Future Environment Designs Training Center's Blog

Thursday, October 06, 2011

Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Steve Jobs shows off iPhone 4 at the 2010 Worl...

Image via WikipediaThis video of Steve Jobs' commencement speech is amazing and so true about how to live your life (I see many similarities to my own life). We lost Mr. Jobs today, but his impact on our lives will remain for so many years.
Steve Jobs: How to live before you die | Video on TED.com

Friday, September 30, 2011

Strong Link Between Mold & Asthma in Children.

Image via WikipediaThe current issue of Indoor Environment Connection's front page article is "Strong Link Between Mold and Asthma in Children" written by Tom Scarlett. The article discusses a new study that appeared in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, this study indicates that children living in homes with high levels of mold had more than twice the risk of developing asthma than did children in mold-free homes. The article does a really good job of putting together results from several studies to point out the risk of children developing asthma from mold exposures. Discussed in the article is the metric, "Environmental Relative Moldiness Index" (ERMI) that was used in the study to determine the exposure level of the occupants. It will be interesting how we can use ERMI to help us quantitatively describe the mold burden in future studies and testing.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Chemical Lab Safety Refresher in IH News

The current issue of the Industrial Hygiene News has an excellent article on laboratory safety called "A Chemical Lab Safety Refresher" written by Mr. Phillip G. Retallick, who is the Senior Vice President Regulatory Affairs for Clean Harbors. The article covers the typical information regarding lab safety - training, storage, disposal, labeling, and compliance audits. One of the more interesting sections was the discussion on the requirements of a good industrial hygiene program. This section discussed the need for a worksite analysis and a well-defined and monitored work practices. The need for a Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) Registry software and routine monitoring of the air to ensure lab staff are protected is not typically discussed. The assumption is that sufficient ventilation will handle any potential problems. However, how do you know you have sufficient ventilation? Monitoring is the best way to ensure that. The article list important resources such as the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) "Environmental Management Guide for Small Laboratories" and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) hazardous materials portion (Section H) of 29 CFR 1910. A short and to the point article on Lab Safety.

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

New Joint NIOSH/OSHA Publication on Nail Gun Safety

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The National Institue of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have a new publication called "Nail Gun Safety: A Guide for Construction Contractors." This publication was created as a resource to prevent injuries in the construction industry, including residential construction. While nail guns may boost productivity, nail guns are responsible for tens of thousands of painful injuries each year. One study found that 2 out of 5 residential carpenter apprentices experienced a nail gun injury over a four-year period. When these injuries occur they are often not reported or given any medical treatment. The risk of injury is twice as high when using a multi-shot contact trigger versus using a single-shot sequential trigger nailer. Many years ago, Linda Archipolo of Massapequa made the news on Long Island, when she was working in a Burger King at the Sunrise Mall. A three-inch nail, shot with a nail gun, accidentally went through two walls and landed in Ms. Archipolo's skull. Luckily, she survived. This new publication is intended for residential home builders and construction contractors, subcontractors, supervisors and workers to prevent these kinds of injuries.

The guidance was developed in response to a unanimous recommendation by employer, labor and public members of OSHA’s Advisory Committee for Construction Safety and Health (ACCSH), asking OSHA to develop awareness and materials about nail gun risks. OSHA and NIOSH worked together to make sure the guidance reflects the most current information available. The publication highlights what is known about nail gun injuries, describes the common causes of nail gun injuries and provides six practical steps that contractors can take to prevent these injuries. The guidance includes actual workplace cases along with a short section on other types of nail gun hazards and sources of additional information.

Thursday, September 22, 2011

EPA Warns New York City Residents about Dangers of Illegal Pesticides

CABINETS FOR STORAGE OF PESTICIDE "STANDA...

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The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), last week, conducted an investigation of businesses in several New York City neighborhoods revealing dangerous and illegal pesticides are widely available. Federal and state experts conducted 47 inspections and found 16 different types of illegal pesticides. The pesticides were not registered by EPA and consumers have no way of knowing how dangerous they are, because they were not subject to testing requirements or manufacturing controls that are required in the registration process. In all, nearly 350 illegal products were collected from the businesses in just three days. Store owners and vendors found with the illegal pesticides were given a warning and told why selling these products are dangerous and illegal. Separate but related criminal investigations conducted by EPA with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the U.S Attorney’s Office, U.S. Customs, the U.S. Postal Service and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office produced similar results and several charges were made against individuals last week, resulting in 12 arrests.

EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck said, "I encourage all New York City retailers to check their shelves and make sure all their pesticides have the required EPA labels. Consumers should be careful to look for the EPA registration number printed on product labels, and to follow the directions for use, storage and disposal. If a pesticide product does not have an EPA registration number, it should not be purchased.”
“The sale of illegal pesticides poses a direct threat to the health and safety of our community. In the cases charged by our Office, that threat was particularly imminent in the Chinatown neighborhood,” said District Attorney Vance. “Some of these illegal products look and smell like cookie crumbs, making them dangerously tempting to children. Some of the other products are so toxic that one small vial can kill an adult male. It is my hope that our collective criminal and civil law enforcement actions will prevent future injury or death.”
The inspections, which took place the week of September 12, targeted stores in neighborhoods in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Among the items confiscated were various rodenticides, mosquito repellants and mothballs. These items will be safely destroyed.
Under federal pesticides law, all products sold in the United States that contain pesticides must be registered with EPA. Before a pesticide product is registered, the producer of the product must provide data from tests done according to EPA guidelines, to ensure that the product does not make people sick. EPA then examines the ingredients and the way in which the product will be used, and assesses a wide variety of potential human health and environmental effects associated with use of the product. Distributors and retailers are responsible for ensuring that all pesticides distributed and sold fully comply with the law.
Pesticides have been linked to various forms of illnesses in humans, ranging from skin and eye irritation to cancer. Some pesticides may also affect the hormone or endocrine systems. In many situations, there may be non-chemical methods to control pests. EPA recommends considering and using these methods as part of an overall pest management strategy.

EPA has created an illegal pesticides fact sheet in multiple languages, which it will be distributing to businesses and community organizations in the targeted neighborhoods.
In a separate series of actions earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Justice charged two New York City-based individuals, who together had distributed and sold thousands of packages of illegal pesticides in recent months, with misdemeanor violations of federal pesticide laws. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office also charged 10 retail sellers with selling dangerous and illegal pesticides and with reckless endangerment. Agents seized many more illegal pesticides from the individuals during their respective arrests.
For more information on pesticide regulation and enforcement, please visit the EPA’s Web site at: http://www.epa.gov/region2/pesticides.

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