By Elizabeth Grossman While the US Supreme Court was debating the Affordable Care Act, the US House of Representatives Energy and Commerce Committee Health Subcommittee held a hearing to examine the current federal oversight of cosmetics and personal care product safety. The hearing revealed that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the federal agency […]
Slate has just started a new series by Tom Vanderbilt called “The Crisis in American Walking: How we got off the pedestrian path.” Vanderbilt observes that it’s odd to see things like “Campaign to Get America Walking” when ambulation is one of the most natural activities for our species. Reliance on cars seems to be […]
At an American Public Health Association annual meeting session a couple of years ago, I learned from the panelists that green jobs aren’t always safe jobs — for instance, energy-efficient buildings and wind turbines can be designed without proper consideration for how workers constructing or servicing them will be protected from falls or assured adequate […]
Deborah Sontag’s New York Times piece “Haiti’s Cholera Outraced the Experts and Tainted the UN” is a reminder that while public attention to the earthquake-ravaged country has waned, cholera still presents a major threat to the country’s people. It’s also just a sad story about how one apparently small malfunction can have disastrous consequences for […]
[Update below, June 2013] Phillip Northmore worked for the UK’s Ministry of Defense in Plymouth, England from 1963 to 1966. His job as a lagger meant he spent his day repairing and applying asbestos insulation around pipes and ductwork in the bowels of buildings. His wife recalled him coming home from work covered in dust. […]
Environmental Health
Top notch job by OSHA staff to globally harmonize labels and datasheets for chemicals
Earlier this week, Lizzie Grossman reported here at The Pump Handle on revisions to OSHA’s Hazard Communication standard which align the agency’s 30 year old rule with a globally harmonized system for classifying and labeling chemical hazards. In “Moving from Right-to-Know to Right-to-Understand,” we learn how the changes stem from a 2002 United Nations resolution […]
Today is World Water Day, and this year’s theme is “Water and Food Security.” UN Water explains why we should care: Each of us needs to drink 2 to 4 litres of water every day. But it takes 2 000 to 5 000 litres of water to produce one person’s daily food. Today, there are […]
Cancer
Moving from the “Right to Know” to the “Right to Understand”: Global harmonization of OSHA’s Hazard Communication Standard
by Elizabeth Grossman His job, the Metalworkers Alliance of the Philippines union leader told us, was assembling the electronics – the wire- or cable-harnesses – that go into cars. The work involved soldering, using flux, along with epoxies, and various degreasers or solvents. He and his co-workers didn’t know the actual names of the substances […]
Yesterday, the Senate passed a two-year transportation bill by a vote of 74 to 22, putting us close to getting a reasonably good piece of legislation signed by March 31, when the current stopgap extension will expire. Last month, the House Natural Resources Committee approved a terrible bill that would have eliminated the current dedicated […]
Agricultural exceptionalism is a term used to describe the special status awarded to employers and firms involved in agriculture. Proponents argue that the special status is necessary because (1) agricultural products contribute to broad national goals (e.g., providing safe and affordable food, preventing hunger); and (2) farming is inherently risky because of the uncertainty of […]