Recent research is focusing new attention on an asbestos-like mineral, blamed for staggering rates of a deadly cancer in Turkey, that also is found in the rocks and soil of 13 Western states.
The U.S. Geological Survey has identified 95 sites where the mineral, erionite, exists.
The American Public Health Association voiced deep disappointment today over the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the Clean Power Plan pending the outcome of ongoing litigation.
Environmentalists are cheering the EPA’s designation of several areas in east Texas near coal-fired power plants as being out of compliance with clean air standards. The EPA said it had identified high levels of sulfur dioxide pollution in Luminant’s Martin Lake, Big Brown and Monticello coal plants.
Approximately thirty leading European researchers, trade unionists and representatives of associations gathered this week for a seminar organised jointly by the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), the Belgian association Santé & Solidarité, and the Free University of Brussels (ULB).
Obliterative bronchiolitis, an irreversible form of lung disease in which the smallest airways in the lung (the bronchioles) become scarred and constricted, blocking the movement of air, was previously identified in flavoring manufacturing workers and microwave popcorn workers who were occupationally exposed to diacetyl (2,3-butanedione) or butter flavorings containing diacetyl. Now, NIOSH research finds that workers at coffee processing facilities may also be at risk.
OSHA has scheduled a public hearing on the agency's proposed rule to amend its existing exposure limits for occupational exposure in general industry to beryllium and beryllium compounds. The hearing will be held Feb. 29, 2016, in Washington, D.C.
A brand-new series of emotionally powerful ads kick off the fifth year of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s “Tips From Former Smokers” campaign. The new ads tell moving, personal stories of Americans suffering from smoking-related illnesses, including heart disease, tooth loss, depression, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
In 1981, a worker at the Maxwell House coffee factory in Houston died from what was reported at the time to be "bronchial asthma." She was 46, a mother of three. In 1982, another worker at the plant died — from the same thing.
The American Public Health Association (APHA) is endorsing the EPA rule that would strengthen national air quality standards for ozone pollution. Today’s proposal would lower the standard for ground-level ozone, or smog, to 70 parts per billion.
No one disputes that smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the difficulty breathing that strikes so many Americans in their twilight years. A new study by Duke University and CPWR researchers, however, reminds us that smoking is far from the only cause, and we still have a lot of work to do if we are going to protect construction workers.