Environmental Health | The Pump Handle

Cancer Asbestos company owners convicted on criminal charges in Italy; but asbestos still lethal and legal in the US

February 16, 2012 The Pump Handle 3Comment

by Elizabeth Grossman What’s being called the first-ever such criminal conviction, an Italian court has returned a guilty verdict against owners of Eternit, the Switzerland-based building materials company. Two weeks ago, W.R. Grace announced its bankruptcy case settlement for the residents of Libby, Montana where the company’s vermiculite plant exposed residents to deadly asbestos fibers […]

Cancer Beryllium manufacturer and union draft worker safety regulation, ask OSHA to move on it

February 14, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 9Comment

The world’s largest producer and supplier of beryllium and workers exposed to the highly toxic mineral decided not to wait any longer for federal OSHA to draft a proposed worker safety rule on the hazard. Last week, the United Steelworkers International Union and Materion Brush (the only U.S. manufacturer) sent the complete text of a […]

Environmental Health Awful House transportation bill forgets that transit benefits drivers, too

February 10, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 5Comment

The House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee has approved what Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood calls “the worst transportation bill I’ve ever seen during 35 years of public service.” LaHood spent 14 years in Congress, serving as a Republican representative from Illinois, and told Politico that Congress always came together in the past to support transportation, […]

Environmental Health Remembering Stephen M. Levin, MD, a clinician, scientist, advocate

February 9, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 2Comment

New Yorkers, the nation and the world lost a dedicated physician and worker advocate this week with the passing of Stephen M. Levin, 70, from cancer. Dr. Levin was a professor of preventative medicine at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, and most recently, a prominent figure fighting for a long-term program to identify and treat […]

Cancer Public health topics shine as finalists for investigative reporting prize

February 2, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

Communities affected by contaminated air, water and soil, workers retaliated for complaining about safety issues, and vulnerable groups abused by organizations charged with protecting them, are topics at the heart of public health. This week they are especially recognized by the Joan Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard University’s Kennedy […]

Cancer Slow progress by OSHA to improve worker health and safety regulations

January 30, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The Labor Department provided an update on January 20, 2012 to its regulatory agenda, including revised target dates for improved workplace safety and health standards. Several of the rules OSHA now expects to publish in 2012 are regulations the agency previously said would be issued one or two years ago. Missed deadlines, however, are nothing […]

Environmental Health White House message: new regulations and election year don’t mix

January 27, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH

The Republicans’ mantra about the burden of regulations seems to have cast a spell on the Obama Administration’s attitude about promoting new regulatory initiatives. My observations about this were reinforced this week when I read the Administration’s statement accompanying its Fall 2011 regulatory plan. The message is clear: new regulations and an election year don’t […]

Environmental Health Report reveals fatal lapses in UCLA lab safety leading to death of 23 year-old lab tech

January 23, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

A previously confidential report prepared by the California Bureau of Investigations (BOI) reveals a reckless disregard for worker safety by a UCLA chemistry professor (and the university itself) which led to the 2009 death of research assistant Sheri Sangji, 23. Sangji was a new employee in a UCLA chemistry lab. She was hired primarily to […]

Cancer Cost of work-related injury and disease higher than cost for heart disease, cancer

January 20, 2012 Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH 1Comment

Money talks, as the saying goes, and a recently published paper on the annual cost of work-related injuries and illnesses should get policymakers to listen up. The number is staggering: $250 Billion, and it’s a figure on par with health conditions like cancer, coronary heart disease, and diabetes that attract much more attention and research […]

Environmental Health Dr. King’s legacy and environmental justice

January 16, 2012 Liz Borkowski, MPH 5Comment

For Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Candace Rowell at Mind the Science Gap reminds us that environmental injustice is a pressing civil rights issue, writing, “minority groups in the United States bear an unequal distribution of environmental risks and outcomes.” (Mind the Science Gap will feature posts from 10 University of Michigan MPH students over […]