Medical screening for nanoparticle exposures

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is recommending precautionary interim measures for reducing work-related exposures and assessing potential risk. This has been published in Current Intelligence Bulletin 60: Interim Guidance for Medical Screening and Hazard Surveillance for Workers Potentially Exposed to Engineered Nanoparticles. According to the executive summary:

Concerns have been raised about whether workers exposed to engineered nanoparticles are at increased risk of adverse health effects. The current body of evidence about the possible health risks of occupational exposure to engineered nanoparticles is quite small. While there is increasing evidence to indicate that exposure to some engineered nanoparticles can cause adverse health effects in laboratory animals, no health studies of workers exposed to the few engineered nanoparticles tested in animals have been published. The purpose of this document from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is to provide interim guidance about whether specific medical screening, including performing medical tests on asymptomatic workers, is appropriate for these workers.

Link -- http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/docs/2009-116/

EPA Names New Head of its Midwest Criminal Investigation Program

CHICAGO (Feb. 12, 2009) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has named Randy Ashe to be special agent in charge of the EPA Criminal Investigation Division's area office in Chicago. Ashe will supervise environmental crimes investigations throughout EPA Region 5, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
EPA's criminal enforcement program was established in 1983 and is integral to the agency's overall enforcement work. Its mission is to investigate allegations of the most serious violations of federal environmental law, and to assist the Department of Justice in the prosecution of individuals and corporations charged with criminal offenses.
CID is made up of nearly 200 criminal investigators with full law enforcement authority who are highly trained and committed to protecting human health and the environment. A CID area office under the supervision of a special agent in charge is located in each of EPA's 10 regional offices. Smaller resident offices are located in several dozen other locations across the country.
"Randy brings a wealth of criminal enforcement experience to this position," said Ella R. Barnes, director of EPA's national Criminal Investigation Division in Washington, D.C. "He will work closely with our federal and state law enforcement and regulatory partners to protect the public and environment in the region."
Ashe joined EPA's Criminal Investigation Division in 1996 and was assigned to the Baton Rouge, La., resident office. In 2003, he was promoted to assistant special agent in charge in Baton Rouge, and in 2006, was reassigned as assistant special agent in charge of the Chicago area office.
Before joining CID, Ashe served on active duty in the U.S. Air Force for 15 years, 10 of which were as an investigator in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, where he worked on criminal, fraud and counterintelligence investigations. He served in Panama during "Operation Just Cause" and in Saudi Arabia during "Desert Shield/Storm." He holds a BS degree in human services from Wayland University.
Two criminal cases successfully completed under Ashe's leadership are the Crown Chemical case in Crestwood, Ill., and the Northwestern Plating Works case in Chicago.
In the Crown Chemical case EPA got a tip of illegal dumping of chemicals into the local sewer system. EPA installed a covert sampler and caught the company in the act. The former company owner and manager both pleaded guilty, and both were fined and sentenced to probation.
In the Northwestern Plating Works case, the owner pleaded guilty to illegally stockpiling thousands of pounds of hazardous waste before the company went out of business. He also admitted embezzling from his employees' profit-sharing plan. He was sentenced to 46 months in federal prison and required to pay restitution to the employees and EPA, which paid for the proper disposal of the hazardous substances left at the site.
Potential environmental violations may be reported at www.epa.gov/compliance/complaints.

Scientists discover Patagonian diesel that grows on trees

From http://www.guardian.co.uk

A tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into vehicle tanks, US scientists say. The organism, found in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably similar to diesel.
"This is the only organism that has ever been shown to produce such an important combination of fuel substances," said Gary Strobel, a plant scientist from Montana State University, who led the work. "We were totally surprised to learn that it was making a plethora of hydrocarbons."

(More....)

Different ballgame for federal regulations

The Obama Administration is already changing the regulatory playing field. According to the blog ScienceInsider (Science / AAAS), "Cass Sunstein, the Obama Administration's choice to head a powerful White House office overseeing all federal regulations, hasn't been confirmed yet, but he's already making his presence felt. His fingerprints are all over two recent presidential directives that lay the groundwork for the most far-reaching revision of regulatory policy in 15 years."

One directive orders the OMB to create new guidelines for regulatory review. The other document is an Executive Order abolishing a couple of Bush Administration Executive Orders that were seen as extending White House political control into regulatory decisions. (more...)


Link -- http://blogs.sciencemag.org/scienceinsider/2009/02/obama-out-of-th.html

New 2009 TLV's

ACGIH^® announced that its Board of Directors ratified the 2009 Threshold Limit Values for Chemical Substances and Physical Agents and Biological Exposure Indices. The Board also approved recommendations for additions to the Notice of Intended Changes. (more, including link to list of substances...)


Link -- http://www.acgih.org/resources/press/TLVBEI2009.htm

Study on Behavioral Approach to Workplace Safety

A new study in the National Safety Council’s Journal of Safety Research advances the field and effective use of behavioral safety by identifying key knowledge gaps that warrant additional research. The study pinpoints areas where increased data can enhance behavior-based injury-prevention interventions and improve occupational safety and health. (more details here...)


Links: http://www.nsc.org/news/jsr_behavior.aspx

EPA'S Wisconsin Green Power Partners cut greenhouse gas emissions

CHICAGO (Feb. 2, 2009) - U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 5 announced today that its Green Power Partners in Wisconsin reduced their greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 by buying more than 386 million kilowatt-hours of electricity from renewable resources such as solar and wind power.
The partners are Kohl's Department Stores, Menomonee Falls, 259 million kWh; the state of Wisconsin, 92 million kWh; River Falls Wisconsin Community, 18 million kWh; GE Healthcare Headquarters, Waukesha, 16 million kWh; and Monsanto/Agracetus Campus, Middleton, 916 thousand kWh.
The green power bought by these organizations is equivalent to avoiding the carbon dioxide emissions of some 50,420 passenger cars per year, or is the equivalent amount of electricity needed to power some 35,286 average homes annually.
"These organizations are protecting our environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Cheryl Newton, director of EPA Region 5's Air and Radiation Division. "We hope others will follow their lead by voluntarily shifting to renewable energy."
Kohl's was 14th among the top 50 purchasers with 22 percent of its purchased electricity coming from the city of Dover, Racine County, Wis.; Neuwing Energy Ventures, New York, N.Y.; Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Sacramento, Calif.; Sterling Planet, Norcross, Ga.; and WM Renewable Energy, Houston, Texas.
Kohl's ranked second on EPA's top 20 retail list and qualified for EPA's Green Power Leadership Club by significantly exceeding EPA's minimum purchase requirements. The company ranked eighth on EPA's Fortune 500 list.
The state of Wisconsin ranked 36th among the top 50 purchasers with 8 percent of its purchased electricity coming from Madison Gas and Electric, Madison, Wis.; We Energies, Milwaukee, Wis.; and WPPI Energy, Sun Prairie, Wis.
The River Falls Wisconsin Community, a new partner, ranked 10th in EPA's Green Power Community category, buying 15 percent of its purchased electricity from WPPI Energy. Green Power Communities are cities or towns where the municipal government is a Green Power Partner that works with local businesses and residents to purchase green power.
GE Healthcare Headquarters ranked 30th on EPA Fortune 500 list, buying enough green power to meet 10 percent of its purchased electricity use from We Energies.
Monsanto's Agracetus Campus ranked 53rd on EPA's Fortune 500 list, buying 16 percent of its green power from Madison Gas and Electric.
EPA's Green Power Partnership works with more than 1,000 partners to help them buy green power voluntarily as a way to reduce the environmental impacts associated with conventional electricity use. These green power purchases support the development of new, renewable generation resources nationwide. Overall, EPA Green Power Partners are buying nearly 16 billion kWh of green power annually, equivalent to the carbon dioxide emissions from electricity use in nearly 1.5 million average American homes.
Green power is generated from renewable resources such as solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and biogas, as well as low-impact hydropower. Green power resources produce electricity with an environmental profile superior to conventional power technologies and produce no net increase in greenhouse gas emissions.
More information on EPA's Green Power Partnership is at http://www.epa.gov/greenpower.

EPA Administrator Memo to EPA Employees

TO: All EPA Employees
FROM: Lisa P. Jackson, Administrator


I can think of no higher calling or privilege than rejoining EPA as your Administrator. I am grateful and humbled that President Obama has given me this honor. With his election and with my appointment, President Obama has dramatically changed the face of American environmentalism. With your help, we can now change the face of the environment as well.
During my 21 years in public service, I have witnessed firsthand the dedication and professionalism of EPA’s workforce. Thousands of committed, hard-working and talented employees for whom protecting the environment is a calling, not just a job, have made EPA a driving force in environmental protection since 1970. (More....)