Workplace Toxins: A Hidden Epidemic

In his groundbreaking new book, The Formula for Better Health: How to Save Millions of Lives—Including Your Own, former CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden draws on decades of experience leading public health efforts to reveal how to defeat the world's deadliest diseases. While the book covers many health threats, its principles are particularly relevant to one of America's most overlooked crises: occupational exposure to toxic substances.

Bendix Asbestos: Legacy Lives On

For decades, the former Bendix plant in Teterboro, New Jersey, represented American industrial might—manufacturing brake systems and aerospace components that powered the nation's growth. But beneath that productive facade lurked a silent killer: asbestos. Today, Honeywell's recent divestiture of all legacy Bendix asbestos liabilities to Delticus for approximately $1.68 billion brings renewed attention to a public health crisis that continues to unfold, even as the factory floors have long gone quiet.

The Evolving Threat: Modernizing Biosafety to Prevent a Pandemic

Nearly a decade and a half after the initial discussion on the accidental release of potential pandemic pathogens (PPPs), the topic remains a critical concern. As research continues on highly pathogenic viruses like avian influenza A(H5N1), a healthy dose of anxiety and a strong commitment to safety are more important than ever. The debate around the risk-benefit of such research, once highlighted by experts like Marc Lipsitch and Barry R. Bloom, is ongoing, with current research showing a non-negligible risk that an accidental escape event would not be contained.

Asbestos Ban Under Fire

The battle over America's long-awaited ban on asbestos has reached a critical juncture in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, where the 2024 EPA rule faces fierce industry challenges that could determine the fate of worker safety protections nationwide.

Asbestos: USA's Unfinished Ban Battle

For decades, the insidious threat of asbestos has loomed over public health, leaving a trail of devastating diseases. While many developed nations have long enacted comprehensive bans, the United States has lagged, allowing a dangerous legacy to persist. Recent actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mark a significant, albeit still incomplete, step towards finally addressing this critical issue. The issue is still pending before the US 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

Toxic Chemicals Beware: Biden's Bold Safety Crackdown

In a significant move to safeguard worker health and public safety, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced critical actions targeting two highly toxic chemicals: trichloroethylene (TCE) and perchloroethylene (PCE). These landmark regulations aim to reduce exposure to substances linked to serious health risks, including cancer.

Toxic Legacy: Unmasking Asbestos's Dangerous Past and Present

Asbestos has long been a significant public health concern, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to take decisive steps to evaluate and mitigate its risks. The recent Notice of Availability for the Action: Notice Asbestos Part 2 Supplemental Evaluation (Docket ID #: EPA-HQ-OPPT-2021-0254) represents a crucial milestone in addressing this persistent environmental and health challenge.

How OSHA Standards Revolutionize Workplace Safety

Jordan Barab’s recent testimony before the House Education and Workforce Committee Subcommittee on Workforce Protections focused extensively on the importance of OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) standards in ensuring workplace safety. 

NJ Mandates Access to Periodic Cancer Screenings for Firefighters

NJ Governor Murphy signed legislation that mandates access to periodic cancer screening examinations for firefighters who are not enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program (SHBP), but who are eligible for enrollment in the SHBP by public employment.

US Bans Asbestos

Today, March 18, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to prohibit ongoing uses of chrysotile asbestos, the only known form of asbestos currently used in or imported to the United States. The ban on ongoing uses of asbestos is the first rule to be finalized under the 2016 amendments to the nation’s chemical safety law, the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which received near-unanimous support in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate. The action marks a major milestone for chemical safety after more than three decades of inadequate protections and serious delays during the previous administration to implement the 2016 amendments.

Long Overdue Public Safety Worker Coverage

Legislation has been reintroduced to provide workers’ compensation benefits for certain public safety workers who developed an occupational illness or injury flowing from the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. A closer look at the legislation reveals that it removes defenses such as causal relationship, statute of limitations, and jurisdiction. Complicated statutory and regulatory challenges may ultimately offset the benefits offered. 

Household Contact Awarded $30 Million Verdict for Mesothelioma

Employers have a responsibility not only to their employees but also to their household contacts, individuals who live in the employee’s home. Employees who are exposed at work may carry the toxic substances home on their clothes or their body.

TSCA Update

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it is beginning the process of prioritizing five additional toxic chemicals for risk evaluation under the nation’s premier chemical safety law. If, during the 12-month-long statutory process, the EPA designates these five chemicals as high-priority substances, the EPA will then begin risk evaluations for these chemicals. 

Toxic Flight Attendant Uniforms Result in a $1.1 Million Verdict

Wearing an employer-designated work uniform shouldn’t result in severe and debilitating occupational exposures. Unfortunately, some American Airlines flight attendants suffered injuries from wearing the flight uniforms prescribed by their employer. The lawsuit that they filed lawsuit resulted in a $1.1 Million award.

New EPA Rule Will Lighten the Burden of Proving an Asbestos-Related Disease Claim

In many occupational asbestos claims, it has been challenging to establish that asbestos fiber was used in the workplace. That will soon change under recently announced US Environmental Protection Agency [EPA] Rules.

EPA Seeks Reporting of Asbestos Fibers

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a final rule to require comprehensive reporting on all six fiber types of asbestos as the agency continues its work to address exposure to this known carcinogen and strengthen the evidence that will be used to protect people from this dangerous chemical further. Historically asbestos, a known carcinogen, has been present in workplaces causing significant occupational exposures to workers, sometimes fatal, and has generated a long wave of workers’ compensation claims.

OSHA: America Airlines Fined for Retaliating Against Worker Who Reported Hazardous Fumes in Cabin

Federal safety and health investigators have determined that one of the nation's largest airlines retaliated against flight attendants who reported worker illnesses caused by toxic fumes entering aircraft cabins.

NJ Sues Several Companies for Environmental Pollution

Acting Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and Commissioner of Environmental Protection (DEP) Shawn M. LaTourette announced today the filing of seven new environmental enforcement actions across the state.

Camp Lejeune Water Contamination Claims

Drinking water at Camp Lejune, North Carolina, was contaminated by toxic substances, and it is estimated that over one million military personnel, their families, and civilians who lived and worked near Camp Lejune training facility between August 1, 1953, and December 31, 1987, may have been exposed to hazardous substances.

Burn Pit Legislation Signed into Law

President Biden signed legislation that will provide medical benefits from the Veterans Administration to service members exposed to toxic burn pits while deployed overseas in recent conflicts. The President signed the Sargent First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act. It embodies some of the goals we strived to achieve in the decades-long burn pit litigation project.