Aerospace Defense Coatings of Georgia cited by OSHA for exposing workers to hexavalent chromium

Photo: Pakorn

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Aerospace Defense Coatings of Georgia with one willful and two repeat health violations after a follow-up inspection of the Macon facility found several of the same violations identified in 2010. Proposed penalties total $83,160.

One willful violation, with $61,600 in penalties, involves failing to provide change rooms where workers operate with hexavalent chromium. A willful violation is one committed with intentional, knowing or voluntary disregard for the law's requirements, or with plain indifference to worker safety and health.

Two repeat violations, with $21,560 in proposed penalties, involve exposure to airborne concentrations of hexavalent chromium and allowing workers to consume food where hexavalent chromium was present. A repeat violation exists when an employer previously has been cited for the same or a similar violation of a standard, regulation, rule or order at any facility in federal enforcement states within the last five years.

"Aerospace Defense Coatings of Georgia was previously cited for the same violations and has failed to take action to protect workers from the hazards associated with hexavalent chromium exposure," said Nadira Janack, assistant area director of OSHA's Atlanta-East Area Office. "Management needs to take immediate action to eliminate these hazards from the workplace."

The company has 15 business days from receipt of the citations and proposed penalties to comply, request a conference with OSHA's area director or contest the findings before the independent Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.

EPA Settles with Hydrofarm, Inc. for Selling Unregistered Pesticides

Company to Pay $316,000 in Fines

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced a settlement with Hydrofarm, Inc. for selling two unregistered pesticides in violation of federal pesticide law. As part of the settlement, the Petaluma, Calif.-based Hydrofarm, Inc., one of the nation’s largest distributors of agricultural and hydroponic supplies, has agreed to pay $316,000 in fines and has stopped selling both products.

“This action is part of EPA’s effort to protect agricultural employees and consumers from pesticide products that are not approved by the federal government,” said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA’s Regional Administrator for the Pacific Southwest. “It is critical that companies selling pesticides provide users with the information they need to safeguard their health and the environment.”

Hydrofarm sold sulfur to control mildew through vaporization in greenhouses without any instructions or precautionary language to minimize risks to individuals from exposure to the product. EPA has not yet evaluated the human health risks associated with the use of vaporized sulfur in greenhouses.

The company also sold “Nutralife Plant Products H2O2”— a 29 percent hydrogen peroxide product used to sanitize and disinfect hydroponic equipment and growing areas—without adequate directions for use and safety precautions. Registered products with similar hydrogen peroxide concentrations require users to wear protective clothing. Hydrogen peroxide at this concentration can cause irreversible eye damage and skin burns, and may be fatal if inhaled and harmful if swallowed or absorbed through the skin.

The inspection at Hydrofarm was conducted by EPA staff. Hydrofarm was targeted based on a tip resulting from a California Department of Pesticide Regulation inspection at a separate hydroponic store.

Before selling or distributing any pesticide in the United States, companies must register the pesticide with the EPA. The domestic sale or distribution of pesticides that have not been registered with the EPA, such as the two unregistered pesticides sold by Hydrofarm, is a violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act, which ensures the safe and appropriate distribution, handling, and application of pesticides.
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Monkey study reveals why middle managers suffer the most stress

Photo: Trentham Monkey Reserve

A study by the universities of Manchester and Liverpool observing monkeys has found that those in the middle hierarchy suffer the most social stress. Their work suggests that the source of this stress is social conflict and may help explain studies in humans that have found that middle managers suffer the most stress at work.

Katie Edwards from Liverpool's Institute of Integrative Biology spent nearly 600 hours watching female Barbary macaques at Trentham Monkey Forest in Staffordshire. Her research involved monitoring a single female over one day, recording all incidences of social behaviour. These included agonistic behaviour like threats, chases and slaps, submissive behaviour like displacing, screaming, grimacing and hind-quarter presentation and affiliative behaviour such as teeth chatter, embracing and grooming.

The following day faecal samples from the same female were collected and analysed for levels of stress hormones at Chester Zoo's wildlife endocrinology laboratory.

Katie explains what she found: "Not unsurprisingly we recorded the highest level of stress hormones on the days following agonistic behaviour. However, we didn't find a link between lower stress hormone levels and affiliative behaviour such as grooming."

She continues: "Unlike previous studies that follow a group over a period of time and look at average behaviours and hormone levels, this study allowed us to link the observed behaviour of specific monkeys with their individual hormone samples from the period when they were displaying that behaviour."

Another key aspect of the research was noting where the observed monkey ranked in the social hierarchy of the group. The researchers found that monkeys from the middle order had the highest recorded levels of stress hormones.

Dr Susanne Shultz, a Royal Society University Research Fellow in the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester oversaw the study: "What we found was that monkeys in the middle of the hierarchy are involved with conflict from those below them as well as from above, whereas those in the bottom of the hierarchy distance themselves from conflict. The middle ranking macaques are more likely to challenge, and be challenged by, those higher on the social ladder."

Katie says the results could also be applied to human behaviour: "It's possible to apply these findings to other social species too, including human hierarchies. People working in middle management might have higher levels of stress hormones compared to their boss at the top or the workers they manage. These ambitious mid-ranking people may want to access the higher-ranking lifestyle which could mean facing more challenges, whilst also having to maintain their authority over lower-ranking workers."

The research findings have been published in the journal General and Comparative Endocrinology.

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Registry to help U.S. veterans who may have been exposed to toxic chemicals at Canadian base

Photo: Bill Longshaw

Source: BDNMaine

For decades members of the Maine, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Rhode Island National Guard and reserves trained at Canadian Forces Base Gagetown in New Brunswick, about 100 miles east of the Maine border.

In 2007 the Canadian government admitted to working with the United States military in testing the herbicides Agent Orange, Agent Purple, Agent White and other unregistered pesticides at locations around the base in the late 1960s and began paying one-time settlements to its own veterans who served on the base.

Last week Rep. Mike Michaud, ranking member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, reintroduced a bill to help Maine veterans who trained at Gagetown after the testing period and may be concerned they were exposed to toxic levels of the herbicides.

To date, according to Michaud’s office, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs does not have comprehensive data on veterans looking for compensation based on chemical exposure at Gagetown.

Michaud’s bill, co-sponsored by Rep. Chellie Pingree, would “establish a voluntary CFB Gagetown registry containing the names of veterans who apply for care or services from the VA based on a condition linked to their time at CFB Gagetown. The legislation would also provide a health exam to these veterans at their request. A registry would allow these veterans to officially list their possibly service-connected illnesses and increase opportunities for outreach and research,” according to a release from his office.

“No veteran should be denied the care they have earned. It’s extremely frustrating that the VA doesn’t track these concerns,” said Michaud. “This is not a new issue, and the VA must improve its ability to reach out to veterans who may face special challenges in establishing service-connection. A registry will provide us more information to get a better handle on the full scope of the problem, and I believe it’s a critical first step toward helping these veterans get the care they need.”

Establishing the registry is a good first step on the way to gaining full compensation for veterans exposed to toxic chemicals, according to Richard Pelletier, a former United States Marine and National Guardsman who advocates for veterans as a service officer with the American Legion in Maine.

Use of toxic herbicides at Gagetown, Pelletier said, was not limited to two years in the 1960s and instead included spraying of toxic herbicides Agents Orange, White and Purple from 1956 to 1984 by the Canadians.

U.S. troops taking part in training exercises at Gagetown since 1971 were never made aware of the continued use of the chemicals on base or the possibility of exposure, he said.

“We know the United States government sprayed 83 acres [with Agent Orange] in 1966 and 1967,” Pelletier said. “But the Canadians continued spraying until 1984 and our guys were exposed to that.”

In 2005 a health registry was established and opened up to U.S. veterans who were at Gagetown in 1966 and 1967 and suspect they were exposed to the chemicals, but Pelletier said the registry needs to be opened to all veterans who served up to the present.

Michaud’s bill, he said, will do that.

“This is an issue we have been hearing about for far too many years without any action,” Ed Gilman, spokesman with Michaud’s office, said last week. “It’s a good first step.”

Robert Owen, Maine American Legion department service officer, agrees.

“We fully support it,” he said last week. “Too many of our vets out there who trained at Gagetown are getting things like cancer and diabetes [and] those are all presumptive illnesses that showed up in vets who served in Vietnam and were exposed to Agent Orange.”

While not providing immediate relief or compensation to those Gagetown veterans, a health registry, Owen said, will establish a firm database of those veterans and let the U.S. government see the scope of the need for follow-up care and compensation.

“This is a major start,” he said. “Very little has been done over the years [and] a registry will open things up and make people aware.”

Sen. Susan Collins met recently with U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki and requested his agency undertake a study of possible effects of toxic chemical exposure to veterans who had trained at Gagetown.

“I request that you commission an independent study to examine potential health risks to veterans, including Maine National Guardsmen, who may have been exposed to harmful toxins while training at CFB Gagetown,” Collins said in a March 29 letter to Shinseki. “Such a study should be carried out by an independent organization with expertise in the conduct of similar studies. I further request that the Department consult with Maine veterans who served at CFB Gagetown in carrying out this request.”

Collins also urged Shinseki to establish a registry within his department for those veterans.

“This is our chance to start this process here in Maine,” Peter Ogden, director of the bureau for veterans services in Maine, said. “Our goal is to start gathering this information now so whenever the VA does decide [to compensate veterans] it will have the necessary information.”

That information, he said, will allow the Veterans’ Administration to better track exposed servicemen and woman establish health trends.

“We had started a registry and list like that awhile back,” Ogden said. “But we did not ask enough questions so now we want to know where they served [at Gagetown], what unit they were with and what medical issues they have now.”

At the same time, Ogden said, his office will work with veterans to assure they have the most up-to-date information on the Gagetown chemical exposure situation.

Owen and Pelletier are hoping that information will prompt the U.S. government to begin compensating veterans much like the Canadian government has already done for its troops stationed at Gagetown.

Starting in 2007 and up through 2011, Veterans Affairs Canada awarded one-time payments to 5,000 of those veterans totalling $100 million, according to Janice Summerby, veterans affairs spokesperson.

“We would like to see the VA accept that the people who were in Gagetown do have health issues and should be compensated,” Owen said. “That is really the bottom line.”