Builders oppose OSHA's proposed silica rule

The proposed rule for silica would be
too expensive, builders say.

In a classic tug-of-war between keeping contractors safe on the job and the cost of that safety, builders are battling the Occupational Safety and Health Administration over its proposed standards for silica.

Crystalline silica is found in soil, sand, granite, quartz, and other natural substances that contractors work with.

When blasted, cut, or drilled, those stones and minerals produce dust that workers can inhale.

Long-term exposure can lead to respiratory problems and silicosis, a chronic lung disease.

OSHA’s plan to require more aggressive protection has been in limbo since the agency introduced it in September 2013.

After multiple extensions, the proposed rule had one of the longest public comment periods in OSHA’s history.

Although the comment period is closed, the Construction Industry Safety Coalition, a consortium of 25 trade associations, sent a report to OSHA last week saying the agency’s proposed requirements for lowering the exposure to silica on job sites could cost the industry billions of dollars more than the government has projected.

In an accompanying letter to Assistant Labor Secretary David Michaels, a lawyer for the Coalition called the proposed rule “potentially… the most expensive OSHA standard ever for the construction industry.”

The government’s case

Both sides agree that contractors working in mining, quarrying, road construction, with cement or flint, and in sand blasting and glass industries are most likely to be at risk.

But they disagree about the best way to mitigate that risk.

OSHA’s proposed construction standard would require employers to measure the amount of silica that workers are exposed to, during an eight-hour work day, to see if it could exceed a level acceptable to OSHA (25 micrograms of silica per cubic meter of air). If the exposure measures more than 50 micrograms, the company must protect workers.

In addition, the proposed rule would require construction firms to limit workers’ access to high-exposure areas; use dust controls to protect workers from inhaling higher-than-acceptable amounts of the powder; supply respirators when those dust controls aren’t enough to limit a worker’s exposure; and offer medical exams, including chest X-rays and lung function tests, every three years to workers who are exposed to high levels of silica for 30 or more days a year.

The rule would also mandate more employee training and careful record-keeping that documents workers’ exposure and medical exams.

At a congressional hearing in mid-March, Labor Secretary Thomas Perez defended the upcoming standard.

“We’re trying to save lives here, and exposure to silica kills,” Perez told the House Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

House Republicans questioned the need for the rule, suggesting that OSHA do a better job of enforcing its existing standard. Compliance with the current rule is 70%.

The builders’ response

Builders and trades involved in commercial, residential, road, and heavy industrial construction have partnered to oppose the proposed rule. They back a Construction Industry Safety Coalition request for OSHA to withdraw its planned new standard and instead bolster enforcement of the existing rule.

The cross-sector Coalition claims that the proposed silica standards will cost the industry $5 billion per year—a whopping $4.5 billion more than OSHA has estimated.

“We are deeply concerned about the misguided assumptions and cost and impact errors that OSHA has relied upon in creating this proposed rule that will significantly affect our industry,” Tom Woods, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders, said in a press release.

Woods asked OSHA to put its proposal aside and instead work with the industry on a compromise that is “technologically and economically feasible [and] also works to improve industry workers’ health and safety.”

The Coalition claims OSHA’s cost estimates reflect “a fundamental misunderstanding of the construction industry.”

The Coalition’s report estimates that 80% of the cost of complying with the proposed rule will come from paying for additional equipment, labor, and record-keeping.

The remaining 20% will result from increased prices for materials like concrete, glass, roofing shingles, tile, paint, and countertops, as manufacturers pass their compliance costs on to builders.

In addition, the industry has predicted that the proposed rule will lead to the loss of more than 33,000 full-time jobs among contractors, equipment suppliers, and building products manufacturers, and another 20,000 economy-wide when laid-off construction and supplier workers no longer have earnings to spend.

Add in part-time and seasonal jobs, and the number soars to 80,000 lost positions, the Coalition’s report says.

Source: Construction Dive

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NY hair salon fired employee who warned others of formaldehyde threat

A receptionist wanted to make her
colleagues aware of health hazards
connected to hair salon products.

NEW YORK – All a receptionist at Salon Zoë hair salon wanted to do was make her fellow employees aware of health hazards associated with products containing formaldehyde that were regularly used by haircutters and stylists at the business in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.

Her employer responded by firing her.

As a result, the U.S. Department of Labor is suing the business and its owner, Kristina Veljovic, for discrimination, and seeking redress and compensation for the worker who exercised her rights under the Occupational Safety and Health Act.

"This firing was illegal and inexcusable," said Robert Kulick, regional administrator in New York for the Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration.

"It's against the law to fire or otherwise retaliate against an employee for informing colleagues about possible health hazards in their place of employment. Such behavior not only intimidates workers, it also can deny them access to knowledge that will protect them against workplace hazards."

The suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York says the worker began to experience respiratory distress in December 2011, including difficulty breathing and an impaired sense of smell. She sought medical attention on multiple occasions over the next several months.

During this period, she also told her employer that she believed the salon's hair-straightening products, which contain formaldehyde, were causing her health problems.

On June 27, 2012, she informed fellow employees of the presence of formaldehyde in the salon's products and provided several co-workers with copies of an OSHA fact sheet* detailing the dangers of formaldehyde exposure.

Two days later, Kristina Veljovic terminated her employment. In July 2012, a physician confirmed that the worker's respiratory distress resulted from her formaldehyde exposure at work.

She subsequently filed an anti-discrimination complaint with OSHA, which investigated and found merit to her complaint.

"No employee should be fired for raising awareness of a potential workplace health hazard," said Jeffrey Rogoff, the regional Solicitor of Labor in New York.

"Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, the Labor Department has the authority to file suit against employers who retaliate against employees and it will do so when the case warrants. This is clearly one of those cases."

The department's lawsuit asks the court to affirm the discrimination charge and permanently prohibit the defendants from illegally retaliating against employees in the future.

It also seeks payment of lost wages as well as compensatory, punitive and emotional distress damages to the employee, an offer of reinstatement with full benefits and seniority and the removal of all references to the matter in the worker's employment records.

It would also require the employer to prominently post a notice that she will not discriminate against employees.

In a related action, OSHA's Tarrytown Area Office conducted an inspection of Salon Zoe and cited the company in December 2012 for lack of a chemical hazard communication program and for not providing the salon's employees with information and training on formaldehyde and other hazardous chemicals.

OSHA enforces the whistleblower* provisions of the OSH Act and 21 other statutes protecting employees who report violations of various airline, commercial motor carrier, consumer product, environmental, financial reform, food safety, health care reform, nuclear, pipeline, worker safety, public transportation agency, maritime and securities laws.

Employers are prohibited from retaliating against employees who raise various protected concerns or provide protected information to the employer or to the government.

Employees who believe that they have been retaliated against for engaging in protected conduct may file a complaint with the secretary of labor to request an investigation by OSHA's Whistleblower Protection Program. Detailed information on employee whistleblower rights, including fact sheets, is available here.

Under the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, employers are responsible for providing safe and healthful workplaces for their employees. OSHA's role is to ensure these conditions for America's working men and women by setting and enforcing standards, and providing training, education and assistance.

Source: OSHA

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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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Wildfires lead to costly health problems

Wildfire air pollution worsens respiratory and cardiac
health issues for people far away, scientists warn.

There are plenty of immediate concerns in a fire: protecting homes and businesses, saving lives, limiting the number of acres consumed and so on.

But increasingly, researchers and policymakers are finding that the lingering health and safety impacts of wildfires may be far more worrisome – and more widespread.

Smoke, after all, can travel any way the wind takes it, exacerbating an array of health problems in cities hundreds of miles from the original fire. In 2002, for example, a fire in Canada caused a 30-fold increase in fine particulate matter in the air in Baltimore, 1,000 miles away.

According to Kim Knowlton, a senior scientist with the health and environment program at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), that level of air pollution can contribute to a variety of respiratory and cardiac issues and has even been correlated with premature death and low birth weights.

In a 2011 study, conducted in partnership with researchers at the University of California at Berkeley and the University of California at San Francisco, Knowlton found that more than 760,000 encounters with the health system between 2000 and 2009 could be attributed to exposure to wildfire smoke.

These health problems carried a steep price tag: $740,000 in direct healthcare costs and more than $14bn in overall health costs once the value of lives lost prematurely was factored in.

The 2003 wildfire season in southern California alone resulted in 69 premature deaths, 778 hospitalizations, 1,431 emergency room visits, and 47,605 outpatient visits, mostly for respiratory and cardiovascular health problems aggravated by smoke exposure.

A brewing health crisis

Scientists fear that, as climate change intensifies, the conditions that make wildfires likely – namely heat, drought, and shifting weather patterns – are becoming increasingly common, laying the foundation for more wildfires and a major public health crisis.

In fact, there is evidence to suggest that we may already be in the midst of one: a 2011 brief from the NRDC found that two-thirds of US citizens live in counties affected by smoke conditions.

In its most recent report, the National Climate Assessment addressed the potential costs and risks of wildfire-related health concerns, noting that smoke from a fire could contribute to health impacts in regions far from the original disaster.

Moreover, the report argued, particulate matter from wildfire-related smoke could affect atmospheric properties and thus weather patterns.

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, NIEHS, has also addressed this side of the wildfire issue.

For the past five years, it has taken a particular interest in research that examines climate change-related health impacts on vulnerable populations, and in 2010 launched dedicated funding for this research. The first of those grants began in 2011, including a project at Yale that aims to pinpoint which populations are most vulnerable to the health impacts of forest fires under a changing climate.

Still more research attempts to quantify the financial impact of wildfires. The 2008 fire season led to almost $2.2m in hospital costs in the Reno-Sparks area of Nevada, while the 78,000 wildfires in California between 1999 and 2013 burned approximately 3.8m acres and incurred more than $4bn in suppression costs, a recent Union of Concerned Scientists study reports.

And these impacts are likely to increase. In a Harvard University study on the effects of wildfires on US air quality, researcher Xu Yue estimates that by the middle of this century wildfires will have increased the amount of fine particulate matter in the air from 46% to 70%, and the amount of black carbon from 20% to 27%, relative to today’s numbers.

Not only are respiratory and cardiac issues expected to rise, but also, in a seemingly endless and vicious loop, the particulate matter and other chemicals contained in wildfire-smoke will further exacerbate climate change.

A 2010 study from the National Center for Atmospheric Research and the University of Colorado at Boulder estimates that wildfires in the contiguous US and Alaska release about 290m metric tons of CO2 a year, which is the equivalent of 4%-6% of the nation’s CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Learning to live with fire

The Clean Air Act has gone a long way toward reducing the amount of particulate matter and other pollutants emitted into the air by companies.

However, the act doesn’t cover air pollution caused by wildfires, and the combination of climate change and continued development in fire-prone areas could negate much of the improvement that it has brought about.

In a recent research brief, the Nasa Air Quality Applied Sciences Team alluded to this problem. It began by pointing out that US air quality has vastly improved in recent years: “Eight-hour averages of surface ozone (O3) have declined by nearly 20% since 1990, while 24-hour averages of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) have dropped by 25%.”

The report then noted, however, that these improvements are vulnerable to atmospheric disturbances: “Unusual weather can interrupt that trend, as was seen in the hot dry summer of 2012, when Chicago and St Louis experienced double the average number of O3 episodes from the previous four years.”

Given the difficulty of regulating fire-related air pollution, state and local agencies have focused instead on better communicating health risks to the public, creating early-warning systems, and integrating wildfire risks into climate adaptation plans.

That means looking at everything from land-use management and development permits to forest management in an effort to minimize the impacts of wildfires in the future.

Even shifting the time of year that fire departments conduct controlled burns could have an impact; recent research has shown that extreme heat exacerbates the health impacts of fires, and thus recommends that controlled burns happen in the spring.

Source: The Guardian

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More wildfires may mean poorer air quality

An increase in wildfires can affect human
health and respiratory conditions.

As the American West, parched by prolonged drought, braces for a season of potentially record-breaking wildfires, new research suggests these events not only pose an immediate threat to people's safety and their homes, but also could take a toll on human health, agriculture and ecosystems.

The study, appearing in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology, could help societies map out a plan to mitigate these effects in wildfire-prone regions.

Matthew D. Hurteau and colleagues point out that wildfires naturally occur in many areas around the globe.
In response, human societies have harnessed the power of fire to better control wild blazes and minimize damage. But climate change also can impact the number and severity of wildfires.

Understanding how these factors influence each other is crucial so that people can better prepare for the future and perhaps lessen the effects of the blazes.

Previous studies have estimated the effect of climate change and population growth on wildfire patterns and the risk of damage to buildings and homes in California. Hurteau's team wanted to expand on those findings and investigate six possible future climate scenarios.

Using several different models, they estimated that by 2100, emissions from wildfires in California will grow by 19 to 101 percent. They found that climate, not population growth or development, will likely be the driving force behind these increases.

However, a rise in wildfires still will mean significant societal challenges, such as higher pollution levels, which can affect human health and aggravate respiratory conditions. Poor air quality also can lower crop yield, and forest health could suffer.

Source: American Chemical Society via AAAS

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New ways to detect diseases that are linked to polluted air

More diseases from air pollution uncovered by improved data material

Breathing polluted indoor air can
make us sick, studies show.

Good health and personal registers in combination with model calculations of air pollution down to an individual address has helped Danish researchers to become among the very best in the world to detect harmful diseases deriving from polluted air

At rest, we breathe approx. 12-15 times per minute, and for each inhalation we change approx. one litre of air. Depending on the activity level, this makes up a daily quantity in the order of twenty cubic metres of air that - with its content of pollution in the form of particles and different gases - can make us ill depending on how polluted the air is.

Asthma attacks, wheezing, cardiovascular diseases and lung cancer are some of the more glaring examples of diseases we - in worst case - can get from the domestic air.

The list of injuries due to air pollution in Denmark is long. This appears from a brand new article that professor Ole Hertel from Aarhus University, has written with a number of Danish colleagues at University of Copenhagen, the Danish Cancer Society and Aarhus University.

"So the list of diseases detected in Denmark is long, but it does not mean that we have the world's most polluted air. This is to be found in Asia, Africa and South America. Here, you typically find a yearly mean value of the particle pollution (PM10) of 50-200 micrograms per cubic metres of air, while the content in Copenhagen and other Western European Megacities typically is at a lower level - about 20-50 micrograms per cubic metre. But even in a "moderately polluted" air as we call it in Danish towns and cities, we find many serious injuries which come from the air that we breathe every day," explains Ole Hertel.

Studies on polluted air and health effects

In the article "Utilizing Monitoring Data and Spatial Analysis Tools for Exposure Assessment of Atmospheric Pollutants in Denmark", Ole Hertel and his colleagues review the Danish experiences in combining measurements and models.

By combining measurements on relatively few but well-chosen places with advanced models for spreading of air pollution, the researchers can calculate the air pollution down to the individual addresses.

Hertel and Co. review a number of Danish studies of the coherence between air pollution and injuries to health.

A total of nine short-term studies have been published in Denmark, where researchers have demonstrated respiratory and cardiovascular diseases after episodes with increased air pollution, etc.

Similarly, eleven studies demonstrate long-term injuries due to air pollution, e.g. lung cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and mortality.

Improved information, surprising results

The scientists' ability to detect a wide range if different types of damages of the Danes' health is due to the fact that Danish researchers represent some of the very best to demonstrate illnesses caused by air pollution on human health.

This is obvious when we look at the model for spreading of air pollution, OSPM, which was developed by Danes and is now used in approx. twenty countries. This is also why Ole Hertel was invited to give an overview of the diseases detected to be a consequence of the air pollution in Denmark, first on a major international conference and afterwards in book form.

Ole Hertel points out one of the Danish results as particularly notable:

"It came as a surprise to me that the studies showed a connection between air pollution and diabetes. It is rather new information that air pollution can cause diabetes, and we are working on finding a biological explanation for this correlation. This is an example of the fact that our very detailed way of working in Denmark leads to precise results."

Source: AAAS


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Lung societies plead for better health care

Lung diseases affect many people
worldwide, experts say.

Experts from the world's leading lung organizations have come together to call for a worldwide effort to improve health-care policies and systems and care delivery to make a positive difference for the lung health of the world.

Produced by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS), the report has been launched on World COPD Day, Nov. 20, providing an overview of lung health across the globe.

Entitled Respiratory Diseases in the World: Realities of Today — Opportunities for Tomorrow, the report features five major disease areas that are of immediate and greatest concern. This includes COPD, which is the fourth-leading cause of death worldwide.

"This report aims to heighten awareness of lung disease throughout the world. We hope that this collaboration will help to shed light on the pervasiveness of these conditions and diseases and will be a call to action for health-care professionals, policy makers, patients, and advocates," said Michael H. Baumann, MD, MS, FCCP, President, American College of Chest Physicians.

Some of the key issues highlighted in this publication include the following:

• COPD affects more than 200 million people and is the fourth-leading cause of death in the world.
• Asthma affects about 235 million people worldwide, is one of the most frequent reasons for hospital admissions among children, and leads to approximately 180,000 deaths each year.
• Respiratory infections account for over 4 million deaths annually, disproportionately in children, and are the leading cause of death in low-income or middle-income countries.
• TB kills around 1.4 million people with about 8.7 million new cases of TB annually.
• Lung cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world, accounting for 13% of the total reported cancers and affecting over 1.6 million people annually.

Source: American College of Chest Physicians via Eurek!Alert

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Air pollution news: EU report finds emissions above UN standards

Air pollution can lead to respiratory
and other diseases as well as death.

Emissions of particulate pollution have fallen, but 88 percent of European urbanites receive exposure to levels above UN recommendations.

The European Environment Agency (EEA) emphasized microscopic specks of dust and soot in its annual report. Particulate matter (PM) measuring less than 10 microns, or 10 millionths of a meter, can lodge in airways. Still smaller particles, measuring under 2.5 microns across, can enter deep into the lungs and even cross over into the bloodstream.

"European citizens often breathe air that does not meet the European standards," the Copenhagen-based EEA has announced. "The current pollution levels clearly impact on large parts of the urban population."

PM emissions fell EU-wide between 2002 and 2011. However, 33 percent of urbanites live in areas where levels bust Europe's requirements for maximum exposure to PM10 - a benchmark measured on exposure averaged over 24 hours – and 22 countries exceeded the daily limit in 2011.

Pollution linked to death, illness and economic losses

The figure rises to 88 percent if measured under the far tougher, but nonbinding, guidelines for PM10 set by the UN's World Health Organization. Pollution results in deaths, ill health and economic losses linked to reduced crop yields, according to the EEA.

The EEA also reported that 98 percent of European urbanites lived in areas that were above UN guidelines for ozone, a molecule that, at ground level, is caused by a chemical reaction between sunlight and fossil-fuel emissions and is another irritant for the airways.

"Air pollution is causing damage to human health and ecosystems," EEA Executive Director Hans Bruyninckx said. "Large parts of the population do not live in a healthy environment, according to current standards."

A study published in The Lancet Respiratory Journal found that even low PM2.5 during pregnancy increases risk of low birth weight: less than 2.5 kilos (5.5 pounds) after 37 weeks of pregnancy and linked to respiratory problems in childhood and cognitive difficulties. The data come from 14 studies in 12 European countries involving 74,000 women.

High level emmissions of harmful particles owe partially to more diesel cars and a rise in wood burning as a cheap alternative to gas.

Source: Deutsche Welle

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A changing climate blamed for bigger wildfires

Changing climate leads to bigger, smokier wildfires

Bigger wildfires may become a bigger
threat to public health, experts warn.
Photo by Danilo Rizzuto/FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This year more than 4,000 wildfires burned almost a million acres across the Northwest. That falls below the 10-year average, as only one year in the last decade has had fewer fires than this year.

Scientists are quick to point out that no single fire season can be attributed to changes in the global climate, but as summers in the western half of the United States become drier and warmer, the chances of bigger, longer smokier fire seasons is expected to increase.

A recent Harvard University study has found that by 2050 the wildfire season for the western United States will be about three weeks longer and be up to twice as smoky because of changes connected to global warming. 

In the Pacific Northwest, the area burned during the month of August could increase by 65 percent.

Wildfires come with smoke and health effects

With larger, longer-lasting wildfires, air quality is projected to suffer. Based on the amount of on-the-ground biomass available to be burned, researchers expect to see wildfire smoke increase in the Northwest between 40-100 percent in the coming decades.

Wildfire smoke is made up of tiny organic and black carbon particles that are a fraction of the diameter of a human hair. These microscopic particles can travel deep into the lungs and even cross over into the bloodstream. 

Inhaling those fine particles isn’t good for anyone, not even healthy people. Smoke can irritate the eyes and airways, leading to coughing, headaches, scratchy throats and runny noses. 

And for some people, wildfire smoke can be life threatening. It can trigger asthma attacks, heart attacks and even strokes.

Wildfire smoke is already one of the biggest drivers of degrading air quality throughout the Northwest. Over the past few months, wildfires have created hazardous and smoky conditions, and clouds of smoke as big as thunderheads billowed over communities in Southern Oregon and Central Idaho.

Looking back on U.S. fires

Since the 1980s, the overall number of wildfires and the amount of acres burned in the United States has increased steadily. As the climate has warmed, snow melts earlier and dry periods have lengthened both of which favor fire conditions.

Other factors contribute to increasing the size and severity of wildfires, including a history of fire suppression over the last century. Fire suppression can lead to an abundance of biomass on the ground in forested areas. That biomass serves as kindling that turns what might have been a small manageable fire into an unstoppable megafire.

But even after you account for fire suppression, climate change is still a factor. Places like Yellowstone National Park, which have experienced larger wildfires in recent decades, never had active fire suppression.

Extreme fire behavior has become more common.

Editor's note: This story has been edited for length.

Source: Oregon Public Broadcasting

Breathe better air indoors

During wildfire season and beyond, a movable indoor air purifier with an activated carbon and HEPA air filter system can help remove potentially dangerous airborne contaminants.

Smoke particles and chemicals as well as other volatile organic compounds, allergens and mold spores can effectively be trapped with activated carbon and HEPA. Activated charcoal adsorbs chemicals, gases, odors and fumes, while HEPA traps 99.97% of particles at 0.3 microns.

Electrocorp offers large and small-footprint air cleaners for commercial, industrial and residential use. For more information, contact Electrocorp today.

Workers exposed to airborne contaminants at manufacturing plant

Fiberdome Inc. cited by OSHA for exposing workers to airborne hazards at Wisconsin manufacturing plant

LAKE MILLS, Wis. – Fiberdome Inc. has been cited by the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 10 health violations and $49,500 in penalties following a March investigation of the Lake Mills fiberglass manufacturing plant.

Employers need to protect
workers from toxic chemicals
and other health hazards.

Workers were exposed to styrene - a chemical used extensively in the manufacture of plastics, rubber and resins-in excess of permissible limits.

OSHA initiated the inspection after receiving a referral alleging workers were experiencing respiratory irritation due to chemical exposure.

"Workers at this manufacturing plant continue to be exposed to chemical hazards that can cause severe respiratory illness," said Kim Stille, OSHA area director in Madison. "Companies must be aware of the hazards that exist in their facilities and take all possible precautions to minimize the risk of illness."

Seven serious violations include allowing worker exposure to airborne concentrations of styrene in excess of recommended exposure limits, as well as failing to develop a written respirator protection program and provide adequate respiratory protection and training to workers.

Other violations involve failing to conduct a personal protection equipment hazards assessment and train workers on hazards associated with chemicals used in the factory; provide safety data sheets to a physician treating a worker for occupational illness; and to keep the production area free of excess fiberglass and styrene.

An OSHA violation is serious if death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard an employer knew or should have known exists.

Workers who make fiberglass products are potentially exposed to styrene. Health effects from exposure to styrene may involve the central nervous system and include complaints of headache, fatigue, dizziness, confusion, drowsiness, malaise, difficulty in concentrating, and a feeling of intoxication. For more information on this chemical, visit this page.

One repeat violation was cited for failing to require workers to use appropriate hand protection when exposed to hazardous chemicals. A similar violation was cited in 2011 at the same facility.

Two other-than-serious violations were cited for record-keeping deficiencies and failing to properly label containers carrying hazardous chemicals. An other-than-serious violation is one that has a direct relationship to job safety and health, but probably would not cause death or serious physical harm.

Fiberdome Inc. has 15 business days from receipt of its citations and penalties to comply, request an informal conference with OSHA's area director, or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

To report workplace accidents, fatalities, or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742) or the agency's Madison office at 608-441-5388.

Source: OSHA news release

Remove styrene and other airborne chemicals with a carbon air cleaner

Working with hazardous chemicals always requires great care and protective measures. One way to reduce risks of inhaling potentially harmful fumes and chemicals is by running a highly efficient air cleaner close to the source.

Electrocorp's Air Rhino
(also available upright)

Electrocorp specializes in air cleaners for commercial and industrial uses that require chemical and particle control. The air cleaners feature a carbon wall for chemicals, odors and gases, a HEPA filter for particles and dust and optional UV germicidal filtration for biological contaminants.

Recommended air cleaners:

• Air Rhino - a versatile air cleaner with many pounds of carbon and high-efficiency particle filter for industrial and commercial applications
• RSU series - No-nonsense air cleaners with a small footprint that remove airborne chemicals, gases, fumes and particles.

For more information and a consultation with one of Electrocorp's IAQ specialists, contact Electrocorp today.

Medical centers not safe from mold

Mold prompts relocation of patients at VA medical center

Mold has been linked to
respiratory ailments.

More than 175 patients at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Martinsburg, W.Va., have been displaced after tests showed the presence of mold in many of the rooms where they were housed.

The mold was discovered in the fan coils of air-conditioning units in the center’s domiciliary unit, and patients were moved out Friday. Many are being housed in Martinsburg area hotels during clean-up efforts, which the VA said will take two months.

In a statement, the VA described the health risk from the mold as “very low.”

Many of the patients residing at the domiciliary unit are enrolled in programs treating substance abuse, homelessness and mental health disorders, according to veterans at the facility.

Several of the patients have been treated for respiratory ailments that may be related to the mold, according to the VA employee and residents. A female patient complained several times about mold in her room before it was inspected, they said. “That’s what finally got the ball rolling,” the employee said.

The Martinsburg facility provides care to veterans in West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia and southeastern Pennsylvania.

Source: The Washington Post

Remove mold spores and other contaminants from the air

Buildings suffering from mold can be detrimental to health. Most cases require professional mold remediation services to treat the problem effectively.

Before during and after treatment, indoor air quality may suffer due to airborne mold spores, harsh chemicals and other IAQ contaminants.

With adequate ventilation and efficient indoor air cleaners, patients and staff may be able to breathe cleaner and healthier air.

The RAP cleaner can
accommodate all 3 filters.

Electrocorp has designed portable as well as ductable indoor air cleaners that feature a high-efficiency air filter system, containing

• Large activated carbon wall for gases, odors, fumes and chemicals
• HEPA filter to remove at least 99.97% of airborne particles 0.3 microns in diameter
• UV germicidal filtration to neutralize airborne mold spores, bacteria and viruses

Contact Electrocorp for more information and ask about the air cleaners for hospitals and health-care centers.

Dye fumes affects worker in silk company

Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company fined over safety breaches

Dying silk comes with the risks of inhaling fumes
and contracting respiratory illness, officials say.

A textile company has been fined £20,000 for "serious safety failings" after a chemical exposure left a worker in Suffolk with breathing problems, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said in a BBC article.

The 57-year-old, who does not wish to be named, was employed as a dye house manager from 1993 to 2012 at the Gainsborough Silk Weaving Company Ltd in Sudbury.

The HSE found the company had failed to assess the risks from "hazardous" dyes and said that workers had "a significant risk of contracting respiratory illnesses."

Gainsborough admitted five breaches of health and safety regulations. It was also ordered to pay £10,000 towards costs over three years.

The man had been suffering from chronic breathing difficulties since 2008 and had been hospitalized a few times as a result.

Ipswich Crown Court heard the man's symptoms had "improved markedly" after he left the company and stopped working with chemicals.

Dangers well known in industry

The HSE told the court the company had failed to assess the health risks arising from working with hazardous reactive dyes, despite the dangers of respiratory damage being well known in the industry.

The court also heard the firm "had failed to provide their staff with adequate training or equipment to safeguard their health when working with the substances".

A health surveillance program for the firm's workforce was stopped in 2004. The program could have helped to prevent the worker's long period of ill health, according to the HSE.

HSE inspector Martin Kneebone said the textile company "should have installed suitable ventilation equipment for weighing and mixing the dyes. They should also have provided proper information, instruction, training and health surveillance for their employees.

"The lack of these left workers at a significant risk of contracting respiratory illnesses by their exposure to these chemicals."

This article has been edited. Source: BBC News

Electrocorp offers air purification equipment for companies and businesses dealing with chemicals, vapors, fumes and odors. The air purifiers feature carbon walls and HEPA filters to provide cleaner and healthier air. Options include direct intake hoods, refillable carbon filters, specialized carbon blends and more. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Mine workers warned of asbestos in ore

Source: CBC News

Workers at the Meadowbank gold mine in Nunavut, Canada are being warned about asbestos in the ore being mined.

Asbestos is a mineral that when inhaled has been linked to respiratory diseases and lung cancer.

“We've now confirmed that we do have some asbestos in the ore that we mine,” said Dale Coffin, corporate director of communications with Agnico-Eagle.

“We haven't identified how much yet. We're doing test analysis of the rock to determine how much may be there but we have put in place corrective measures to protect our employees and manage the dust.”

The Meadowbank gold mine is located 75 kilometres north of Baker Lake. About 750 permanent employees work there along with almost 300 contractor employees.

Coffin said because the asbestos is coming from the mined rock, it is impossible to get rid of it completely. He said employees have been trained to avoid direct contact with the dust for their own safety.

Sawmills ordered to control dust after deadly explosions

Sawmills have to do more to
protect workers from sawdust,
regulators say.

After two recent mill explosions in Canada’s British Columbia, sawmills must remove all accumulated sawdust from their premises

High levels of sawdust in sawmills have proven to be unpredictable occupational health risks.

This week, a devastating blast destroyed a sawmill in Prince George, killing two workers and wounding many others. In January, a sawmill exploded in Burns Lake, also claiming two victims.

The dust has been cited in reports before as a major concern, and now authorities are making it official that mills have to control the dust in their operations and clear it away on equipment and the ambient air.

The air in sawmills should be well ventilated and the sawdust removed from all species and types of wood, officials said.

Potentially dangerous conditions could put workers at other mills at risk.

Source: Globe and Mail

Sawdust also a respiratory risk

It’s not only explosions sawmill workers have to worry about – they could also risk their health by breathing in high levels of dust over a long time.

Extensive dust exposure can lead to cancer of the lungs, throat and nose as well as other lung conditions like COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder) that involves chronic bronchitis and emphysema, studies have shown.

Doctors say that woodworkers face 70 to 80 times the risk of a particular for of nasal cancer, which may develop decades after exposure to wood dust. Many other woodworkers report developing asthma as a result of their exposure to wood dust.

Clean the air with high-efficiency air cleaners

Electrocorp's Dirty Dog air cleaner
can be mounted onto the ceiling
or used on the ground.

In sawmills, woodshops and other high-dust environments, an industrial-strength air filtration system designed to handle a lot of fine dust can help reduce risks and provide cleaner air.

With a special bag filter option designed for large particle filtration, Electrocorp products such as the Dirty Dog or the I-6500 with Cyclone attachment are well equipped to work in environments with heavy sawdust or drywall dust.

The bag filters are easy to clean and reusable. This is an excellent option for situations where a HEPA filter would become blocked too quickly to be effective.

Contact Electrocorp for more information.