Wired
by Louise Matsakis
National – The pandemic has forced all sorts of buildings to sit empty for long periods of time. As people venture back into their homes, schools, and offices again, they may also find an unwelcome surprise inside. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns people who are reopening buildings to watch out for potential hazards like mold and Legionella pneumophila, the bacterium that causes Legionnaires’ disease. Click here for the full text of the article
Washington, DC – The EPA Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals released their final report following the TSCA peer review meeting in June of this year. The report states: Overall, EPA’s environmental and human health risk evaluations for asbestos was not considered adequate and resulted in low confidence in the conclusions. This is due to missing data for environmental exposures, coupled with the fact that current estimates for human health risk are created for a narrow group of workers and consumer users based on limited exposure to chrysotile asbestos fibers leading to numerous uncertainties. The relatively meager concentration and exposure data available allows the risk evaluation to use the prudent approach of a reasonable worst-case analysis.
Click here for the full report and meeting minutes or email info@eia-usa.org.
Washington, DC – Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain reliever. Because a small amount of fentanyl can be deadly, emergency responders and hazmat teams are concerned about their potential exposure while responding to incidents at mixing houses, pill factories, or in makeshift laboratories found in apartments, hotels, houses, garages, and storage facilities. They are also concerned with exposures from remnants of laboratories that have been dumped illegally and possible fentanyl releases in correctional facilities.
Tampa Bay Times
by Meghan Bowbrowsky
Miami, FL – The federal Occupational Health and Safety Administration, charged with enforcing health and safety in the American workplace, has received more than 6,000 complaints nationwide about unsafe work conditions related to COVID-19. And yet, on June 9, Labor Secretary Eugene Scalia told lawmakers that OSHA, which his department oversees, had issued just one citation. The complaints go to OSHA, which dutifully maintains a list of the alleged infractions. But it’s unclear how much action is being taken.
National – EPA added 32 new surface disinfectants to List N, the agency’s list of over 460 products expected to kill SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19. These products have already been approved as tuberculocidal. While they have not yet been tested against SARS-CoV-2, they are approved for killing the pathogen that causes tuberculosis and are expected to kill SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) when used according to the label.
Energy Voice
by Allistar Thomas
North Sea – The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said Diamond Offshore failed to protect workers on the Ocean Valiant rig from exposure to asbestos fibres. The incident, in September last year, took place on the Ocean Valiant while repairs were being made on a diesel engine which generates power on board. However, insulation against asbestos had been damaged in the unit, leading to the debris being “dispersed to the surrounding walkway and engine block thereby creating the risk of potential exposure of the crew to asbestos fibres”.
National Law Review
by Clifford Pascarella, II
National – The EPA’s Draft Risk Evaluation for Asbestos (“DRE”) generated significant attention from industrial groups, experts, and various other parties involved in asbestos litigation. All sides have significant issues with the DRE as currently drafted. EPA was left with more than 75 comments to consider. Many of these comments include critiques from researchers and trade groups that assert that the proposed evaluation overestimates the risk posed by chrysotile and other asbestos-containing products, and flies in the face of decades of industry, scientific, and regulatory debate and consideration. EPA noted on a June 26, 2020 webinar regarding its ongoing TSCA evaluation that it is firmly committed to publishing a final rule for asbestos exposure by the end of 2020, despite the significant comments it has received. This suggests that the EPA may be prepared to push through its determination in its current form, which will significantly impact the asbestos litigation for years to come.
Montana Standard
Montana – Today it remains legal to import, manufacture and sell products containing asbestos in the United States – despite the fact that more than 60 countries worldwide have banned the deadly fiber. In November of 2019, the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act seemed to have real momentum. The House Committee on Energy and Commerce, on a bipartisan 47-1 vote, recommended it be sent to the full House. But ironically, a lobbyist generally in favor of asbestos-ban legislation — the trial-lawyer organization American Association for Justice, representing plaintiffs’ attorneys — is using its enormous power particularly among Democratic lawmakers to hold up the bill, saying it cannot support the bill as written. AAJ is seeking arcane language changes that it believes will provide a more favorable litigation environment for its members.
EHS Daily Advisor
by Guy Burdick
National – The hazard communication standard (HCS) is the second most frequently cited federal workplace safety and health standard, surpassed only by the construction industry’s fall protection standard. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) cited the HCS 4,102 times between October 2018 and September 2019 during 2,276 inspections for fines totaling $5,105,026. Industries most frequently cited for hazard communication violations include manufacturing, construction, wholesale trade, waste management and remediation services, and accommodation and food services.
Washington, DC – The EPA released a proposal Wednesday to reduce the amount of lead that can remain in dust on floors and windowsills after lead removal activities to better protect children from the harmful effects of lead exposure. The proposed, tighter standards would increase the effectiveness of work done to remove lead-based paint hazards in pre-1978 homes and childcare facilities, known as abatement, and lower the risk of lead exposure by ensuring that lead-based paint hazards are effectively and permanently eliminated following completion of the work.
For the full article, please click here.