asbestos | ISHN

The many-faceted unseen dangers of demolition

August 19, 2022

It is important, as part of pre-construction protocols to identify hazardous building materials before beginning a restoration or remediation project. Although there are many hazardous building materials, the most common include asbestos, lead, mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB), chlorofluorocarbons, and radioactive sources.

Closing the door on asbestos usage loopholes

Miguel Leyva

November 24, 2021

Many industries once used asbestos in a wide range of products, from insulation to fire retardants. It is now understood that exposure to this dangerous mineral can lead to fatal diseases, such as mesothelioma and lung cancer.

It's Global Asbestos Awareness Week 2021

April 1, 2021

Lingering asbestos persists as a threat to homeowners, construction workers, and even agricultural workers. However, in industrial settings, newly manufactured materials and products may also contain asbestos, as the U.S. limit is at one percent.

What you need to know about asbestos

Mesothelioma Awareness Day highlights importance of asbestos prevention in the workplace

September 23, 2020

Mesothelioma Awareness Day is on September 26, and is a day to recognize the importance of asbestos prevention in the workplace.

Researchers: Take-home workplace contaminants are a public health hazard

February 3, 2020

Workplace toxins that are inadvertently tracked by employees into their homes serve “as an intriguing example of how occupational conditions can have broader public health consequences,” according to scientists who’ve studied the problem. In Eliminating Take-Home Exposures: Recognizing the Role of Occupational Health and Safety in Broader Community Health, researchers reframe the problem as one arising from unsanitary worker behavior – the current thinking – to a larger issue that needs to be viewed through an ecosocial lens in order to institute effective prevention.

Mistrial declared in high-stakes Johnson & Johnson talc-cancer case

Myron Levin

September 25, 2018

A mistrial was declared today after a California state court jury deadlocked on whether Johnson & Johnson was responsible for the asbestos-related cancer of a woman who blamed her illness on longtime use of contaminated baby powder. Soon after starting a sixth day of deliberations, jurors in Los Angeles Superior Court told Judge Margaret L. Oldendorf that they were at an impasse, with eight of 12 favoring an award of damages to the plaintiff, Carolyn Weirick.

A Confined Space blog post

Editorial board resigns after corporate takeover of worker-oriented public health journal

Jordan Barab

November 27, 2017

The entire 22-member Editorial Board of the International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health resigned this morning after a months-long struggle with the Journal’s new owners who have “have acted in a profoundly unethical fashion” and have moved the worker-oriented publication to a more corporate focus.

Asbestos in the United States

Will it ever be banned?

Jackie Clark

January 19, 2017

Asbestos is a long, thin, fibrous mineral made of up of microscopic crystals. There are six different types that are split up into two different groups: serpentine or amphibole. Serpentine asbestos is classified by its layered structure and curly fibers. One particular type of serpentine asbestos – chrysotile – is most commonly found in building materials throughout the United States.

TSCA reform: A milestone to protect our health from dangerous chemicals

Gina McCarthy

November 4, 2016

President Obama signed a bipartisan bill to reform the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the first major update to an environmental statute in 20 years. That’s great news for the environment and for the health of all Americans.