Right now, according to public health officials, about half a million U.S. kids have blood lead levels that could harm their health. However, new research finds many more children — hundreds of thousands more — are likely going unidentified.
APHA Annual Meeting
Occupational health, environmental protections the focus of new public health policies
The American Public Health Association adopted 13 new policy statements. Six of them address priority topics on worker safety and environmental health.
Federal laws fail to protect workers left out of state workers’ comp systems; electronics recycling workers and their families face dangerous lead poisoning risks; California farmworkers join forces with low-wage food service workers for better pay; and a worker who died during preparations for the Super Bowl is remembered.
Re-run from August 11, 2015: There are plenty of lawmakers who criticize OSHA regulations. Perhaps some of them might think differently if they realized the importance of workplace safety regulations for children’s health.
OSHA inspectors attempted to investigate the circumstances of a foundry worker with lead poisoning. The employer and its consulting firm threw obstacles in the inspectors’ way, but two judges saw through their obstruction.
Individuals with chronic occupational exposure to lead have an 80 percent higher odds of developing Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) than individuals who do not have the exposure.
Article series investigates lead poisoning at the nation’s gun ranges; autopsy shows coal miner was wrongly denied black lung benefits; health care workers take part in mass protective gear training; and a Wells Fargo employee sends a big email about income inequality.
Environmental Health
Lead-poisoned workers: Thousands each year in the US, especially among Hispanic workers
Between 5,000 and 6,000 cases of elevated blood lead levels from workplace exposures are reported each year to state health departments. In California, where the workforce is 36 percent Hispanic, the proportion of individuals with elevated blood-lead who also had Hispanic surnames was 64-70 percent.
A new book from Gerald Markowitz and David Rosner tells the disheartening story of our country’s ongoing failure to fully protect children from lead poisoning
The headlines in Detroit are focused on the city’s financial woes, but the city’s future is at additional risk because of lead poisoned children in the city’s public schools.