Chemicals - Hazards magazine

Chemicals page

Features

Dust up! Tens of thousands of people in the UK die every year as a result of dust exposures at work. It’s all preventable, unions say. And they are sick of our official workplace health guardians saying it’s just a bit of a ‘nuisance’. Hazards 116, October-December 2011

Dangerous lead Thousands of UK workers are being exposed to levels of lead that can cause serious chronic health problems. Using never before published data, Hazards reveals that the UK’s ‘safe’ lead exposure standard is placing these workers at risk of kidney and heart disease, brain damage, cancer and other serious disorders. Hazards special report, November 2009

Poisoned! When workers developed the shakes and poor memory working for a South African manganese company, experts advised the job was to blame. So why did the company’s docs-for-hire suggest the symptoms were caused by alcohol, drugs or Aids? Hazards 104, October-December 2008

Food flavour wrecks lungs US foodworkers have been disabled by “popcorn lung”, a potentially fatal condition caused by a common food flavouring. For 10 years this seemed to be just a US problem. Then came Yorkshire factory worker Martin Muir, 38, who tests revealed has the lungs of an 80-year-old man. Hazards 101, January-March 2009

Resources

Basel Action Network, Global

Blue Green Alliance, USA

Labor Climate Project, USA

Green Jobs Safe Jobs Campaign, National COSH, USA

Chemicals Health Monitor website, Global

Alliance for cancer prevention Facebook pages • Blog, UK

New “CleanerSolutions” database, USA

Toxics Use Reduction Institute, USA

ChemSec, Global

Working Green, IBEW webpages, USA

Green Job Creation, CLC webpages, Canada

GoodElectronics, Global

Stop climate change and eliminate toxic chemicals webpages, Greenpeace International, Global

ILO sustainable development webpages, ILO, Global

Going Green: Safe and Healthy Jobs, NIOSH, USA

Climate Solidarity, UK

SustainLabour, Global

Sustainable Workplace, TUC, UK

Green jobs and climate change webpages, ACTU, Australia

Sustainable development webpages, TUAC

Green Recovery for All, USA

Solar Energy Industry Hazards, USA

Green Jobs for Solar, USA

The Green Solution: A Win-Win Plan to Address Climate Crisis and Jumpstart an Equitable and Sustainable Economic Recovery, USA

Catsub, Denmark

European Agency for Safety and Health at Work, Dangerous Substances, Europe

CIS-ILO, Global

Chemicals Health Monitor, Global

Chemical Substances Portal , France

Choosing our Future, Europe

Chemicals Legislation European Enforcement Network, Europe

Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Europe

eChemPortal, Global

European Chemicals Bureau, Europe

European Chemicals Agency, Europe

European Environmental Bureau, Europe

European Mine, Chemical and Energy Workers' Federation, Europe

European chemical Substances Information System, Europe

GESTIS-database on hazardous substances, Germany

Globally Harmonized System of Classification and Labelling of Chemicals (GHS), Global

Health and Environment Alliance, International

Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety. Global

Integrated Risk Information System, USA

International Programme on Chemical Safety, Global

IPCS INCHEM, Global

RISCTOX Database, Global (Spanish)

Toxicology Network (TOXNET), USA

Toxic Watch Network, Japan

UNEP Chemicals, Global

WWF- Detox campaign, Global

News

Britain: Print fumes caused occupational asthma
A printer who developed asthma when he was exposed to dangerous fumes at work has received compensation. Unite member Jason MaCann, 35, was diagnosed with the condition after he was exposed to isocyanates used in laminating machines at FFP Packaging in Northampton.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 537 • 7 January 2012

Britain: ‘Ticking timebomb’ of bladder cancer cases
Lawyers are warning of a ‘ticking timebomb’ as workers exposed to carcinogenic chemicals from the 1950s to the 1970s develop potentially fatal cancers. Pauline Chandler from the law firm Pannone said “my fear is that workers in a number of industries, including; the chemicals sector, paint production, rubber manufacture and pigments and dyestuffs production, will develop cancers and be unaware that they are related to their past employment.”
Pannone Solicitors • The Guardian • Global Unions zero cancer campaign • HSE cancer statistics • Risks 536 • 17 December 2011

Global: Brands promise to ditch hazardous chemicals
Six major international clothing brands have announced a ‘joint roadmap’ intended to dramatically reduce the use of hazardous chemicals in their supply chains. Adidas Group, C&A, H&M, Li Ning, Nike Inc and Puma say the initiative will lead the apparel and footwear industry towards zero discharge of hazardous chemicals by 2020.
ChemSec news report. Joint roadmap [pdf] • Dirty Laundry • Risks 535 • 10 December 2011

USA: More evidence of dangers from trike
An international study has linked the industrial solvent trichloroethylene (TCE), also called 'trike', to Parkinson's disease. Researchers found a six-fold increase in the risk of developing Parkinson's in individuals exposed in the workplace.
News report • Review of carcinogenicity of trike • Risks 532 • 19 November 2011

Cambodia: Mass fainting follows use of insecticide
The latest mass fainting incident at a Cambodian factory supplying major high street stores has been linked to the use of an insecticide. More than 100 workers collapsed at the Anful Garments Factory in Kampong Speu on 24 October after the cloth they were working with was sprayed with insecticide the previous day, a senior provincial health official said.
Phnom Penh Post • Risks 530 • 5 November 2011

Britain: Chemical reaction keeps painter out of work
A painter who developed a reaction to epoxy paints has had to give up his trade as result. The 61-year-old from South Tyneside, whose name has not been released, developed a sensitivity to the paint after 40 years in the trade.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 530 • 5 November 2011

Britain: Firm failed to protect workers from asthma risk
A South Tyneside company has been prosecuted for putting workers' health at risk by exposing them to a potent cause of occupational asthma. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) launched an investigation at Variable Message Signs Limited after an inspector visited the company's premises in Hebburn and identified serious failings in the way the company was controlling the risk of employees developing occupational asthma during soldering work.
HSE news release • Risks 529 • 29 October 2011

Britain: TV stonemason is done for dust
A stonemasonry business has been fined for exposing workers to potentially deadly stone dust after a viewer spotted its dangerous practices on a BBC television programme. Atelier 109 Limited featured in March 2010 in the BBC2 series Mastercrafts, presented by Monty Don.
HSE news release • Peterborough Today • Risks 529 • 29 October 2011

Britain: Unite says ‘no’ to workplace dust
The official limit for workplace dust must be lowered to protect workers from one of the work’s biggest killers, the union Unite has said. Bud Hudspith, Unite national health and safety adviser, commented: “The current dust standards are not good enough and there is strong scientific evidence to prove it.”
Unite news release and TUC dust guide [pdf] • Risks 522 • 10 September 2011

Britain: TUC demands lower dust exposure ceiling
The TUC is calling for urgent action to reduce dust levels in the workplace, a problem it says is responsible for thousands of deaths in the UK every year. In new guidance sent out to all union safety reps, the TUC argues the current workplace dust exposure standards are “totally inadequate.”
TUC news release. Dust in the workplace, TUC, September 2011 [pdf] • Risks 521 • 3 September 2011

Britain: Iraq-Iran war mustard gas caused BBC death
A BBC Newsnight sound recordist died 27 years after inhaling mustard gas while covering the war between Iran and Iraq, an inquest has heard. Cyril Benford had been with colleagues in 1984 when an Iranian soldier opened a shell releasing the gas.
BBC News Online • Daily Telegraph • Risks 519 • 20 August 2011

Cambodia: Union calls for probe into fainting episodes
The head of one of Cambodia’s biggest independent union’s has called for a government investigation into the fainting spells that have affected thousands of factory workers this year. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union, sent letters to the ministries of Health, Environment and Labour, requesting they look into conditions at factories that are harming the health of workers.
VOA Khmer • Phnom Penh Post • Risks 516 • 30 July 2011

Global: Under fire Versace caves and bans sandblasting
Italian fashion giant Versace has become the latest brand to back a drive to end a deadly sandblasting process that gives denim a fashionable worn look. A succession of major global retailers had already banned the process, after a high profile campaign by workers’ rights groups.
Clean Clothes Campaign news release • Vogue Magazine • Financial Times • The Independent
Sign the Clean Clothes Campaign petition urging Dolce and Gabbana to stop sandblasting • Risks 516 • 30 July 2011

Britain: Court rules work toxins caused Parkinsonism
An RAF corporal who was left with a devastating degenerative neurological condition after he was exposed to dangerous chemicals has won a groundbreaking legal victory at the Court of Appeal. Shaun Wood, 52, was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy-P (MSAP), an incurable condition related to Parkinson’s Disease that affects the nervous system, after exposure to organic solvents as a painter and finisher at RAF sites across the world.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 514 • 16 July 2011

USA: New chemical safe law good for jobs
More stringent controls on industrial chemicals could support job creation in the US while protecting health and the environment, a new report has concluded. The study, produced by the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) and commissioned by the BlueGreen Alliance, shows that innovation in sustainable chemistry can reverse the industry's job shedding trend in a market that increasingly requires cleaner, safer production.
BGA news release and full report, The economic benefits of a green chemical industry in the United States: Renewing manufacturing jobs while protecting health and the environment • In These Times • Risks 506 • 21 May 2011

Britain: Woodworking firm ignored dust warning
A Bristol joinery and staircase specialist that ignored an official order to improve control exposures to wood dust has been fined. A Health and Safety Executive (HSE) inspector visited the Blackstone Developments (South West) Ltd workshop on 9 February 2011 and found the firm had failed to comply with an official improvement notice issued on 7 October 2010.
HSE news release • Risks 506 • 21 May 2011

Britain: Top docs back union dust plan
The Institute of Occupational Medicine has backed a union push for a dramatic reduction in the amount of dust allowed in workplace air. Unions have for over two years been pressing an intransigent Health and Safety Executive (HSE) to reduce the occupational exposure limit for general workplace dust to a quarter the current level and to run a campaign to raise awareness of dust dangers.
The IOM’s position on occupational exposure limits for dust, May 2011 [pdf] • Delivering for health: HSE action on occupational respiratory disease [pdf], paper to the HSE board meeting, December 2010 [minutes, pdf] • Risks 506 • 21 May 2011

Britain: MoD fights degenerative solvent disease ruling
An RAF corporal who was left with a devastating degenerative and incurable neurological condition after he was exposed to dangerous toxins while working in ‘Victorian conditions’ is being forced to again defend his case for compensation, this time in the Court of Appeal. Shaun Wood, 52, was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy-P (MSAP), a Parkinson’s-type condition that affects the nervous system, after exposure to a “lethal cocktail” of solvents as a painter and finisher at RAF sites across the world.
Thompsons Solicitors • Risks 500 • 2 April 2011

Global: WHO says chemicals kill millions each year
Researchers from the World Health Organisation (WHO) has calculated the death toll due to the use of chemical substances. In 2004, chemical substances caused 4.9 million deaths (or 8 per cent of total mortality); when related ill-health is factored in, the number of years of life lost reached 86 million (5 per cent of the total).
Annette Prüss-Ustün, Carolyn Vickers, Pascal Haefliger and Roberto Bertollini. Knowns and unknowns on burden of disease due to chemicals: a systematic review, Environmental Health, volume 10, number 9, 2011, doi:10.1186/1476-069X-10-9 • Risks 499 • 26 March 2011

Global: IUF calls for lung killer action
A long union push for workplace regulation of the highly toxic food flavouring diacetyl has resulted in the introduction of a strict new workplace standard in the state of California. But only watered down controls have been introduced in the US at the national level – and global foodworkers’ union federation IUF says action on the widely used butter flavouring is near non-existent elsewhere.
IUF news release and diacetyl briefing for union reps [pdf] • More on diacetyl • Risks 499 • 26 March 2011

South Africa: Top court backs mine dust victims
South African miners have won a landmark dust disease case in the nation’s highest court. The legal precedent is expected to allow thousands of miners stricken with life-threatening respiratory and other diseases to sue companies under common law in South Africa, even if they have already received a payout from a state-run scheme.
ICEM news report • Risks 498 • 19 March 2011

Britain: Chemical spray left sprayer sore
An international utilities company has been fined after an agency worker suffered skin problems caused by prolonged exposure to a hazardous chemical. Laing O'Rourke Utilities Ltd was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) after Peter Johnson, 48, from Exeter, suffered sore skin around his face after several weeks of exposure to isocyanate between July and August 2007.
HSE news release • Risks 498 • 19 March 2011

Britain: Chemicals harmed agency farm workers
A company has been fined after three workers were taken to hospital following a chemical incident at a Spalding vegetable grower and supplier. Spalding Magistrates' Court heard a Latvian agency worker at Emmett UK Ltd was cleaning food processing machinery when he accidentally mixed two cleaning chemicals which reacted together to produce a toxic gas.
HSE news release • Spalding Today • Risks 497 • 12 March 2011

Britain: Plumber severely burned by acid rain
A property maintenance firm has been fined after one of its employees suffered acid burns to his face, neck and arm. Neil Kelly, from Bury, was using a high concentration of sulphuric acid to unblock a sink at a domestic property when the corrosive liquid erupted into the air.
HSE news release and chemicals webpage • Risks 497 • 12 March 2011

China: Poisoned workers turn to Apple for help
Chinese workers who suffered debilitating solvent-related neurological problems while making touchscreens for mobile devices, including iPhones, have written to Apple asking it to do more to help them. Some 137 workers suffered adverse health effects following exposure to the solvent n-hexane, used to clean touch screens.
China Daily • Huffington Post • Wall Street Journal • BBC News Online • Risks 496 • 5 March 2011

Britain: Safety breaches caused toxic chemical burns
A worker at an Ellesmere Port factory suffered toxic burns to his arms and chest requiring skin grafts as a result of his employer’s failure to abide by workplace and environmental safety laws. Abacus Chemical Ltd was prosecuted and a director cautioned in a joint case brought by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and Environment Agency following the incident.
HSE news release and chemicals webpages • Risks 493 • 12 February 2011

USA: Contaminated work site caused nerve damage
A long-delayed state health department report on a 2006 incident at an Alaska military base has concluded an unknown volatile chemical was the probable cause of the serious nerve damage that afflicted several construction workers. At least four workers at the Fort Wainwright base were permanently disabled and are still seeking compensation for medical bills and more than 30 construction workers were hospitalised after exposure to the chemical in Aircraft Maintenance Hangar No.6.
PEER news release • Risks 491 • 29 January 2011

USA: Farmworkers act on strawberry poison
A coalition of environmental groups is hoping newly inaugurated California governor Jerry Brown will rescind the decision by his predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger to approve the use of methyl iodide. Erik Nicholson, national vice-president of the UFW, commented: “Farmworkers are on the front lines of methyl iodide use and will suffer the most tragic consequences,” adding: “If this decision is allowed to stand, strawberries may very well become the new poster child for giving farmworkers cancer and late term miscarriages.”
In These Times • Pesticides Action Network North America • Risks 490 • 22 January 2011

Global: Call to drop worn jeans
Unions this week told major garment companies and retailers they should stop selling sandblasted jeans. The process, which is used to give denim a fashionable worn and faded look, causes an often fatal lung disease in exposed garment workers.
ITGLWF news release • Risks 490 • 22 January 2011

Britain: Firms fail to control cancer chemicals
There has been no improvement in over a decade in the chemical industry’s control of a potent carcinogen, research for the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has found. The study into exposures to the cancer-causing chemical MbOCA found more than 1 in 20 measurements (6 per cent) exceeded the guidance value for MbOCA in urine, with levels in excess of this figure found at seven of the 19 sites visited in study.
Occupational exposure to MbOCA (4,4′-methylene-bis-ortho-chloroaniline) and isocyanates in polyurethane manufacture, RR828, December 2010 [pdf] • Risks 489 • 15 January 2011

Sweden: Firms call for safer toxics laws
Regulations and incentives are needed to encourage a shift away from toxic chemicals, a group of Swedish business leaders, academics and environmental organisations have said. The call, in a co-signed article in Dagens Industri, the country’s largest financial newspaper, says it is a misconception that a lack of technically sound alternatives are the barrier to the transition towards a toxic free world.
ChemSec news report • Risks 486 • 11 December 2010

Britain: Alert on chemicals shake up at work
The TUC has reissued its call for union safety reps to make sure their employers are meeting new legal duties on workplace chemicals. The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) says by the REACH deadline of 30 November 2010, 24,675 registration dossiers had been successfully submitted for 4,300 substances including nearly 3,400 phase-in substances.
HSE news release • REACH - A briefing for safety representatives, TUC, September 2010 • ECHA news release, website and Practical Guide [pdf] • Risks 485 • 4 December 2010

USA: USW calls for lung cancer screening
The US steelworkers’ union USW wants routine occupational lung cancer screening for all workers in high risk jobs. USW international president Leo W Gerard said: “Millions of workers have been exposed to asbestos, silica, chromium, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, nickel and combustion products – and all of these exposures are firmly established as causes of human lung cancer.”
USW news release • Risks 482 • 13 November 2010

USA: ‘Toxic nightmare’ in prison recycling scheme
Inmates and employees at 10 US prisons were exposed to toxic metals and other hazardous substances while processing electronic waste for recycling, a four-year investigation by the Justice Department’s inspector general found. Yet despite finding officials wilfully endangered thousands of prison staff and inmates, none will be prosecuted and most of the officials have retired without any sanction, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).
US Justice Department Inspector General report [pdf] • PEER news release • FairWarning • New York Times • Risks 480 • 30 October 2010

Britain: Lead level reached four times the legal limit
A Black Country glass maker has been fined £3,600 after an official inspection found airborne lead levels in some instances were over four times the legal limit. Employees at Brierley Crystal had elevated blood lead levels, with four in excess of the 35 micrograms/dl level described as evidence of “significant” over-exposure in the lead regulations.
HSE news release and lead at work webpages • Hazards magazine lead webpages • Risks 476 • 2 October 2010

Britain: TUC alert on chemicals shake up at work
The TUC says union safety reps should make sure their employers are ready to meet new legal duties on workplace chemicals. The union body, which has published new online safety rep guidance on the REACH regulations, says safety reps in firms using chemicals should check with the employer whether: Their classification should be changed under the new rules; they are labelled in line with the rules; all uses are covered by updated safety data sheets; and the required risk assessment measures have been implemented.
REACH - A briefing for safety representatives, TUC, September 2010 • ETUC news release and leaflet • Risks 475 • 25 September 2010

USA: Chromium industry buries cancer evidence
The world’s largest producer of chromium chemicals failed to inform the US authorities after it found a “substantial” lung cancer risks to workers exposed to hexavalent chromium (CrVI, or chrome 6). A notice this month filed by the US government’s Environmental Protection Agency says Elementis Chromium failed or refused to submit to EPA a study conducted for an industry trade group that showed evidence of excess lung cancer risk among workers in chromium production facilities.
The Pump Handle blog and 2 September 2010 EPA notice, posted on the Defending Science website • Risks 474 • 18 September 2010

Global: Deadly jeans fade out of fashion
Two major multinationals have agreed to end sandblasting denim jeans, a practice that has led to deadly lung disease in garment workers. ITGLWF, the global union federation for the sector, welcomed the announcement by Levi Strauss and H&M.
ITGLWF news release • Levi Strauss news release • Risks 474 • 18 September 2010

Europe: SUBSPORT guide to chemical substitution
A new European online resource is being developed, to provide information about safer alternatives to the use of hazardous chemicals. The EU-backed substitution portal, being prepared by groups from Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Spain, including the trade union safety research body ISTAS, aims to be the leading database for substitution worldwide.
SUBSPORT website • Risks 472 • 4 September 2010

USA: There are alternatives to toxic chemicals
A comprehensive, proactive federal chemicals management policy should identify toxic chemicals before they are used commercially and force the use of safer alternatives, a new report says. ‘Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives’ says while new rules are formulated, efforts should concentrate on measures to promote safer alternatives.
Preventing toxic exposures: Workplace lessons in safer alternatives, Perspectives, volume 5, number 1, UC Berkeley Health Research for Action, 2010 [pdf] • California Progress Report • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 471 • 28 August 2010

USA: Metropolis faces deadly work peril
Union members at America’s only uranium conversion plant, in Metropolis, Illinois, say work-related cancers are a central reason the union is refusing to accept the plant operator’s plan to reduce pensions for newly hired workers and health benefits for retirees. On 28 June, Honeywell locked out its 220 union employees after contract negotiations stalled, accusing the union of refusing to give the company 24 hours’ notice of a strike.
New York Times • Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

Britain: Director fined over high lead levels
An employer has been fined after routinely exposed workers to excessive levels of lead at a Norfolk sheet metal manufacturing company. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE), which brought the prosecution, told Hazards magazine that airborne levels of lead Anglia Lead Ltd exceeded official limits on “various occasions” investigated by the watchdog and blood tests showed a number of workers were “significantly exposed.”
HSE news release and lead webpages • Risks 469 • 14 August 2010

USA: Cheap masks won’t protect Gulf workers
Masks issued to workers in the Gulf of Mexico cleaning up the BP oil spill are not offering the necessary protection, an expert has warned. Industrial hygienist Eileen Senn, writing in The Pump Handle blog, reports the $5 officially recommended masks are “not approved for organic vapours” meaning “this dust mask presumably will remove only small amounts of hydrocarbon vapours, so workers may still be exposed to them.”
The Pump Handle • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: HSE observes hi-tech horror show
Microelectronics firms in Britain have neglected health risks to workers, tampered with crucial safety alarms and have shown no consideration of the risks faced by entire groups of workers, an official report has found. An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) uncovered “weaknesses”, “misunderstandings” and poor practices in vital safety procedures across the sector.
Unite news release • Sunday Herald • Rob Edwards website • Control and management of hazardous substances in semiconductor manufacturers in Great Britain in 2009, HSE, July 2010 [pdf] • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

Britain: Pesticides linked to cancer increases
A ‘dramatic’ increase in a range of occupational and childhood cancers has been linked to pesticide exposures. A report published last week by CHEM Trust links exposure prior to conception or during pregnancy to higher rates of childhood cancer and warns that farm workers could also be developing cancers caused by pesticide exposures at work.
Chem Trust news release [pdf] and report [pdf] • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Scotsman • Risks 464 • 10 July 2010

India: Panel reconsiders Bhopal leak action
Cabinet ministers are recommending that India's government revisit its response to the 1984 toxic gas leak in Bhopal. The fact that the Bhopal tragedy is back in the news at the same time as the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has added to the sense that victims of the 1984 disaster have been terribly let down.
The Guardian • BBC News Online. The Hindu • Risks 462 • 26 June 2010

Europe: REACH - an opportunity for trade unions
The marketing of chemicals - especially those that could harm human health - has been covered by the EU-wide REACH regulations since 1 June 2007. But ‘REACH: an opportunity for trade unions’, a new publication from the trade union research institute ETUI, concludes real progress, including outlawing the most toxic chemicals from workplaces, “will not happen unless union representatives take ownership of the law.”
REACH: an opportunity for trade unions.
Putting knowledge to work in the workplace, Tony Musu, ETUI, 2010. ISBN 978-287452176-8. Price: 10 Euros. ETUI publications notice and contents and preface [pdf] • Risks 460 • 12 June 2010

Britain: RAF painter disabled by solvents
A services painter who was left with a devastating degenerative neurological condition after he was exposed to dangerous toxins while working in ‘Victorian conditions’ has won his 17-year battle for compensation. Shaun Wood, 52, was diagnosed with Multiple System Atrophy-P (MSAP), a Parkinson’s type condition which affects the nervous system, after exposure to a cocktail of solvents as a painter and finisher at RAF sites across the world.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

USA: Blood lead levels tied to nerve disease
A study has strenghtened evidence linking long-term lead exposure to the risk of developing the fatal neurological condition amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease. The study found a doubling of blood lead levels led to a near doubling of the chances of developing ALS.
F Fang and others. Association between blood lead and the risk of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, American Journal of Epidemiology, volume 171, Number 10, pages 1126-33, 2010 • Risks 457 • 22 May 2010

Britain: Lead poisoning leads to fine
A company carrying out a massive restoration of a Scottish mansion has been fined £10,000 after workers were poisoned by lead paint. Several east European workers were found to have contracted lead poisoning which could affect their health for 25 years, while restoring the estate of Dutch construction billionaire Dik Wessels.
HSE news release • STV • Dangerous lead report, Stirling University/Hazards magazine, November 2009 • Risks 448 • 20 March 2010

Global: Greenpeace adds to Samsung pressure
A global electronics giant embroiled in an occupational cancer scandal has been accused by Greenpeace of reneging on a promise to phase out toxic chemicals linked to cancer and other diseases. This week climbers from the environmental group scaled the Benelux headquarters of the Korean multinational Samsung, sticking the message “Samsung = Broken Promises” in giant letters onto the front of the building.
Greenpeace news release • Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Sign the SHARPs petition urging Samsung to act on occupational cancer risks • Risks 447 • 13 March 2010

Europe: Dangerous substances risk campaign
European health and safety inspectors are to run a Europe-wide inspection campaign to improve working conditions associated with the use of dangerous substances in the workplace. The campaign, which will run from January 2010 to March 2011, is being run by SLIC, the European Union Senior Labour Inspectors Committee, and is supported by the European Commission.
Risks 443 • 13 February 2010

Britain: Company fined for poisoning its workers
A recycling company and its director have been fined a total of £145,000 for exposing workers to toxic mercury fumes at a site in Huddersfield. Electrical Waste Recycling Group Ltd recycles electrical equipment, including fluorescent light tubes containing mercury and TV sets and monitors containing lead at a plant in School Lane, Kirkheaton.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • 13 February 2010

New Zealand: Unions welcome poisonings probe
The Maritime Union of New Zealand has welcomed new research on nerve disease and the toxic fumigant methyl bromide. Concerns were raised after port workers exposed to the gas developed Motor Neurone disease, with one port town having a rate of the disease 25 times the national average.
Maritime Union news release • TVNZ • Risks 441 • 30 January 2010

USA: Toxic chemicals law reform call
An overhaul of the US federal toxic chemical law to reduce the level of toxic exposures to workers, families and children is urgently required, campaigners have said. The union USW, the Learning Disabilities Association, the Cancer Institute and the Pennsylvania Nurses Association joined forces to call for reform of the Toxic Substances Control Act.
USW news release • The health case for reforming Toxic Substances Control Act • Risks 441 • 30 January 2010

Bangladesh: Pesticides pushers kill thousands
Thousands of Bangladeshi workers are dying of pesticide poisoning each year, as a result of unsafe use of often banned pesticides. Meanwhile, safer, greener approaches to production are ignored in the face of a sustained and richly-resourced lobbying campaign by multinational pesticide producers.
Green jobs, safe jobs blog • Risks 440 • 23 January 2010

China: Apple supplier hit by poisonings protest
Workers at a Chinese factory that supplies Apple touchscreens smashed vehicles and factory facilities last week in a protest over safety and pay. The China Daily reported that the more than 2,000 workers were involved in the protest at the United Win (China) Technology Ltd Co factory where they say there have been deaths from over-exposure to n-hexane, a toxic solvent used to clean the screens.
China Daily • Breitbart • San Jose Business Journal • Risks 440 • 23 January 2010

Britain: Cancer-linked pesticides used in schools
At least four potentially cancer causing pesticides are being used in UK schools, placing staff and pupils at risk, according to a new survey. The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) and Pesticides Action Network (PAN) snapshot of English, Welsh and Scottish school authorities also reveals that in addition to the four possible carcinogens – dichlobenil, oxadiazon, sulfosulfuron and mecoprop - seven of the pesticides used in schools may pose other serious health risks.
HEAL news release [pdf] and full survey report [pdf] • PAN UK • 23 January 2010

Global: Lead poisoning set to rise
Widespread lead poisoning will result from the planned distribution of a billion computers to developing countries by technology companies and charities, according to a new study. “The lead from batteries needed to power these computers will result in environmental contamination and harmful exposures unless some commonsense safeguards are taken,” said Perry Gottesfeld, co-author of the study published in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
Christopher R Cherry and Perry Gottesfeld. Plans to distribute the next billion computers by 2015 creates pollution risk, Journal of Cleaner Production, volume 17, pages 1620–1628, December 2009 [pdf] • OK International • Green jobs blog • Risks 433 • 21 November 2009

Britain: Campaign calls for zero lead exposures
Workers must have “zero exposure” to lead, a prominent safety campaign has said.
The Construction Safety Campaign’s (CSC) London annual general meeting last week voted unanimously for the use of lead to be banned, a ban on lead imports and for zero exposure to lead at work.
CSC news release • Green jobs blog • Risks 433 • 21 November 2009

Britain: HSE withdraws lead safety advice
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has withdrawn advice on the dangers of working with lead after an investigation found it greatly under-estimated health risks that could be affecting over 100,000 workers. The HSE move came after a report by academics at Stirling University, published in Hazards magazine, said the official health and safety warnings about the dangers of lead were so complacent the watchdog was guilty of “extreme recklessness” with workers’ health.
Dangerous lead, Hazards magazine, October-December 2009 • Channel 4 News report and video clip • The Guardian. HSE statement. Green jobs blog • Risks 432 • 14 November 2009

Cambodia: Hundreds sickened in garment factory
More than 500 workers at a Phnom Penh garment factory collapsed on 12 October after they were exposed to a chemical spray. Chea Mony, president of the Free Trade Union of the Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia, said staff at the Willbes Cambodia Ltd factory in Dagkor province were overcome because the air was filled with “an unbearable chemical smell.”
Phnom Penh Post • Risks 428 • 17 October 2009

Britain: Chlorine damaged trainee doc’s throat
A trainee doctor who was exposed to dangerous levels of chlorine at the Hilton Hotel while working in a part time job has received a £1,000 payout. Stephen Barratt, 28, received the damages after he suffered from a burnt larynx when working as a deputy gym manager at the LivingWell Health Club, part of the Hilton in Sheffield.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 425 • 26 September 2009

USA: Radiation risk making granite tops
Workers who make the granite countertops popular in many household kitchens may be exposed to dangerous levels of radiation, a study has found. Researchers found full-time granite workers could be exposed to radiation levels up to 3,000 times the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) radiation exposure limit for members of the general public.
The Cold Truth blog • Risks 424 • 19 September 2009

Britain: Multinational pays penalty for skin risks
A multinational cable manufacturer has been fined £27,500 after an employee suffered such serious occupational dermatitis he was forced to take early retirement. Prysmian Cables and Systems Limited was sentenced at Southampton Crown Court after earlier pleading guilty to three breaches of the Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations (COSHH).
HSE news release • Risks 424 • 19 September 2009

Global: Work lead standards poses major heart risk
Exposure to lead over a lifetime has been linked to an increased risk of dying from heart disease by new research. The authors of the US study call for a tightening of the country’s occupational exposure standard – they found that men who had the highest concentrations of lead in their bones had a six times greater chance of dying from cardiovascular disease than men with the lowest concentrations and were 2.5 times greater chance of dying from all causes.
Marc G Weisskopf and others. A prospective study of bone lead concentration and death from all causes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer in the Department of Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study, Circulation, published online before print 8 September 2009 [abstract] • Harvard University news release • Science Daily news release • US News and World Report • Health Scout • Risks 424 • 19 September 2009

Britain: Study confirms lead and brain damage link
The dangers of even low levels of lead have been illustrated by a study published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. The University of Bristol study found blood levels well below the accepted “safe” threshold of 10 µg/dl harm young children’s intellectual and emotional development, with a doubling in lead level from 5 to 10 µg/dl associated with a 0.3 point fall in SAT scores.
K Chandramouli and others. Effects of early childhood lead exposure on academic performance and behaviour of school age children, Archives of Disease in Childhood, published online before print 17 September 2009 • 19 September 2009

Britain: Work pesticides up Parkinson’s risk
Gardeners and farmers who use pesticides as part of their job are up to three times more likely than others to develop Parkinson’s, according to a new study. Overall, the study, published in the Archives of Neurology, found that those whose job involved using pesticides were 80 per cent more likely to develop the condition, which affects 120,000 people in Britain.
Caroline M Tanner and others. Occupation and risk of Parkinsonism: A multicenter case-control study, Archives of Neurology, volume 66, number 9, pages 1106-1113, September 2009 [abstract] • The Telegraph • Risks 424 • 19 September 2009

Global: Study exposes chemical cocktail risk
Workers exposed to a cocktail of chemicals may be suffering far more harm than previously considered, a study suggests. Results from a study of male rats published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, indicate that assessing the risk of chemicals one compound at a time will underestimate potential harm.
Sofie Christiansen and others. Synergistic disruption of external male sex organ development by a mixture of four anti-androgens, Environmental Health Perspectives, 2009 [abstract] • Full text [pdf] • Ecologist • Risks 424 • 19 September 2009

USA: Unions says hydrogen fluoride must go
US union the United Steelworkers (USW) has called for a nationwide phase-out of hydrogen fluoride alkylation units. “Hydrogen fluoride is such a deadly component, and there are new and safer technologies available,” said USW vice president Gary Beevers, who is in charge of the union’s oil sector.
USW news release • 5 September 2009

Britain: Hunt for cause of worker’s cancer
The solicitor acting for a cancer survivor from Bradford is looking for information about his working conditions. The man, who developed bladder cancer in 2007 and who had worked at a firm producing pesticides, has undergone surgery to remove the tumour, but his condition is still under careful review.
Thompsons Solicitors • Telegraph and Argus • Risks 420 • 22 August 2009

Europe: Furniture trade wants formaldehyde rules
Unions and employers in Europe’s furniture trade want strict limits on formaldehyde in furniture production. A joint declaration from the European Federation of Building and Wood Workers (EFBWW) and the European Furniture Manufacturers Federation (EFMF) calls for “legislation requiring that all materials used in furniture put on the market in the European Union (EU) have the lowest possible emission level based on the best available technology”.
REHS news report • EFBWW/EFMF joint declaration on formaldehyde [pdf] • Risks 416 • 25 July 2009

Global: 'Toxic pants' pesticides protest
Campaigners are calling on consumers to swap non-organic cotton pants for organic ones, in a bid to reduce pesticide use. Groups including the Pesticide Action Network, Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF) and Pants to Poverty have a particular beef with endosulfan, a pesticide that's banned in the EU.
The Guardian environment blog. IUF on endosulfan. Coalition against Bayer Dangers. Pants to Poverty. Environmental Justice Foundation • Risks 414 • 11 July 2009

Britain: Body lead load linked to dementia
Older adults with higher amounts of lead in their bones exhibit greater memory impairment than adults with low lead levels, researchers have found. In a study of men and women aged 55 to 67 years, higher lead levels were associated with poorer performance on tasks used to assess memory deficits.
Environmental Health News • E van Wijngaarden, JR Campbell and DA Cory-Slechta. Bone lead levels are associated with measures of memory impairment in older adults. Neurotoxicology, published online 2009. doi:10.1016/j.neuro.2009.05.007 • Risks 412 • 4 July 2009

Britain/USA: New concern at lax lead standards
The UK’s occupational exposure limits for lead are leaving workers at risk of serious chronic diseases. The US-based Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) wants a blood lead level of 10 micrograms per 100 millilitres (µg/100ml) or more in adults to be accepted as “elevated ” - the current UK action level for blood lead in male workers is 50 µg/100ml, with workers not suspended until the level hits 60 µg/100ml.
Earth Times • Sun Herald • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009

Global: Nanotubes can attack the immune system
Inhaling carbon nanotubes can suppress the immune system, according to new research. The findings raise possible health concerns for those working in the manufacture of the materials.
JD McDonald and others. Mechanisms for how inhaled multiwalled carbon nanotubes suppress systemic immune function in mice, Nature Nanotechnology. Published online: 14 Jue 2009. doi:10.1038/nnano.2009.151 [abstract] • The Guardian • Risk management of carbon nanotubes, HSE information sheet, March 2009 [pdf] • Risks 411 • 20 June 2009

France: Work pesticide use causes Parkinson's
A new study confirms the link between on-the-job pesticide exposure and Parkinson's disease, and suggests that certain insecticides may be particularly risky. In the study, published online in the Annals of Neurology, French researchers found that among nearly 800 adults with and without Parkinson's, agricultural workers exposed to pesticides - including insecticides, weed killers and fungicides - were at greater risk of the disease, with the risk climbing in tandem with the amount of time a worker was exposed.
Alexis Elbaz and others. Professional exposure to pesticides and Parkinson's disease, Annal of Neurology, published online [abstract] • Fox News • ETUI-HESA news report • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009

Britain: Wind firm blows thousands on dermatitis
A wind turbine firm has been fined £10,000 after workers developed occupational dermatitis. Thirteen workers at the Newport plant of blademaker Vestas Blades UK Ltd developed the condition caused by exposure to epoxy resins.
Isle of Wight County Press • SHP Online • Risks 412 • 27 June 2009

Britain: Paint spraying job killed man
A car paint sprayer died of pneumonia after long-term exposure to paint fumes, an inquest has ruled. Car paint sprayers are exposed to chemicals including diisocyanates, a potent cause of COAD, the condition that killed David Mathis, aged 66.
Hastings Observer • A job to die for, Hazards magazine, 2005 • Risks 408 • 30 May 2009

Britain: ‘Green’ lightbulbs poison workers
Workers in China could pay a high price for the production of “green” lightbulbs in cost-cutting factories. Large numbers of Chinese workers have been poisoned by mercury, which forms part of the compact fluorescent lightbulbs.
Sunday Times • Risks 405 • 9 May 2009

Britain: Sixth cancer death linked to university
A sixth person who worked in a Manchester University building used by Lord Rutherford, and contaminated by radiation and mercury, has died. Professor Tom Whiston, 70, a psychology lecturer, is the third to die from pancreatic cancer.
Manchester Evening News • BBC News Online • Global Unions cancer prevention campaign • Risks 405 • 9 May 2009

USA: Blast ‘could have eclipsed’ Bhopal
A US chemical plant explosion could have surpassed the 1984 Bhopal disaster, according to a report released this week by congressional investigators. The 28 August 2008 explosion at the Bayer CropScience Institute plant, in which two workers died, turned a 2.5-ton chemical vessel into a “dangerous projectile” that could have destroyed a nearby tank of the deadly Bhopal chemical methyl isocyanate (MIC), according to the report by House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee staff.
CSB news release • Charleston Gazette • Committee report [pdf] • Risks 403 • 25 April 2009

Turkey: Jeans sandblasting banned after deaths
The Turkish government has banned the manual sandblasting of jeans and other clothing to prevent the development of incurable silicosis. The practice had been linked to 40 deaths, and can lead to rapid onset of the disease, with some teenagers known to be affected.
Zaman • Risks 402 • 18 April 2009

USA: Popcorn peril spreads to sweets
A recently identified outbreak of severe cases of popcorn lung among former sweet factory workers may prove what government and civilian occupational health experts have long feared - the sometimes-fatal disease can afflict those exposed to diacetyl butter flavouring regardless of where they work.
Andrew Schneider Investigates • More from Hazards on diacetyl risks • Risks 401 • 11 April 2009

Europe: Action call on high concern chemicals
Unions are calling for hundreds of the most hazardous workplace chemicals to be subject to tight control under the European Union’s chemicals law, REACH. The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) this week presented to the European Parliament its list of 306 priority chemicals for authorisation under REACH.
ETUC news release and Trade Union Priority List for REACH authorisation and related documentation • ChemSec news report • TUC chemicals webpage • HSE REACH webpages • Risks 400 • 4 April 2009

Europe: Increasing risks from hazardous substances
Contact with hazardous substances at work is endangering the health of workers across Europe and nanotechnology is one of the risks causing most concern, an expert report has concluded. ‘Expert forecast on emerging chemical risks’, published by the Bilbao-based European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA), identifies the main groups of substances which could pose new and increasing risks to workers, contributing to diseases which range from allergies, asthma and infertility to cancers.
European Agency news release • Risks 400 • 4 April 2009

USA: Movement at last on popcorn lung
The US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), reversing years of foot dragging while the agency was controlled by the Bush administration, is moving quickly to protect workers from a serious lung disease caused by diacetyl, the artificial butter flavouring added to popcorn and other food products.
OSHA news release • Lynn Woolsey statement • AFL-CIO Now • The Pump Handle • Andrew Schneider Investigates • Risks 398 • 21 March 2009

USA: Workers failed by old lead standard
Americans who work with lead and their families are still at risk of developing serious chronic health conditions, according to a new report. ‘Indecent exposure’, published this week by health researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, notes: “As scientific evidence has shown more serious health effects associated with lower lead levels than previously anticipated, the number of persons who must be considered at risk increases dramatically.”
Indecent exposure: Lead puts workers and families at risk, Perspectives, volume 4, number 1, March 2009 [pdf] • The Pump Handle • Risks 398 • 21 March 2009

Britain: Print work caused kidney disease
A printer who was exposed to a dangerous chemical in the workplace developed a debilitating kidney disease as a result. Unite member David Owenson, from Scarborough, was diagnosed with membranous neuropathy, a form of glomerulonephritis, following years of exposure to the common workplace solvent toluene.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Did your job cause your illness... check out the Hazards detective • Risks 396 • 7 March 2009

Global: Warning on chemical cancers risk
A major report has warned that the global cancer burden has doubled in a generation and that too little attention is paid to potential occupational and environmental risks. The International Agency for Research on Cancer published its World Cancer Report 2008 last month.
World Cancer Report 2008, WHO/IARC [pdf] • IARC news release • Risks 396 • 7 March 2009

New Zealand: Bridge workers poisoned by lead
Dozens of workers on the Auckland Harbour Bridge were poisoned after inhaling lead-based paint dust during maintenance work last year. Tests on the men, who took off their full-face dust masks because they were uncomfortable to work in, showed up to half had marked increases in their blood lead levels.
Sunday Star Times • Risks 394 • 21 February 2009

USA: Toxic firm wants to be left alone
A top journalist has attacked a major US flavouring firm for attempting to prevent federal health investigators from protecting workers. Seattle Post Intelligencer reporter Andrew Schneider, writing in his ‘Secret ingredients’ blog, was commenting on a year-long court battle between an Indianapolis flavour manufacturer and the government's top occupational health investigators regarding diacetyl, a flavouring know to cause potentially fatal lung disease.
Secret ingredients • Hazards website: www.hazards.org/diacetyl • Risks 393 • 14 February 2009

Britain: Old diseases stalk new workplaces
A plater with the hydraulic components manufacturer Parker Hannifin plc has received a “substantial” payout after he developed occupational dermatitis caused by chromates which forced him to give up his job.
Risks 393 • 14 February 2009

Global: Pesticide is an unnecessary killer
The argument that the highly toxic herbicide paraquat is necessary for crop production has been shown to be nonsense by a union-backed report. ‘Goodbye paraquat’, produced by the global food and agriculture union federation IUF and a Swiss-based environmental group Berne Declaration (BD), is based on questionnaire responses from more than 40 major producers of bananas, tea and palm oil, crops which traditionally have been big users of paraquat.
IUF news release and Goodbye Paraquat report [pdf] • Risks 393 • 14 February 2009

USA: Work disease system favours business
A US man who believes workplace solvent exposure left him struggling with Parkinson’s Disease is fighting a second battle, this time for compensation. Ed Abney worked at a former Dresser Industries plant in Kentucky for over 20 years, often elbow deep in the solvent trichloroethylene, used to clean metal piping.
WKYT 27 News First • New York Times • Workers’ Comp Insider • Don M Gash and others. Trichloroethylene: Parkinsonism and complex 1 mitochondrial neurotoxicity, Annals of Neurology, volume 63, issue 2, pages 184-192, February 2008 [abstract] • Risks 391 • 31 January 2009

Europe: Chemical firms start REACH attack
Four chemical firms are challenging in the European Court of Justice (ECJ) new European-wide chemical registration and control rules. The case aims to get some requirements of the regulations annulled.
HESA news report • Risks 391 • 31 January 2009

Britain: Factory staff at 'higher risk' of cancer
Scientists have uncovered higher rates of cancer at a rubber chemical plant in North Wales. Birmingham University researchers found that at least 10 people at Wrexham’s Flexsys factory in Cefn Mawr may have already suffered premature deaths as a result.
Daily Post • Evening Leader • BBC News Online.
Tom Sorahan and others. Cancer risks in chemical production workers exposed to 2-mercaptobenzothiazole, Online First Occupational and Environmental Medicine, 2009. doi: 10.1136/oem.2008.041400 • Risks 390 • 24 January 2009

USA: Lead at work affects the brain in old age
People exposed to lead at work are more likely to exhibit damaged brain function as they get older, a new study has found. For older people, a buildup of lead from earlier exposure may be enough to result in greater cognitive problems after age 55, the authors say.
APA news release • NailaKhalil and others. Association of cumulative lead and neurocognitive function in an occupational cohort, Neuropsychology, volume 23, issue 1, pages 10-19, 2009 [abstract] • Times of India • EHS Today • Risks 389 • 17 January 2009

Europe: Euro MPs back pesticide controls
The European Parliament has voted to tighten rules on pesticide use and ban at least 22 chemicals deemed harmful to human health. The rules, which can only become law after they are approved by the 27 member states' governments, are opposed by the UK government.
European Parliament news release • Group of Socialist MEPs (PES) news release • BBC News Online • Risks 389 • 17 January 2009

Britain: Employers ignorant of deadly silica risks
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has vowed to step up its ‘Clear the Air!’ campaign warning workers against the dangers of silica exposure after it concluded that smaller companies still know very little about the potentially fatal health risks. However, late last year a succession of industry contributors to an HSE online forum on silica risks complained a failure of HSE inspection and oversight was leading to widespread abuse of safe practices and substantial exposures to the cancer causing dust.
HSE news release • Contract Journal • Building • Risks 388 • 10 January 2009

Britain: Lafarge recalls cancer risk cement
Construction materials multinational Lafarge has recalled 280,000 bags of cement after discovering a batch contained high levels of cancer-causing chromium VI. In total, about 2,500 tonnes of the Blue Circle cement have been recalled.
Wiltshire Times • Contract Journal • Risks 388 • 10 January 2009

Britain: Blood and feathers firm pays for gassing
A firm that processes blood and feathers has received a six figure fine after a near fatal gassing incident. JG Pears (Newark) Ltd was fined £100,000 and ordered to pay £38,052.44 costs at Nottingham Crown Court after pleading guilty to safety offences.
HSE news release • The Star • Risks 387 • 20 December 2008

Italy: Study finds solvent cancer link
Exposure to the industrial solvent benzene increases a person's risk of developing multiple myeloma, according to new research. Adele Seniori Constantini of Italy’s Center for Study and Prevention of Cancer and her colleagues also found two other common workplace solvents in the same aromatic hydrocarbon group and often used as substitutes for benzene, xylene and toluene, were also tied to greater chronic lymphoid leukaemia risk.
Reuters • Risks 384 • 29 November 2008

South Africa: Manganese poisoning scandal exposed
A US medical expert drafted in by a manganese processing giant accused of poisoning its workers resigned a prestigious post after it was revealed he was a major recipient of industry cash, a South African government inquiry has heard. The ongoing inquiry heard Dr Warren Olanow, who was brought in by Assmang in May 2008 to provide medical reassessments when the company disputed the poisoning diagnoses, resigned from his chair at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital around the time a US judge disclosed industry payments to medical experts related to manganese litigation.
Hazards magazine • The Mercury • Risks 383 • 22 November 2008

Europe: Pesticide reductions edge closer
A top European Parliament committee has resisted pressure from agribusiness and industry and has approved proposals for bans on toxic pesticides. Members of the parliament’s environment committee voted on two legislative proposals from the European Commission, one on approval of pesticides and the other aiming to reduce their use across the EU.
ETUI-HESA news report • The Guardian • BBC News Online • Campaign group HEAL has launched a new Pesticides and cancer (sick of pesticides) campaign website • Risks 383 • 22 November 2008

USA: Pesticide linked to Parkinson's
A widely used fungicide has become the latest pesticide linked to elevated rates of Parkinson’s disease. Researchers have found a strong connection between the debilitating neurological disease and long-term exposure to pesticides, particularly to the common fungicide Ziram.
Fresno Bee • Risks 383 • 22 November 2008

Global: Toxic trade defenders condemned
Global trade union confederation ITUC has joined the chorus of condemnation of the decision last month to exclude chrysotile asbestos and the pesticide endosulfan from the list of dangerous products under the Rotterdam Convention, the international agreement which regulates exports of hazardous chemicals.
ITUC news release • Risks 382 • 15 November 2008

Global: Treaty wreckers protect toxins
Governments doing the dirty work of toxic exporters have succeeding in blocking listing of chrysotile asbestos and the pesticide endosulfan on a global safety warning system. A handful of governments ignored dire health problems linked to the two candidate substances, and vetoed their including on the “Prior Informed Consent” list, which would require importing nations to be given notice of the dangers posed by the product.
Rotterdam Convention news release • International Ban Asbestos Secretariat report HESA news release • The Dominion • Toronto Star • Risks 381 • 8 November 2008

Papua New Guinea: Workers ‘paid to die’ in dust
Workers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) have been “paid to die” instead of being supplied with protective gear against volcanic ash fallout, a top government official has said. David Tibu, secretary of PNG's industrial relations department, said some businesses were paying risk allowances instead of providing safety wear, so in effect their workers are “getting paid to die,” he said.
Sydney Morning Herald • The Australian • Risks 378 • 18 October 2008

Britain: Work cancer victim’s call for witnesses
A West Yorkshire cancer survivor is urging his former work colleagues to come forward to provide information about his exposure to chemicals at work. Michael Savage, 65, from Halifax was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2005 after working as as a maintenance fitter by ICI, at the Leeds Road, Huddersfield site from 1972 to 1977.
Thompsons Solicitors news release • Risks 378 • 18 October 2008
Anyone who worked with Mr Savage at ICI Huddersfield during the 1970s or who was employed in the 824 Beta Nap building should contact Marion Voss on 08000 224 224.

Hazards chemicals news archive