On the question of whether a soda tax can actually reduce the amount of sugary drinks people consume, a new study finds the resounding answer is “yes.”
The newly passed Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act requires the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect those most vulnerable to chemical exposures. Exactly who it will protect and how the EPA will interpret this requirement remains to be seen.
Recent pieces address Congress’s failure to address Zika (by a pregnant Miami reporter), political parties’ different approaches to public health, pregnancy-related deaths in Texas, and more.
This week’s snapshot of just one work-related fatality in the US. This one occurred on Tuesday, August 9, in Denver, CO
While the Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act for the 21st Century was signed into law with considerable fanfare, the job of improving U.S. chemicals policy in is far from complete. During two EPA stakeholder meetings this month, we heard a familiar script fom the chemical industry.
A closer look at the latest available data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that injury and illness stats for California show the state has worse, not better, rates of worker injuries and illnesses than national levels or the performance of other major industrial states. The “but we have better stats” response from state officials cannot be used to justify the failure of the Department of Industrial Relations and Cal/OSHA to fill 38 vacant field compliance officer positions that have been fully funded since July 2015.
Farmworkers in south Texas continue to struggle 50 years after historic worker strike; Illinois governor signs Domestic Workers Bill of Rights; Samsung Electronics accused of withholding deadly chemical exposure information from workers; and OSHA fines a Tyson chicken plant after a worker loses a finger.
The coal industry made wild claims about its inability to comply with a proposed MSHA regulation to protect miners from developing black lung disease. Two years after the rules took affect, we see the magnitude of the industry’s exaggeration.
When I heard the news about the 10 year old who died at the Schlitterbahn water park in Kansas City, I couldn’t help but remember Nico Benavides. Benavides was fatally injured while working at Schlitterbahn’s park on San Padre Island, TX.
A new study in MMWR reports that 25.7% of US adults have been diagnosed with multiple chronic conditions. Three of the states with the highest prevalence of multiple chronic conditions haven’t accepted the Medicaid expansion, and one that expanded Medicaid may drop it.