Environmental Health and Safety

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Carcinogens in western states, European workplaces and post-Fukushima Japan were in the occupational safety and health news this week, along with a hearing loss prevention update and reflections on the OSH profession.

The Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute Trust (SMOHIT) is partnering with the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation to better educate sheet metal workers about mesothelioma and assist with treatment in the case of diagnosis.

A new European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) report identifies more than 70 carcinogenic substances for which binding limit values for exposure of workers at the workplace should be defined at EU level.

Robotic-like suits which provide powered assist and increase human strength may conjure thoughts of sci-fi and superhero film genres. But these wearable exoskeleton devices are now a reality and the market for their applications in the workplace is projected to increase significantly in the next five years.

Hearing loss can’t be prevented using only tools and approaches from the 1980s. New approaches pay off.

The EPA is taking aim at a widely-used weed control herbicide in the U.S. in an effort to safeguard workers from exposure to it and to stop poisonings caused by accidental ingestion of it.

Recent research is focusing new attention on an asbestos-like mineral, blamed for staggering rates of a deadly cancer in Turkey, that also is found in the rocks and soil of 13 Western states. The U.S. Geological Survey has identified 95 sites where the mineral, erionite, exists.

The EPA has issued a notice of intent to cancel all Bayer CropScience, LP and Nichino America, Inc., flubendiamide products that pose a risk to aquatic invertebrates that are important to the health of aquatic environments.

Imagine that you are attending a community workshop about cleaning up the environment in your city. Local environmental justice activists are there to explain how the effects of pollution are disproportionately higher in your area than in other parts of the county. After everyone is seated, the workshop leader says, “Before we start, I want to ask for some information. Will everyone here who lives adjacent to a polluting site please stand?”

The American Public Health Association voiced deep disappointment today over the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Clean Power Plan pending the outcome of ongoing litigation.