Health industry moving away from flame retardants

Medical and dental offices aim for a
healthier indoor environment.

Aiming to make its hospitals and medical offices healthier for people, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, the nonprofit health care consortium, said it will no longer buy furniture treated with flame-retardant chemicals.

The decision applies to all Kaiser facilities across eight states, including Washington and Oregon, and the District of Columbia, serving 9.3 million health-plan members.

That includes eight medical and dental offices in Clark County.

The announcement means Kaiser is the first health care system to make such a change, said Kathy Gerwig, a vice president and environmental stewardship officer for Kaiser, "but we expect many more announcements to be forthcoming."

That's partly because Kaiser believes that its decision to shift the $30 million it now spends annually on furniture toward chemical-free chairs, benches and sofas will trigger a ripple effect in the larger supply chain, prompting others to follow suit.

"We want manufacturers to shift to new products that don't contain harmful chemicals," Gerwig said. "That won't happen without marketplace pressure."

The decision by Kaiser — an Oakland, Calif.-based company that operates more than 38 hospitals and 600 medical offices — also responds to a state law recently passed in California.

That law updated flammability standards for upholstered furniture, allowing manufacturers to meet the standards without using flame-retardant chemicals.

Gerwig said such chemicals have been linked to cancer, reproductive problems and developmental delays in children. What's more, she said, studies show flame-retardant chemicals "offer no significant benefits in the fire-safety performance of furniture."

Health groups offer support

In announcing the initiative, Kaiser enjoys the support of two groups: Health Care Without Harm and Healthier Hospitals Initiative. Those groups are advancing national and global efforts to improve environmental health and sustainability in the health care industry.

Since health care is 18 percent of the U.S. economy, the sector, through its purchasing power, can "play a critical role" in moving other industries toward removing toxic flame retardants, said Gary Cohen, president of Health Care Without Harm.

"We need to remove these flame retardants from our bodies, from homes, our hospitals, from our schools and from commerce," he said. And in the absence of federal reform, Cohen added, "we'll push the marketplace to get health care to lead by example."

The Kaiser initiative focuses on new furniture purchases, so it's unclear when the company would become 100 percent free of furniture treated with flame retardants. In a news release issued Tuesday, Kaiser said "it expects to see safer furnishings in its hospitals within the next one to three years."

Kaiser has previously sought safer alternatives to products used in health care settings, according to the company's news release.

For example, it encouraged manufacturers to produce PVC-free carpets and to develop fabrics that eliminate chemicals such as vinyl, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds.

Source: The Columbian

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Silica exposure limits on the cutting block

Silica exposure can cause lung cancer.

(Reuters Health) - The U.S. government is planning stricter controls on exposure to silica, a carcinogen found in workplaces ranging from dentist's offices to granite quarries, according to a new report.

Silica is powdered quartz, in particles so small they can be inhaled deep into the lungs.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) estimates that 2.2 million people in the U.S. are exposed to silica at work, including 1.85 million construction workers.

Other occupations carrying a risk of silica exposure include sandblasting, mining, stone grinding, as well as ceramic and glass manufacturing. Dental assistants may be exposed if they grind silica-containing casts and porcelains.

Silica has long been known to cause silicosis, and evidence now confirms that silica exposure can cause lung cancer as well, Kyle Steenland of Emory University in Atlanta, a co-author of the new report, told Reuters Health.

Silicosis causes varying degrees of breathing difficulty, and there is no cure or treatment. Recent research has also shown that non-smokers can get lung cancer from silica exposure, and that people who develop silica-related lung cancer don't always have silicosis, Steenland and his colleague Elizabeth Ward of the American Cancer Society note.

Lower exposure limits

OSHA is planning to lower permissible levels of silica exposure from 0.1 milligrams per cubic meter of air to 0.05 mg/m3, which the agency estimates will save 700 lives per year, and prevent 1,700 cases of silicosis annually. The current standard dates back to 1971.

The preferred approach to reducing silicon exposure is to use less hazardous materials, ventilate work areas where silicon dust is produced and use water-based methods so dust can't escape into the air, Steenland said.

"Respirators may be useful for workers in short-term high exposure situations, but are generally not recommended as the primary means of exposure control due to worker discomfort, difficulties in communicating with others, lack of compliance and enforcement, and the fitting and maintenance requirements," Steenland and Ward write in their report, published in CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians

Anyone who has been exposed to silica and smokes should quit, Steenland said in an interview. Smoking aggravates the carcinogenic effects of silica, and smokers with high silica exposure can cut their risk of lung cancer up to five-fold by quitting, according to the new report.

People with a history of silica exposure may also qualify to undergo screening for lung cancer using CT scanning, the investigators note.

OSHA recently extended the public comment period for the proposed silica exposure rule to January 27, 2014. [Update: The comment period is now extended to Feb. 11. See more info here.]

While there is always a balance between worker protection and employers' interests, "I'm fairly confident that this standard will be put into place," Steenland said.

Source: Reuters

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Dental practices take steps toward better IAQ

The air quality in dental practices or dental labs can be poor.

It’s always heartening to hear about companies or professionals going the extra mile to protect their clients’ health and well-being.

In the case of a dental practice in New York State’s Fredonia, the doctors are collaborating with a Tobacco Free Program and banning smoking outdoors as well to improve the overall indoor air quality in the building and to model good behavior to youngsters.

Even in smoke-free buildings, secondhand smoke can remain a pollution factor when people are allowed to smoke outside the building.

The smoke often enters the building through windows, cracks, vents and doors and impacts the indoor air quality.

Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals and toxins that have been linked to serious health conditions and, of course, cancer.

Since smoking represents a high risk for the development of oral cancer as well, the dentists plan to make their practice a healthier place.

Dental practices are not the only ones taking non-smoking efforts very seriously.

An article in the Observer estimated that at least 400 locations across NY State have joined the movement of tobacco free outdoor areas, including Times Square and Central Park in New York City.

Improve indoor air quality in dental labs

Tobacco smoke is not the only pollutants that dental labs and dental practices should be concerned about.

A dental environment has the potential to contain anesthetic gases, chemical fumes, dental materials and even pathogenic microorganisms aerosolized from the patient, dental staff and equipment they use.

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Dental clinics can easily improve their indoor air with air cleaners such as the RAP Series, the AirMedic+ Series or the I-6500 Series.

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