From the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR): When we think about low-income workers, we usually think about fast-food cashiers or migrant farmworkers, not construction workers. And it's true that skilled trades employees steadily employed in commercial construction work can command respectable, middle-class wages.
Agency begins process to address potential human health risks
July 3, 2014
The EPA has released a final risk assessment for trichloroethylene (TCE) that identifies health risks to workers in shops and dry cleaners that use the chemical as a degreaser or a stain removing agent. Consumers may also be exposed to TCE when using spray aerosol degreasers and spray fixatives.
Emotional and behavioral problems show up even with low exposure to lead, and as blood lead levels increase in children, so do the problems, according to research funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The results were published online June 30 in the journal JAMA Pediatrics.
Getting enough good-quality sleep is essential to staying healthy and aging well. Certain sleep problems — for example, sleep apnea — require medical treatment. But these 10 simple steps can help you overcome general sleep difficulties, including insomnia.
Excessive alcohol use accounts for one in 10 deaths among working-age adults ages 20-64 years in the United States, according to a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published recently in Preventing Chronic Disease
New round of “Tips From Former Smokers” ready to go
June 27, 2014
Amanda smoked during pregnancy. Her baby was born two months early and then spent weeks in an incubator. Brett lost most of his teeth to gum disease by age 42. Shawn, 50, breathes through the opening in his throat due to smoking-related throat cancer.
Recent news reports indicate heroin use is on the rise—the U.S. Justice Department says there was a 320% increase in heroin seized along the southwest U.S. border from 2008 through 2013. (1) Public health and safety are at risk, and the risk does not stop at industrial plant gates or construction sites.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says raising taxes on tobacco products will encourage users to stop and prevent other people from becoming addicted to tobacco. Based on 2012 data, WHO estimates that by increasing tobacco taxes by 50%, all countries would reduce the number of smokers by 49 million within the next 3 years and ultimately save 11 million lives.
Latest CDC teen behavior survey also finds fewer fights, too much texting and driving
June 23, 2014
Cigarette smoking rates among high school students have dropped to the lowest levels since the National Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) began in 1991, according to the 2013 results released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.