Avoiding risk, preventing asthma and fast-tracking self-driving autos were among the top occupational safety and health, environment, transportation, and regulation stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

In March 2015, Germanwings Flight 9525 crashed into the French Alps, killing all 150 people onboard. An investigation found that the copilot deliberately steered the plane into the mountainside. It also revealed that he had a history of depression. Among workers, untreated depression can affect the ability to perform tasks and—as the Germanwings incident shows—in rare instances, can result in devastating consequences.

Improved air quality in the Los Angeles region is linked to roughly 20 percent fewer new asthma cases in children, according to a USC study that tracked Southern California children over a 20-year period. The research expands on the landmark USC Children’s Health Study, which found that children’s lungs had grown stronger in the previous two decades and rates of bronchitic symptoms decreased as pollution declined throughout the region.

Pool chemical injuries led to an estimated 4,535 U.S. emergency department visits annually during 2008-2017, according to a report published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Although injuries from pool chemicals are preventable, the number of serious injuries from these chemicals has not changed much in the last 15 years.

A federal judge has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted illegally when it delayed a required review of the public health impact of e-cigarettes – a delay that allowed the products to stay on the market until 2022. Cigar makers were given until 2021. In what health experts are calling a major victory for children’s and teen’s health, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that the FDA had exceeded its legal authority in giving e-cigarette manufacturers more time to sell their products before applying for FDA authorization.

Casella, a leading provider of air sampling, noise and vibration monitoring solutions, announced today its new VAPex, an advanced and lightweight low flow pump. The elite low flow pump is the ideal solution for seamless reporting on employee levels of chemical exposure, resulting in significant timesavings for occupational hygienists.

OSHA’s chance for a chief steps aside, pesticide hazards grab headlines and OSHA issues a rule that revises some standards. These were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

People can reduce their risk of dementia by getting regular exercise, not smoking, avoiding harmful use of alcohol, controlling their weight, eating a healthy diet, and maintaining healthy blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, according to new guidelines issued by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The impact of drug overdoses in the workplace can be better understood in a study recently published by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), particularly as drug overdose fatalities increase across the country. The study, published online in the journal of Injury Prevention, describes drug overdose deaths of workers occurring in US workplaces between 2011-2016.

Anger may be more harmful to an older person’s physical health than sadness, potentially increasing inflammation, which is associated with such chronic illnesses as heart disease, arthritis and cancer, according to new research published by the American Psychological Association (APA).