Dangerous chemicals applied in Indiana workplaces

Dangerous chemicals found inside Indiana restaurants, nursing homes, hotels and health clinics

Restaurants, hotels and health care
facilities might have been treated with
harmful pesticides.

Products such as Fipronil, more well known by its brand name Termidor, arrived on the market nearly a decade ago, and have since been adapted to a number of uses, including commercial and agricultural pesticides. It’s even used in very low doses in some pet flea treatments, including the brand name Frontline.

Used safely, as directed, Fipronil can be a game changer in the elimination of pests, especially ants.

The product works so well that it has to be diluted and combined with water when its sprayed as Termidor. It also comes with a long list of use restrictions backed by federal law.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists Fipronil as a "possible human carcinogen," meaning it has the potential to cause cancer.

Termidor is only approved for outdoor use in areas far away from humans and animals. Using it indoors around children whose immune systems are still developing is of particular concern, the EPA noted.

But, in early 2012, state regulators began getting tips from whistle blowers alleging that wasn't what was happening in the field, and that the pesticides were being used indoors.

Last summer, investigators from the Office of the Indiana State Chemist (OISC), based at Purdue University, opened their first Fipronil case file, and began gathering samples across the state.

Swabs were taken inside restaurant kitchens and retirement homes, churches and health clinics, hotels and even grocery stores.

From Mooresville to Muncie, Bloomington, Greenwood, Indianapolis and dozens of other Central Indiana cities, nearly every test so far has come back positive for Fipronil.

OISC and the EPA are still gathering evidence on the effects of long term exposure to Fipronil, but both agencies are concerned by their findings so far.

The state fined one company, Ecolab, $18,000 for violations of Fipronil use. A settlement was recently reached requiring the company to pay $9,000 of that fine.

But Ecolab isn't the only company now accused of illegally applying Fipronil indoors.

State investigators are now tracking at least three additional active cases.

Investigators are also asking for the public’s help. Those looking to hire a pest control company should

• ask if they are licensed with the state and the appropriate agency
• get two or three references and use them
• check the accuracy of what they have been told

The state’s ultimate goal is to cut the risk of indoor Fipronil use to zero.

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

Source: WishTV

Concerned about pesticide use or airborne chemicals in your workplace or building? Electrocorp manufactures commercial and industrial-strength air cleaners with deep-bed activated carbon + HEPA air filters. Activated carbon is the most effective and trusted filter media to remove airborne chemicals, gases and fumes, while HEPA traps particles and dust. Electrocorp offers air purifiers in various sizes and configurations. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Nursing home cited for workplace hazards

OSHA fines New Jersey nursing home for exposing workers to excessive heat and health hazards

CARNEYS POINT, N.J. – The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Carneys Point Care Center for 10 alleged serious violations and one other-than-serious violation found at the nursing home in Carneys Point.

OSHA's May inspection was initiated as part of the agency's national emphasis program for nursing and residential care facilities.

Nursing facilities can harbor many
health hazards.

"The increasing rate of injuries and illnesses among hospital and health care workers underscores OSHA's concern about the safety and health of these workers," said Paula Dixon-Roderick, director of OSHA's Marlton Area Office.

"The workers that care for our loved ones deserve a safe workplace. OSHA is committed to ensuring effective hazard prevention measures nationwide."

Among the serious violations cited involves OSHA's general duty clause because workers in the laundry department were exposed to excessive levels of heat. OSHA proposed a fine of $6,300 for this violation.

Serious violations, carrying $42,300 in proposed penalties, include

• failing to ensure workers wore appropriate eye protection; 
• ensure easy access to a sharps container; 
• correct exposed wires from an industrial washer; 
• provide suitable eyewash facilities, bloodborne pathogen training, Hepatitis B vaccines and effective information and training on hazardous chemicals in the workplace; 
• properly use flexible electrical cords and label hazardous chemical containers; 
• develop a written hazard communication program; and 
• have material safety data sheets and safety data sheets for each hazardous chemical used in the workplace. 

A serious violation occurs when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result from a hazard about which the employer knew or should have known.

To ask questions, obtain compliance assistance, file a complaint, or report workplace hospitalizations, fatalities or situations posing imminent danger to workers, the public should call OSHA's toll-free hotline at 800-321-OSHA (6742).

Source: OSHA

Protect nursing home workers and patients

The indoor air quality in a nursing home can suffer from airborne chemicals, certain odors, bacteria, viruses, mold, particles, dust and other contaminants.

A well-placed air purifier
helps provide cleaner and
healthier air in rooms and
gathering places.

With strict source control, proper ventilation and the right air cleaning system, staff and patients will be able to breathe healthier air.

Electrocorp has developed a range of indoor air purifiers for nursing homes, hospitals and health care settings that feature a highly efficient activated carbon and HEPA filter system plus optional UV germicidal filtration.

Activated carbon (or charcoal) is the best way to remove airborne chemicals, odors, volatile organic compounds and gases, while HEPA traps particles and dust. UV helps neutralize biological contaminants such as bacteria, viruses and mold, so that they won't affect human health anymore.

For more information and a free IAQ consultation, contact Electrocorp today.

Diesel fumes cause 6 percent of lung cancer deaths: Study

The World Health Organization concluded last year that diesel exhaust is carcinogenic

An estimated 6 percent of lung cancer deaths in the United States and the United Kingdom – 11,000 deaths per year – may be due to diesel exhaust, according to a new study.

Emission standards for diesel engines have become more stringent in recent years, but their exhaust still plays a significant role in lung cancer deaths among truckers, miners and railroad workers, the authors wrote. In addition, diesel exhaust still poses a major cancer threat for people living in dense cities or near highways, they said.

Truckers and miners exposed over their careers to diesel exhaust face a risk of deadly lung cancer that is almost 70 times higher than the risk considered acceptable under U.S. occupational standards.

Traffic exhaust can
affect people's health.

The scientists calculated the lifetime risk for these workers at up to 689 extra lung cancer deaths per 10,000 workers exposed. In comparison, one cancer death per 1,000 workers is used to set federal workplace standards.

In addition, people in urban areas face a lifetime risk of lung cancer that is 10 times higher than the acceptable risk used in U.S. health standards, according to the study.

An estimated 21 per 10,000 people exposed to the amount of diesel exhaust commonly found near U.S. highways would be at risk of dying of lung cancer over their lifetime. That compares to the risk of one death per 100,000 people that is used to set air-quality standards.

To come up with their calculations, the researchers from Emory University and several other U.S. and European institutions used data from three previous studies of workers – two of truckers and one of non-metal miners – as well as national death statistics for the United States and United Kingdom.

They estimated that 4.8 percent of lung cancer deaths in the United States and 1.3 percent in the United Kingdom were due to environmental and occupational exposures to diesel exhaust.

“With millions of workers currently exposed to such levels, and likely higher levels in the past, the impact on the current and future lung cancer burden could be substantial,” the authors wrote.

The researchers said their estimates “are far from precise and depend on broad assumptions.” But they said their findings are “generally consistent” with past findings.

Other factors, such as smoking, were not taken into account. They used the assumption that smoking does not modify effects of diesel exhaust.

The World Health Organization concluded last year, after reviewing health data for workers, that diesel exhaust is carcinogenic.

Diesel emissions have declined substantially over the past few years in the United States and Europe since new engine standards were initiated.

More than 50,000 high-polluting diesel engines were cleaned up or removed from U.S. roads between 2008 and 2010, according to an Environmental Protection Agency report. About 230,000 tons of soot and smog-causing pollutants were eliminated, according to the report.

However, while buses and trucks have largely adopted cleaner technology, it’s taken longer for off-road engines, such as farm and construction vehicles.

Source: Environmental Health News

Do you work or live close by a major roadway or traffic zone? You could be exposed to diesel fumes and other contaminants making their way indoors through windows, doors and building cracks. An industrial-strength air cleaner with activated carbon and HEPA helps remove these indoor air contaminants (including chemicals, odors, particles, mold and more). Electrocorp offers air cleaners for offices and warehouses, manufacturing facilities, healthcare settings, schools and many other workplaces. Contact Electrocorp for more information.

Follow-up needed to ensure workplace safety, Canada auditor says

Prevention measures are more important
than other tactics, officials say.

HALIFAX, N.S. - Only a small fraction of employers in Nova Scotia were given tickets for workplace safety violations over a one-year period despite missing deadlines, the province's auditor general says.

Provincial auditors found 10 summary offence tickets were issued in 1,228 cases where workplaces failed to comply in time with safety orders between April 1, 2012, and March 31, 2013.

Auditor general Jacques Lapointe says Labour Department inspectors need to do a better job of following up after identifying safety issues.

"The department should focus more on prevention by better enforcing compliance with work orders,'' Lapointe told a news conference after his fall report was released Wednesday.

The department's response in the report says 95 per cent of employers did eventually comply with the orders.

A department spokeswoman said inspectors also used administrative penalties under the Occupational Health and Safety Act as a way to push employers to comply with orders.

Labour Minister Kelly Regan said her department agrees it has to be more consistent in enforcing its rules.

"If people continue to break safety rules we will use the toughest tools we have to protect workers,'' she said in an interview. "Non-compliance is not an option.''

Lapointe said the department's health and safety division needs to target higher-risk workplaces using Workers' Compensation Board data.

Only 27 of 100 workplaces with the worst safety records were targeted for inspection during the one-year period examined, said Lapointe.

The report says the current system identifies higher-risk workplaces, but it fails to create a specific plan for their inspection over the course of a year.

As a result, some of the province's more dangerous workplaces -- such as health and social services facilities -- aren't receiving enough attention, says the report.

"Part of this involves focusing a little better on inspecting targeted workplaces, the higher risk ones ... and being a little more organized,'' said Lapointe.

Auditors say the department's health and safety division also lacks a system to log and track complaints to ensure they are recorded and investigated.

Tony Tracy of the Canadian Labour Congress said it's clear the province needs more inspectors and described the number of summary tickets that were issued as "ridiculously low.''

"People are stretched very thin,'' he said. "We need to ensure the (inspector) staffing levels are adequate to ensure inspections after an accident as well as pre-emptive inspections.''

Regan says the department is hiring five new employees to bring the total number of investigators and inspectors to 40.

She said with more employees, more unannounced inspections will take place.

But Lapointe said it's premature to conclude the problem is a shortage of staff.

"It's hard to say what the right number [of inspectors] would be,'' he said. "It's a question, first, of making sure that what they're doing is as efficient as possible.''

Source: The Canadian Press via OHS Canada

Concerned about occupational health and safety and airborne health hazards? Electrocorp offers a wide range of industrial and commercial indoor air cleaners that can remove chemical fumes, odors, VOCs, gases, particles, mold and more. Contact Electrocorp for more information.