Environmental Health | The Pump Handle

Environmental Health Inspired by the modest mussel, scientists discover a naturally derived flame retardant

October 21, 2015 Kim Krisberg 3Comment

Flame retardants aren’t just found in your furniture. It’s likely you also have detectable amounts of the chemical in your body too, which is pretty worrisome considering the growing amount of research connecting flame retardants to serious health risks. Researchers have linked to the chemicals to reproductive health problems, adverse neurobehavioral development in kids, and endocrine and thyroid disruption. And so the question arises: Do the risks of today’s flame retardants outweigh the benefits?

Agriculture Occupational Health News Roundup

October 14, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Investigative series explores worker health and safety on the farm; California enacts toughest pay equity law in the country; OSHA proposes biggest fine in Nebraska’s history; and Labor Secretary Tom Perez stops by Gawker.

Education Study uncovers occupational risks, injury trends among commercial bicyclists

October 5, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Anyone who’s lived in a big, dense city is familiar with the sight of bicycle messengers weaving their way in between metro buses and taxi cabs, down side streets and around packed crosswalks, pedaling at impressive speeds and often with remarkable agility. Surprisingly, however, there’s little data on these workers, even though it seems they’d be particularly susceptible to injuries on the job.

Agriculture New EPA rule offers better protection from pesticides for US farmworkers

October 2, 2015 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 3Comment

US farmworkers, many of whom move from state to state following crops, will now have better access to information about the pesticides used at the farms where they work. Among other things, a new EPA rule will require employers to provide annual pesticide-hazard training to farmworkers.

Environmental Health Volkswagen’s deceit: public health and my neighbor’s dilemma

September 30, 2015 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 5Comment

My neighbor shares her thoughts about being part of VW’s “clean diesel” charade, while a reporter estimates the premature deaths associated with the corporation’s fraud.

Environmental Health Scientists find high prevalence of Chagas disease in Texas kissing bugs

September 25, 2015 Kim Krisberg

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers it one of five neglected parasitic infections in need of targeted public health action. And while it’s still considered rare in the U.S., it seems residents of Texas may be at greater risk than scientists previously thought.

Cancer Asbestos, disease burden, and TSCA reform

September 25, 2015 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 6Comment

Senators should mark Mesothelioma Awareness Day (September 26) by considering asbestos as the litmus test for the adequacy of any TSCA reform legislation. They’ll see that S.697 fails the test.

Environmental Health New study illustrates risk that climate change poses to safe drinking water, human health

September 23, 2015 Kim Krisberg 2Comment

For years, scientists have described climate change as a slowly emerging public health crisis. But for many, it’s difficult to imagine how a complex planetary phenomenon can impact personal well-being beyond the obvious effects of natural disasters, which climatologists say will happen more frequently and intensely as the world warms. That disconnect is what piqued my interest in a new study on old infrastructure, heavy rainfalls and spikes in human illness.

Agriculture Labor Day yearbook highlights worker safety at the state and local levels

September 9, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Paid sick leave, new rights for temp workers, and extending OSHA protections to public sector employees were among the many victories that unfolded at the state and local levels in the last 12 months and that we highlight in this year’s edition of “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety.”

Department of Labor Occupational Health News Roundup

August 25, 2015 Kim Krisberg

Women in the trucking industry face severe sexual harassment, rape and retaliation; advocates call out chemical giant DuPont on their safety consulting business; home health care workers gain new wage protections; and Texas cities take action on living wages.