It really is a chemical world, which is bad news for people with asthma. According to a recent report, at this very moment from where I write, I’m surrounded by objects and materials that contain chemicals that are known or suspected asthmagens — substances that can act as asthma triggers if inhaled.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics releases new data about fatal occupational injuries, including the sectors where the most workers died and how they were injured.
Environmental Health
“Organic, schmorganic” – unless it’s your child’s ability to learn that’s impaired by pesticides
The New York Times’ Roger Cohen may dismiss organic agriculture, but new research on the effects of pesticides on developing brains gives a reason to reduce the use of organophosphate pesticides.
Since 2000, major regulatory activities by OSHA do indeed slow down during a Presidential election year compared to the year preceding it.
California’s legislature passes a Domestic Workers Bill of Rights; a fire at a Venezuelan oil refinery kills 41; and researchers publish findings on construction workers and former NFL players.
In the final section of our new report “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” we end on a high note. We profile a number of new laws at the state and local levels to improve working conditions for Americans and protect them from serious health and safety hazards.
In our new report “The Year in U.S. Occupational Health & Safety,” we devote one section to key activities by the Obama Administration and the U.S. Congress.
Environmental Health
More jobs than coal, oil and gas: Investing in the environment promotes economic growth
A new study finds that spending $1 million on coastal habitat restoration creates far more jobs than investing the same money in fossil-fuel industries.
In honor of (US) Labor Day, Celeste and I have started what we intend to be a new Labor Day tradition: publication of a report that highlights some of the important research and activities in occupational health in the US over the past year.
Injury Control & Violence
A different kind of Texas-style justice: Two nights at Austin’s Workers Defense Project
It’s Tuesday evening and as usual, the small parking lot outside the Workers Defense Project on Austin’s eastside is packed. The dusty lot is strewn with cars and pick-up trucks parked wherever they can fit and get in off the road. I’ve arrived well before the night’s activities begin, so I easily secure a spot. But my gracious guide and translator, a college intern named Alan Garcia, warns me that I might get blocked in. It happens all the time, he says.