British government loses landmark air pollution case

Air pollution is a killer, experts say.

The Government will be forced to urgently clean up illegal air pollution in British cities, after a ruling at the European Court of Justice.

Following the case, brought by environmental group Client Earth, individuals will now be able sue the Government for breaching EU pollution laws, while ministers will be forced to prepare and implement plans to improve air quality “as soon as possible”.

In a slap-down for the Government, the court overwhelmingly dismissed a long-stated policy of seeking to comply with EU air pollution laws by simply appealing to Europe for more time.

Alan Andrews, Client Earth's lawyer, said: “Thousands of people die because of air pollution every year. This ruling will save lives by forcing the government to finally take this issue seriously. They will now have to come up with an urgent plan to rid our towns and cities of cancer-causing diesel fumes”.

In July the Government admitted that several British cities were set to meet toxic nitrogen dioxide gas limits within by 2010, at the same time in emerged NO2 legal limits were exceeded in 40 of the UK’s 43 urban zones in 2010.

Air quality campaigner Simon Birkett, founder of Clean Air in London, said “This is a massive win for Client Earth on all counts in a landmark environmental case that could be the most important in a generation."

He added: “This judgement means early next year the Supreme Court must take any necessary measure to require Defra to produce a meaningful new air quality plan that ensures the excedance period for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) limit values beyond 1 January 2010 is ‘as short as possible’. The judgement also makes clear that these limit values are absolute ‘obligations’."

Campaigners say the ruling could see many diesel cars and commercial vehicles banned from city centres to cut pollution.

These are the biggest producers of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), a harmful gas linked with heart attacks and asthma.

A clampdown could lead to policies like the London Mayor's plans for an “ultra-low-emission zone” being adopted across the country.

The focus of campaigners will now shift to the UK Supreme court which is expected to interpret what the time frame should be next year.

This should see the UK Supreme Court ordering the government to take action to meet limits in a much shorter time frame.

In the London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones called on Mayor Boris Johnson to “urgently review” his air pollution polices in light of the ruling.

She said: “This is great news for Londoners’ health. This judgment shatters the Mayor’s complacency on air pollution. The Mayor must urgently rewrite his strategy and reinstate emergency measures to bring pollution down from its dangerous and illegal levels.”

Source: The Independent

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Researchers focus on asthma's mystery triggers

Environmental factors may affect non-allergic asthma.

Researchers are making interesting new discoveries about a particularly confusing type of asthma.

Doctors increasingly are recognizing that as many as half of asthma sufferers have a form of the lung disease known as nonallergic asthma.

Some medications that help control symptoms of the more familiar allergic asthma aren't as effective in nonallergic patients.

There is still much that isn't understood about allergic asthma, which is brought on by an overactive response of the body's immune system to food, pollen and other allergens.

Even more mysterious is the cause of nonallergic asthma, which doesn't involve an immune-system response. Symptoms for both forms of the disease typically include constricted airways, wheezing and coughing.

Researchers also continue to discover substances in the environment that appear to increase the risk for developing asthma.

One of the latest studies, from New York's Columbia University Medical Center, found an association between asthma rates and phthalates, chemicals used in many plastic products that have raised health concerns.

The scientific hunt for the causes of asthma reflects concern about the puzzling rise in rates of the disease.

In the U.S., the percentage of the population diagnosed increased in 2010 to 8.4%—or more than 25 million adults and children—from 5.5% in 1996, according to the most recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 1.8 million people visited a hospital emergency department in 2010 for asthma-related treatment.

Scientists studying nonallergic asthma say greater understanding of the molecular pathways in this form of the disease could lead to new targets for drug development.

Stefan Worgall, chief of the pediatric pulmonology, allergy and immunology division at Weill Cornell Medical College, and his colleagues recently discovered that when a normally occurring type of fat, known as sphingolipids, isn't embedded properly in the cell walls in the lungs of mice, the airways constrict.

Dr. Worgall says the finding could help explain why obesity is a risk factor for asthma. Obese people tend to exhibit abnormalities in sphingolipids, he says.

Currently, Dr. Worgall and his team are measuring sphingolipid levels in the blood and breath of asthmatic children. Early findings suggest the levels appear abnormal, he says.

Jeroen Douwes, director of the Centre for Public Health Research, at Massey University in New Zealand, believes nonallergic-asthma patients might have particularly sensitive nerves in the lungs that tell the brain at a lower-than-normal threshold that a noxious substance is in the air and airways need to be constricted.

TAKE A BREATH

Asthma rates have been rising for years, for reasons that aren't understood.

• About 8.4% of people in the U.S. had asthma in 2010, up from 5.5% in 1996.
• Boys are more prone to asthma than girls. But as adults, more women have asthma than men.
• Black children are twice as likely as white children to have asthma.
• Symptoms of asthma can include coughing, chest tightness, wheezing and difficulty breathing.
• Dust, mold, pets, exercise and strong emotions are some common triggers of asthma attacks.

—Source: CDC

Some previous studies suggest some asthmatics have an inappropriate neural response, which might translate into greater sensitivity, says Dr. Douwes. He is currently reanalyzing samples from previous studies of children followed since birth for asthma and allergy symptoms to look for evidence of neural activation.

An oversensitive neural pathway would help explain such mysteries as why dust or pollen can trigger an asthma attack without causing an allergic reaction and why stress has been found to bring on attacks in some people, Dr. Douwes says.

Not all asthmatics respond to traditional asthma medications. Corticosteroids, such as prednisone, for instance, are usually administered with an inhaler and in other forms to prevent asthma attacks.

The drug is generally effective in people with allergic asthma because it dampens the body's immune response to an allergen. People with nonallergic asthma often get less relief from corticosteroids.

Instead, these patients might be given another type of drug called a beta-agonist, such as albuterol and levalbuterol, which works by relaxing lung muscles.

Environmental factors are among the most studied causes for both types of asthma.

In a recent study of phthalates, researchers studied 300 women and their children living in New York's inner city, where asthma rates are relatively high.

The study measured phthalate levels in the women's urine during pregnancy and in the children at ages 3, 5 and 7 years old.

After taking into account other risk factors, such as maternal smoking, the researchers found significantly higher rates of asthma among the children whose mothers had the greatest levels of phthalates during pregnancy, says Rachel Miller, a co-author of the study and an allergist, pulmonologist and environmental health sciences professor at Columbia University Medical Center.

But there wasn't a correlation between asthma and the children's own exposure to phthalates in the early years after birth, according to the study, which was published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives in September.

"It's assumed that the prenatal period is going to be your most susceptible period [for disease], including lung development," says Robin Whyatt, a study co-author and a professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

The researchers cautioned that while the study found an association between phthalates and asthma, it didn't prove causation.

The finding is "potentially very important because exposure to phthalates is widespread," says Neil Pearce, a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, who studies asthma but wasn't involved in the phthalate study.

The CDC says people are widely exposed to phthalates but the chemical's impact on human health isn't known and needs more research. Phthalates have been found to affect the reproductive systems of lab animals, according to the CDC.

Phthalates, which make plastics flexible, among other functions, are found in many household products from vinyl flooring to certain types of plastic food containers and scented candles, but aren't listed on labels.

Dr. Whyatt says that to minimize phthalate exposure, people shouldn't microwave in plastic containers and should store food in glass instead.

Source: Wall Street Journal

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A hospital disinfectant used for oil and gas production

A new product is currently being tested to
reduce the environmental impact of fracking.

Fracking seems to have more going against it than for it, but a South Carolina-based company is hoping the oil and gas industry will mitigate environmental damages and health concerns with its latest product, Excelyte.

Excelyte is an EPA-approved solution that addresses major controversies associated with fracking: pollution of groundwater with toxic chemicals, release of hydrogen sulfide that endangers oil field workers’ lives, and excess wastewater.

Integrated Environmental Technologies (IET) originally developed the solution as a final surface cleaner to eliminate hospital-acquired infections like tuberculosis, and then to prevent foodborne illnesses in food production.

Excelyte has been proven to be 99.9999% effective against HIV, H1N1, Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria, among other bacteria and viruses. The solution’s main active ingredient is hypochlorous acid—a naturally occurring molecule in the human body that fights infection.

Healthcare to food production was a natural extension, but in searching for other applications where bacteria and viruses posed as a deadly threat, IET found an industry that’s desperate to improve its environmental impact: oil and gas.

Excelyte is currently being tested in Utah and New Mexico in its first foray into the oil and gas scene. David LaVance, CEO of IET, said several well-known companies are using the product, but would not reveal which ones.

A single frack job takes millions of gallons of water, with only 25-30% of that water recovered for reuse. IET claims that by mixing water with Excelyte’s bacteria and sulfur-fighting properties instead of toxic chemicals, twice as much wastewater can be recovered for reuse in fracking instead of using fresh water.

Hydrogen sulfide, a naturally occurring gas that can be released during oil and gas production, is the most frequent killer of oil field workers.

Excelyte is a hydrogen sulfide scavenger that combines chemically to hydrogen sulfide. The solution, which took over five years to develop into a substance fit for production in industrial quantities, is also designed to leave no trace on the environment.

“Our product persists for only 90 days and then it disintegrates,” said LaVance. “It’s not underground for very long and things go back to normal after that. So it’s a quick-acting biocide.”

Fracking fraught with controversy

Wherever fracking is involved, controversy has traditionally followed. Concerns range from polluting drinking water with toxic chemicals to setting earthquake records.

A community in the North Texan city of Denton, which is believed to hold one of the biggest natural gas reserves in the U.S., recently captured the attention of the energy industry with an attempt to ban hydraulic fracturing due to noise and toxic fumes from fracked wells in their backyard. But the city faces an uphill battle—the U.S. fracking market was valued at $26 billion in 2013 according to BCC Research.

In Utah, where Excelyte is in somewhat of a pilot testing mode, oil field companies are not required to obtain specific government approval to use the product, but are required to report chemical usage in the national database FracFocus.

Despite Excelyte’s impressive properties and promising applications, environmentalists aren’t likely to be overly excited about the product.

“Even if all of the chemicals used for fracking were perfectly benign (and they are not), the wastes still would be highly toxic, because the fluids bring numerous hazardous substances, including radioactive materials, to the surface,” said Deborah Goldberg, an attorney at environmentalist group Earthjustice.

“No one yet has found a way to dispose of all of the wastes without creating additional environmental risks.”

Though fracking is by no means a sustainable practice, it is projected to experience further growth well into 2018. If widely adopted, the use of Excelyte could save lives and save water in various processes.

Excelyte has been approved by the National Science Foundation (NSF), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for use in food production; healthcare; veterinary practices; and the oil and gas industry.

The EPA declined to comment on the solution’s current or projected use in fracking activities.

The solution’s applications in reusing and recycling water would be of particular interest to West Coast states like Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and California, which have been facing a longstanding drought.

Source: Forbes

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Males may be weaker sex when it comes to environmental pollutants

Men are more affected than women
by chemical exposures, studies show.

Contrary to cultural assumptions that boys are stronger and sturdier, basic biological weaknesses are built into the male of our species.

These frailties leave them more vulnerable than girls to life’s hazards, including environmental pollutants such as insecticides, lead and plasticizers that target their brains or hormones.

Several studies suggest that boys are harmed in some ways by these chemical exposures that girls are not.

Mother Nature has always acknowledged and compensated for the fragility and loss of boys by arranging for more of them: 106 male births to 100 female newborns over the course of human history. (Humans are not unique in this setup: Male piglets, as an example, are conceived in greater proportion to compensate for being more likely than female piglets to die before birth.)

But in recent decades, from the United States to Japan, from Canada to northern Europe, wherever researchers have looked, the rate of male newborns has declined. Examining U. S. records of births for the years between 1970 and 1990, they found 1.7 fewer boys per 1,000 than in decades and centuries past; Japan’s loss in the same decades was 3.7 boys.

Boys are also more than two-thirds more likely than girls to be born prematurely – before the 37th week of pregnancy. And, despite advances in public health, boys in the 1970s faced a 30 percent higher chance of death by their first birthday than girls; in contrast, back in the 1750s, they were 10 per cent more likely than girls to die so early in their lives.

The nine-month transformation from a few cells to an infant is a time of great vulnerability. Many chronic illnesses are seeded in the womb.

Once they make it to childhood, boys face other challenges. They are more prone to a range of neurological disorders. Autism is notoriously higher among boys than girls: now nearly five times more likely, as tallied by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

They are more susceptible than girls to damage from very low-level exposure to lead. Yet another problem: Boys also suffer from asthma at  higher rates. There’s also a stronger link between air pollution and autism in boys.

Why do boys face such a burden of physical challenges?

The answer is that the male’s problems start in the womb: from his more complicated fetal development, to his genetic makeup, to how his hormones work.

In our species, the female is the default gender, the basic simpler model: Humans start out in the womb with female features (that’s why males have nipples). It takes a greater number of cell divisions to make a male; with each comes the greater risk of an error as well as the greater vulnerability to a hit from pollutants.

Females have a stronger immune system because they are packed with estrogen, a hormone that counteracts the antioxidant process.

If the balance of hormones is out of whack in males, what made that happen? Researchers are coming up with some clues, among them:

• Prenatal exposure to chemicals such as insecticide chlorpyrifos
• Pregnant mothers' exposure to phthalates – used in making some vinyl products and toys as well as some personal care products 
• Exposure to bisphenol A, an estrogenic substance used to make polycarbonate plastics as well as some thermal receipts and the linings of food and beverage cans

Some of these chemicals act like fake estrogens, others like fake testosterone, but both types seem to disrupt normal development. Animal tests show that a dose of these chemicals inflict the most damage when it hits a fetus. And, because of their biological vulnerabilities, it’s boys who may experience the most effects.

While not forgoing the push for fairness and equality, it seems wise to accept the scientific reality of male weaknesses. This likely won’t mean the end of men, but their vulnerability to environmental contaminants and diseases could have serious ramifications for the future of the entire human race unless we find ways to protect them from harm.

Alice Shabecoff is the coauthor with her husband, Philip Shabecoff, of Poisoned for Profit: How Toxins Are Making Our Children Chronically Ill, Random House 2008, Chelsea Green, 2010.

Source: Environmental Health News

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Measuring environmental pollution breath by breath

Environmental pollution is becoming a
growing health concern.

We reported a while back that researchers were developing a tool to measure toxins from breath to see what kinds of pollutants they were exposed to.

Now there is more information and more details available about the microelectromechanical systems that a group of researchers of the Virginia Tech College of Engineering is using to assess a person’s environmental exposure.

They published their findings in the research paper "The Possibilities Will Take Your Breath Away: Breath Analysis for Assessing Environmental Exposure," in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

"Breathing reflects both what we inhale and what we metabolize," said professor Andrea Dietrich in a news release. "Toxins and non-toxins diffuse into the blood and then out of the body through breath."

The smell of fear and illness

Doctors have been smelling patients’ breath for centuries to determine an illness, and the body also produces chemicals and odor s when excited or fearful.

But many toxins can’t be detected by the ordinary nose, and that is where the new technologies shine.

The microelectromechanical systems mentioned above include hair-thin sorption devices that can detect even trace amounts of possible toxins in a person’s breath on the parts per billion or the micro-particle scale.

Subjects are asked to breathe into sterile plastic and then the scientists process the captured exhaled air through small sorption devices about the size of a penny.

Using these technologies can improve test results or make it easier to identify biomarkers, reduce time needed for analysis, sample volume and consumables such as solvents and reagents, the researchers say.

Environmental pollution a growing problem

Paint is a common source
of indoor air pollution.

Technologies like these are needed because people are exposed to larger amounts of environmental pollutants at home and at the workplace, including gaseous toxins coming from paints, carpeting, plastic-based flooring and other building materials and adhesives.

“The sources of some chemicals are well-known and extensively studied in the literature, while others simply appear in the complex chemical soup that surrounds us with no identified, or several potential, sources. Because they are present in a gaseous form, exposure is obligatory, as no one can refuse to breathe," the researchers wrote.

Analyzing breath seems like a great idea, but it does require further research.

For example, no one knows what “normal” breath is. Analysis can be hampered by water vapor in the breath, which can block sensors.

Source: Virginia Tech

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Environmental exposures troubles schools

Old and new schools can have poor
indoor air quality.

While many (if not most) schools suffer from poor indoor air quality that can range from

• Dust
• Allergens
• Chemicals (from cleaning products, arts products, labs)
• Mold
• Bacteria, viruses
• And other toxins

There are some environmental exposures that parents likely wouldn’t even think about.

In a previous blog post we have written about schools suffering from vapor intrusion involving the toxic chemical TCE (trichloroethylene) and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) leaking from old light fixtures in classrooms.

A recent article by iWatch News detailed the environmental law violations that may affect the health and well-being of thousands of children in tribal schools.

The schools, run by the Interior Department, have been found to expose children to hazardous waste, asbestos in the heating systems and high levels of arsenic in the tap water. The Department of the Interior recently entered a settlement with EPA to take the necessary action for remediation.

The article also mentioned the poor indoor air quality affecting the children of the US military personnel.

Other IAQ concerns that may affect school-age children:

Pesticides – Are chemical pesticides being sprayed on or around the school’s property? Experts warn strongly against pesticide exposure for children, as it has been linked with numerous health symptoms.

Air pollution – is the school in an industrial area? The air pollution outside may have profound effects on the children’s ability to learn, to retain information and it can cause or aggravate respiratory disorders.

Toxic paint chips – Older schools can become an IAQ problem-zone, especially when old paint is peeling, as it may contain lead or in the case of a Boston-area school, traces of the toxic chemical PCB.


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Related posts concerning IAQ in schools:

• IAQ challenge: Keeping schools healthy
• Toxic chemicals and bad air quality in schools
• Schools plagued by air problems and carbon dioxide
• Students need better air quality in schools

    

Researcher warns of lingering environmental pollutants

Pharmaceutical drugs degrade and form new,
potentially harmful chemicals, expert warns.

Environmental pollutants lurk long after they supposedly "disappear," and ridding the environment of pharmaceutical waste not as easy as it seems, warns a Tel Aviv University researcher.

A growing number of people worry about the health implications of polluting the environment, and pharmaceutical wastes continue to be a main culprit.

Now a Tel Aviv University researcher says that current testing for these dangerous contaminants isn't going far enough.

Drugs react with environment, form new chemicals

Dr. Dror Avisar, head of the Hydro-Chemistry Laboratory at TAU's Department of Geography and the Human Environment, says that, when our environment doesn't test positive for the presence of a specific drug, we assume it's not there.

But through biological or chemical processes such as sun exposure or oxidization, drugs break down, or degrade, into different forms — and could still be lurking in our water or soil.

In his lab, Dr. Avisar is doing extensive testing to determine how drugs degrade and identify the many forms they take in the environment. He has published his findings in Environmental Chemistry and the Journal of Environmental Science and Health.

Tests only focus on original drugs

Drug products have been in our environment for years, whether they derive from domestic wastewater, hospitals, industry or agriculture.

But those who are searching for these drugs in the environment are typically looking for known compounds — parent drugs — such as antibiotics, pain killers, lipid controllers, anti-psychotic medications and many more.

"If we don't find a particular compound, we don't see contamination — but that's not true," Dr. Avisar explains. "We may have several degradation products with even higher levels of bioactivity."

Resulting chemicals can be toxic

Not only do environmental scientists need to identify the degraded products, but they must also understand the biological-chemical processes that produce them in natural environments. When they degrade, compounds form new chemicals entirely, he cautions.

Dr. Avisar and his research group have been working to simulate environmental conditions identical to our natural environment, down to the last molecule, in order to identify the conditions under which compounds degrade, how they degrade, and the resulting chemical products.

Factors that need to be considered:

• Sun exposure
• Water composition
• Temperatures
• pH levels
• Organic content

Using amoxicillin, a common antibiotic prescribed for bacterial infections such as strep throat, as a test case, Dr. Avisar has successfully identified nine degradation products with different levels of stability. Two may even be toxic, he notes.

"Chemicals do not simply disappear — we must understand what they've turned into,” Dr. Avisar warns. “We are dealing with a whole new range of contaminants.”

Read the full press release.
Update July 29: New model predicts environmental effects of pharmaceutical products.

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Respiratory disease widespread in Middle East, study shows

Desert climate, chemical warfare, water-pipe smoking contribute to lung diseases

Lung diseases in the Middle East range from the centuries-old pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) to modern manifestations caused by chemical warfare, according to a recent press release.

A new paper in Respirology, a journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology, provides pulmonologists and patients with the first comprehensive review of respiratory illnesses specific to the Persian Gulf region, and the challenges in treating them.

Lung diseases affect many individuals
in Middle Eastern countries

A wide spectrum of pulmonary disorders affect individuals living in the Middle East, including bronchial and pleural diseases, respiratory tract infections and neoplasms (tumors), as well as chest traumas caused by traffic accidents.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO) Global Burden of Disease Report there were 114,000 deaths caused by TB; 407,000 from respiratory infection; 25,000 attributed to lung, trachea and bronchus cancers; and 160,000 associated with respiratory disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD) and asthma in the Eastern Mediterranean Region1 in 2008.

"The wealth of pulmonary pathologies encountered in the Middle East probably surpasses all other regions of the world," explains lead author Dr. Atul Mehta, Chief Medical Officer at Sheikh Khalifa Medical City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

"Our paper highlights the diverse conditions specific to this region that contribute to the variety of respiratory illnesses found among individuals living in Middle Eastern countries."

Study cites various causes of lung diseases

Major categories covered in the review include environmental factors, infections, genetic-idiopathic diseases, sleep disorders, lung malignancies, pleural diseases, and miscellaneous respiratory conditions.

For example, the vast desert area of the Middle East experience extreme temperature changes which can exacerbate chronic lung diseases such as asthma.

The frequent wars in the Middle East have included chemical ammunitions that can cause immediate lung damage and have potential long-term effects, ranging from bronchiolitis to "desert-storm pneumonitis."

Additionally, water-pipe smoking, which is unique to the Gulf region and on the rise, particularly in women and children, has been linked to pulmonary disease, coronary heart disease, and pregnancy-related complication in preliminary studies.

Cultural and environmental factors to blame

The authors suggest the broad array of lung disorders can be attributed to the large immigrant population and unique cultural and environmental conditions in the region.

"An integrated approach that involves public health, primary care, and pulmonary specialists is required to ensure effective management of the various lung diseases in the Persian Gulf," concluded Dr. Mehta.

"Consideration of the unique cultural and environmental factors will aid clinicians and public health officials in combating these health issues and ensuring compliance to medical care to improve patient outcomes."

Please note: WHO's Eastern Mediterranean Region includes health statistics from countries that include Afghanistan, Bahrain, Cyprus, Djibouti, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, The Occupied Territories, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, U.A.E., and Yemen Arab Republic. 

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Volcanic air pollution -– a hazard to workers in volcanic regions

Volcanic eruptions release toxic gases
and substances in the air.

With volcanic eruptions disrupting the lives of residents in Chile, Iceland, Hawaii and other regions, Electrocorp’s air quality experts have been receiving e-mails and calls about air filtration systems for volcanic smog (VOG).

Volcanic eruptions release noxious sulfur dioxide gas and other pollutants into the atmosphere, which react with the oxygen and atmospheric moisture to produce volcanic smog (VOG) and acid rain.

The ash clouds do not only affect flight traffic – they can pose serious health risks for the people living and working in the affected regions.

Health effects of volcanic smog

VOG has been shown to aggravate pre-existing respiratory ailments, while acid rain can damage crops and leach lead into building water supplies. It consists of gases as well as tiny liquid and solid particles. VOG is composed of sulfuric acid and other sulfate compounds and it can also contain toxic metals.

Sulfur dioxide (SO2, the main component of VOG) is a poisonous gas that can penetrate deeply into the airway and cause respiratory distress in some individuals. The tiny aerosol particles in volcanic smog can also penetrate deeply into the lungs and irritate the tissue.

People living and working in areas downwind of active volcanoes have complained about a wide range of health effects, including skin irritation and irritation of the eyes, nose and throat.

Source: US Geological Survey (USGS)

Air cleaners for VOG

Electrocorp and AllerAir have designed air purifiers for VOG that remove dangerous airborne chemicals, gases and particles associated with VOG. Electrocorp is the industrial division of AllerAir Industries.

The specially designed air cleaners feature a custom blend of deep-bed activated carbon for enhanced adsorption of noxious chemicals and gases, as well as a medical grade HEPA or Super-HEPA for the removal of fine particles.

Suggested air purifiers from AllerAir for homes and offices affected by volcanic smog include the 5000 VOG and Air Medic+ VOG.

Electrocorp’s in-house technical design team works with environmental consultants, government agencies and IAQ professionals to provide complete air cleaning solutions to a wide variety of industrial and commercial applications.

Suggested air filtration systems from Electrocorp are dependent on the size of the indoor space and include the RAP Series, RSU Series and I-6500 Series, among others. The systems can help clean the air in spaces ranging from 500 sq. ft. to 500,000 sq. ft. (SSU Series).

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Note: Always follow public advisories and evacuation orders.

Natural gas and air pollution - How does fracking affect the environment and residents?



Play Video



One of our colleagues from the blog Air Quality Online by AllerAir posted an interesting video report done for the New York Times on the concerns of local residents living in the shadows of natural gas development.

This has been a hotly debated topic for a while, since natural gas production was touted as a "greener" energy source, and witnessed an explosion of growth all over North America.

Opponents argue that the production process spews serious pollutants into the air like VOCs and other toxins that may have serious long-term health effects. One former EPA employee says the industry has been given a pass on environmental laws.

In media reports and documentaries such as Gasland, residents in the areas near compressors started complaining about contaminated soil and water, bad smells, persistent headaches, sore throats, dizziness, nausea and nose bleeds, among other concerns.

Air quality tests in homes have shown the existence of toxic pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, benzene, toluene and formaldehyde. Health effects caused by long-term exposure to these substances (even low levels) have not been established officially - yet.

For homeowners, business owners and employees concerned about natural gas, VOCs and indoor air quality, AllerAir and its industrial division Electrocorp offer heavy-duty chemical and odor control air cleaners for residential use and air scrubbers for commercial use.

AllerAir and Electrocorp units use deep-bed activated carbon air filters (the same material often used in gas masks) to remove airborne chemicals, gases and odors.

Contact one of our air quality experts for more information, and to find the right air filtration system for your needs: 1-866-667-0297.
 

Environmental fallout from wildfires and related IAQ concerns

Wildfires have a long-lasting effect on
the environment and human health.

Wildfires leave much more behind than fire-scarred buildings, ash and a swath of destruction.

As homeowners and business owners all over North America return to the regions that were affected by wildfires raging in Utah, Arizona, Florida, Colorado, Alaska and Alberta (see AllerAir's Q&A blog post), experts are worried about the environmental legacy they will encounter.

"If there's a really heavy fire and you burn up plastic ... you'll end up with some of that residual, partially burnt plastic in the soil," said Anne Naeth, a biologist and expert in land reclamation at the University of Alberta, in a recent article from The Canadian Press.

Not only were houses and businesses burnt to the ground, wildfires also claimed vehicles, gas stations and other sources of inorganic and organic toxins.

Many of those compounds, including zinc, lead, mercury, copper, cadmium from burned wiring, piping, auto parts, broken lights and thermometers; dioxins and furans from burning tires; PCBs and PAHs, probably phthalates and polybrominated compounds from other burned plastics, upholstery, etc may dissipate quickly, experts say.

Exposure to heavy metals a concern

However, the article cites one of the few studies done on the environmental impact of wildfires in residential areas, which suggests that heavy metals will probably stick around. The U.S. Geological Survey looked into what happened after fires in southern California roared through residential developments in 2007.

"For arsenic, lead and antimony, concentrations in one or both of the residential composite ash samples approach or exceed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency residential soil preliminary remediation guidelines," the report says.

The study also found elevated levels of chromium. As well, it found the remaining ash was so alkaline it was caustic — significantly more so than ash from woodland fires.

Exposure to heavy metals has been linked with developmental retardation, various cancers and kidney damage.

Environmental experts also voiced concerns about damaged soil, since the heat bakes the clay component of dirt almost as if firing it in a kiln, leaving it unable to absorb water.

Source: Canadian Press

Indoor air quality may suffer after wildfire

Wildfire smoke poses a very serious health risk as 80 to 90% of wildfire smoke is within the fine particle range. These fine particles are generally less than 2.5 microns in diameter and can penetrate deep into the body. 

An increase in this type of airborne particulate matter has been linked to numerous health problems including headaches, nausea, dizziness, respiratory problems, strokes and heart attacks.

Children, pregnant women, those suffering from existing respiratory conditions and older adults are even more susceptible to the effects of wildfire smoke particulate.

Smoke can also travel far beyond the main burn zone. Studies show that even a small increase in airborne fine particulate matter can affect overall health.

Air cleaners for better indoor air quality

AllerAir and Electrocorp offer air filtration systems with high efficiency particle filters and deep-bed activated carbon filters to remove harmful chemicals, particles and odors associated with tobacco and wildfire smoke.

Clients can choose from powerful air purifiers for the home and office to industrial-strength units for use in various commercial and industrial applications.

Call 1-866-667-0297 to contact Electrocorp.
   

EPA releases information on hundreds of chemicals

EPA released two databases to inform
scientists and the public about the toxicity
of certain chemicals.

Searchable databases on chemical toxicity and exposure data now available

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is making it easier to find data about chemicals.

EPA is releasing two databases — the Toxicity Forecaster database (ToxCastDB) and a database of chemical exposure studies (ExpoCastDB) — that scientists and the public can use to access chemical toxicity and exposure data.

Improved access supports EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson’s priorities of protecting Americans’ health by assuring the safety of chemicals and expanding the conversation on environmentalism.

“Chemical safety is a major priority of EPA and its research,” said Dr. Paul Anastas, assistant administrator of EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

“These databases provide the public access to chemical information, data and results that we can use to make better-informed and timelier decisions about chemicals to better protect people’s health.”

ToxCastDB users can search and download data from over 500 rapid chemical tests conducted on more than 300 environmental chemicals.

ToxCast uses advanced scientific tools to predict the potential toxicity of chemicals and to provide a cost-effective approach to prioritizing which chemicals of the thousands in use require further testing. ToxCast is currently screening 700 additional chemicals, and the data will be available in 2012.

ExpoCastDB consolidates human exposure data from studies that have collected chemical measurements from homes and child care centers. Data include the amounts of chemicals found in food, drinking water, air, dust, indoor surfaces and urine.

ExpoCastDB users can obtain summary statistics of exposure data and download datasets. EPA will continue to add internal and external chemical exposure data and advanced user interface features to ExpoCastDB.

The new databases link together two important pieces of chemical research — exposure and toxicity data — both of which are required when considering potential risks posed by chemicals.

The databases are connected through EPA’s Aggregated Computational Toxicology Resource (ACToR), an online data warehouse that collects data on over 500,000 chemicals from over 500 public sources.

Users can now access 30 years worth of animal chemical toxicity studies that were previously only found in paper documents, data from rapid chemical testing, and various chemical exposure measurements through one online resource.

The ability to link and compare these different types of data better informs EPA’s decisions about chemical safety.

More information about the databases:
ToxCastDB: http://actor.epa.gov/actor/faces/ToxCastDB/Home.jsp
ExpoCastDB: http://actor.epa.gov/actor/faces/ExpoCastDB/Home.jsp
ACToR: http://actor.epa.gov
 

Asthma rates keep rising, CDC says

Asthma rates are rising, health
officials warn.

It's a development that is difficult to explain - even though outdoor air quality has been improved, there are more and more people being diagnosed with asthma, and the costs associated with treatments are staggering.

One of the reasons could be poor indoor air quality. The triggers that can cause an asthma attack can be found at work, in school and in most indoor environments we frequent, cautions a recent article from Occupational Health & Safety Online.

Asthma rates rising in the US

People diagnosed with asthma in the United States grew by 4.3 million between 2001 and 2009, according to a new Vital Signs report released recently by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In 2009, nearly 1 in 12 Americans were diagnosed with asthma. In addition to increased diagnoses, asthma costs grew from about $53 billion in 2002 to about $56 billion in 2007, about a 6 percent increase. The explanation for the growth in asthma rates is unknown.

Asthma is a lifelong disease that causes wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness, and coughing, though people with asthma can control symptoms and prevent asthma attacks by avoiding things that can set off an asthma attack, and correctly using prescribed medicine, like inhaled corticosteroids. The report highlights the benefits of essential asthma education and services that reduce the impact of these triggers, but most often these benefits are not covered by health insurers.

"Despite the fact that outdoor air quality has improved, we've reduced two common asthma triggers—secondhand smoke and smoking in general—asthma is increasing," said Paul Garbe, D.V.M., M.P.H, chief of CDC's Air Pollution and Respiratory Health Branch. "While we don't know the cause of the increase, our top priority is getting people to manage their symptoms better."

Asthma triggers at work, in school, indoors and outdoors

Asthma triggers are usually environmental and can be found at school, work, home, outdoors, and elsewhere and can include tobacco smoke, mold, outdoor air pollution, and infections linked to influenza, cold-like symptoms, and other viruses.

Asthma diagnoses increased among all demographic groups between 2001 and 2009, though a higher percentage of children reported having asthma than adults (9.6 percent compared to 7.7 percent in 2009).

Diagnoses were especially high among boys (11.3 percent). The greatest rise in asthma rates was among black children (almost a 50 percent increase) from 2001 through 2009. Seventeen percent of non-Hispanic black children had asthma in 2009, the highest rate among racial/ethnic groups.

Annual asthma costs in the United States were $3,300 per person with asthma from 2002 to 2007 in medical expenses. About 2 in 5 uninsured and 1 in 9 insured people with asthma could not afford their prescription medication.

"Asthma is a serious, lifelong disease that unfortunately kills thousands of people each year and adds billions to our nation's health care costs," said CDC Director Thomas R. Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. "We have to do a better job educating people about managing their symptoms and how to correctly use medicines to control asthma so they can live longer more productive lives while saving health care costs."

How to manage asthma attacks

In an effort to reduce asthma attacks and the human and economic costs of asthma, CDC recommends:

• Improving indoor air quality for people with asthma through measures such as smoke-free air laws and policies, healthy schools, and workplaces.
• Teach patients how to avoid asthma triggers such as tobacco smoke, mold, pet dander, and outdoor air pollution.
• Encouraging clinicians to prescribe inhaled corticosteroids for all patients with persistent asthma and to use a written asthma action plan to teach patients how manage their symptoms.
• Promoting measures that prevent asthma attacks such as increasing access to corticosteroids and other prescribed medicines.
• Encourage home environmental assessments and educational sessions conducted by clinicians, health educators, and other health professionals both within and outside of the clinical setting.

Source: Occupational Health & Safety Online


Improve IAQ at the workplace with powerful air cleaners

One of the many ways people can improve the indoor air quality in their buildings or workplaces involves a powerful air filtration system with deep-bed activated carbon and HEPA filtration technologies that provides the safest, most complete and most effective solution for the removal of airborne toxins, chemicals, particles and other irritants.

Electrocorp has designed a range of industrial-strength air filtration systems for various commercial and industrial applications, including

• Hospitals and healthcare
• Environmental consulting
• Facility management
• Schools and universities
• Offices and office printers
• Mold and asbestos remediation
• Welding fume extraction
• Law enforcement
• Home and office air cleaning (AllerAir air purifiers)

Contact one of our air quality experts to find the right air cleaning solution for your needs.

 

Working near fields sprayed with pesticides increases risk of Parkinson’s disease, researchers say

Working near fields sprayed with
pesticides can be a health risk.

First they said living close to fields sprayed with two common pesticides could increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease.

Now a follow-up study shows that working nearby increases the risk substantially, especially if exposure involves a combination of pesticides, and that the risk also includes a third commonly used pesticides.

The chemicals in question are the fungicide maneb and the herbicide paraquat as well as the pesticide ziram.


What are pesticides?

Chemical pesticides are often used on fields and grass to prevent or exterminate pests.

But while they may protect crops from insect or other infestation, many of these pesticides have been shown to be toxic to humans as well.

According to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, 10 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are pesticides.

Pesticides and health: Side effects of pesticides

Exposure to pesticides can lead to immediate or delayed health effects, including irritation of the skin and eyes.

Some pesticides have also been linked to nervous system disorders, reproductive challenges and cancer.

Pesticide use can contaminate non-target species, air, water and soil and therefore expose people in many ways.


Working near pesticides

The new study looked at where people, including teachers, firefighters and clerks who worked near, but not in, the fields.

The study showed that the combined exposure to ziram, maneb and paraquat near any workplace increased the risk of Parkinson's disease (PD) threefold, while combined exposure to ziram and paraquat alone was associated with an 80 percent increase in risk.

"Our estimates of risk for ambient exposure in the workplaces were actually greater than for exposure at residences," said Dr. Beate Ritz, senior author and a professor of epidemiology at the UCLA School of Public Health.

"And, of course, people who both live and work near these fields experience the greatest PD risk. These workplace results give us independent confirmation of our earlier work that focused only on residences, and of the damage these chemicals are doing."

In addition, Ritz noted, this is the first study that provides strong evidence in humans that the combination of the three chemicals confers a greater risk of Parkinson's than exposure to the individual chemicals alone.

Because these pesticides affect different mechanisms leading to cell death, they may act together to increase the risk of developing the disorder: Those exposed to all three experienced the greatest increase in risk.

The study has been published in the online edition of the European Journal of Epidemiology.

Source: Science Daily
  

Provide cleaner air in the workplace

Electrocorp cleans the air in all types of industrial and commercial applications, including offices and manufacturing plants.

All of our air filtration systems feature a large amount of activated carbon to filter out airborne chemicals, gases, fumes and odors as well as superior particle filters to protect employees from particles, mold spores and dust.

Contact one of our air quality experts to find the right solution for your workplace.
 

EPA’s goals to curb coal plant pollution – will they improve air quality?

Air pollution - a valid concern
outdoors and indoors.

Air pollution has always been a hot topic -- especially for people living close to industrial complexes and in urban environments -- and if the turnout at a recent public comment session is anything to go by, then it will be an important issue for many years to come.

Several hundred people came together in Philadelphia last week to share their expertise, opinions, experiences and concerns about coal plant pollution in a meeting with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

The people who testified included environmentalists, physicians, mothers and fishermen, among others. Worried about emissions of mercury, arsenic, nickel, chromium and acid gases, they urged EPA to update the standards that limit the amount of air pollution that coal-fired plants can release into the atmosphere.

Mercury, for example, builds up in ocean and freshwater fish and can be highly toxic for people who eat them.

"Young children are uniquely vulnerable to the toxic effects of environmental poisons such as mercury and arsenic," said Dr. Kevin Osterhoudt, medical director of the poison control center at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, in an article  from AP. "These compounds are especially dangerous to the developing brain and nervous system."

Opponents to new standards argue that the costs would force some plants to shut down and electricity prices to rise.

According to the article, the regulations would require power plants to install technologies that would limit the emissions, resulting in what the EPA said would be a 91 percent reduction of the mercury in burned coal from being released into the air.

The rules would also further limit other pollutants, including particles such as dust, dirt and other fragments associated with a variety of respiratory ailments.

EPA researchers estimate that the proposed emission limits would annually prevent up to 17,000 premature deaths, 11,000 nonfatal heart attacks, 12,200 hospital and emergency room visits and 120,000 asthma attacks. The updated standards would give coal-fired facilities up to four years to reach compliance.

If you are concerned about this subject, you can voice your opinion in writing. The EPA will accept written comments from the public until July 5.

Source: Associated Press

 
Take control of your indoor air quality

Electrocorp's RAP Series

While industrial pollution is still being debated, businesses and workers can take simple steps to make sure they breathe the purest air possible indoors - after all, we spend more than 90 percent of our time in enclosed spaces.

These steps include controlling sources of indoor air pollution (for example, chemical cleaners, contaminated ventilation systems, etc), regular maintenance and using an air cleaner to purify the air and avoid sick building syndrome.

Electrocorp air filtration systems remove a wide range of airborne pollutants with a deep bed of activated carbon for chemicals, gases and odors as well as particle filters (pre-filters, medical-grade HEPA or Super-HEPA), the safest and most effective filtration technologies on the market today.

Contact one of our air quality experts for more information.
  

Loss or reduced sense of smell a common problem

Many people don't realize they are losing their
ability to smell because it's a gradual process.

Most patients who have a reduced ability to smell or detect odors seem to attach less importance to the sense of smell in their daily lives than people with a normal olfactory function, according to a report in the April 2011 issue of Archives of Otolaryngology – Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

"Disorders of the sense of smell are common," the authors provide as background information in the article.

"In the general population, hyposmia [reduced ability to smell] varies from 13 percent to 18 percent and anosmia (total loss of olfactory function) from 4 percent to 6 percent. The main causes of olfactory disorders are viral infections, head trauma, sinonasal disease, and neurodegenerative diseases."

Most cases of reduced or loss of the sense of smell seem to be associated with aging, according to the authors. They suggest that many patients do not seek medical help for these disorders because they either do not notice the impairment because they do not use the sense or because it develops so gradually that they find ways to cope and adjust.

People with such disorders often complain about difficulties cooking, a lack of appetite and low interest in eating. However, reduced ability to detect odors also can pose an increased risk of hazardous events.

"Approximately 17 percent to 30 percent of patients with olfactory disorders report a decreased quality of life, including symptoms of depression."

Ilona Croy, M.D., and colleagues from the University of Dresden Medical School, Dresden, Germany, evaluated data from 470 individuals (235 patients with a reduced or no sense of smell and 235 individuals with a normal sense of smell) to compare the importance of olfaction in daily life.

The study participants completed the Individual Importance of Olfaction Questionnaire (IO) and olfactory testing using the "Sniffin' Sticks" test kit.

The questionnaire included items to reflect emotions, memories and evaluations that are triggered by the sense of smell; how much a person uses his or her sense of smell in daily life; and how many people use their sense of smell for decision making.

The "Sniffin' Sticks" test kit consists of pen-like odor dispensers that were placed close to the participant's nostrils for a few seconds to assess odor identification ability.

"The main result of the present study is that patients with olfactory disorders rate the importance attached to their olfactory sense to be lower in general and also in all the investigated subscales compared with healthy normosmic subjects," the authors report.

"…Although they might not be aware, [they] seem to adjust to their olfactory constraints. Their sense of smell seems to be of less importance to them in daily life when it is reduced. So they report fewer olfactory-triggered emotions and memories, which seems reasonable because patients with olfactory disease experience fewer olfactory triggers. In accord, they also report to use their sense of smell less and to rely less on this sense in decision making."

"In conclusion, most patients attach less importance to their current sense of smell in daily life than do normosmic individuals and adjust to their reduced olfactory function. This behavior might be an example of regaining psychological health despite acquired and long-lasting impairments," the authors write.

Source: JAMA and Archives Journals

Air pollution near schools linked to poorer student health, academic performance

Air pollution near schools has been linked
to poor attendance rates and performance.

When it comes to academic performance, the school’s location and indoor air quality may be important factors.

According to a study from University of Michigan researchers, the air pollution from industrial sources near Michigan public schools jeopardizes children's health and academic success.

The researchers found that schools located in areas with the state's highest industrial air pollution levels had the lowest attendance rates---an indicator of poor health---as well as the highest proportions of students who failed to meet state educational testing standards.

More than half of all schools located near industrial areas

The researchers examined the distribution of all 3,660 public elementary, middle, junior high and high schools in the state and found that 62.5 percent of them were located in places with high levels of air pollution from industrial sources.

The study results are reported in the May edition of the journal Health Affairs. Mohai and Kweon presented their findings today at a Washington, D.C., forum sponsored by Health Affairs.

"Our findings show that schools in Michigan were disproportionately located in places with high levels of air pollution from industrial sources. In addition, we found that Michigan's minority students bear a disproportionately high share of the air pollution burden," said Mohai, a professor at the U-M School of Natural Resources and Environment. Mohai is also a faculty associate at the Institute for Social Research.

Researchers suggest an environmental-quality analysis for new schools

The authors conclude that Michigan and other states should require an environmental-quality analysis when education officials are considering sites for new schools. "While the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a draft of voluntary school-siting guidelines in November, those guidelines might not be strong enough and could be ignored by many school districts," said Kweon, a research investigator at the Institute for Social Research and an adjunct assistant professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment.

Geographic information system software was used to digitally map the 3,660 schools and to then overlay industrial air pollution data from the Environmental Protection Agency's Risk-Screening Environmental Indicator data base.

School attendance rates were used as a proxy for health levels at each school. As a school performance measure, the researchers used 2007 scores from the Michigan Educational Assessment Program, a standardized test that all third- through ninth-graders in Michigan public schools are required to take.

Specifically, they used the percentage of students who failed to meet the state standards for English and math.

Though the study focused primarily on the effects of industrial air pollutants, nearly identical patterns were found when the researchers analyzed data from the 2005 National Air Toxic Assessment, which includes on-road mobile sources such as cars, trucks and buses, as well as non-road mobile sources such as airplanes, tractors and lawnmowers.

Why are schools located near industrial pollution sources?

The authors suggest that the large amount of land that a school requires and the costs of land acquisition probably mean that officials searching for new school locations focus on areas where property values are low, which may be near polluting industrial facilities, major highways and other potentially hazardous sites.

Half of all states, including Michigan, do not require any evaluation of the environmental quality of areas under consideration as sites for new schools, nor do they prohibit building new industrial facilities and highways near existing schools.

Children are known to be more vulnerable than adults to the effects of pollution. Exposure to environmental pollutants during important times of physiological development can lead to long-lasting health problems, dysfunction and disease, the experts said.

"Our findings underscore the need to expand the concept of environmental justice to include children as a vulnerable population. Moreover, our findings show that children of color are disproportionately at risk," the authors wrote. "There is a need for proactive school policies that will protect children from exposure to unhealthy levels of air pollution and other environmental hazards."

The authors offer four policy recommendations to address the problem: 1) All potential school sites should be thoroughly analyzed, including tests of soil, water and air quality. 2) Policies should be enacted to insist on a minimum distance between sources of pollution and school locations. 3) Environmental mitigation policies should be adopted to reduce children's potential exposure to pollution. 4) Oversight and enforcement at the national, state and local levels needs to ensure better school environments.

Students exposed to 12 harmful chemicals

Ninety-five percent of the estimated industrial air pollution around schools comes from 12 chemicals: diisocyanates, manganese, sulfuric acid, nickel, chlorine, chromium, trimethylbenzene, hydrochloric acid, molybdenum trioxide, lead, cobalt and glycol ethers.

These pollutants come from a variety of sources, including the motor vehicle, steel and chemical- manufacturing industries, power plants, rubber and plastic products manufacturers, and lumber and wood products manufacturers. The 12 chemicals are suspected of producing a wide variety of health effects, including increased risk of respiratory, cardiovascular, developmental and neurological disorders, as well as cancer.

Source: University of Michigan

Also check out this story on Oregon schools: A simple step to improve air quality for schoolkids.


Air purifiers for schools and universities

Electrocorp offers industrial-strength air filtration systems for schools and universities. They are easy to use, moveable and use Activated Carbon + HEPA technology to remove a wide range of chemicals, odors, gases and particles from the air.

Pediatricians want tougher chemical safety law

Children are most at risk when it comes to
exposure to common household chemicals.

We are exposed to chemicals virtually everywhere, and doctors urge authorities to provide better protection.

Earlier this week, the American Academy of Pediatrics called for an overhaul of the 35-year-old federal law governing toxic chemicals in the environment, saying it fails to safeguard children and pregnant women.

"It is widely recognized to have been ineffective in protecting children, pregnant women and the general population from hazardous chemicals in the marketplace," the academy said in a policy statement that will be published in the May issue of the journal Pediatrics.

They are not the only ones sounding the alarm bells. The American Medical Association, the American Public Health Association and the American Nurses Association have previously called for changes in the Toxic Substance Control Act.

Among the American Academy of Pediatrics recommendations:

• The consequences of chemical use on children and their families should be "a core component" of the new chemical policy.
• Chemicals should meet standards similar to those required for new drugs or pesticides.
• Decisions to ban chemicals should be based on reasonable levels of concern, rather than demonstrated harm.
• The health effects of chemicals should be monitored after they are on the market, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency should have the authority to remove a chemical from the market if it's deemed dangerous.

Since the Toxic Substances Control Act took effect in 1976, the EPA has tested only 200 of the 80,000 chemicals in commerce and regulated just five.

"Right now, a company manufactures a chemical and puts it out on the market and reaps the economic reward," said Dr. Jerome Paulson, lead author of the policy statement. "And then the public is responsible for trying to figure out if there is any harm associated with the use of that chemical. And then it's almost a criminal procedure, requiring proof beyond a reasonable doubt."

Democratic Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey this month introduced the Safe Chemicals Act of 2011. The law would require chemical manufacturers to demonstrate the safety of industrial chemicals used in everyday household products.

Experts agree that swift action is required to protect the most vulnerable members of our society – our children.

Children face special risks because they eat, drink and breathe more pound for pound than adults, and they spend more time on the floor or the ground than adults, a possible source of exposure, the American Academy of Pediatrics pointed out in its policy statement.

As part of its policy statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommended its 60,000 member pediatricians familiarize themselves with the potential adverse health effects of chemicals in the environment.
The American chemical industry is a $674 billion enterprise, employing 800,000 people, according to the industry group. Chemical manufacturers reported annual production volume of 27 trillion pounds, according to the most recent EPA data available.

Numerical Series: An air purifier for a room
of any size.

Source: CNN

If you are worried about airborne chemicals, gases, odors and particles in your home or office, consider using an air purifier from AllerAir Industries. Electrocorp is the industrial division of AllerAir.

For industrial-strength air filtration systems for the healthcare industry, schools, daycares and universities and many other applications, contact one of our air quality experts today.