March 2010 - The Pump Handle - The Network of Care

Getting down to brass tacks: Defining differences in positions on TSCA reform

By Richard Denison, cross-posted from Environmental Defense Fund As the long-awaited introduction of TSCA reform legislation at last appears to be about to happen (how’s that for being definitively vague?), the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families (SCHF...

Published Wed, Mar 31 2010 1:39 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Chemicals Policy

A Change in Our Children

By Alice Shabecoff Watching each of our five grandchildren and their friends enter this world and begin their life’s journey, it became more and more clear that something is amiss with their generation. How are your children and your friends’ children...

Published Wed, Mar 31 2010 11:25 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: New Solutions: The Drawing Board

Food Processing Companies Need to Treat Workers Like Humans, Not Machines

by Carlos Rich, cross-posted from Imagine 2050 Can you imagine being severely hurt at your job, then going to the company doctor only to be told that you’re fine and you need to return back to work immediately? This is what happens to many immigrants...

Published Mon, Mar 29 2010 1:54 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Food

The Nation on the New DOL

The latest issue of The Nation features a laudatory portrait of the Department of Labor under Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis by Esther Kaplan. The piece highlights the stark difference between the new DOL leaders and those of the Bush era. Here’s...

Published Fri, Mar 26 2010 1:30 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety

Four decades of the Coal Mine Health and Safety Act

US Labor Secretary Hilda Solis and MSHA chief Joe Main marked the 40th anniversary of the Coal Mine H&S Act this week. The Charleston Gazette’s Ken Ward offers his perspective on the event in two posts published at Coal Tattoo. Story 1: MSHA...

Published Thu, Mar 25 2010 4:34 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Black Lung, MSHA

Andrew Schneider Investigates Federal (In)Action on Nano Risks

Pulitzer-winning investigative reporter Andrew Schneider broke the story of the asbestos poisoning of Libby, Montana, and now he’s digging into the use of another substance that has the potential to become equally widespread before its risks to human...

Published Thu, Mar 25 2010 12:42 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Food, Environmental Health, Nanotechnology

KNOWLEDGE is Stronger than Asbestos

Asbestos exposure and asbestos-related disease remains a huge public health problem. The World Health Organization estimates that at least 7,000 individual across the globe die annually from asbestos-releated disease, and another 125 million people are...

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 1:42 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Manufacturing Uncertainty

The flu pandemic: the last time and the next time

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure We are now almost through the period considered to be the traditional flu season (to the end of March in the temperate northern hemisphere) and so far the amount of documented influenza infection is at a relatively...

Published Wed, Mar 24 2010 5:54 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Influenza, Preparedness

Obama Picks Two CSB Members

We’ve raised concerns before about the vacant seats on the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board, so it’s welcome news that President Obama has announced his picks to fill those spots. Yesterday, the White House announced the president’s...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 11:44 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety

Historic Healthcare Legislation

President Obama has just signed a historic piece of legislation that will bring near-universal healthcare coverage to our country within the next few years. It’s most important achievement will be to cover 32 million people are currently uninsured. In...

Published Tue, Mar 23 2010 8:57 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Healthcare

Coal industry, MSHA’s appalling record on emergency equipment

“More than four years after the Sago Mine disaster, fewer than 1 of every 10 underground coal mines in the U.S. has added improved communications and tracking equipment that could help miners escape an explosion or fire.” That’s the...

Published Mon, Mar 22 2010 12:28 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Regulation, Mining, MSHA

Clean Water for a Healthy World

Today is World Water Day, when the United Nations draws attention to the importance of freshwater and advocates for sustainable water-resource management. This year, the focus is on water quality, which is declining worldwide. According to the World Health...

Published Mon, Mar 22 2010 6:26 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Water

A Best Buy in Public Health

By Anjana Padmanabhan What can 50 cents buy? A pencil? Erasers? Gum? Not really the essentials. What if you found out that with just 50 cents you could save a life? That the change you find under the couch, or in your pockets could vastly improve a child...

Published Thu, Mar 18 2010 6:31 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Health

Lights in dark corners: what the new science of epigenetics is revealing about cancer prevention

By Paul Whaley and Dr John Newby, PhD; cross-posted from Health & Environment To understand the importance of the new science of epigenetics for health, we have to visit cell development and the cellular processes which, if they go wrong, lead to...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 10:04 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health, Cancer

Obama Administration FOIA Performance Lags

This week is Sunshine Week, “a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information,” so it’s a great time for the National Security Archive to release its Freedom of Information Act...

Published Wed, Mar 17 2010 5:37 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: FOIA

March 2010 - The Pump Handle

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