environmental Health Project Coordinator. “It’s a daily issue for us. Every day with a weaker protection standard is another day a worker is exposed to pesticides,” she said. On February 20th the EPA proposed revisions to its Worker Protection Standard for agricultural pesticides. Farm worker advocates are welcoming the proposal – the first update since 1992 – but see both improvements and what some are calling “steps backward.”

Cancer Study: Replacing BPA in food products could save billions in health costs

January 31, 2014 Kim Krisberg 3Comment

In a first-of-its-kind study, a researcher has estimated that the health-related economic savings of removing bisphenol A from our food supply is a whopping $1.74 billion annually. And that’s a conservative estimate.

Addiction & Substance Abuse Fifty years and 8 million lives saved since the first surgeon general’s smoking report

January 14, 2014 Kim Krisberg 16Comment

It’s probably my earliest public health memory — the image of Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and his grandfatherly beard on the television warning my elementary school self about the dangers of smoking. He was the first doctor I knew by name.

Occup Health News Roundup Occupational Health News Roundup

December 17, 2013 Liz Borkowski, MPH

Fast-food workers walk off their jobs and demand higher wages; workers from a Niagara Falls Goodyear plant have a bladder cancer rate nearly three times that of the general New York state population; and increased pork-plant production comes with more reports of worker injuries.

Cancer Silica exposures in fracking : Over 60 percent of workers may be excessively exposed

November 21, 2013 Elizabeth Grossman

At least 1.7 million US workers are exposed to respirable crystalline silica each year, this according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). These exposures occur in a variety of industries, among them construction, sandblasting, mining, masonry, stone and quarry work, and in the rapidly expanding method of oil and gas extraction […]

Government Thou dost protest too much. Let the disclosure chips fall where they may

October 28, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The worlds of Georgia-Pacific, asbestos-litigation, scientific journals, and OSHA all fell together last week under the umbrella of transparency and disclosure.

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 […]

Government Turning new page for transparency in worker safety rulemaking

October 9, 2013 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

For the first time in OSHA’s rulemaking history, the agency is requesting that those submitting studies, reports and analysis on its proposed silica standard disclose potential conflicts of interest.