Engineered nanomaterials are fascinating. Just by making stuff smaller researchers have discovered forms of materials and even completely new materials that can be applied as diversely as better drugs, better paints or faster electronics. Using chemicals in a nanoscale version can completely alter their nature.

New York City’s chain restaurants failed last week in their effort to overturn a city rule requiring warning about high-sodium menu items. The New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division upheld the rules set by the city’s Board of Health, finding that it was “well within its authority” to require warnings about menu items that contained more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium, the federally recommended daily allowance.

More than 616 business groups recently signed a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) urging them to use their positions to pass the Regulatory Accountability Act of 2017 (RAA). The RAA recently passed the House with a vote of 238-183. The Senate has failed to pass RAA on three previous occasions after House passage. Democrats hold enough seats in the Senate to filibuster the bill.

With some of President Trump’s first official actions involving federal regulations and federal agencies, ISHN thought it a good time to conduct an online flash survey to find out what our readers think about OSHA and what changes, if any, they’d like to see happen within the agency and to the regulations it promulgates and enforces.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas J. Donohue issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s executive actions on regulations: “The U.S. Chamber applauds the president for fulfilling the campaign’s promise to take on the regulatory juggernaut that is limiting economic growth, choking small business, and putting people out of work."

It’s not too early to start thinking about cooling products. Cooling towels, digital pressure sensors and an ultra-compact light were the top products featured on ISHN.com this week.

A deadly welding explosion in Lousiana, noise-induced hearing loss that goes beyond the workplace and a new way to help veterans who may have mesothelioma were among the top stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds, the top seller of the menthol cigarettes favored by most black smokers, is seizing on the hot button issue of police harassment of blacks to counter efforts by public health advocates to restrict menthol sales.

A plan to offer triage by telephone to veterans suspected of having malignant mesothelioma may enable them to access expert mesothelioma advice faster, potentially improving their long-term outcomes. In a newly published article in the Journal of Surgical Research, surgeons with VA Boston Healthcare System detail their experience with telephone triage of suspected malignant mesothelioma patients and explain how the system could help veterans around the country with other rare diseases.

Will OSHA change under the Trump administration? (Should OSHA change under the Trump administration?) Should some standards be repealed? Will funding for the agency’s enforcement and voluntary protection programs decrease? Increase? Should OSHA be abolished and its duties handled by state agencies?