Environmental Health and Safety

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OSHA has cited Tampa Electric Co. and Critical Intervention Services, a security services provider, for $43,458 in total proposed penalties, following a release of anhydrous ammonia – a chemical refrigerant – at its Gibsonton facility. OSHA responded to the incident on May 23, 2017 and determined that the ammonia release occurred when a relief valve activated after a pipeline became over pressurized. As a result, four workers were taken to the hospital for observation and released.

President Trump’s nomination of R. Alexander Acosta to be secretary of labor was approved by a Senate committee, even though the nominee’s (confirmation hearing) testimony had left unclear whether he would be more interested in protecting employers’ prerogatives than in guarding workers’ interests.

Control banding is an assessment method that can be used to manage workplace risks. It is a process that matches, for example, a control measure (e.g., ventilation, engineering controls, containment, etc.) to a range or "band" of hazards (e.g., skin/eye irritation, very toxic, carcinogenic, etc.). The control banding method also groups chemicals according to similar physical or chemical characteristics, how the chemical will be handled or processed, and what the anticipated exposure is expected to be.

What is "indoor air quality"? Indoor air quality (also called "indoor environmental quality") describes how inside air can affect a person's health, comfort, and ability to work. It can include temperature, humidity, lack of outside air (poor ventilation), mold from water damage, or exposure to other chemicals. Currently, OSHA has no indoor air quality (IAQ) standards but it does provide guidelines about the most common IAQ workplace complaints.

Chemistry professor Katherine Mirica and Dartmouth former postdoctoral fellow and senior scientist at technology startup C2Sense Merry Smith have developed a conductive smart fabric capable of detecting and protecting users from toxic gases. The innovation, named “Self-Organized Framework on Textiles,” improves on a previous sensor technology-related project that Mirica and Smith previously collaborated on, Mirica said.

Look for signs of a possible leak: • Persistent bubbling in standing water • Discolored or dead vegetation around the pipeline area • Dense white cloud or fog • Slight mist of ice • Unexplained frozen ground near the pipeline Listen for any unusual noise: • Whistling, hissing or roaring sound

U.S. Coast Guard recovery teams in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands are hard at work locating, assessing and retrieving vessels that were sunken and damaged by Hurricanes Maria and Irma. The task is an urgent one, since leaking oil, fuel and hazardous materials pose a significant threat to the environment and human health. The EPA is assisting in the effort, coordinating with federal, commonwealth, territory, and local partners.

A California jury today rejected claims that Johnson & Johnson and its talc supplier were responsible for the deadly cancer of a woman who blamed her illness on breathing asbestos fibers from contaminated body powders. On a 9-3 vote, the jury in Pasadena absolved J&J of negligence in the sale of Johnson’s Baby Powder and another talc product, Shower to Shower. The Los Angeles Superior Court jury also cleared Imerys Talc America, Inc., a supplier of talc to J&J.

Hospital workers who used a disinfectant reported more incidents of work-related wheeze and watery eyes than those who did not use the product. Hospital workers who used a disinfectant reported more health symptoms than workers who did not use the product, reports a National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

At a private meeting in September, congressional aides asked Rebeckah Adcock, a top official at the Department of Agriculture, to reveal the identities of the people serving on the deregulation team she leads at the agency. Teams like Adcock’s, created under an executive order by President Trump, had been taking heat from Democratic lawmakers over their secrecy. What little was publicly known suggested that some of the groups’ members had deep ties to the industries being regulated.