Alice Hamilton Awards for Occupational Safety and Health Announced

The Alice Hamilton Awards for Occupational Safety and Health recognize the scientific excellence of technical and instructional materials by NIOSH scientists and engineers in the areas of biological science, engineering and physical science, human studies, and educational materials.

The Awards honor Dr. Alice Hamilton (1869 - 1970), a pioneering researcher and occupational physician, and are presented each year by NIOSH on the basis of rigorous reviews by panels of scientific experts from outside the Institute.

The top three finalists in each category are:

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Evans DE, Ku BK, Birch ME, Dunn KH. Aerosol monitoring during carbon nanofiber production: mobile direct-reading sampling. Ann Occup Hyg 54(5):514-531, 2010.

Green JD, Yannaccone JR, Current RS, Sicher LA, Moore PH, Whitman GR. Assessing the performance of various restraints on ambulance patient compartment workers during crash events. Int J Crashworthiness 15(5):517-541, 2010.

NIOSH Report of Investigation (RI) 9679: Recommendations for a new rock dusting standard to prevent coal dust explosions in intake airways. By Cashdollar KL, Sapko MJ, Weiss ES, Harris ML, Man CK, Harteis SP, Green GM. Pittsburgh, PA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2010-151, 2010.

Biological Sciences

Sriram K, Lin GX, Jefferson AM, Roberts JR, Wirth O, Hayashi Y, Krajnak KM, Soukup JM, Ghio AJ, Reynolds SH, Castranova V, Munson AE, Antonini JM. Mitochondrial dysfunction and loss of Parkinson's disease-linked proteins contribute to neurotoxicity of manganese-containing welding fumes. FASEB J 24(12):4989-5002, 2010.

Leonard SS, Chen BT, Stone SG, Schwegler-Berry D, Kenyon AJ, Frazer D, Antonini JM. Comparison of stainless and mild steel welding fumes in generation of reactive oxygen species. Part Fibre Toxicol 7(1):32, 2010.

Wang LY, Mercer RR, Rojanasakul Y, Qiu AJ, Lu YJ, Scabilloni JF, Wu NQ, Castranova V. Direct fibrogenic effects of dispersed single-walled carbon nanotubes on human lung fibroblasts. J Toxicol Environ Health, A 73(5-6):410-422, 2010.

Human Studies

Hanley KW, Petersen MR, Cheever KL, Luo L. Bromide and N-acetyl-S-(n-propyl)-l-cysteine in urine from workers exposed to 1-bromopropane solvents from vapor degreasing or adhesive manufacturing. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 83(5):571-584, 2010.

Connor TH, DeBord DG, Pretty JR, Oliver MS, Roth TS, Lees PSJ, Krieg EF Jr., Rogers B, Escalante CP, Toennis CA, Clark JC, Johnson BC, McDiarmid MA. Evaluation of antineoplastic drug exposure of health care workers at three university-based US cancer centers. J Occup Environ Med 52(10):1019-1027, 2010.

The following three articles were submitted as one nomination:

• Couch JR, Petersen MR, Rice CR, Schubauer-Berigan MK. Development of retrospective quantitative and qualitative job-exposure matrices for exposures at a beryllium processing facility. Occ Environ Med. Published online October 25, 2010. doi: 10.1136/oem.2010.056630.
• Schubauer-Berigan MK, Couch JR, Petersen MR, Carreón T, Jin Y, Deddens JA. Cohort mortality study of workers at seven beryllium processing plants: update and associations with cumulative and maximum exposure. Occ Environ Med. Published online October 15, 2010.doi:10.1136/oem.2010.056481.
• Schubauer-Berigan MK, Deddens JA, Couch JR, Petersen MR. Risk of lung cancer associated with quantitative beryllium exposure metrics within an occupational cohort. Occup Environ Med. Published online November 16, 2010. doi: 10.1136/oem.2010.056515.

Educational Materials

Slip, trip, and fall prevention for healthcare workers. By Bell J, Collins JW, Dalsey E, Sublet V. Morgantown, WV/Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011-123, 2010.

Move it! Rig move safety for roughnecks. By: Cullen E, Hill R, Shannon J, Headding B. Spokane, WA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2011-108d, 2010.

Baron S, Stock L, Ayala L, Soohoo R, Gong F, Lloyd C, Haroon P, Teran S, Gonzalez P. Caring for yourself while caring for others: practical tips for homecare workers. In: Labor Occupational Health Program, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Service Employees International Union. Edited by United Long Term Care Workers. Oakland, CA: Public Authority for In-Home Supportive Services in Alameda County, 2010.

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Occupational Illnesses Continue to Unnecessarily Kill Workers

A recent Letter to the Editor in the New York Times focuses on the fact that US workers continue to suffer from fatal occupational diseases and illness that are avoidable. 

Commenting on the feature article exposing the need to great enforcement of safety measures by OSHA, Tom O'Connor, Executive Director, National Council for Occupational Safety and Health, stated: "While nearly 5,000 workers die on the job each year, an estimated 50,000 more develop an occupational illness. Yet despite this toll, the federal government sits on rules that could help prevent workers from developing occupational illnesses. A proposed rule that would prevent workers from being exposed to dangerous levels of silica dust on the job has remained mired at the Office of Management and Budget for more than two years."

Click here to read the entire letter: LETTER Rules on Worker Health, Tom O'Connor Should Your Job Kill You?

Read more about "occupational illness" and workers' compensation:

Breast Cancer Presumed Occupational Illness - Workers ...

Mar 18, 2011

Fire fighters in Canada are supporting legislation that would establish a legal presumption that breast cancer is an occupationally related illness. The legislation also creates a presumption that 3 other cancers (skin, prostate ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: OSHA Needs To Be Strengthened

Mar 31, 2013

A just published study reports that only 25% of occupational disease claims are covered by US workers' compensation programs. Click here to read the entire report: Economic Burden of Occupational Injury and Illness in the .

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Alice in Wonderland - A Lesson in Occupational Illness - Workers ...

Mar 05, 2010

Alice in Wonderland has been released in the movie theaters today. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been quick to remind us of the Mad Hatter and mercury exposures. "Society has made ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: US Lacks a Census of Occupational Illness ...

Mar 17, 2011

In a series of articles, Celeste Monforton discusses the absence in the U.S. of a comprehensive system for surveillance of occupational illnesses sand disease. Citing the the U.S. Surgeon General in 1965 that..."it is almost ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

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Alice in Wonderland - A Lesson in Occupational Illness

Alice in Wonderland has been released in the movie theaters today. The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has been quick to remind us of the Mad Hatter and mercury exposures.

"Society has made great progress in recognizing and controlling industrial hazards since Lewis Carroll's day. For example, nearly 70 years ago, on December 1, 1941, the U.S. Public Health Service ended mercury's use by hat manufacturers in 26 states through mutual agreements. The kinds of conditions that put hat-makers and other industrial workers at risk in 1865 are no longer tolerated," said John Howard, M.D., Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH).

"However," Dr. Howard emphasized, "the Hatter remains a cautionary figure, since exposures to mercury and other hazardous industrial substances can still occur in the workplace. Symptoms from chronic exposures to mercury, lead, and other neurotoxic substances, even at low levels, may be subtle in early stages. Sometimes, they may be mistaken for symptoms that can arise from other causes. Similar concerns exist about other adverse effects that are associated with exposures on the job. It is important to be vigilant about work-related illness, and to act decisively to protect workers' health."

In 1911, New Jersey adopted the Workers' Compensation Act.  The original Act did not recognize any occupational diseases as compensable events.  In 1924 there were early amendments to the Act which enumerated 9 diseases as compensable.  Those disease were: anthrax, lead poisoning, mercury poisoning, arsenic, phosphorous, benzene, wood alcohol, chrome and caisson disease. 

A utility man who was required to pour sixty pounds of mercury each day and who had mercury dust both on his face and his clothes developed muscular weakness.  The expert doctor testified that the disease was either caused by mercury poisoning or myasthenia gravis.  Even though his supervisor testified that daily showers were available to all employees, the treating doctor indicated that, as a result of positive clinical findings, diagnostic tests, and a history of exposure, the exposure was the cause of the petitioner's illness, namely muscular weakness, and was compensable.  Jackson v. Mallinckrodt Chemical Works, 25 N.J.Misc. 33, 50 A.2d 106 (Com.Pl.1946).

A hatter who was required to come into contact with furs that had been treated with mercury was awarded total permanent disability benefits as a result of his having contracted the occupational disease of mercurial poisoning during the course of his employment.  Horowitz v. Rothenberg Hat Co., 19 N.J.Misc. 284, 18 A.2d 852 (Dept. of Labor 1941), N.J.S.A. 34:15-31, L.1924, c. 124 (Sec. 1) 22b, p. 231.

An employee in the hat industry who had suffered from symptoms of mercury poisoning and who had notified the insurance carrier was deemed to have notified the employer as well, and compensation was allowed.  Yurow v. Jersey Hat Corporation, 131 N.J.L. 265, 36 A.2d 296 (1944), judgment aff'd 132 N.J.L. 180, 39 A.2d 371 (Err. & App.1944).

The Division of Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Services requires that treating physicians report to the State Department of Health any occupational or environmental diseases within 30 days of diagnosis or treatment.  These diseases include: lead toxicity, arsenic toxicity, mercury toxicity, cadmium toxicity and pesticide toxicity. N.J.A.C. 8:57-3.2.

Mad Hatter: "No wonder you're late. Why, this watch is exactly two days slow."

...

Click here to read more about occupational disease and workers' compensation.

Remembering 9/11

In commemoration of the tenth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, the International Center of Photography (ICP) is collaborating with the National September 11 Memorial Museum (9/11 Memorial Museum) on an exhibition of photography and video that addresses the issues of memory and recovery from disaster and explores how New Yorkers and volunteers from across the U.S. responded to this inconceivable tragedy. Remembering 9/11 will be on view at the International Center of Photography (1133 Avenue of the Americas at 43rd Street) from September 9, 2011 to January 8, 2012.

“On the occasion of this important anniversary of the events of 9/11, ICP is pleased to partner with the 9/11 Memorial Museum on an exhibition that honors those who were lost and celebrates the sacrifices of many to recover from those violent acts,” said Willis E. Hartshorn, ICP Ehrenkranz Director. “Photography is, in this case, both a documentary tool to record this process of regeneration and a medium of memorialization and healing.”

Focusing on how firefighters, transit workers, police officers, construction workers, artists, photographers, and World Trade Center (WTC) neighbors worked together in the aftermath of the attacks, the exhibition will include five parts: Memory Remains: 9/11 Artifacts at Hangar 17, a major installation by Francesc Torres; photographs from Eugene Richards’ Stepping Through the Ashes; a five-channel video installation, cedarliberty, by Elena del Rivero and Leslie McCleave; Above Ground Zero, photographs and proof sheets by Gregg Brown; and excerpts from here is new york: a democracy of photographs.

“The work in Remembering 9/11 documents a wealth of different experiences and offers various perspectives on the tragedy and its aftermath. It is the first time some of the work will be exhibited and accessible to the public. Only a handful of Gregg Brown’s extraordinary aerial views of the WTC site, which were commissioned by government agencies right after the attacks, has been seen by general viewers. And Francesc Torres’ installation will be a unique opportunity to see the WTC artifacts that were housed in Hangar 17,” said ICP Curator Carol Squiers, who co-organized the exhibition.

“For years, Hangar 17 has been a repository for stories of loss, courage, heroism, and resiliency that have been told through the recovered WTC steel beams and damaged vehicles,” said Joe Daniels, President and CEO, National September 11 Memorial & Museum. “A year from this year’s opening of the 9/11 Memorial, the world will be able to experience these historic artifacts in the 9/11 Memorial Museum. Our collaboration with ICP offers a window onto the Museum exhibitions we are planning.”

Memory Remains: 9/11 Artifacts at Hangar 17

Francesc Torres’ Memory Remains: 9/11 Artifacts at Hangar 17 is a digital projection installation of 140 photographs taken of the more than 1,500 artifacts removed from the WTC site and preserved inside Hangar 17 at JFK Airport. In Hanger 17, the items were cleaned, catalogued, and arranged in the 80,000 square-foot space, with only a limited number of visitors seeing the collection over the years, including military and police officials and family members of the victims. In April 2009, Torres photographed the collection that had taken shape inside the hangar, including twisted steel beams, crushed emergency and civilian vehicles, the remains of an Alexander Calder sculpture, store merchandise and displays, ID badges, and huge objects dubbed “composites”— compressed fused pieces of building materials, some measuring as much as eight feet on a side and weighing an estimated 25,000 to 30,000 pounds.

“Torres spent five weeks at Hangar 17 in 2009, daily confronting the legacy of terror and the ghosts of Ground Zero,” said Alice M. Greenwald, Director, 9/11 Memorial Museum. “Through Torres’ eyes, we can see the potential for resilience, and the triumph of the human spirit over adversity.”

The Torres work was commissioned for the 9/11 Memorial Museum in 2009. Many of the artifacts from Hangar 17 will be shown at the 9/11 Memorial Museum when it opens in September 2012.

Walmart Workers Demand $15 Wage in Several Protests

Today's post was shared by Steven Greenhouse and comes from www.nytimes.com

As retail workers step up demands for higher wages and more stable working hours, a trade organization has warned that many retailers cannot afford to pay more, intensifying a debate over fair pay in a struggling industry. Labor activists have long denounced retailers like Walmart for employing an army of low-wage, part-time workers to staff their stores. As retail sales flounder in an uncertain economy, those activists — and even a growing number of retailers — are linking those sluggish sales to the retailers’ own low wages. On Thursday, organizers of a group called Our Walmart took to the streets in New York, Washington and Phoenix to draw attention to their campaign to change labor practices in retailing and other low-wage industries like fast-food restaurants. By not paying their workers a living wage, the activists say, such businesses squeeze the very people they hope to sell to. “I can’t afford anything,” said LaRanda Jackson, 20, who earns $8.75 an hour working on the sales floor at a Walmart in Cincinnati. “Sometimes I can’t afford soap, toothpaste, tissue. Sometimes I have to go without washing my clothes.” Ms. Jackson was among 14 Walmart employees and 12 others who were arrested and charged with civil disobedience Thursday after staging a protest outside the Manhattan residence of Alice Walton, an heir to the Walmart fortune, demanding that Walmart set a base pay of $15 for all its workers — much like the...

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Workers Compensation and Nanotechnology - The New Frontier

NIOSH research has revealed that breathing nanoparticles may result in damaging health effects.

"Nanotechnology has the potential to revolutionize countless products, create computers smaller and faster than once could be imagined, and fight diseases such as cancer. According to the Project on Emerging Nanotechnology, by the summer of 2009 there were 1,015 consumer products using nanotechnology. That represents nearly a 19-fold increase over the 54 products listed in 2005. Nanotechnology involves the manipulation of matter at a near-atomic scale. Nanoparticles measure from 1 to 100 nanometers in size, with 1 billion nanometers forming a meter. For comparison, a billion inches would nearly circle the Earth 2 times."

• A 2004 survey estimatedthat nearly 25,000 U.S. workers were employed at businesses that exclusively produced nanotechnology products.
• Nanoparticles can enter the body through many routes including inhalation, swallowing, ingestion, and absorption through the skin.
• Nanotechnology may present health risks but it can also be used to protect workers. New respirator designs, for instance, use nanotechnology to create more effective filters to block harmful substances.

Authors of Inhalation Versus Aspiration of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes in C57BL/6 Mice: Inflammation, Fibrosis, Oxidative Stress, and Mutagenesis—Anna Shvedova, Elena Kisin, Ashley Murray, Victor Johnson, Olga Gorelik, Sivaram Arepalli, Ann Hubbs, Robert Mercer, Phouthone Keohavong, Nancy Sussman, J. Jin, J. Yin, Samuel Stone, The-hsun Chen, Gregory Deye, Andrew Maynard, Vince Castranova, Paul Baron, and Valerian Kagan; Health Effects Laboratory Division; NIOSH—received the 2009 Alice Hamilton Award in the Biological Sciences category.

.....

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman 1.973.696.7900 jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered work related accident and injuries.

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Occupational Safety Recognized as One of the Top Ten Great Health Achievements

During the 20th century, life expectancy at birth among U.S. residents increased by 62%, from 47.3 years in 1900 to 76.8 in 2000, and unprecedented improvements in population health status were observed at every stage of life (1). In 1999, MMWR published a series of reports highlighting 10 public health achievements that contributed to those improvements. This report assesses advances in public health during the first 10 years of the 21st century. Public health scientists at CDC were asked to nominate noteworthy public health achievements that occurred in the United States during 2001--2010.

Occupational Safety

Significant progress was made in improving working conditions and reducing the risk for workplace-associated injuries. For example, patient lifting has been a substantial cause of low back injuries among the 1.8 million U.S. health-care workers in nursing care and residential facilities. In the late 1990s, an evaluation of a best practices patient-handling program that included the use of mechanical patient-lifting equipment demonstrated reductions of 66% in the rates of workers' compensation injury claims and lost workdays and documented that the investment in lifting equipment can be recovered in less than 3 years (45). Following widespread dissemination and adoption of these best practices by the nursing home industry, Bureau of Labor Statistics data showed a 35% decline in low back injuries in residential and nursing care employees between 2003 and 2009.

The annual cost of farm-associated injuries among youth has been estimated at $1 billion annually (46). A comprehensive childhood agricultural injury prevention initiative was established to address this problem. Among its interventions was the development by the National Children's Center for Rural Agricultural Health and Safety of guidelines for parents to match chores with their child's development and physical capabilities. Follow-up data have demonstrated a 56% decline in youth farm injury rates from 1998 to 2009 (National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, unpublished data, 2011).

In the mid-1990s, crab fishing in the Bering Sea was associated with a rate of 770 deaths per 100,000 full-time fishers. Most fatalities occurred when vessels overturned because of heavy loads. In 1999, the U.S. Coast Guard implemented Dockside Stability and Safety Checks to correct stability hazards. Since then, one vessel has been lost and the fatality rate among crab fishermen has declined to 260 deaths per 100,000 full-time fishers.

Reported by: Domestic Public Health Achievements Team, CDC. Corresponding contributor: Ram Koppaka, MD, PhD, Epidemiology and Analysis Program Office, Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services, CDC; rkoppaka@cdc.gov, 347-396-2847.

For over 3 decades the Law Offices of Jon L. Gelman  1.973.696.7900  jon@gelmans.com have been representing injured workers and their families who have suffered occupational accidents and illnesses.

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Recommendations Released for Use of Spirometry in the Occupational Setting

The Occupational and Environmental Lung Disorders Committee of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) has published a report making recommendations equipment performance (Specifications,Validation, Accuracy and Error Avoidance); how to conduct tests; comparing results with reference vales; and evaluating results over time.

Click here for the Complete Report: http://tinyurl.com/6h8pqkk

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UN Announces Treaty to Restrict Use of Mercury

Over 140 governments meeting at a United Nations forum in Geneva have agreed to a global, legally-binding treaty to address mercury, a notorious heavy metal with significant health and environmental effects.

The Minamata Convention on Mercury – named after a city in Japan where serious health damage occurred as a result of mercury pollution in the mid-20th Century – provides controls and reductions across a range of products, processes and industries where mercury is used, released or emitted.

These range from medical equipment such as thermometers and energy-saving light bulbs to the mining, cement and coal-fired power sectors, according to a news release issued today by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), which convened the negotiations.

“After complex and often all-night sessions here in Geneva, nations have today laid the foundations for a global response to a pollutant whose notoriety has been recognized for well over a century,” said UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner.

“Everyone in the world stands to benefit from the decisions taken this week in Geneva, in particular the workers and families of small-scale gold miners, the peoples of the Arctic and this generation of mothers and babies and the generations to come. I look forward to swift ratification of the Minamata Convention so that it comes into force as soon as possible,” he added.

The treaty, which has been four years in negotiation and which will be open for signature at a special meeting in Japan in October, also addresses the direct mining of mercury, export and import of the metal and safe storage of waste mercury.

Pinpointing populations at risk, boosting medical care and better training of health care professionals in identifying and treating mercury-related effects will also form part of the new agreement.

UNEP noted that mercury and its various compounds have a range of serious health impacts, including brain and neurological damage especially among the young. Others include kidney damage and damage to the digestive system. Victims can suffer memory loss and language impairment alongside many other well documented problems.

Among the provisions of the treaty, governments have agreed on a range of mercury-containing products whose production, export and import will be banned by 2020. These include batteries, except for 'button cell' batteries used in implantable medical devices; switches and relays; certain types of compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs); mercury in cold cathode fluorescent lamps and external electrode fluorescent lamps; and soaps and cosmetics.

Certain kinds of non-electronic medical devices such as thermometers and blood pressure devices are also included for phase-out by 2020.

Governments also approved exceptions for some large measuring devices where currently there are no mercury-free alternatives. In addition, vaccines where mercury is used as a preservative have been excluded from the treaty as have products used in religious or traditional activities.

Read more about toxicity of mercury:

Mercury to be Removed by US EPA From Pompton River in NJ

Dec 20, 2012

The US EPA has announce that mercury, a hazardous substance, that was dischardged by EI DuPont in the Pompton River in NJ will be removed. For decades it has been known that mercury exposure causes illness and ...

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The 6 Things You Need To Do If You Are Exposed To Mercury

Nov 26, 2012

Irving J. Selikoff Center for Occupational & Environmental Medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine has released a guide to treatment for elemental mercury ((the pure form of the metal, when it is not combined with other ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: Alice in Wonderland - A Lesson in ...

Mar 05, 2010

For example, nearly 70 years ago, on December 1, 1941, the U.S. Public Health Service ended mercury's use by hat manufacturers in 26 states through mutual agreements. The kinds of conditions that put hat-makers and ...

http://workers-compensation.blogspot.com/

Workers' Compensation: EPA to Discuss Plans for Addressing ...

May 09, 2012

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will discuss plans to address high levels of contaminants, including PCBs, mercury and dioxin, which are present in Passaic River mud adjacent to Riverside Park in Lyndhurst, New ...

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AAJ Responds To WSJ Report About Rising Asbestos Claims

Workers' Compensation claimant's attorneys have lived through decades of denial and delay of asbestos disease claims by the asbestos industry and their suppliers, manufacturers and distributors of asbestos products. Asbestos, a known carcinogen, was marketed throughout the US for decades and still is not banned in the US. 

Click here to read

The energies and economies of the asbestos / insurance industry have been misplaced, for what now seems like generations. Instead of trying to defeat the claims, the asbestos industry, which gained enormous profit from trading in a deadly product, would best serve public health by supporting a total ban on asbestos manufacturing/importation and use in the US and support medical research for a cure for the rare and fatal malignancies it causes, ie. mesothelioma and lung cancer.

The following is a statement from American Association for Justice President Mary Alice McLarty, in response to theWall Street Journal story “As Asbestos Claims Rise, So Do Worries About Fraud:”

“Asbestos has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and 10,000 more will die this year.

“Countless lives could have been saved and lawsuits prevented if Big Asbestos had been transparent and disclosed the dangers of asbestos decades ago.  Instead, as more Americans die, this industry continues to invest massive resources into evading accountability, vilifying the victims and opposing a ban on asbestos. 

“The Wall Street Journal and Congress should not be aiding this campaign to let Big Asbestos off the hook for killing Americans.”

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As the world's largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) works to make sure people have a fair chance to receive justice through the legal system when they are injured by the negligence or misconduct of others—even when it means taking on the most powerful corporations. Visit http://www.justice.org/newsroom.

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Votive Candle Holders Sold at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Recalled Due to Fire Hazard; Made by Mercuries Asia

Mercury has been long known to be a dangerous substance for workers. In fact, the Mad Hatter who is described in the Alice in Wonderland, suffered from mercury poison. Today's post was shared by U.S. CPSC and comes from www.cpsc.gov

Consumers should stop using this product unless otherwise instructed. It is illegal to resell or attempt to resell a recalled consumer product. Recall Details Units About 7,900 Description This recall involves candle holders designed to resemble a large ant. The black metal candle holders are 6 ½-inches tall and were sold as either a male or female. The male ant has a polka dot bow tie and the female has a white pearl necklace. Both ants hold up a clear glass votive cup. The words “Backyard BBQ” and “Glass Votive Holder” are printed on the front of the packaging. SKU number 426154 can be found on the underside of the packaging. Remedy Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled votive candle holders and return them to any Cracker Barrel Old Country Store location or mail to Mercuries Asia USA, Ltd., 1501 Gary Street, Bethlehem, PA 18018 for a full refund, including shipping. Sold exclusively at Cracker Barrel Old Country Store locations nationwide from May 2013 through June 2013 for about $6 Importer Cracker Barrel Old Country Store® of Lebanon, Tenn. Manufacturer Mercuries Asia Ltd., of Taipei, Taiwan Manufactured in China The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is still interested in receiving incident or injury reports that are either directly related to this product recall or involve a different hazard with the same product. Please tell us about your experience with the product on SaferProducts.gov...

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Mercury to be Removed by US EPA From Pompton River in NJ

The US EPA has announce that mercury, a hazardous substance, that was dischardged by EI DuPont in the Pompton River in NJ will be removed. For decades it has been known that mercury exposure causes illness and injury to workers.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today announced its plan to remove mercury contamination from the sediment of the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lake in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey to levels that meet stringent standards to protect people’s health and the environment. The plan will go into effect as a modification of a permit, which legally requires the E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. to fund and perform the work. Under the permit modification, the EPA will require DuPont to dredge at least 100,000 cubic yards of mercury contaminated sediment from the bottom of a 40-acre area of Pompton Lake and remove at least 7,800 cubic yards of contaminated soil from a shoreline area of the lake affected by DuPont’s past discharges. All of the sediment and soil will be sent to a licensed disposal facility.

Mercury in the sediment and soil can build up in the tissue of fish and other wildlife and pose a threat to people who eat them. Exposure to mercury can damage people’s nervous systems and harm the brain, heart, kidneys, lungs and immune systems.

“The removal of mercury-contaminated sediment from Pompton Lake is a major step toward the recovery of the lake and the protection of people’s health,” said EPA Regional Administrator Judith A. Enck. “The expanded dredging and other revisions in the final cleanup plan reflect the EPA’s commitment to protecting public health and improving environmental quality in Pompton Lakes.”

In November 2011, the EPA proposed a preliminary permit modification to remove contaminated sediment from the bottom of Pompton Lake and encouraged the public to comment on it. A public hearing on the proposed permit modification was held in January 2012. The final permit modification announced today incorporates changes that were made in response to comments from the public and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and additional technical information received from DuPont after the proposed permit modification was issued. A public meeting to discuss the permit modification for the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lakes will be held on January 15, 2013.

Under the final permit modification, the area of sediment that will be removed has been expanded by approximately 35% and sediment sampling is required to identify additional areas of the lake that may require the removal of mercury-contaminated sediment. In addition, DuPont is required to implement long-term monitoring of the effectiveness of the dredging, restore the soil between Lakeside Avenue and the edge of the lake, and perform an ecological risk assessment to determine whether additional action may be needed in the future. DuPont will be required to develop work plans for these requirements, which must be submitted to the EPA for approval. The cleanup will be financed and conducted by DuPont with EPA oversight.

The E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Inc. operated the Pompton Lakes Works facility, located at 2000 Cannonball Road, from 1902 to April 1994. Products manufactured at the facility included explosive powder containing mercury and lead, detonating fuses, electric blasting caps, metal wires and aluminum and copper shells. The manufacturing operations and waste management practices contaminated soil, sediment and ground water both on and off-site. Lead and mercury from its operations were released into Acid Brook, which flows through the eastern part of the facility and discharges into the Acid Brook Delta of Pompton Lake. DuPont’s operations also contaminated the ground water with chlorinated volatile organic compounds, such as tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, cis 1,2-dichloroethylene and vinyl chloride.

The cleanup of the Acid Brook Delta requires a modification of the permit under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The final permit modification will become effective on February 4, 2013 pending any requests for appeal submitted prior to that date.

Plans to clean up the remaining areas of contamination will be proposed through future permit modifications after ongoing investigations by DuPont have been completed and reviewed by the EPA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection. Opportunities for public participation will continue to be provided through regular updates, public notices and public meetings.

The permit modification and relevant documents are available at the EPA’s project website at:http://www.epa.gov/region02/waste/dupont_pompton/index.html.

The public also can review documents related to the permit modification and cleanup at:
Pompton Lakes Public Library
333 Wanaque Avenue, Pompton Lakes, New Jersey
(973) 835-0482
http://www.pomptonlakeslibrary.org/index.htm

....
Jon L.Gelman of Wayne NJ, helping injured workers and their families for over 4 decades, is the author NJ Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson) and co-author of the national treatise, Modern Workers’ Compensation Law (West-Thompson). 

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