For years, the chemical industry has been winning a political battle to keep formaldehyde from being declared a known carcinogen. The industry’s chief lobby group, the American Chemistry Council, has persuaded members of Congress that the findings of both the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services were wrong and should be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences. In 2011, the academy did indeed criticize the EPA’s report on formaldehyde for being unclear. The chemical industry then used that critique to delay dozens of other ongoing evaluations of potentially toxic chemicals. But on Friday, the academy issued a second report, which found in effect that government scientists were right all along when they concluded that formaldehyde can cause three rare forms of cancer. “We are perplexed as to why today’s report differs so greatly from the 2011” report, Cal Dooley, president and chief executive officer of the American Chemistry Council, said in a statement titled “The Safety of Formaldehyde is Well-Studied and Supported by Robust Science.” Part of the disparity is that in the 2011 report, Congress asked the academy only to critique the EPA’s draft assessment rather than evaluate the dangers of formaldehyde itself. The panel concluded that the EPA’s report was too long, repetitive and lacked explanation. But after reviewing the scientific evidence itself, the academy concluded on... |
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Tuesday, August 12, 2014
National Academy of Sciences agrees with EPA that formaldehyde causes cancer
Monday, August 11, 2014
1 month left for 9/11 responders to apply for workers’ comp
First responders and volunteers who helped with 9/11 recovery efforts have only a month left to register for future workers’ compensation benefits in case they fall ill. More than 20,000 people could be eligible, but they must register before Sept. 12. The registration effort is part of the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board’s “Tell Us You Were There” campaign, designed to protect those who helped after the World Trade Center attacks. “Most people are eligible. You should file a WTC-12 form whether you were injured or not and whether you were employed or volunteered,” the board said. “This preserves your right to future benefits, should you ever need them.” Previous legislation guaranteeing the workers’ comp expired Sept. 13, 2010. But last year, Gov. Cuomo signed legislation that extended the deadline and expanded the list of covered illnesses. Now WTC workers or volunteers can get benefits if they develop psychological ailments or illnesses of the upper or lower respiratory or gastroesophageal tracts. The WTC-12 registration form is available at www.wcb.ny.gov/WTC12. Anyone with questions can call (855) WTC-2014. In addition to Ground Zero, qualified applicants can have worked at the Fresh Kills Landfill, on barges or piers or at morgue sites — as long as it was before Sept. 12, 2002. So far, 40,737 people have filled out the form, said Joe Cavalcante, a compensation-board spokesman. There have been 5,165... |
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These Two Desks Could Help You Live Longer
Today's post is shared from yahoo.com Have you heard the latest bad news? Sitting is the new smoking. According to one study, every workday you spend sitting costs you 2.5 hours off your lifespan. Sit six hours a day, and you’ll die 4.8 years sooner. It’s true even if you exercise regularly; this article explains why. Sitting also makes you fat, reduces bone density, contributes to heart disease, and makes you less productive. Great. These statistics are heaven-sent for the makers of standing desks — tall desks where you work standing — and sit/stand desks, which move up and down so you can split your time between sitting and standing. That’s supposed to be the healthiest arrangement of all. Unfortunately, first-generation hand-cranked sit/stand desks are the modern equivalent of treadmills: health equipment you buy with the best of intentions but wind up not using (except to drape clothing on). Ironically, the lazy person’s powered sit/stand desk, which goes up and down at the touch of a button, is much more likely to be used and therefore to yield better health results. The Stir Kinetic Desk Enter the Stir Kinetic Desk, the brainchild of JP Labrosse, a former Apple designer (he worked on the iPod Shuffle, among other projects). This baby fits right in with the Tesla sports car, Nest thermostat, and MacBook Air in a special circle of exquisitely designed, ultra-high-tech everyday goods that come at nosebleed prices. In the... |
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Addressing Caregivers’ Loss of Retirement Income
Earlier this month Representative Nita M. Lowey, Democrat of New York, introduced what she’s calling the Social Security Caregiver Credit Act, intended to increase retirement income for middle-class citizens who must reduce their work hours or leave the work force because of caregiving duties. It’s hard to feel optimistic about its passage in this political environment. I’m braced, even here, for a chorus of “How can we possibly afford that?” But you can’t really argue with the problem it tries to address. The toll that family caregiving can take isn’t only emotional and physical; it’s also financial, but not always in obvious ways. The groceries you pick up on the way to see your mother, the utility bills you quietly pay for your aunt — you’re aware of those. If you cut back your hours, turn down promotions or leave your job, as some caregivers feel forced to, you’re keenly conscious of your lost income. But I wonder how many people consider the ways that their own retirements, years down the road, may suffer. The pressures of caring for a disabled or dependent family member can reduce Social Security income for the rest of the caregiver’s life. And not by peanuts. A MetLife study in 2011, based on data from the national Health and Retirement Study, estimated that men who reduced work hours to... |
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Saturday, August 9, 2014
In Ambitious Bid, Walmart Seeks Foothold in Primary Care Services
Today's post was shared by The New York Times and comes from www.nytimes.com
Welcome to Walmart. The nurse will be right with you. Walmart, the nation’s largest retailer, has spent years trying to turn some of its millions of customers into patients, offering a simple menu of medical services that consumers can buy along with everything from a bag of chips to a lawn mower. Now, the store is making an aggressive push to become a one-stop shopping destination for medical care. The company has opened five primary care locations in South Carolina and Texas, and plans to open a sixth clinic in Palestine, Tex., on Friday and another six by the end of the year. The clinics, it says, can offer a broader range of services, like chronic disease management, than the 100 or so acute care clinics leased by hospital operators at Walmarts across the country. Unlike CVS or Walgreens, which also offer some similar services, or Costco, which offers eye care, Walmart is marketing itself as a primary medical provider. Like its competitors, Walmart is looking to grab a bigger share of the billions of health care dollars being spent in the United States and benefit from the changes that have resulted from the Affordable Care Act. With its vast rural footprint, Walmart is positioning its primary care clinics in areas where doctors are scarce, and where medical care, with or without insurance, can be prohibitively expensive. If they succeed, the company said, it is prepared to open even more. “If they’re rolling it out across the rural stores primarily,... |
National Academies fully supports Report on Carcinogens assessment - formaldehyde still causes cancer, despite industry arguments otherwise
The National Academies of Science (NAS) issued its assessment of the cancer risks from formaldehyde, a common and highly toxic chemical found in our furniture, home building materials, and clothing. The National Academies conducted a thorough and rigorous scientific review, and concluded that it posed a threat to humans for three types of cancer: nasopharyngeal cancer; sinonasal cancer; and myeloid leukemia. And, in 2009 the World Health Organization also confirmed the science that formaldehyde causes cancer in people. What makes this NAS review novel is not the cancer findings, because those had already been identified by various international and national government scientific assessments. No, this review was politically motivated, the result of a campaign by the chemical industry and its allies in Congress to protect formaldehyde and styrene, another common chemical linked to cancer. Part of that effort has been a vicious attack on government scientific assessments, to distort and discredit any evidence linking toxic chemicals to diseases, disabilities, or death. In a “kill the messenger” campaign, the Report on Carcinogens – the prestigious biennial government report that alerts the public to chemicals that may cause cancer in people – was compelled to undergo review by the National Academies after it listed formaldehyde and styrene as “known” and “reasonably anticipated” to cause cancer, respectively. This NAS formaldehyde... |
Thursday, August 7, 2014
KID’S CHANCE
Today's post was shared by Julius Young and comes from www.workerscompzone.com