There are about 36,000 commercial drycleaning shops in the United States. Most are owner-operated small businesses with fewer than 10 employees. In addition, some drycleaning shops may be owned and staffed by individuals with limited English language skills and/or may be marginally profitable– factors that may create additional barriers for the owner-operator to maintain a safe and healthy workplace.
When chemicals can contact the eye or body and cause injury, immediate action is necessary to rinse affected areas. Emergency showers and eyewashes are the primary equipment for such action.
Hazardous chemicals known to cause severe burns, respiratory and reproductive health issues leaked out of a tanker truck in May 2014, which exposed workers at E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Co., Chamber Works in Deepwater, to health risks. A complaint filed with OSHA prompted an inspection of the company under the agency's National Emphasis Program on Chemical Process Safety.
A U.S. Chemical Safety Board go-team has not yet been able to access the portion of DuPont’s La Porte, Texas chemical plant where a release of methyl mercaptan killed four workers early Saturday morning.
A 55-year-old worker who was found unresponsive in a restroom at Bremer Manufacturing Co. Inc. on May 6, 2014 later died. The man, who had been employed at the Elkhart Lake foundry for the past 38 years, worked with resin-containing isocyanates on the sand molding line.
The rampant use of toxic chemicals at almost every workplace is putting the huge number of the country's workforce at high health risk, as according to a survey, at least 21 people die in Bangladesh every month due to use of such chemicals.
The Ecology Center's healthystuff.org tested 106 Halloween-related products, including costumes, accessories, decorations and party favors and released a report documenting the toxic chemicals found in them. "We really want to give folks that information so they can make an educated decision on whether or not they want to bring these products into their home," said Rebecca Meuninck, one of the authors of the Halloween products study.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) released a draft bill entitled the Chemicals in Commerce Act (CICA) on Thursday, Feb. 27 that provides no significant improvements in protecting public health and the environment from toxic chemicals. Many of the provisions in the draft bill maintain the already deficient approaches to health protections now included under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), our nation's outdated and ineffective chemical safety law.
The EPA is finalizing a rule that will allow the agency to restrict imports of potentially harmful perfluorinated chemicals that could be used in carpets. The regulation will require companies to report to EPA all new uses, including in domestic and imported products, of these chemicals once used for soil and stain resistance in carpets.
Manufacturers will have to find safer alternatives
October 3, 2013
While efforts to reform the federal Toxic Chemicals Safety Act continue to inch slowly forward, the state of California has taken a bold regulatory leap into controlling toxic chemicals – at least those found in consumer products.
