Thursday, April 28, 2011
Inexpensively Handling IAQ Problems in Schools
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Controversy Regarding Brodeur's Asbestos Research Information at The New York Public Library.
Image via WikipediaMy first full-time job was working with Hygienetics which at the time was located in Jersey City, New Jersey. My boss and my mentor was Mr. Eugene Pinzer, CIH. Mr. Pinzer was a great boss and did an excellant job mentoring me (as far as I am concerned). At times he would train by hands-on practices, other times he would ask me to read some article or book that would help with my education and help me gain valuable experience and knowledge. When I read the Felix Salmon's blog post "The case of Paul Brodeur vs the NYPL" and then Paul Brodeur's, a staff writer for The New Yorker for nearly 40 years, article for The Author's Guild titled "Paul Brodeur: A Breach of Trust at The New York Public Library" it brought back the some great memories. One of the articles Mr. Pinzer requested that I read was Mr. Brodeur's article "Annals of Law - The Asbestos Industry on Trial". This four part article written for The New Yorker Magazine ran from June 10 - July 1, 1985. At the time I was, are you kidding me. The articles were the equivalent of a 300-400 page book and I really didn't see the importance. However, as Mr. Pinzer was apt to do he cajoled me into reading it. The articles are well written and documents the asbestos industry's fall from grace. I strongly suggest that if you are in the asbestos industry you read these articles. It details the downfall of the industry, including how the information that exposed the industry of hiding the dangers of asbestos.As the title indicates the New York Public Library has notified Mr. Brodeur that they intend on breaking up his collection of papers that he donated to the library. Included in this collection of papers is Mr. Paul Brodeur's investigation of the asbestos health hazard and its cover-up by the asbestos industry. Though I am not a curator or librarian, it seems to be a waste of the research that Mr. Brodeur did to back-up the facts, assertions, and evidence he writes about in his articles. I hope the New York Public Library reconsiders their decision or at least allow the collection to remain together by returning the full documents to Mr. Brodeur.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Quebec Government Decides to Back Loan to Restart Asbestos Mine
Image via WikipediaQuebec government announced that it was providing conditional support of the reopening of the Jeffrey Mine Inc in the town of Asbestos through a $58 million loan guarantee. Economic development minister Clément Gignac also suggested that chrysotile asbestos from that mine could help save lives in India. Gignac said, the relaunched mine would create 425 full-time jobs in the region plus provide millions of dollars in taxes and royalties to Quebec which in turn will create a $7.5 million economic diversification fund for the region.To justify the decision, Gignac told reporters that millions of people in India die of cholera every year because they lack access to potable water and proper sanitary infrastructure. "Excuse me, but the fact is that chrysotile asbestos cement can be used to make many more kilometres of infrastructure because it is less expensive and is a durable material and we can improve the quality of life of citizens in India," he said.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
NIOSH Study Designates Bisphenol A as a Skin Sensitizer
Image via Wikipedia
On April 12, 2011, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) published a skin notation profile for Bisphenol A (BPA). This profile found enough evidence to classify BPA as causing skin sensitization. Sensitization is a specific immune-mediated response (responses mediated by the immune system, including allergic responses) that develops following exposure to a chemical, which, upon re-exposure, can lead to allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) or other immune-mediated diseases such as asthma, depending on the site and route of re-exposure. BPA is a high-production-volume (HPV) chemical used in the manufacturing of epoxy resins, plastics, and flame retardants. NIOSH evaluated several case reports and predictive animal studies that indicated BPA as being a skin sensitizer and can cause photoallergy. Hence, NIOSH has assigned a SK:SEN notation (skin:sensitizer) for BPA. With BPA used as a flame retardant avoiding coming into skin contact with it could be very difficult.
Related articles
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Inspectors Discover Asbestos at East Hampton Middle School
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| Mold behind sheet rock (asbestos joint compound?). |
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Asbestos Article in Indoor Environment Discusses Cross Issues with Radon
In the March 2011 issue of Indoor Environment Connections, Douglas Kladder the Director of the Center for Environmental Research & Training in Colorado Springs, Colorado wrote an excellant article regarding asbestos. Being on the asbestos side of the fence, it is interesting how sometimes we get tunnel vision in dealing with indoor air quality/environmental issues. Mr. Kladder article "Asbestos? What Asbestos? I'm a Radon Guy!" discusses the dangers of tunnel vision. Mr. Kladder discusses that their are few activities involved in radon mitigation that would not impact asbestos containing materials. He then provides several war stories of issues related to this topic. In many ways the same statement can be made to those of us in the asbestos field. We tend to get tunnel vision regarding asbestos and forget that lead, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) or, even for that matter, radon may also be a concern. For example, lead paint could be on asbestos siding or asbestos spackles/joint compounds, and window caulk, in addition to containing asbestos, may also contain lead and/or PCBs. It is important for indoor air quality/environmental professional to keep abreast of the field and to consider the potential possibilities of various environmental hazards being present.
Monday, April 11, 2011
New York State Releases FAQ on Asbestos Analysis
Image via WikipediaLate last week we received a FAQ from New York State Department of Health. The FAQ is focused on analyzing asbestos samples and the environmental laboratory accreditation program. The FAQ has several interesting piece of information. Those of you who attend my classes, have heard me discuss the problems with analyzing vermiculite and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) statement that asbestos inspectors should not sample the material but should assume the material is asbestos. Well Question 10 in this document states "Since there is currently no approved analytical methodology to reliably confirm vermiculite as non-asbestos containing it is best to assume vermiculite is contaminated with asbestos and proceed accordingly." We will add this document to all our course manuals, and/or you can access the document at: http://futureenvironmentdesigns.com/Media/NYS%20Asbestos%20FAQ%20%20April%208-2011%20(2).pdf.
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