Category: Chemicals

Today’s workplace uses thousands of chemicals, many of which are hazardous. The resources in this section will help guide you in the safe and legal identification, storage, transport, and use of these chemicals, and in making sure that your employees right to know how to be safe around such substances is provided, as required by law.

Five Steps for a Vapor Intrusion Investigation, Continued

Yesterday we talked about reasons why you should be concerned about the potential of vapor intrusion (VI) on your property or property you may want for future development. We also reviewed the first two steps you should follow in a vapor intrusion investigation, as outlined in a process developed by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency […]

vapor / smoke

Five Steps for a Vapor Intrusion Investigation

Should you care about the implications of vapor intrusion at your facility or on your property? With the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moving away from enforcement, maybe you can let these concerns go for now—or not. Your state may be stepping up to the plate to tackle problems associated with vapor intrusion. We will […]

Pruitt Denies Petition on Pesticide Chlorpyrifos

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt announced he is denying a 9-year-old petition from environmental groups that requested that the Agency ban all uses of the pesticide chlorpyrifos. Pruitt’s order reverses a November 2015 proposal by the Obama EPA to revoke all chlorpyrifos tolerances based in part on uncertainty surrounding the potential for chlorpyrifos to cause neurodevelopmental […]

Workers working at a chemical plant

ASSE Strives to Keep Chemical Safety Board from Chopping Block

The American Society of Safety Engineers (ASSE) has expressed its support for the U.S. Chemical Safety Board (CSB). The independent federal agency, which investigates industrial chemical accidents, is on the chopping block in the budget proposed by the Trump administration.

Two Key Steps for Assessing Worker Nano Exposure

According to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), examples of workplaces that may use nanomaterials include chemical or pharmaceutical laboratories or plants, manufacturing facilities, medical offices or hospitals, and construction sites. And the list is growing. Should you be concerned about your workers’ exposure to nanomaterials? Here are some tips to help environment, health, […]

Nanomaterials: The Case for Occupational Exposure Limits

More and more workplaces are affected by the increasing prevalence of nanomaterials. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recently identified nanotechnology as one of the occupational safety and health issues identified as needing attention by the industry sector groups of the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA). NIOSH also published a blog making […]

Strong Reactions: Anaphylaxis in the Workplace

Camp Courant in Hartford, Connecticut, has served the children of the community for more than 120 years. Walter Darden was a 64-year-old maintenance worker who had been at the camp for 10 years. On June 19, 2015, Darden was working at the camp when he was stung by yellow jackets that had nested inside an […]

Strong Reactions: Understanding Anaphylactic Allergies

Pharmaceutical firm Mylan made headlines throughout 2016 for the price of its EpiPen®—an epinephrine auto-injector that can stop life-threatening anaphylactic allergic reactions in their tracks. When Mylan acquired the EpiPen in 2007, the device retailed for around $57 apiece; by 2016, a pair of EpiPens set consumers back by about $600. In January, the Federal […]

Screening Process for Existing Chemicals Proposed

High-priority substances to undergo full risk evaluation EPA’s proposed Procedures for Prioritization of Chemicals for Risk Evaluation under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) comprises the Agency’s steps for selecting chemicals it will subject to full risk evaluations, as required by the June 2016 amendments to TSCA. The main objective of the selection or screening […]