Updated head protection regulations

On June 22, OSHA published a direct final rule to revise the requirements for head protection in the personal protective equipment (PPE) section of its general industry standards. OSHA updated these rules to recognize the 2009 edition of the American National Standard for Industrial Head Protection, and deleted the 1986 edition of that national consensus standard because it is out of date. OSHA also is including the construction industry in this revision.

http://www.osha.gov/pls/oshaweb/owadisp.show_document?p_table=FEDERAL_REGISTER&p_id=23045

Cell Phone Users Will Begin Receiving Weather Warnings

 Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) System goes live next week

For more information contact: Tod Pritchard  Office: 608-242-3324, Cell: 608-219-4008

June 14, 2012

(MADISON) Some cell phone users will begin receiving tornado warnings and other weather emergency notifications on their cell phones beginning next week as part of a national program to expand public warning capabilities. 

Under the Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) system, the National Weather Services will send warnings for tornadoes, blizzards, ice storms and flash flooding to cell phone towers. These emergency alerts will be sent to the newer version of cell phones in affected areas. Alerts will continue to be issued or available on other sources including radio/TV stations, on NOAA weather radios and local sirens. 

"The Wireless Emergency Alert system is the first part of a national program to alert the public by text messaging," said Wisconsin Emergency Management Administrator Brian Satula. "Later this year, state, tribal and local emergency officials will be able to issue other types of alerts on cell phones such as Amber Alerts for child abduction or evacuation orders during local emergencies." 

The alerts will include a unique ring tone and vibration. They will not interrupt any phone calls or downloads in progress. In addition, cell phone users will not be charged for the emergency messaging. 

The WEA system is part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System known as IPAWS. The warnings will go automatically to any newer-model cell phones within range of the cell phone towers. The wireless industry estimates by 2014, most all cell phones on the market will be WEA-capable.

For more information on the WEA system, go to the ReadyWisconsin website at http://ready.wi.gov/cell/default.asp

Nanoparticles in polluted air, smoke & nanotechnology products have serious impact on health

Contact: Professor Yuri Volkov
yvolkov@tcd.ie
353-863-732-946
Trinity College Dublin

Trinity College Dublin scientists establish link between autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and nanoparticles

Dublin, June 11th, 2012 − New groundbreaking research by scientists at Trinity College Dublin has found that exposure to nanoparticles can have a serious impact on health, linking it to rheumatoid arthritis and the development of other serious autoimmune diseases. The findings that have been recently published in the international journal 'Nanomedicine' have health and safety implications for the manufacture, use and ultimate disposal of nanotechnology products and materials. They also identified new cellular targets for the development of potential drug therapies in combating the development of autoimmune diseases.

Environmental pollution including carbon particles emitted by car exhaust, smoking and long term inhalation of dust of various origins have been recognised as risk factors causing chronic inflammation of the lungs. The link between smoking and autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis has also been established. This new research now raises serious concerns in relation to similar risks caused by nanotechnology products which if not handled appropriately may contribute to the generation of new types of airborne pollutants causing risks to global health.

In their research, the Nanomedicine and Molecular Imaging team at Trinity College Dublin's School of Medicine led by Professor of Molecular Medicine, Yuri Volkov investigated whether there was a common underlying mechanism contributing to the development of autoimmune diseases in human cells following their exposure to a wide range of nanoparticles containing different physical and chemical properties.

The scientists applied a wide range of nanomaterials including ultrafine carbon black, carbon nanotubes and silicon dioxide particles of different sizes, ranging from 20 to 400 nanometres, to human cells derived from the lining of the airway passages, and to the cells of so-called phagocytic origin − those cells that are most frequently exposed to the inhaled foreign particles or are tasked with cleaning up our body from them. At the same time, collaborating researchers from the Health Effects Laboratory Division, National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health (Morgantown, WV, USA) have conducted the studies in mice exposed to chronic inhalation of air contaminated with single walled carbon nanotubes.

The result was clear and convincing: all types of nanoparticles in both the TCD and US study were causing an identical response in human cells and in the lungs of mice, manifesting in the specific transformation of the amino acid arginine into the molecule called citrulline which can lead to the development of autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis.

In the transformation to citrulline, human proteins which incorporate this modified amino acid as building blocks, can no longer function properly and are subject to destruction and elimination by the bodily defence system. Once programmed to get rid of citrullinated proteins, the immune system can start attacking its own tissues and organs, thereby causing the autoimmune processes which may result in rheumatoid arthritis.
Commenting on the significance of the findings, TCD's Professor Volkov says: "The research establishes a clear link between autoimmune diseases and nanoparticles. Preventing or interfering with the resulting citrullination process looks therefore as a promising target for the development of future preventative and therapeutic approaches in rheumatoid arthritis and possibly other autoimmune conditions."

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The paper's full title published in the 'Nanomedicine' journal (Future Medicine journals group) is "Citrullination of proteins: a common post-translational modification pathway induced by different nanoparticles in vitro and in vivo" http://www.futuremedicine.com/doi/full/10.2217/nnm.11.177

UC Center for Laboratory Safety helps launch worldwide survey of researchers

By Steve Ritea | June 14, 2012

In its ongoing effort to design policies and programs that protect researchers, the University of California Center for Laboratory Safety today helped distribute a survey to tens of thousands of laboratories worldwide asking for information about their lab safety practices and attitudes.

Working in partnership with the software firm BioRAFT and the Nature Publishing Group, the center played a role in designing the survey, which will gather data that can be used to develop best practices in lab safety.

"This survey is a vitally important undertaking that will help us understand how researchers all across the globe approach lab safety," said James Gibson, executive director of the center and director of UCLA's Office of Environment, Health and Safety. "This goes to the very heart of what our organization does — utilizing scientific methods to gather data that will be analyzed and ultimately help us understand how to make our labs even safer. We're very proud to be working with our partners at BioRAFT and Nature Publishing Group on this important project."

Researchers who do not receive a direct invitation are encouraged to complete the survey at go.nature.com/7LDJlI.

UCLA established the UC Center for Laboratory Safety last year with the mission of improving the practice of lab safety through the performance of scientific research and the implementation of best safety practices. Since then, other universities and researchers have been turning to the center for assistance in establishing lab safety programs of their own.

In the past few years, UCLA has dramatically enhanced its own lab safety programs, increasing the number of inspections in its labs, strengthening the university's policy on the required use of personal protective equipment and developing a hazard-assessment tool that labs must update annually or whenever conditions change.

http://www.bioraft.com/press-release/uc-center-lab-safety-bioraft-and-nature-publishing-group-launch-survey-study-laboratory-safety

Top Ten Facts You Need to Know About Ticks

40,000 cases of lyme disease are documented in the United States alone every year, and health experts are predicting 2012 to be the worst year for Lyme risk ever. Why? A warm winter and a decrease in rodent population. What happens with fewer rodents? Ticks need to look for other hosts -- us!
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, individuals who live or work in residential areas surrounded by tick-infested woods or overgrown brush are at risk of getting Lyme disease. Therefore, anyone who works or plays in their yard; participates in recreational activities away from home such as hiking, camping, fishing, and hunting; or engages in outdoor occupations such as landscaping, brush clearing, forestry and wildlife or parks management in endemic areas, may also be at risk of getting Lyme disease. (More...)