Beauty Salons May Expose Workers and Customers to Carcinogens
OSHA issues formaldehyde warning and Sussex Environmental Health Consultants provide comprehensive formaldehyde testing services.
PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 18, 2011 – Few people who visit a beauty salon realize they may be putting their health at risk. The Brazilian Blowout, the name given to a controversial hair straightening procedure, has come under the scrutiny of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The reason for the concern is the presence of formaldehyde in many of the products used in the procedure. According to an article last week in the Los Angeles Times, “State OSHA offices in California and Oregon began investigating the Brazilian Blowout and other hair smoothing products several months ago after a host of complaints from salon workers and clients reporting headaches, nosebleeds, blisters, burning eyes, vomiting, asthma attacks and other respiratory problems. Several state-level agencies -- including those in California, Oregon and Connecticut -- issued warnings about the products. Health Canada issued an outright ban.” Formaldehyde is widely used in many consumer products and common building materials. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified formaldehyde as a known human carcinogen. According to OSHA, some of the chemicals being used, including some labeled as ‘formaldehyde free’ actually contain the chemical at levels above federal limits. Sussex Environmental Health Consultants, LLC (SEHC) is an environmental, health and safety consulting firm located in Delaware that has an extensive history of investigating indoor air quality (IAQ) issues involving formaldehyde across the Mid-Atlantic region. “Both workers and the general public need to be aware of the health risks associated with prolonged or elevated exposure to formaldehyde,” stated Susan White, Ph.D., CMC, President of SEHC. “In the case of the Brazilian Blowout products, beauty salons using these chemicals should have the products evaluated, increase ventilation for the salons, provide personal protective equipment for employees and conduct routine exposure monitoring. Failure to do this could result in temporary or even permanent health problems,” she continued.
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Girls Clothing Recall due to Lead
Connecticut Department of Public Health 410 Capitol Avenue, MS#51 LED Hartford, CT 06134-0308 Message Cover Sheet DATE: April 13, 2011 TO: Directors of Health Chief Sanitarians Regional Lead Treatment Centers Lead Contacts FROM: Rhonda Wisniewski, Health Program Assistant PHONE: (860) 509-7299 FAX: (860) 509-7295 RE: Girl’s Clothing Recalled by My Michelle Due to Risk of Lead Exposure cc: LPPCP Staff, Suzanne Blancaflor, Francesca Provenzano and Joan Jordan (CT DCP) Number of pages including cover sheet: 3 Please see the attached product recall issued by CPSC. The products (Girl's Tops) are distributed by My Michelle, of New York, NY. The jewelry and decorative trim attached to the girl's garments contain high levels of lead. Lead is toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health effects. This recall involves girl's tops and dresses sold in sizes small to extra-large and 7 to 16. The garments were sold in various styles including: tops with beaded necklaces attached to the collar and tops with metallic beads attached to the collar. All styles of the tops and dresses have a black tag on the collar with pink print that reads "mymichelle." The recalled items were sold at Burlington Coat Factory, Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Kohl's, Army and Air Force Exchange (AAFES), K & G Fashion Superstore and other retail stores nationwide from January 2011 through March 2011 for about $38. They were manufactured in Vietnam. Please see the recall notice for specific information for consumers and contact information for the company. You may also contact the CT Department of Public Health Lead Poisoning Prevention & Control Program at 860-509-7299.
Monday, April 11, 2011
National Gypsum Announces Dismissal of Lawsuit
National Gypsum Announces Dismissal of Attempted Class Action Lawsuit Company’s Product Continues to Withstand Baseless Claims CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--National Gypsum Company, one of the nation’s largest manufacturers of gypsum wallboard, today announced that the plaintiff in Yee v. National Gypsum, et al. (pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona) voluntarily dismissed his putative nationwide class action lawsuit filed against the company in October 2009. “Our wallboard has passed the industry’s most rigorous testing and certification processes for indoor air quality and has been used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Green Building Council in their buildings.” “While we are pleased with the outcome of this case, we are hardly surprised. Throughout this litigation, we have never doubted the quality and safety of our gypsum wallboard and were confident we would be fully exonerated,” said Craig Weisbruch, Sr. vice president of Sales & Marketing. “Our wallboard has passed the industry’s most rigorous testing and certification processes for indoor air quality and has been used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Green Building Council in their buildings.” The putative class action, Yee v. National Gypsum, et al, alleged that the company manufactured defective drywall which emitted high levels of sulfur, damaged property inside homes and caused health symptoms. These problems have typically been associated with defective Chinese drywall, not domestic drywall. National Gypsum vigorously defended itself against the claims and denied all allegations. The plaintiff did not produce any credible scientific evidence that could substantiate his allegations. “We have not seen any reliable evidence that our gypsum wallboard poses any of the issues associated with defective Chinese drywall,” said Weisbruch. All of the wallboard that National Gypsum manufactures is made in the United States and has attained the highest level of GREENGUARD certification for helping achieve healthy air in homes, schools, hospitals and other public buildings. National Gypsum’s wallboard has earned numerous awards for safety and product quality and has been recognized for its environmental benefits by the EPA and contributes credits to numerous projects certified by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System. For more information on National Gypsum and its products, visit www.NationalGypsum.com or www.DrywallFacts.com. About National Gypsum National Gypsum, based in Charlotte, NC, is a leading supplier of gypsum board, interior finishing products and cement board to the construction industry. It has a network of over 40 facilities in North America. Contacts National Gypsum CompanyCraig Weisbruch, 704-365-7556Director, Corporate Communications
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
More PCBs in Schools
Glastonbury Council Considers Funding For Start Of Window Replacement At School
PCBs Must Be Removed From Caulk And Bricks At Gideon Welles
GLASTONBURY — Although the Environmental Protection Agency requires that the town develop a plan to remove PCBs from window caulk and bricks at Gideon Welles School, the federal agency has no required timetable for the work.
Kevin W. Miller, president of Fuss & O'Neill EnviroScience LLC, told the town council recently that although the regulations are clear that "you have to do something," the EPA is "silent about the time frame."
"If the EPA believes there is a risk to health and the environment, they might require follow-up air and wipe tests. There is no evidence there is a risk to staff and students," he said.
PCBs — polychlorinated biphenyls — are chemical compounds that were used widely as an insulating material before their manufacture was banned in the late 1970s. They are suspected carcinogens.
The drafty windows — installed when the school was built in 1967 — were on the replacement schedule for years before the PCBs were found in their caulking. The chemical has been leaching into the masonry and other materials around the frames — increasing the cost of removing it from the original estimate of $810,000 to $1.67 million. The state could reimburse the town for $300,000 to $350,000 of the total cost.
Town Manager Richard J. Johnson noted that a further delay of the project could drive the cost even higher.
Town officials said the project would be done in phases over two summers and funding would be spread out over several years. The council now is trying to determine how much to budget for the work in it 2011-12 capital improvement program.
School Superintendent Alan B. Bookman said Friday that the summer of 2012 would be the earliest the project could start.
"The most important thing to do is submit some kind of plan," he said. "We are required by law to do that as soon as the PCBs were detected."
Miller said anything discovered with PCBs above 50 parts per million needs to have a disposal plan approved by the EPA. The PCBs discovered in the caulk had levels "in the thousands" of ppm, Miller said. He said the risk to students and staff would be from ingestion of dust or caulking that flakes off.
"This is typical of what we see," he said of the levels. "The oils seep into the bricks and concrete and all that material needs to be cleaned up and disposed of properly."
Council Chairwoman Susan Karp said the council will decide next month on the funding for the project, adding that the safety of the people in the building is "always our highest priority."
PCBs Must Be Removed From Caulk And Bricks At Gideon Welles
GLASTONBURY — Although the Environmental Protection Agency requires that the town develop a plan to remove PCBs from window caulk and bricks at Gideon Welles School, the federal agency has no required timetable for the work.
Kevin W. Miller, president of Fuss & O'Neill EnviroScience LLC, told the town council recently that although the regulations are clear that "you have to do something," the EPA is "silent about the time frame."
"If the EPA believes there is a risk to health and the environment, they might require follow-up air and wipe tests. There is no evidence there is a risk to staff and students," he said.
PCBs — polychlorinated biphenyls — are chemical compounds that were used widely as an insulating material before their manufacture was banned in the late 1970s. They are suspected carcinogens.
The drafty windows — installed when the school was built in 1967 — were on the replacement schedule for years before the PCBs were found in their caulking. The chemical has been leaching into the masonry and other materials around the frames — increasing the cost of removing it from the original estimate of $810,000 to $1.67 million. The state could reimburse the town for $300,000 to $350,000 of the total cost.
Town Manager Richard J. Johnson noted that a further delay of the project could drive the cost even higher.
Town officials said the project would be done in phases over two summers and funding would be spread out over several years. The council now is trying to determine how much to budget for the work in it 2011-12 capital improvement program.
School Superintendent Alan B. Bookman said Friday that the summer of 2012 would be the earliest the project could start.
"The most important thing to do is submit some kind of plan," he said. "We are required by law to do that as soon as the PCBs were detected."
Miller said anything discovered with PCBs above 50 parts per million needs to have a disposal plan approved by the EPA. The PCBs discovered in the caulk had levels "in the thousands" of ppm, Miller said. He said the risk to students and staff would be from ingestion of dust or caulking that flakes off.
"This is typical of what we see," he said of the levels. "The oils seep into the bricks and concrete and all that material needs to be cleaned up and disposed of properly."
Council Chairwoman Susan Karp said the council will decide next month on the funding for the project, adding that the safety of the people in the building is "always our highest priority."
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Secrets to a Healthy Home
Many of us already know the secrets of keeping our homes safe. Check for radon, watch for lead poisoning, and beware of gas leaks. These tips can preserve the lives of your family. But as you keep your home free of toxins, be sure to keep an eye on what you bring into your house. What you and your children are wearing can actually be hazardous to your health.
Rayon is a fabric used in many styles of clothing. Rayon is used to make sweaters, skirts, dresses, Halloween costumes, pajamas, and robes. The fabric may seem harmless, but the truth is, wearing rayon can endanger the lives of you, your children, and your home. Rayon is actually extremely flammable. Reports claim that even when exposed to minimal heat, such as the burning of a cigarette, rayon textiles may and have burst into flame. Rayon’s burning rate is comparable to that of newspaper. An entire rayon skirt can burn in as little as 3 seconds. Protect your house from fire and your family from severe burns by monitoring the clothing that you buy.
Next is a toxin you may already be familiar with. Asbestos has been widely used in the United States and around the world in insulation, drywall, tiles, adhesives, car parts, and heating appliances because of its fire-retardant properties. When asbestos is disturbed, its fibers can be inhaled or ingested. These fibers can also collect on clothes, shoes, and hair. Inhaling or ingesting asbestos may lead to a deadly cancer, mesothelioma. Because symptoms are subtle and latent for 20-50 years after asbestos exposure, mesothelioma diagnosis is often delayed. If you or a family member works near asbestos, it is important to monitor clothing that enters the home. Be cautious of mesothelioma causes like asbestos.
Finally, make sure to wash new clothes before wearing them. A toxin known as formaldehyde is often used in the manufacturing of clothes. Formaldehyde is said to keep clothes stain and wrinkle free. Besides aggravating the skin of more sensitive buyers, formaldehyde is known as a carcinogen. Even if your skin is not sensitive enough for visible signs of aggravation to show, prolonged exposure to formaldehyde increases the risk of cancer. Unlike asbestos, which may remain on clothing after washing, traces of formaldehyde are generally removed after a good soak. Even if you’re excited about wearing your brand new outfit, be sure to reduce your risk of cancer by washing your clothing before wearing it.
Keeping your home free of toxins and health hazards includes keeping your clothes safe. Check labels for flammable rayon clothing, make sure that you or loved ones aren’t bringing asbestos fibers home on their clothes, and wash new outfits to be rid of cancer-causing formaldehyde. After all, a healthy home is a happy one.
Poor AIr Quality and Heart Attacks
Dirty Air Triggers More Heart Attacks Than Cocaine, Scientists Say
Published February 24, 2011
Reuters
AP
Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.
Sex, anger, marijuana use and chest or respiratory infections and can also trigger heart attacks to different extents, the researchers said, but air pollution, particularly in heavy traffic, is the major culprit.
The findings, published in The Lancet journal, suggest population-wide factors like polluted air should be taken more seriously when looking at heart risks, and should be put into context beside higher but relatively rarer risks like drug use.
Tim Nawrot of Hasselt University in Belgium, who led the study, said he hoped his findings would also encourage doctors to think more often about population level risks.
"Physicians are always looking at individual patients, and low risk factors might not look important at an individual level, but if they are prevalent in the population then they have a greater public health relevance," he said in a telephone interview.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes air pollution as "a major environmental risk to health" and estimates that it causes around 2 million premature deaths worldwide every year.Nawrot's team combined data from 36 separate studies and calculated the relative risk posed by a series of heart attack triggers and their population-attributable fraction (PAF), in other words the proportion of total heart attacks estimated to have been caused by each trigger.
The highest risk PAF was exposure to traffic, followed by physical exertion, alcohol, coffee, air pollution, and then things like anger, sex, cocaine use, smoking marijuana and respiratory infections.
"Of the triggers for heart attack studied, cocaine is the most likely to trigger an event in an individual, but traffic has the greatest population effect as more people are exposed to (it)," the researchers wrote. "PAFs give a measure of how much disease would be avoided if the risk was no longer present."
A report published late last year found that air pollution in many major cities in Asia exceeds the WHO's air quality guidelines and that toxic cocktails of pollutants results in more than 530,000 premature deaths a year.
While passive smoking was not included in this study, Nawrot said the effects of second-hand smoke were likely to be similar to that of outdoor air pollution, and noted previous research which found that bans on smoking in public places have significantly reduced heart attack rates.British researchers said last year that a ban on smoking in public places in England led to a swift and significant drop in the number of heart attacks, saving the health service 8.4 million pounds ($13 million) in the first year.
Tim Chico, a heart specialist at the University of Sheffield who was not involved in this research, said it would help health authorities focus on which are the most important triggers.
"However, what triggers the heart attack should be considered the "last straw." The foundations of heart disease that lead to a heart attack are laid down over many years," he said in an emailed comment. "If someone wants to avoid a heart attack they should focus on not smoking, exercising, eating a healthy diet and maintaining their ideal weight."
Published February 24, 2011
Reuters
AP
Air pollution triggers more heart attacks than using cocaine and poses as high a risk of sparking a heart attack as alcohol, coffee and physical exertion, scientists said on Thursday.
Sex, anger, marijuana use and chest or respiratory infections and can also trigger heart attacks to different extents, the researchers said, but air pollution, particularly in heavy traffic, is the major culprit.
The findings, published in The Lancet journal, suggest population-wide factors like polluted air should be taken more seriously when looking at heart risks, and should be put into context beside higher but relatively rarer risks like drug use.
Tim Nawrot of Hasselt University in Belgium, who led the study, said he hoped his findings would also encourage doctors to think more often about population level risks.
"Physicians are always looking at individual patients, and low risk factors might not look important at an individual level, but if they are prevalent in the population then they have a greater public health relevance," he said in a telephone interview.
The World Health Organization (WHO) describes air pollution as "a major environmental risk to health" and estimates that it causes around 2 million premature deaths worldwide every year.Nawrot's team combined data from 36 separate studies and calculated the relative risk posed by a series of heart attack triggers and their population-attributable fraction (PAF), in other words the proportion of total heart attacks estimated to have been caused by each trigger.
The highest risk PAF was exposure to traffic, followed by physical exertion, alcohol, coffee, air pollution, and then things like anger, sex, cocaine use, smoking marijuana and respiratory infections.
"Of the triggers for heart attack studied, cocaine is the most likely to trigger an event in an individual, but traffic has the greatest population effect as more people are exposed to (it)," the researchers wrote. "PAFs give a measure of how much disease would be avoided if the risk was no longer present."
A report published late last year found that air pollution in many major cities in Asia exceeds the WHO's air quality guidelines and that toxic cocktails of pollutants results in more than 530,000 premature deaths a year.
While passive smoking was not included in this study, Nawrot said the effects of second-hand smoke were likely to be similar to that of outdoor air pollution, and noted previous research which found that bans on smoking in public places have significantly reduced heart attack rates.British researchers said last year that a ban on smoking in public places in England led to a swift and significant drop in the number of heart attacks, saving the health service 8.4 million pounds ($13 million) in the first year.
Tim Chico, a heart specialist at the University of Sheffield who was not involved in this research, said it would help health authorities focus on which are the most important triggers.
"However, what triggers the heart attack should be considered the "last straw." The foundations of heart disease that lead to a heart attack are laid down over many years," he said in an emailed comment. "If someone wants to avoid a heart attack they should focus on not smoking, exercising, eating a healthy diet and maintaining their ideal weight."
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
PCBs in New York School Ballasts
February 22, 2011, 1:52 pm — Updated: 2:28 pm -->
Striking PCB Levels Found at a New York School
By MIREYA NAVARRO
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has found the highest levels of leaking PCBs to date in its inspections of New York City schools, at Public School 45 in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Agency officials said that an inspection of lighting ballasts at the school on Feb. 12 revealed PCB levels of up to 660,000 parts per million, far beyond the regulatory limit of 50 parts per million.
Environmental Protection Agency A burnt lighting ballast.
Previous inspections at five other school buildings since January had found levels of up to 260,000 parts per million.
The likely cause was that capacitors in many of the lighting fixtures had “burned out and completely failed,” officials said. “This allowed the PCB-containing oil to seep through the potting material in almost pure form,” the agency said in a statement. “In most of the fixtures tested in this school the actual casing around the ballasts had also broken, allowing the high concentration of PCBs to contaminate the surface of the ballasts, the fixture housings, the wires and the diffusers that cover the lighting fixture.”The agency said that the higher the concentration in bulk material, the greater the potential for the PCBs’ entering the air, depending on variables like the amount spilled or released and the size of the room. E.P.A. inspectors found that in some cases that old leaking ballasts had been replaced but the new ones were installed in contaminated fixtures that had not been cleaned to remove the leaked material.
“The results give us a new sense of urgency — and certainly they, along with all of the results so far, point to a widespread problem that should and must be addressed by New York City in order to lower any potential risk of long-term exposure,” said Mary Mears, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A. in New York.
The E.P.A.. and community and elected leaders have been pressing the city to come up with a plan to assess and replace older fluorescent lighting fixtures in all schools because of the danger of leaks. But with about 800 school buildings involved, city officials have balked at the cost of such a wholesale approach to the problem.
The city, however, by law must remove any light fixtures found to be leaking PCBs at above a regulatory level of 50 parts per million. City officials say they have been doing so.
Health experts agree with the city that the health risks of PCB contamination are not immediate but say that the longer that such leaks persist, the higher the risk of illness. PCBs have been linked to cancer, impairment of immune and reproductive function, lower I.Q. and other problems.
A group of elected officials and schools advocates are calling on the New York City Department of Education to replace all toxic lighting ballasts within two to five years. A bill pending in the New York State Assembly would require the same in school buildings constructed between 1950 and 1978, before the use of PCBs was banned by the federal government.
The E.P.A.’s national recommendations on lighting ballasts are available here.
Striking PCB Levels Found at a New York School
By MIREYA NAVARRO
The federal Environmental Protection Agency has found the highest levels of leaking PCBs to date in its inspections of New York City schools, at Public School 45 in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Agency officials said that an inspection of lighting ballasts at the school on Feb. 12 revealed PCB levels of up to 660,000 parts per million, far beyond the regulatory limit of 50 parts per million.
Environmental Protection Agency A burnt lighting ballast.
Previous inspections at five other school buildings since January had found levels of up to 260,000 parts per million.
The likely cause was that capacitors in many of the lighting fixtures had “burned out and completely failed,” officials said. “This allowed the PCB-containing oil to seep through the potting material in almost pure form,” the agency said in a statement. “In most of the fixtures tested in this school the actual casing around the ballasts had also broken, allowing the high concentration of PCBs to contaminate the surface of the ballasts, the fixture housings, the wires and the diffusers that cover the lighting fixture.”The agency said that the higher the concentration in bulk material, the greater the potential for the PCBs’ entering the air, depending on variables like the amount spilled or released and the size of the room. E.P.A. inspectors found that in some cases that old leaking ballasts had been replaced but the new ones were installed in contaminated fixtures that had not been cleaned to remove the leaked material.
“The results give us a new sense of urgency — and certainly they, along with all of the results so far, point to a widespread problem that should and must be addressed by New York City in order to lower any potential risk of long-term exposure,” said Mary Mears, a spokeswoman for the E.P.A. in New York.
The E.P.A.. and community and elected leaders have been pressing the city to come up with a plan to assess and replace older fluorescent lighting fixtures in all schools because of the danger of leaks. But with about 800 school buildings involved, city officials have balked at the cost of such a wholesale approach to the problem.
The city, however, by law must remove any light fixtures found to be leaking PCBs at above a regulatory level of 50 parts per million. City officials say they have been doing so.
Health experts agree with the city that the health risks of PCB contamination are not immediate but say that the longer that such leaks persist, the higher the risk of illness. PCBs have been linked to cancer, impairment of immune and reproductive function, lower I.Q. and other problems.
A group of elected officials and schools advocates are calling on the New York City Department of Education to replace all toxic lighting ballasts within two to five years. A bill pending in the New York State Assembly would require the same in school buildings constructed between 1950 and 1978, before the use of PCBs was banned by the federal government.
The E.P.A.’s national recommendations on lighting ballasts are available here.
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