The Pump Handle

Fighting Malaria with Fewer Chemicals

In Yale Environment 360, Sonia Shah highlights a promising trend: communities in Mexico, China, Tanzania, and elsewhere are adopting non-chemical methods to control the populations of mosquitos that transmit malaria. They’ve seen their numbers of...

Published Wed, May 12 2010 3:05 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Health

Flu “hype,” vaccinations and tin foil hats

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure It really gives me heartburn to see an otherwise sensible article in AOLNews by Katie Drummond with a headline: “Hyping H1N1: Did It Create a Dangerous Flu Fatigue?” I don’t know if that was...

Published Mon, Mar 01 2010 9:52 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Influenza, Preparedness

When old folks get the shaft

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure Being over 65 I’m an older adult, according to the author’s definition (as reported in the press release, at least), and like everyone else I frequently take elevators. Maybe not as frequently as...

Published Thu, Feb 11 2010 7:10 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Safety

BPA’s Safety Question an Opportunity for Reform

by Sarah Vogel Last Friday, January 15, 2010, senior officials from the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) held a press conference to detail the FDA’s next steps on the...

Published Wed, Jan 20 2010 1:13 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health

Find 28 minutes to watch “Protected or Neglected: Workplace Safety”

WCET’s Socal Connected’s feature on the state of the Cal-OSHA enforcement, and particularly the Appeals Board process, is a MUST see. “Protected or Neglected” is based on a 9-month investigation by the southern California not-for...

Published Mon, Jan 18 2010 7:45 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, OSHA

Nano Genie out of the Bottle

The Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies (a partnership between the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and the Pew Charitable Trusts) compiles an inventory of nanotech-enabled consumer products, and they recently announced that they’ve...

Published Wed, Sep 02 2009 2:03 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Environmental Health, Consumer Product Safety Commission

Perils of butter flavorings, diacetyl substitutes

The sentinel cases of the debilitating lung disease bronchiolitis obliterans were among workers at a microwave popcorn facility. It wasn’t too long before NIOSH researchers suspected the illnesses were related to workers’ exposure to the butter...

Published Tue, Jan 05 2010 11:06 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Food, Research, Regulation, Flavoring Workers' Lung (Popcorn/Diacetyl)

New Agency Leaders Have Big Plans, Lots of Work Ahead of Them

It’s a tradition for APHA’s Occupational Health & Safety section to invite top officials from OSHA, MSHA, and NIOSH to a “Talking Heads” session at each APHA annual meeting. The session “The Future of Occupational Safety and Health in the Obama Administration...

Published Wed, Nov 11 2009 9:09 AM by The Pump Handle

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

OIRA’s old habits hard on public health protection

by Rena Steiznor, cross-posted from CPR Blog Original title: “Sunstein Watch: Old Habits Die Hard on the Regulatory Killing Ground; Don’t OMB Economists Have Better Things to Do Than Channel Industry Opposition to EPA Science?” Before...

Published Tue, Oct 20 2009 5:56 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Environmental Health, Manufacturing Uncertainty, Environmental Protection Agency

NIOSH’s John Howard or an imposter?

I’m supposed to be grading 124 essays written by my students, but in one of my many bouts with Sunday afternoon work avoidance, I happened upon Senator Reid’s webpage. There was a link that said: “Reid meets with Deputy Secretary of...

Published Sun, Oct 25 2009 12:03 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Workers' Compensation

MSHA demands flame-resistent conveyors…well, not exactly

Underground coal mine operators can use conveyor belts, which do not satisfy the requirements set forth for the approval of flame-resistant conveyor belts (30 C.F.R. Part 14) if the conveyor belts have been warehoused, but are not in active use before...

Published Mon, Oct 26 2009 9:59 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Confined Space @ TPH, Regulation, Mining, Safety, Legal

Thanksgiving and swine flu

by revere, cross-posted from Effect Measure In the US we are about to embark on the Thanksgiving holiday, a 4 day period where families get together for a celebratory meal (at least celebratory unless you are one of the original inhabitants of the continent...

Published Wed, Nov 25 2009 7:16 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Influenza

DOL IG releases more info on Martin County coal waste impoundment, redactions continue

reported by Mine Safety and Health News: Martin County: New Information Released, But Information on Mine Seals Still Redacted A Labor Dept.’s Inspector General report on the whistle-blower complaints surrounding the 2000 Martin County Coal Co. impoundment...

Published Sun, Nov 22 2009 12:22 PM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Occupational Health & Safety, Confined Space @ TPH, Mining, Environmental Health, Legal, Conflict of Interest, FOIA

FDA’s Joshua Sharfstein to Speak at GW

Our DC-area readers interested in food and drug safety may want to attend this event. Next Tuesday (1/12) at noon, Dr. Joshua M. Sharfstein, principal deputy commissioner for the FDA, will present, “Public Health and the FDA” here at the GW...

Published Wed, Jan 06 2010 11:23 AM by The Pump Handle

Filed under: Food, Drug Safety

Revelations in tower antenna worker’s death

In April-May 2008, there were a spate of fatalities involving workers doing installations or maintenance on cell phone towers. I blogged about seven of these worker deaths and promised to report back on the outcome of the Federal or State OSHA investigations...

Published Wed, Dec 16 2009 11:56 AM by The Pump Handle

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

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