January 7, 2009 The Pump Handle 3Comment

What do the Alaska Community Action on Toxics, the Migrant Clinicians Network, Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment, and 65 other organizations have in common?  They’ve all endorsed the “Protecting Workers on the Job Agenda”, a collaborative product of the American Public Health Association’s Occupational Health and Safety Section and the National Council for Occupational Safety and […]

September 25, 2008 The Pump Handle 3Comment

by revere, cross-posted at Effect Measure Like a lot of other research scientists supported by NIH I got an email yesterday from NIH Director Elias Zerhouni announcing his intention to leave his position “to devote much of my attention to writing.” At least it wasn’t the hackneyed “to spend more time with my family.” While […]

January 16, 2008 The Pump Handle

A quick look at “Chernobyl: Relationship between Number of Missing Newborn Boys and the Level of Radiation in the Czech Regions” by Miroslav Peterka, Renata Peterková, and Zbyneˇk Likovsky´ in Environmental Health Perspectives. As a rule, more boys than girls are born. But in November 1986 in the eastern regions of the Czech Republic, the […]

December 7, 2007 The Pump Handle

A quick look at two papers and an editorial on the effects on lung function of exposure to levels of air pollution below current EPA standards, published in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine. Epidemiologic studies of the health effects of air pollution keep improving, with scientists designing studies able to measure small but […]

December 6, 2007 The Pump Handle

A quick look at “Predictors of Psychostimulant Use by Long-Distance Truck Drivers” by Ann Williamson in the American Journal of Epidemiology. An Australian study finds that paying truck drivers by the job (instead of by the hour or week) leads to increased driver use of amphetamines and other stimulants, which is associated with increased risk […]

December 4, 2007 The Pump Handle 1Comment

by Susan F. Wood, PhD  It’s not often, if ever, that an FDA sponsored report calls out for more resources, more direct action and organizational change for FDA.  The recently released report (PDF) by the Subcommittee on Science and Technology for the FDA Science Board does just that.  Although I wouldn’t necessary agree with all of […]

December 2, 2007 The Pump Handle

A quick look at Blood Lead Concentrations Less than 10 Micrograms per Deciliter and Child Intelligence at 6 Years of Age by Todd A. Jusko, Charles R. Henderson, Jr., Bruce P. Lanphear et al., published online in Environmental Health Perspectives. The current CDC definition of elevated blood lead in a child is 10 micrograms of […]

December 2, 2007 The Pump Handle 3Comment

As we approach the Bush Administration’s final year, the gap between science and policy grows wider each day. Advances in science that could be used for the public good are rarely incorporated into public policy; some federal agencies seem almost unaware that the scientific literature exists and new studies are being published all the time. […]

November 21, 2007 The Pump Handle

by Susan F. Wood, PhD  FDA recently announced two draft guidances regarding advisory committees, one on public disclosure of financial conflicts of interests and the other on voting procedures.   

September 21, 2007 The Pump Handle 2Comment

The House and Senate have both passed legislation that renews the FDA’s user-fee system and enacts some important reforms. The process has been rushed because FDA is running dangerously low on funds; President Bush will need to sign the legislation today if the FDA is to avoid sending termination letters to one-fourth of its staff. […]