Most car pollution comes from 25% of cars

Stop-and-go traffic
increases emissions.

When it comes to polluting the environment, not all cars (or drivers) are created equal.

A recent study conducted by University of Toronto researchers found that just 25 percent of cars they measured produced about 90 percent of the total traffic-related air pollution.

Pollutants like carbon dioxide (CO2) are known to have a negative impact on climate change, but cars also emit a wide array of pollutants associated with lung cancer, respiratory diseases, and heart disease. The researchers focused on measuring these types of pollutants, and found that just a quarter of cars produced the majority of particulates and carbon monoxide in the area.

Jonathan Wang, one of the authors of the study and a chemical engineering PhD student at the University of Toronto, said the chief polluters were older cars in need of a tune-up.

“We found it was a large amount of transport trucks, but a good proportion was just cars – a mixture of both,” Wang said. “We suspect they were older vehicles.”

The researchers took real-time measurements of the exhaust of about 100,000 cars driving past air-sampling probes on one of Toronto’s busiest roads. The study was borne out of concern that vehicle fleet emissions spread farther than previously known.

In addition to total particulates and carbon monoxide, the researchers found that a quarter of cars measured produced over 76 percent of pollutants like benzene, toluene, and other known carcinogens.

Besides driving an older vehicle (anything older than seven years), Wang said driving behavior could also have a huge impact on pollution.

“Cruising at normal speeds is better than heavy braking and heavy acceleration,” he said. “Stop-and-go traffic can increase emissions for vehicles.”

The report shows that drivers have pretty good control over local car pollution, Wang said. Modifying your driving behavior, maintaining your vehicle with regular oil changes and air filter replacements, and choosing a newer car with good gas mileage could all impact air quality.

So if you want to buy a car that doesn’t ruin the world, here’s where to start:

• Buy newer
• Do your research
• Consider multiple pollutants
• Get a car record

This article has been edited for length. Source: Boston.com

Are you concerned about the air pollution in your area or place of work? Electrocorp offers a wide range of indoor air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA that actually remove harmful pollutants. An air cleaner for inside the car is also available. Contact Electrocorp by calling 1-866-667-0297 or writing to sales@electrocorp.net.

Toxic solvents underneath IBM building defy cleanup

Buildings on contaminated soil may
expose workers to harmful chemicals
through soil vapor intrusion: Experts.

ENDICOTT – After 35 years, IBM Corp. contractors have stanched the flow of industrial solvents into a commercial and residential district in the heart of the village, but they have yet to find a solution for the source of the problem at the company's former flagship manufacturing plant.

Officials recently reported that efforts to intercept and remove the subterranean flow of hazardous chemicals coming from the industrial complex — now owned by Huron Real Estate Associates — have been successful.

Consequently, health risks to a nearby neighborhood have been eliminated.

Yet they have no remedy for a concentrated pool of solvents directly under the manufacturing site, where at least 1,500 people still work.

It may take years before a proven remedy is found, according to Alex Czuhanich, an engineering geologist with the state Department of Environmental Conservation, although the agency has no timetable for the project.

The pollution, discovered in 1979, includes trichloroethylene (TCE) and other solvents used as industrial degreasers that have been linked to maladies ranging from cancer to birth defects.

IBM used vast quantities of the solvents to manufacture printed circuit boards during the company's heyday from the 1950s through the 1970s.

The contaminated hot spot — known as "the source area" on DEC records — lies under an area the size of eight village blocks, and it was once bustling with the delivery, handling, storage, transport and liberal use of solvents.

The source area encompasses a railroad corridor where chemicals arrived in bulk, loading docks where they were handled, and a network of tanks and pipelines that stored and transported virgin chemicals and chemical waste to and from various manufacturing lines throughout the campus, according to DEC records.

Situated over and near the source area, and blocking access to cleanup, are dozens of buildings, most of them massive, bunker-like, cement structures built during the Cold War era and some well before.

The contaminated ground is dense with tunnels, boiler rooms, tank rooms, crawl spaces, cables, pipes and conduits.

"There is just so much infrastructure there," Czuhanich said. "Trying to get anything in there (to remedy the problem) is difficult, at best."

To date, nearly 70,000 gallons of solvent — more than 40 tons — have been pumped from the ground. Officials don't know how much is left, according to DEC spokesman Peter Constantakes.

Court records filed by attorneys representing residents suing IBM for damages from the pollution put the solvent pool up to 1 million gallons "that had apparently collected over many years from leaking pipes and tanks."

Reluctance by IBM and the DEC to publicly discuss the source area has added to uncertainty about its status. IBM spokesman Todd Martin did not reply to phone calls or written inquires on the subject.

Safety debated

IBM sold the plant in 2002 to Huron Real Estate Associates, which now rents space to BAE Systems Electronics, i3 Electronics (formerly Endicott Interconnect), Binghamton University and other smaller firms that collectively employ between 1,500 and 2,000 workers.

TCE, the main contaminant under the campus, is not commonly used in bulk by industry in the U.S. anymore, though it is a pervasive contaminant at many Cold War-era industrial and military sites throughout the country.

In addition to the former IBM site, notorious TCE legacy sites in the Southern Tier include the CAE Electronics site in Hillcrest, and the Morse Industrial site in Tompkins County, both linked to contamination of nearby residential neighborhoods.

The TCE problem is as stubborn as it is complex. TCE is one of a class of chemicals that tend to be heavier than water, so they sink through the water table and adhere stubbornly to soil particles.

They also give off toxic fumes that rise from the ground, ending up in basements, crawl spaces and — ultimately — circulating into living spaces through a process known as vapor intrusion.

There is no national standard to limit TCE exposure in air, although there has been a political push to develop one since the federal Environmental Protection Agency determined in 2011 that the chemical was a carcinogen and a "non-cancer health hazard."

Just how much exposure presents a risk remains a controversial topic. Levels that might not affect one person could make another seriously ill. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable.

According to the latest EPA assessment — challenged by the chemical industry — risks for non-cancer illnesses, such as birth defects, from short-term TCE exposure in residential settings are found to increase statistically at levels at or above 2 micrograms per cubic meter.

The agency has set the threshold for risks from short-term exposure in an industrial setting at 7, based on the assumption that people spend less time at work than in their homes.

Cancer risks become discernible for chronic exposure — the type people might experience in homes — at levels beginning at 0.43 micrograms, according to an EPA assessment.

New York state has set a broad guideline of 5 for residential and commercial exposure. But the agency often requires action at levels below the threshold when feasible.

Feasibility remains the issue at the Huron campus. Indoor air samples at 42 buildings collected in 2005 — the last time the state oversaw testing — ranged from zero to 17 micrograms per cubic meter in some areas that tended to be occupied. Levels were much higher in other areas — often registering between 50 and 300 micrograms in tunnels and tank rooms below Building 18, for example.

Concentrations in the soil directly below the buildings often exceeded 10,000 and sometimes were over 100,000 micrograms.

In 2005, the state health department determined that the TCE levels at the Huron campus present a "low" health risk to people working there, according to a report at the time. That means state health officials "do not expect to be able to associate health effects" from exposure.

Health department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said the guideline remains "under review" as more information comes to light "to ensure that previous decisions and recommendations continue to protect public health."

In 2005, a health department study found elevated rates of testicular and kidney cancers, and birth defects that were "statistically significant" in an area affected by solvent pollution in the area south of the former IBM plant, and several blocks to the southwest of the plant polluted by an undetermined source. (The area has since been cleaned by the IBM remediation efforts.)

The results of a study by NIOSH and the health department evaluating birth outcomes of women who worked at the plant is expected to be released later this year.

By the numbers
• 35: Number of years IBM has been cleaning the pollution.
• 70,000: Number of gallons of concentrated chemicals removed so far.
• 1,500: Approximate number of employees who work at the site.
• 470: Number of structures off-site that have been fitted with vent systems to divert toxic fumes.
• 5: Safety threshold, in micrograms per cubic meter, for TCE exposure in air in New York state.
• 2: Level, in micrograms per cubic meter, at which risks associated with short-term TCE exposure increase statistically.

Source: PressConnects; This article has been edited for length.

Are you concerned about chemical exposure at work or vapor intrusion in your building? Electrocorp has designed a wide range of industrial and commercial air cleaners that help remove chemicals (including TCE, formaldehyde and benzene), gases, fumes, odors, particles and other contaminants. The air cleaners come in all sizes and with a wide range of options. For more information and a free consultation, contact Electrocorp by calling 1-866-667-0297 or writing to sales@electrocorp.net.

Combustible dust to blame for Ontario plant explosion

Companies have to make sure to protect
workers from combustible dust and more.

An explosion and subsequent fire at an industrial facility in Sarnia, Ont. left several employees hospitalized on Oct. 25. One of the workers died of his injuries two days later.

The incident took place at a plant belonging to Veolia Environmental Services, an international company that uses propane and oxygen to conduct thermal spraying of aluminum.

According to information from the provincial Ministry of Labour (MOL), a dust collection system outside of the building exploded and caused structural damage in the middle of the afternoon.

“Five workers were injured in the incident, including two who were critically injured,” confirmed MOL media representative Bruce Skeaff.

“Emergency services were dispatched and attended the scene. The five injured workers were transported to hospital.”

One of the critically injured parties was subsequently airlifted from Sarnia’s Bluewater Health hospital to a London hospital for further treatment.

Eight workers in total were inside the building at the time of the blast, according to media reports.

Skeaff added that MOL inspectors, firefighters and officials from the Ontario Fire Marshal’s office had also attended the scene of the explosion.

“A City of Sarnia engineer attended the scene and declared the building unsafe to enter,” he said.

The MOL issued a requirement to Veolia not to disturb the scene of the incident, under the Occupational Health and Safety Act. The fire was extinguished the next day, and a forensics investigator examined the scene as well.

Carol Gravelle, public relations officer with the Office of the Fire Marshal and Emergency Management (OFM), told COHSN that the office had seized evidence at the site as exhibits for testing offsite.

The OFM “worked with the Ministry of Labour, the coroner’s office, local police and local fire” to investigate the origins of the explosion, Gravelle said.

On Oct. 27, Const. Les Jones of the Sarnia Police Service (SPS) announced in a press release that one critically injured employee — the one who had been airlifted — had died earlier that morning. “Sarnia Police Service will not be releasing his name,” Const. Jones added.

A media statement from Veolia, issued on Oct. 26, said that the company was cooperating fully with the MOL and other authorities in their investigations.

“The employees of Veolia are deeply concerned for our co-workers,” the statement read, “and our thoughts and prayers are with them at this time.”

The MOL continues to investigate, as do the SPS and offsite investigators with the OFM.

Source: OHS Canada

Concerned about dust, chemicals and other IAQ issues in the workplace? Electrocorp offers industrial and commercial air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA air filters that can provide cleaner and more breathable air 24/7. Explosion-proof units available. Contact Electrocorp for more information: 1-866-667-0297.

Boston area shop owners opt for carcinogen-free business

The dry-cleaning chemical perc has
been linked to cancer and health issues.

When Myra Vargas and her husband took over a dry-cleaning business in Jamaica Plain last spring, they had to make a tough decision: whether to use a common chemical called perchloroethylene, known as perc, or institute a costly change.

Vargas knew that perc, which they’d been using to clean clothes at their Roslindale shop for nearly two decades, was dangerous.

Years earlier, she’d been warned to stay away from it while pregnant. But she’d recently learned that perc probably causes cancer in dry-cleaning workers.

“We went seventeen years using something that was dangerous for everybody,” she says.

Extra encouragement to make the change to a safe system known as wet cleaning came from a group called Jamaica Plain New Economy Transition, but it wouldn’t be easy.

The couple would need to buy all new machinery and pay to get rid of their old, perc-based equipment. And making the switch would cost more than $100,000, a daunting hurdle. Plus, they’d heard conflicting stories about whether wet cleaning worked as well. But then the project helped them get a $15,000 state grant and launch a Kickstarter campaign that raised another $18,000.

On September 11, J&P Dry Cleaners celebrated its grand opening as the neighborhood’s only wet cleaner and one of only about a dozen in the state.

The shop’s opening was the first success in an ambitious effort to rid Jamaica Plain businesses of chemicals likely or suspected to cause cancer.

Across the nation, Main Street businesses routinely use such chemicals: at beauty and nail salons, hair straighteners and polishes that may release formaldehyde, for instance; at auto shops, brake cleaners that can include perc and solvents with trichloroethylene.

By persuading companies to switch to safer alternatives, the JP project aims to create locally what its leaders are calling “a cancer-free economy.”

Although nationally cancer rates are declining slightly, an estimated 1.7 million Americans will be diagnosed with the disease this year and more than half a million will die of it.

But most of us don’t need stats to tell us there’s a lot of cancer around — everyone seems to know someone.

“Not enough effort, not enough research, not enough funds have been directed toward upstream efforts to prevent carcinogens from getting into the human environment in the first place,” says Richard Clapp, an epidemiologist at the University of Massachusetts Lowell Center for Sustainable Production, which is partnering on the Jamaica Plain project.

 “How do we get to the point where we don’t pour this fire hydrant of carcinogenic chemicals into the environment?”

To be sure, exposure to chemicals doesn’t cause all (or even most) cancers. The American Cancer Society attributes 30 percent of US cancers to cigarette smoking and 35 percent to poor diet, inactivity, and obesity.

Other factors, such as genetics and infections, also contribute. But any given cancer case is now understood to have more than one cause, Clapp argues, so the idea of dishing out blame to one factor is flawed.

The JP project, which received a $20,000 grant from UMass Lowell’s Toxics Use Reduction Institute last year and was recently awarded another, is gearing up to approach other neighborhood businesses like auto shops and beauty salons.

And it’s trying to persuade local hospitals, hotels, and senior living facilities to use Vargas’s shop for dry cleaning.

In addition to reducing carcinogens, the project aims to support minority- and immigrant-owned small businesses in JP’s gentrifying economy — communities all too often left out of environmental and health discussions.

The Lowell Center for Sustainable Production is taking an even wider-angle look at creating cancer-free economies.

In partnership with two national groups, it secured foundation support — around $1 million for each of the next three years — to build a network of organizations that will strategize how best to wean the national economy off cancer-causing chemicals, then fund a series of initiatives to help do just that.

Whether the JP project or even the national one can credibly reduce our economic dependence on carcinogens remains to be seen. But we need more of this kind of bold, creative thinking.

And if we want businesses, especially small ones, to change their ways, they are going to need help.

Fortunately, Massachusetts has other like-minded initiatives, including Boston’s Green & Clean small-business certification program and the Toxics Use Reduction Institute’s statewide assistance program.

Without the JP project’s help, Vargas says she would never have given up perc.

But she’s thrilled with the decision: There’s no chemical smell in the shop, wash loads take half the time and less energy, and the whites come out whiter. Her utility bills have dropped, and there are no more fees for disposing of perc.

“At the end, it’s worth it, because now we see the results,” she says. “People like it. It’s better.”

Vargas is planning to send other neighborhood business owners to the group and is helping spread its message of a carcinogen-free Jamaica Plain.

“It’s a big problem and a hard process . . . for them to convince people,” she says. “But I’m hoping they do it.”

Source: Boston Globe

Concerned with the air quality in your dry-cleaning store or other business? Chemicals, odors and particles can be safely and effectively removed with one of Electrocorp's industrial and commercial air cleaners. 
The air purification units feature a deep-bed activated carbon and HEPA filtration system to remove the widest range of indoor air contaminants, including trichloroethylene, toluene, benzene, diesel fumes, and other VOCs. For more information, contact Electrocorp today: 1-866-667-0297.

EPA guide aims to improve indoor air quality in schools

Most schools suffer from indoor air quality problems, which can
affect student and staff health, well-being and productivity.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released new guidance to help school districts protect indoor air quality while increasing energy efficiency during school renovations.

“This guidance provides common-sense solutions for improving energy efficiency and indoor air quality in schools across the country,” said Janet McCabe, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Air and Radiation.

“By using these guidelines, school districts can cut their energy bills and help ensure that students have a healthy and safe learning environment.”

Both energy management and protection of indoor air quality (IAQ) are important considerations for school facility management during energy upgrades and retrofits, and schools can protect occupant health by addressing both goals holistically.

These renovation and construction activities can create dust, introduce new contaminants and contaminant pathways, create or aggravate moisture problems, and result in inadequate ventilation in occupied spaces.

EPA’s Energy Savings Plus Health: Indoor Air Quality Guidelines for School Building Upgrades offers opportunities to prevent and control potentially harmful conditions during school renovations.

The practices outlined in the new guidance support schools as healthy, energy-efficient buildings that play a significant role in local communities.

Nearly 55 million elementary and secondary students occupy our schools, as well as 7 million teachers, faculty and staff.

 In addition, many communities use school buildings after regular school hours as after-care facilities, recreation centers, meeting places and emergency shelters during natural disasters.

For more than a decade, EPA has made significant strides in protecting children’s health in schools by equipping personnel at the state, district and school level with the necessary knowledge and tools to create healthy indoor environments.

The new guidance builds on EPA’s existing programs, such as ENERGY STAR for schools and Indoor Air Quality Tools for Schools, which helps schools identify, resolve and prevent air quality problems, often with low- and no-cost measures.  

Today, half of the schools in the United States have adopted indoor air quality (IAQ) management plans, the majority of which are based on EPA’s IAQ Tools for Schools.

However, there are still about 25 million children in nearly 60,000 schools who are not yet protected by IAQ management programs.

Download the new guidance and check here for other valuable school environmental health resources.

Source: EPA press release

Concerned about the indoor air quality at school? Electrocorp air cleaners offer a quick and affordable way to provide cleaner and more breathable air in school and university classrooms, locker rooms, lecture halls, libraries, administration offices, labs and other spaces. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Two chemicals banned from iPhone assembly factories

Apple is banning the use of benzene and
n-hexane in the production of iPhones.

Apple is banning the use of two potentially hazardous chemicals during the final assembly of iPhones and iPads as part of the company's latest commitment to protect the factory workers who build its trendy devices.
The decision comes five months after the activist groups China Labor Watch and Green America launched a petition drive calling on Apple Inc. to abandon the use of benzene and n-hexane in the production of iPhones.

A four-month investigation at 22 factories found no evidence that benzene and n-hexane endangered the roughly 500,000 people who work at the plants, according to Apple.

No traces of the chemicals were detected at 18 of the factories and the amounts found at the other four factories fell within acceptable safety levels, the Cupertino, California, company said.

Nevertheless, Apple decided to order its suppliers to stop using benzene and n-hexane during the final assembly of iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers and various accessories.

What's more, Apple is requiring all its factories to test all substances to ensure that they don't contain benzene or n-hexane, even if the chemicals aren't listed in the ingredients.

Benzene is a carcinogen that can cause leukemia if not handled properly and n-hexane has been linked to nerve damage. The substances are often found in solvents used to clean machinery and electronics.

Apple is still allowing use of the two chemicals during the early production phases of its products — activities that primarily take place at hundreds of other factories besides the ones responsible for the final assembly of the devices.

As an additional precaution, Apple is lowering the maximum amount of benzene and n-hexane that can be present in the materials used during those earlier phases of production.

Green America's petition drive collected nearly 23,000 signatures urging Apple to phase out benzene and n-hexane.

Neither chemical is unique to Apple's manufacturing process. They are also used in the production of electronics products sold by other large technology companies that have also been criticized for their practices.

Source: San Jose Mercury News
This article has been edited for length.

Concerned about airborne chemicals at the workplace? Electrocorp offers industrial and commercial air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA air filters to remove dangerous chemicals (including benzene, toluene and TCE), gases, odors, fumes, dust, particles, mold and other contaminants from the ambient air. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

UPDATE: 
Other technology giants still using hazardous chemicals, Greenpeace says. Read the full article here. 

Report lists agents and exposures that may lead to cancer

Welding can expose workers to
toxic fumes and particulate matter.

IARC listing prioritizes substances for evaluating carcinogenic risks

An advisory group to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has published a report recommending and prioritizing chemicals, complex mixtures, occupational exposures, physical agents, biological agents, and lifestyle factors for IARC Monographs during 2015-2019.

IARC is the specialized cancer agency of the World Health Organization, and government agencies across the globe use its monographs as scientific support for their actions to prevent exposure to potential carcinogens.

These monographs identify and evaluate environmental factors that can increase carcinogenic risks to humans.

The report lists more than 50 recommended agents and exposures, and among those listed as high priority for the upcoming years are bisphenol A, 1-bromopropane, shiftwork, multi-walled carbon nanotubes, welding and welding fumes, and occupational exposure to pesticides.

Source: OH&S online

Concerned about toxic fumes and vapors at work? Electrocorp has designed industrial-strength air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA for applications such as welding fume extraction, chemical processing, laser cutting and engraving and many more. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

WTC cleanup workers can renew health claims, court rules

Cleaners that were exposed to toxic substances
in buildings may renew their claims in court.

A federal appeals court in New York has revived claims by 211 cleanup workers who sought compensation for their alleged exposure to toxic contaminants in buildings near the World Trade Center site after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said a lower court judge erred in dismissing the claims, after the workers had answered "none" when asked if they had been "diagnosed" with ailments, injuries or diseases.

These workers were employed by cleaning companies hired by Verizon Communications Inc, Brookfield Properties and dozens of other owners of downtown Manhattan buildings damaged or destroyed in the attacks, the court said.

"The fact that plaintiffs answered 'none' to the interrogatory was an insufficient basis, by itself, for a blanket conclusion that all 211 plaintiffs could not establish their claims against defendants as a matter of law," Circuit Judge Denny Chin wrote for a three-judge 2nd Circuit panel.

The decision overturned an August 2012 dismissal of the claims by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan, who oversees much of the Sept. 11 litigation.

Verizon spokesman Bob Varettoni had no immediate comment. Lawyers for the phone company and the other defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

"I applaud the 2nd Circuit for having the ability and desire to do the right thing," Marc Bern, a lawyer for the workers, said in a phone interview. "It is clear that the exposures that these individuals had led to their injuries."

The 2nd Circuit said Hellerstein should have examined whether each plaintiff suffered a compensable injury, even if it had been undiagnosed or surfaced late.

It also gave examples of workers who reported no diagnosed symptoms but deserved a chance to press their claims.

One complained of dizziness, fatigue and shortness of breath but received no diagnosis when he saw a doctor, while a second reported bronchitis, chronic coughing and difficulty breathing.

"While we appreciate that the sheer number of cases before the district court made its task of managing this mass tort litigation extraordinarily difficult, the district court was obligated to individually consider each plaintiff's answer of 'none' in the context of any other evidence of injury," Chin wrote.

The 2nd Circuit also upheld Hellerstein's dismissal of claims by 31 workers who did not timely pursue their cases.

The case is Markut et al v. Verizon New York Inc et al, 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, Nos. 12-3403 and 12-3729.

Source: Reuters

Concerned about the air quality at work? Electrocorp offers industrial-strength air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA air filters to remove airborne contaminants quickly and efficiently. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

NY air quality rules would target restaurants, food trucks

Restaurants might need to install
devices to avoid air pollution.

Mayor Bill de Blasio backs proposed antipollution laws that would require many restaurants and commercial kitchens to install emission filters on ovens and char-broilers, ban new wood-burning fireplaces and encourage refrigerated trucks to switch to battery power from diesel fuel.

The proposals, discussed before the City Council's Committee on Environmental Protection, would affect eateries across the five boroughs -- mom-and-pop pizzerias, food vendor trucks, high-volume char-broilers and vehicles that deliver or serve refrigerated food or beverages.

Sponsors say the rules would save hundreds of lives every year by removing from the air unhealthy particulate matter that causes diseases from emphysema and asthma to diabetes.

The New York City Hospitality Alliance and the New York State Restaurant Association, which represent many of the affected establishments, did not immediately return messages seeking comment.

Food purveyors would need to change the way they operate under the proposals.

Char-broilers in establishments that cook at least 875 pounds of meat or seafood a week would need to install the devices. So would restaurants with coal or wood-fired pizza ovens.

Food trucks that don't switch to the cleanest technology -- currently battery-powered refrigeration -- would face annual fees. Trucks that deliver perishables such as frozen food would also face new restrictions on idling.

The rules would also ban the building of new wood-burning fireplaces anywhere in the city, including homes. Only fireplaces that burn fuels such as natural gas would be allowed.

Existing fireplaces could not legally burn wood with moisture content greater than 20 percent. Moist wood, officials say, releases more pollutants than the drier variety.

Source: NewsDay

If you are exposed to poor indoor air quality at work or at home, consider using a portable, industrial-strength air cleaner from Electrocorp. The long-lasting activated carbon and HEPA air filters remove potentially dangerous and odorous contaminants from the ambient air. For more information, contact Electrocorp.

World's cities have too much air pollution: WHO

Poor air quality in most cities is bad for
people's health: Experts

The World Health Organization says air pollution in many of the world's cities is breaching its guidelines.

Its survey of 1,600 cities in 91 countries revealed that nearly 90% of people in urban centres breathe air that fails to meet levels deemed safe.

The WHO says that about half of the world's urban population is exposed to pollution at least 2.5 times higher than it recommends.

Air quality was poorest in Asia, followed by South America and Africa.

"Too many urban centres today are so enveloped in dirty air that their skylines are invisible," said Dr Flavia Bustreo, the WHO's assistant director-general for family, children and women's health.

"Not surprisingly, this air is dangerous to breathe."

Poor air = Health risks

The WHO currently sets safe levels of air quality based on the concentration of polluting particles called particulate matter (PM) found in the air.

It recommends that levels of fine particles called PM2.5 should not be more than 10 micrograms per cubic metre on average over a year, and slightly larger pollutants, called PM10, should not reach more than 20 micrograms per cubic metre on average.

But the Urban Air Quality database showed that many areas were breaching these levels.

Some cities in Asia showed extremely high levels of pollution. Peshawar in Pakistan registered a PM10 level of 540 micrograms per cubic metre over a period of two months in 2010, while Delhi in India had an average PM2.5 of 153 micrograms per cubic metre in the same year.

Cities in South America, including Rio De Janeiro in Brazil, also fared badly.

But the WHO says it is still lacking data, especially from cities in Africa, where poor air quality is a growing concern.

The most recent figures suggest that seven million people around the world died as a result of air pollution in 2012. It is estimated that 3.7 million of these deaths were from outdoor air pollution.

The WHO calls it the world's single largest environmental health risk, and links poor air quality to heart disease, respiratory problems and cancer.

"We cannot buy clean air in a bottle, but cities can adopt measures that will clean the air and save the lives of their people," said Dr Carlos Dora from the WHO.

Source: BBC

Are you concerned about the air quality in your city and workplace? Electrocorp has designed a wide range of industrial and commercial air purifiers with activated carbon and HEPA to remove dangerous chemicals and vapors, fine particles and other contaminants from the ambient air. Contact Electrocorp for more information. Call 1-866-667-0297.

OSHA works to update chemical exposure limits

Exposure to air contaminants at work has
been linked to many health problems.

In an apparent effort to kickstart agency action on updating permissible exposure limits for hundreds of chemicals, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration asked the White House April 15 to approve a request to gather information on ways to address chemical exposure.

OSHA cited widespread agreement that the majority of the agency's exposure limits are decades out-of-date and need revising.

But agency attempts have gone nowhere since a 1992 appeals court decision scuttled a blanket measure on exposure limits for nearly 400 chemicals.

The specifics of OSHA's request for information (RIN: 1218-AC74) won't be publicly available until the White House Office of Management and Budget completes its review.

Agencies typically issue formal requests for information in the context of setting up future rulemaking, but OSHA may be soliciting views on a range of alternatives.

The problem of outdated exposure limits seems to need a creative solution, given the legal, political and practical restrictions that OSHA faces.

Working on exposure limits one chemical at a time is nearly impossible given the agency's limited resources, said Aaron Trippler, director of government affairs at the American Industrial Hygiene Association.

Changing the law to update the limits and amend the process to make it easier for OSHA to update the limits moving forward is complicated by the reality of Congress actually drafting, introducing and passing legislation, Trippler said.

“That doesn't leave too many other options,” so OSHA is putting out a request for information, Trippler told Bloomberg BNA. “By chance there may be something no one has thought of to date.”

Alternatives to Rulemaking?

OSHA has tried non-regulatory efforts to mitigate the potential for worker harm that results from out-of-date exposure limits.

In October 2013, the agency launched a pair of online tools to help employers substitute safer chemicals and use more protective exposure limits on a voluntary basis.

Some employers have been using exposure limits that are more protective than OSHA's as a matter of good practice or by agreement in union contracts, Jim Frederick, United Steelworkers' assistant director for safety and health, told Bloomberg BNA.

But Frederick said OSHA-enforced limits create a level playing field for employers, since competing businesses all have to make the investments to meet the same limit, and for workers, who would be afforded the same degree of protection no matter where they work.

OSHA has permissible exposure limits for various forms of about 300 chemicals, established in 1971, that are based on science from the 1950s and 1960s. In 1989, the agency issued a rule that revised 212 existing limits and established 164 new ones. But that rule faced a legal challenge from industry, which said the limits were too stringent, and from labor, which said some were too weak.

The agency resumed enforcing the 1971 limits.

Should the agency decide to move forward with rulemaking on updating the exposure limits, it would be a long process that would probably require the commitment of whoever takes over the White House after the 2016 presidential elections. The Government Accountability Office found OSHA rulemaking took an average of more than seven years.

Source: Bloomberg This article has been edited for length.

Concerned about chemical exposure at the workplace? Electrocorp offers industrial and commercial air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA that remove a wide range of air contaminants, including chemicals, vapors, odors, gases, particles, mold, bacteria and viruses. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Schools receive grants to limit pesticide exposure

Integrated pest management practices are shown to reduce pesticide use

Children are vulnerable to chemical exposures, experts say.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March announced three grants to facilitate integrated pest management practices in schools.

This funding will help reduce student’s exposure to pests and pesticides in the nation’s schools, while saving money, energy and pesticide treatment costs.

“Children are among the most vulnerable members of our society, and it’s EPA’s job to protect them from harmful chemicals,” said James Jones, Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

“We aim to help schools implement sustainable pest management practices to create a healthier environment for our children and teachers.”

Integrated Pest Management (IPM) reduces pesticide use, helps to eliminate pests and saves schools money.

For example, 18 schools in Monroe County, Indiana have reduced both pesticide use and pest control costs by 90 percent using IPM practices.

This approach has the potential to reach all 15,000 school districts and improve the health and well-being of the 49 million children attending public and tribal schools in the United States.

IPM measures help prevent pests from becoming a threat by taking action to address the underlying causes that enable pests to thrive in schools.

These actions, such as repairing water leaks, adding weather stripping to windows, and installing door sweeps, reduce pesticide use and treatment costs while reducing water and energy costs.

The IPM common-sense approach is a stark contrast to conventional pest management in which an exterminator uses pesticides school-wide on a regular schedule, potentially exposing school children, teachers and staff to pesticides, with little emphasis on removing the underlying conditions that make it inviting to pests.

The three grants will be awarded to:

• TheTexas A&M Agrilife Extension to develop a central, internet-based hub for materials and phone apps that will give school districts the information and tools they need to adopt an IPM program. While the project aims to reach 1 percent of schools (552,350 students) within three years, it has the potential to reach all of the 15,000 school districts nation-wide and the 49 million children attending US public schools.
• The University of Arizona to develop and carry out a pilot training and certification program for school staff (custodians, kitchen staff, and school administrators) in eight states and four tribes, working with five other universities and stakeholders. Once finalized, the materials will be made available to schools nation-wide through partners.
• The Michigan State University to help 5 percent of Michigan and Indiana schools adopt IPM through hands-on education, training and coalition-building, including web-based trainings and a website. About 135,000 children may be protected.

Source: EPA

Poor indoor air quality in schools may affect students, teachers and staff alike. Provide healthier and better air in schools with an industrial-strength air purifier from Electrocorp. The air cleaners for schools and universities feature an effective activated carbon plus HEPA air filter combo, which can remove airborne chemicals, fumes, odors, particles, allergens, dust, bacteria, viruses and mold. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Silica dust regulations spark outrage

Exposure rules provoke row with senators

Construction workers are often exposed to
silica dust, which is linked to lung disease.

Crystalline silica dust released during construction work can cause serious lung damage.

Senate accusations of prejudice have forced a US government agency to defend its actions over a proposed tightening of regulations concerning industrial workers’ exposure to deadly silica dust.

The row blew up late last year when the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) began a public consultation on setting new limits for working with the dust, which is a major hazard for construction workers, causing serious lung disease.

The agency ruffled feathers in the Senate when it asked that those submitting evidence should declare their funding sources.

Last November, a group of 16 senators wrote an open letter to OSHA criticizing the move for its implication that the agency might prejudge submissions. The consultation period closed on 11 February, and OSHA is now vigorously defending its request.

“What I’m doing here is essentially saying the information that we will base our standard on has to be of the highest integrity, and we have to do it in a transparent manner, and conflict-of interest disclosure is an important component of both of those,” David Michaels, the head of OSHA, told Nature.

“It would be surprising right now if a scientific journal didn’t ask for that information.”

Produced by tasks such as grinding concrete and sandblasting, used in the construction and other industries, crystalline silica dust can cause silicosis — an incurable disease involving inflammation of the lungs — and lung cancer.

The dust is thought to kill or disable thousands of people in the United States every year, but guidelines on working with it have not been updated for more than 40 years.

“Our current standard is antiquated,” says Michaels. “There are literally millions of workers in the United States who are exposed to dangerous levels of silica.”

The present rules generally advise limiting exposure to roughly 100 micrograms of crystalline silica per cubic metre of air, averaged over 8 hours. OSHA has proposed halving this limit.

Workers would also have to be better protected, for example by dust being ‘wetted down’ and with the use of extraction fans.

OSHA estimates that the new regulations will cost about US$640 million a year, with employers picking up most of the tab, but the agency believes that the rules will save up to 700 lives a year. US standards are also influential in other countries, some note, potentially saving many more workers’ lives.

The proposals were published in the Federal Register last September, at the start of the consultation period.

The Associated General Contractors of America, an industry group based in Arlington, Virginia, called the proposals “significantly flawed” and “rife with errors and inaccurate data”.

And shortly after they were published, the group of senators, led by Lamar Alexander (Republican, Tennessee), a senior member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, wrote to OSHA saying that they were “very concerned about OSHA’s attempt to have commenters disclose their financial backers”.

They added that the request “raises questions” about whether OSHA would prejudge submissions on the basis of who was sending them.

There is also support for the new silica standard. Tee Guidotti, a physician in Washington DC and a member of the American Thoracic Society’s Environmental Health Policy Committee, says that the scientific case for the proposed limit is “close to being bulletproof”.

He adds that, if it is successful, it could provide a template for how OSHA deals with similar hazards, such as dust and radon.

The viewpoints contained in the 1,600 or so comments received through the consultation will be discussed in public hearings starting on 18 March. It will probably be several years before a final rule is enacted.

Source: Nature

Concerned about silica dust or other fine particles and fumes at the workplace? Electrocorp offers industrial and commercial air cleaners for chemical and particle control that can help provide cleaner and more breathable air at work. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Store clerks exposed to BPA through receipts

Study shows chemical is absorbed through skin

BPA has been linked to a number of
potential health problems.

Store and ATM receipts may be adding to the exposure of people to the chemical bisphenol A (BPA), a new study from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has found.

The study, published Tuesday in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests the chemical, used as a coating on thermal receipt paper, can be absorbed through the skin.

The finding is important because scientists previously believed BPA’s primary path into the human body was by eating or drinking food packaged in cans lined with or plastic bottles manufactured with BPA.

The federal Food and Drug Administration says hundreds of studies have concluded that BPA is safe at the low levels that occur in some foods, although the agency is continuing its review of and research into the chemical.

BPA is used in the production of polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins. In humans, BPA can interfere with the production, secretion, function and elimination of hormones.

It’s linked to a number of potential health problems in animals and humans, including obesity, impaired neurological development in children and lowered reproductive function. A 2009 University of Cincinnati study concluded that BPA could be harmful to the heart, especially for women.

Exposures faced by store clerks, who spend their days repeatedly touching BPA-laden receipts, are likely to be higher than people who only occasionally handle receipts. The study, which was designed to simulate what clerks do, also shows that gloves would shield clerks from any additional exposure.

Researchers at Cincinnati Children’s recruited 24 volunteers in 2011 to study the effects of the receipts. “We tried to simulate what a clerk does” all day long in dealing with customers and handling receipts, said Dr. Shelley Ehrlich, a obstetrician/gynecologist trained as an environmental and perinatal epidemiologist and author of the study.

Ehrlich, who works in Cincinnati Children’s division of biostatistics and epidemiology and also is an assistant professor at UC’s department of environmental health, said the researchers measured the levels of BPA in the volunteers’ urine.

Roughly four in five of the participants had BPA in the blood before the trial; once they had handled receipts, all of the volunteers showed levels of BPA. In addition, the volunteers’ levels of BPA continued to rise for eight hours once they had stopped handling the receipts.

The study’s goal was to point out how receipts can add to the total BPA exposure of the general population from a source “that may have been overlooked,” as well as revealing that clerks face higher levels of BPA because of their jobs, Ehrlich said.

Ehrlich noted that the study, funded by a grant from the Harvard School of Public Health/National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety’s Education and Research Center, should be followed by a larger scale study to confirm the findings and evaluate the clinical implications of chronic exposure to BPA.

A representative for the American Chemistry Council criticized the study for being “far too limited to determine if the handling of cash register receipt paper results in significant BPA exposure.”

But the spokesman for the industry trade group – Steven Hentges, who is a member of the council’s polycarbonate/BPA global group – said the study “does suggest that consumer exposures to BPA, including occasional contact with thermal paper receipts, are well below safe intake levels established by government regulators around the world.

“The BPA exposure levels measured in participants of this study appear to be even lower than the levels found to cause no adverse effects in recent comprehensive research conducted in FDA’s laboratory,” Hentges said in an e-mail statement.

Source: Cincinnati.com

Worried about chemical exposures at work or at home? Electrocorp offers industrial-strength air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA air filters that can remove airborne chemicals, odors, fumes, particles, dust, allergens, mold, bacteria, viruses and more. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Ban 'dry clean only' labels: Environmental groups

Dry cleaning chemicals have been linked
to health problems and pollution.

Environmental groups are pushing the Federal Trade Commission to do away with dry clean only labels.

Dry cleaners, the groups say, often use cleaning chemicals that are harmful to the environment and can pose health risks to workers and consumers.

They say labeling rules should be changed so that consumers are told their garments can also be cleaned by more green-friendly “wet cleaning.”

Professional wet cleaners, the green groups say, can safely wash most garments that would ordinarily be sent to a dry cleaners — such as cottons, wools, silks, leathers and suedes — without emitting the same levels of air pollution or contaminating the water.

The FTC is considering changes to the Care Labeling Rule that would allow clothing manufacturers to recommend professional wet cleaning as an alternative to dry cleaning. Environmental groups want to require labels to say clothing can be wet cleaned.

The FTC, which first proposed the rule in July 2011, will hold a public roundtable on March 28 to discuss the potential new standards with stakeholders.

But the FTC wants to make sure that consumers have access to professional wet cleaning shops before it recommends such a rule. The service is relatively new and still growing in certain parts of the country.

Professional wet cleaners and even many dry cleaners are on board with the rule, because they say it will give them more options to wash clothes.

More and more dry cleaners offer both traditional dry cleaning and professional wet cleaning services, but they say consumers tend to prefer dry cleaning, because that is the method that is recommended on the labels of their clothes.

Clothing manufacturers also favor the rule, because it would facilitate international trade.

The public roundtable will discuss the cost of requiring wet cleaning instruction labels, what content should be provided on those labels, the availability of wet cleaning services and consumer awareness of wet cleaning.

Source: The Hill

Dry cleaners work with many chemicals that have been linked to health risks, including TCE. Electrocorp offers versatile air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA air filters to remove toxic chemicals, odors and particles from the ambient air. 

Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Nursing homes benefit from telemedicine

Telemedicine can reduce hospitalizations

Telemedicine used at nursing homes during hours when doctors are not typically present is a viable way to reduce avoidable hospitalizations, according to research published in February's issue of Health Affairs.

Commitment to telemedicine can save
a lot of money at nursing homes.

Hospitalizations of nursing home residents are occurring more frequently, and result in complications, morbidity and expensive Medicare costs.

When a medical issue arises on nights and weekends that cannot be addressed by the on-call physician not present at the facility, the doctor can either travel to the nursing home or recommend that the resident be sent to the hospital emergency room.

Very often, the physician recommends the hospital emergency room.

Researchers David C. Grabowski of Harvard Medical School and A. James O'Malley of The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice at the Geisel School of Medicine designed a study to determine whether nursing home residents who receive off-hour physician coverage by telemedicine experience a lower rate of hospitalizations, thereby generating savings to Medicare in excess of the costs of the telemedicine program.

They studied a Massachusetts for-profit nursing home chain, which had signed a contract with a telemedicine provider to introduce service in 11 nursing homes to cover urgent or emergent calls on weeknights and weekends.

The telemedicine service consisted of two-way video conferencing with a high-resolution camera, allowing nursing home residents to be examined remotely by a physician. For the period of October 2009 through September 2011, the nursing home chain staggered its telemedicine introduction. Six of the 11 nursing homes in the chain were randomized to initiate the telemedicine service while the five remaining nursing homes served as the control group.

The researchers found that four of the six treatment facilities were responsible for most of the telemedicine calls. Across all calls, the rate of hospitalizations declined 5.3 percent for the control group and 9.7 percent for the treatment group. This effect was largely concentrated in the four "more engaged" nursing homes, whose rate of hospitalization declined 11.3 percent.

"We did not observe a statistically significant effect of the telemedicine intervention on hospitalizations," the researchers wrote.

However, when they compared the four more-engaged nursing homes with the two less-engaged ones, they found a significant decline in the hospitalization rate at the more engaged facilities. A secondary finding of the analysis is that the hospitalization rate for non-engaged intervention facilities was very close to that of the control facilities.

"According to these estimates, a nursing home that typically had 180 hospitalizations per year and that was more engaged with telemedicine could expect to see a statistically significant reduction of about 15.1 hospitalizations per year" than a facility that was less engaged, the researchers said. The average Medicare savings would be roughly $150,000 per nursing home per year.

The annual cost of the telemedicine service in this study was $30,000 per nursing home, implying a net savings of roughly $120,000 per nursing home per year in the more engaged facilities, the researchers said.

The researchers say engagement is the key to the use of telemedicine preventing hospitalizations. Simply making it available does not guarantee its use by nursing home staff. Telemedicine providers and nursing home leaders will have to take additional steps to encourage buy-in among nursing home administrators, front-line staff members, and physicians.

Additional research will be needed to test models that encourage stronger engagement on the part of providers, as well as examine the implications of new policies that incentivize increased adoption, they said.

Source: The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy & Clinical Practice 

Seniors are often affected by poor indoor air quality, which includes toxic chemicals, odors, allergens, asthmagens, bacteria, viruses, mold and other contaminants. Electrocorp offers industrial-strength air cleaners with the right air filters to remove these types of indoor air pollutants. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation.

Chemical exposure and brain development: Researchers set to study effects

EPA awards more than $3 million to researchers

The goal of the studies is to improve
chemical safety: EPA

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced over $3 million in grants to research institutions to better understand how chemicals interact with biological processes and how these interactions may lead to altered brain development.

The studies are focused on improving EPA’s ability to predict the potential health effects of chemical exposures.

“This research will transform our understanding of how exposure to chemicals during sensitive lifestages affects the development of the brain,” said Lek Kadeli, acting assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Research and Development.

“By better predicting whether chemicals have the potential to impact health and human development, these grants will not only advance the science necessary to improve chemical safety but protect the well being and futures of children in this nation.”

These grants focus on developing better adverse outcome pathways (AOPs), which are models that predict the connection between exposures and the chain of events that lead to an unwanted health effect.

AOPs combine vast amounts of data from different sources to depict the complex interactions of chemicals with biological processes, and then extend this information to explain an adverse health effect.

EPA expects to use the knowledge gained from this research to develop efficient and cost-effective models to better predict if and how exposure to environmental chemicals may lead to developmental neurotoxicity.

Recipients of EPA’s funding for developmental neurotoxicity adverse outcome pathway research include:

1. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, N.C.
2. The University of Georgia, Athens, Ga.
3. University of California, Davis, Calif.
4. Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, La Jolla, Calif.

These awards are advancing the science and technological capability to model and predict how chemicals behave when they come into contact with biological systems.

This improved understanding supports the Agency’s mission of protecting human health and the environment and amplifies the impact of its chemical safety research efforts.

EPA’s chemical safety research is accelerating the pace of chemical screening, helping to protect vulnerable populations and species, developing solutions for more sustainable chemicals and using computational science to understand the relationship between chemical exposures and health outcomes.

Source: EPA

Are you working with hazardous chemicals and worry how it may affect you and your family? Employers are required to protect workers from chemical hazards with adequate source control, protective equipment, education, ventilation and air cleaning measures. Electrcocorp offers reliable and efficient industrial air cleaners with activated carbon and HEPA to remove hazardous chemicals, fumes, odors and particles from the ambient air. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Schools need to protect students and staff from radon

This January,U.S. EPA encourages you to test your school facilities for radon

Children may be exposed to radon
at school.

Radon — a colorless, odorless, radioactive gas — is one of the most hazardous indoor pollutants.

It is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers. And it might be affecting your children.

Without proper mitigation, radon can enter school facilities from the soil through cracks and openings in building foundations.

Thousands of classrooms nationwide have radon levels above EPA's action level of 4 pCi/l (picocuries per liter), exposing occupants to this serious health risk. The only way to determine if your school building has elevated radon levels is to test.

Using the Framework for Effective School IAQ Management: Key Drivers can help you address radon risk as part of a comprehensive IAQ management program:

• Organize: Develop a systematic approach by using the IAQ Tools for Schools Action Kit to tie your goals for radon testing to your overarching IAQ, health and environmental program goals. Establish a multidisciplinary team to plan for radon testing and mitigation, and develop district-wide radon management procedures.

• Communicate: Include radon awareness as part of your overall IAQ management training and education efforts. Share your testing results, mitigation plans and follow-up testing plans. In cases of elevated radon levels, ensure that your mitigation plan is in place so you can communicate those plans to parents and staff.

• Assess: Perform radon testing in conjunction with your regular IAQ walkthroughs. If elevated radon levels are found, survey your building for potential radon entry points and mitigate.

• Plan: Working with your IAQ team, identify your action steps and set a schedule for your testing plan. Determine what type of test kits to use and which rooms will be tested. Your state radon program can help identify next steps and offer other guidance throughout the process of testing and mitigation.

• Act: Test according to your IAQ management plan. EPA suggests initial short-term testing in all frequently-occupied, ground contact rooms. Attend radon training to learn about radon and how to effectively test, mitigate and maintain radon reduction. Empower maintenance and facilities staff to become radon champions, school district staff will likely refer to them for answers about the testing plan and mitigation actions.

• Evaluate: Determine additional testing needs and follow-up. Schedule re-testing after all major renovations, and consider how HVAC modifications or upgrades may affect radon intrusion.

Learn more about radon testing and mitigation in your school district by visiting EPA's radon home page, or contact your state radon office for local information about radon, and for state-specific recommendations for testing and mitigation.

Source: EPA

For better indoor air quality at work and at home, use a high-quality air cleaner with activated carbon + HEPA (and optional UV) for the best all-around protection. Electrocorp offers industrial and commercial air cleaners of all sizes and shapes for workplaces large and small. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Asbestos ruling sides with company

Judge cuts company's liability by more than $1 billion

The judgment affect current and future
victims of asbestos-related diseases.

A federal judge in Charlotte has delivered a startling victory for industries that are part of the country’s long-running asbestos-liability fight, cutting more than $1 billion from what a company owes to current and future victims.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge George Hodges accepted the $125 million figure proposed by Garlock Sealing Technologies, a Palmyra, N.Y., subsidiary of EnPro Industries of Charlotte.

The amount covers claims for mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer of the lining of the lungs and one of a host of diseases linked to asbestos. Attorneys representing current and future mesothelioma victims had asked the court to set liability at $1.3 billion.

But in his 65-page order Friday, Hodges said the attorneys’ dollar figure did not fairly reflect Garlock’s liability. He accused asbestos lawyers and clients of withholding or manipulating evidence, as well as relying on “pseudoscience” to pump up the size of asbestos settlements and jury awards.

In regards to Garlock, Hodges said plaintiff attorneys withheld evidence about their clients’ exposure to company products, “unfairly inflating the recoveries against Garlock” for the decade leading up to the company’s bankruptcy filing.

According to the U.S. Chamber Institute for Legal Reform, an industry advocacy group, Hodges’ ruling marked the first time in more than 80 asbestos bankruptcies stretching back for more than 30 years that a judge refused to accept the plaintiffs’ estimate for future claims.

In his ruling, Hodges said previous settlements were not an appropriate measurement because they had been inflated by what he called “the impropriety of some law firms.”

Garlock, which makes seals and gaskets for a host of industries, has been a target of asbestos related lawsuits for some 40 years. It filed for Chapter 11 protection in 2010, one of dozens of otherwise solvent businesses that turned to the courts for help in settling thousands of claims of asbestos poisoning.

Asbestos is at the center of the country’s longest running liability case. And Garlock was among the last industrial targets to seek bankruptcy protection. This summer, attorneys from across the country gathered in Hodges’ courtroom for a 17-day trial to argue Garlock’s liability.

Up until the mid-1980s, asbestos was widely used in insulation and as a fire retardant. But its tiny, jagged particles can lodge in the linings of the lungs and other organs, causing cells to mutate.

Companies have been accused of knowing the risks of asbestos for decades but concealing them from their employees. One well-known Texas anti-asbestos attorney told the Wall Street Journal last year that his clients are victims of the “worst corporate mass genocide in history.”

But in his ruling, Hodges accepted company arguments that Garlock’s liability is highly limited, concluding that the concentrations of asbestos in company products are small and mostly made up of a less dangerous form of the fibers.

The article has been edited for length. 

Source: Charlotte Observer

Are you concerned about asbestos exposure at work or at home? Professional remediation and appropriate protection is always paramount, but a high-quality air purifier with carbon and HEPA also helps to provide cleaner and healthier air. Electrocorp's air cleaners for commercial and industrial applications feature many pounds of activated carbon for the removal of airborne chemicals, odors and gases as well as the best HEPA filters to remove particles, fibers, dust and more. Contact Electrocorp for more information and a free consultation. 

How to make nail salons healthier for workers and clients

Chemicals like toluene or formaldehyde in nail products have
been linked to serious health problems, experts say.

Nail salons are where women turn for pampering and polish. But under the luxurious veneer, salons aren't always healthy places to be.

Authorities are beginning to notice the serious health risks associated with nail products and they are starting to act.

Last year, Alameda County's Department of Environmental Health began a Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program to push its roughly 350 salons, which employ 1,000 manicurists, to adopt healthier practices. San Francisco was the first city in the nation to launch such a program in 2012, and Santa Monica followed in July.

Alameda County publicly honored Leann's Nails and six other salons last month for becoming certified in its program. Requirements include installing proper ventilation and ensuring employees wear gloves. Salons also must significantly limit their use of products with chemicals that are health hazards.

"These people are working with these materials constantly," said Pamela Evans, the coordinator of Alameda County's nail salon program. "They're being used right in very close proximity to people's breathing zones."

Losing the 'toxic trio'

The polishes in Leann's Nails come in every hue, from turquoise to fuchsia, but a sign makes it clear that they do not contain what health officials refer to as the "toxic trio": dibutyl phthalate, toluene and formaldehyde.

Exposure to these compounds can result in headaches, dizziness and irritations in the eyes, skin, nose and throat. It can also lead to more severe, long-term problems.

Dibutyl phthalate, which gives polishes flexibility and a moisturizing sheen, is linked to developmental problems in animals. Toluene, which is used to create a smooth look in polishes, can cause damage to the liver and kidneys and harm unborn children during pregnancy. And formaldehyde, which hardens polish, is a carcinogen.

Those are just the polishes. Businesses that join the county's Healthy Nail Salon Recognition Program also must stay away from polish removers with butyl acetate, methyl acetate and ethyl acetate, which collectively can cause drowsiness and irritate the eyes, skin and other parts of the body.

Finally, salons must not use thinners - which remove thick clumps from polish - that contain toluene or methyl ethyl ketone, which is associated with upset stomachs, headaches and loss of appetite.

Environment regulators and consumer advocates have long been trying to limit these exposures.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires employers to evaluate workers' exposure to dust and chemical vapors, and, if the levels are a health risk, provide workers with respiratory gear for protection.

Most work in a nail salon will not require respiratory protection if proper ventilation and safe work practices are in place, according to the agency.

Misleading claims

But it can be difficult to properly evaluate chemical exposures, especially because some nail products that claim to be free of the "toxic trio" in fact contain one or more of the hazardous chemicals, according to a 2012 analysis of 25 randomly selected products by the state's Department of Toxic Substances Control.

Symptoms can also worsen when they go unreported, as is often the case among the thousands of Vietnamese women employed in salons, said Julia Liou, co-founder of the California Healthy Nail Salon Collaborative, a health advocacy group.

Of California's estimated 300,000 licensed nail technicians, about 80 percent are of Vietnamese descent, Liou said. Many do not speak English well, feel uncomfortable complaining to management and are of child-bearing age, when reproductive poisons can be particularly harmful.

"Workers often feel very powerless to invoke their rights to have a healthy workplace," said Liou, who is also director of program planning and development at Asian Health Services, an Oakland community health center.

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Remove dangerous chemicals in hair and nail salons

An well designed, industrial-strength air purifier can help remove the toxic fumes and odors that may affect the workers and clients at salons and spas.

Electrocorp offers air cleaners that were specifically designed for hair and nail salons, with a deep-bed activated carbon and HEPA filter as well as source capture attachments for the best protection.

Contact Electrocorp today and ask about customizable air purifiers for nail salons and spas, such as the CleanBreeze 2 or the CleanBreeze 3.