Improved air quality in the Los Angeles region is linked to roughly 20 percent fewer new asthma cases in children, according to a USC study that tracked Southern California children over a 20-year period. The research expands on the landmark USC Children’s Health Study, which found that children’s lungs had grown stronger in the previous two decades and rates of bronchitic symptoms decreased as pollution declined throughout the region.

Pool chemical injuries led to an estimated 4,535 U.S. emergency department visits annually during 2008-2017, according to a report published in CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Although injuries from pool chemicals are preventable, the number of serious injuries from these chemicals has not changed much in the last 15 years.

A federal judge has ruled that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acted illegally when it delayed a required review of the public health impact of e-cigarettes – a delay that allowed the products to stay on the market until 2022. Cigar makers were given until 2021. In what health experts are calling a major victory for children’s and teen’s health, U.S. District Judge Paul W. Grimm of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland ruled that the FDA had exceeded its legal authority in giving e-cigarette manufacturers more time to sell their products before applying for FDA authorization.

Legal wrangling over hazardous pesticides – such as the recent lawsuit against the maker of Roundup – are not limited to the United States. The European Trade Union Institute (ETUI) is accusing senior European Commission officials of behind-the-scenes machinations that are enabling dangerous pesticides to continue being sold on the European market.

The EPA has issued a final rule that closes a regulatory loophole for asbestos by prohibiting discontinued uses of the substance by being re-introduced to the marketplace without an agency review. Restrictions on Discontinued Uses of Asbestos; Significant New Use Rule (SNUR) is effective June 24, 2019. The restricted significant new uses of asbestos (including as part of an article) is manufacturing (including importing) or processing for uses that are neither ongoing nor already prohibited under TSCA.

Cooperating with OSHA gets two employees fired – and their employer found guilty of retaliation; health experts want asbestos banned and the Association Health Plans program gets a defeat in court. These were among the top occupational safety and health stories featured on ISHN.com this week.

Kevin Slates, a highly regarded scholar, educator and researcher in the occupational safety and health field and member of the American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP) for 14 years, is ASSP’s 2019 William E. Tarrants Outstanding Safety Educator.

The American Public Health Association (APHA) is urging Congress to urge support of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act of 2019, a bill to protect the public from exposure to the toxic substance. “Asbestos is a potent carcinogen. There is no safe level of exposure to it."

The progress of a Department of Energy (DOE) program to clean up the nation’s most dangerous nuclear waste sites appears to be slowing down even though it’s still devouring billions of dollars.

More than 80 percent of popular brand e-cigarettes sold in the U.S. that were examined in a new study were contaminated with bacterial and fungal toxins. Researchers from Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health found glucan in 81 percent of the products– single use cartridges and refillable e-liquids. Endotoxin was found in 27 percent of them.