The use of an odour wheel classification for the evaluation of human health risk criteria for compost facilities

2007 ◽  
Vol 55 (5) ◽  
pp. 345-357 ◽  
Author(s):  
P.E. Rosenfeld ◽  
J.J.J. Clark ◽  
A.R. Hensley ◽  
I.H. Suffet
Keyword(s):  
Health Risk ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Human Health Risk ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Human Odour

Odorants are released during the decomposition of organic waste at compost treatment plants. Composting releases volatile organic chemicals (VOCs), including alcohols, aldehydes, volatile fatty acids, ammonia and other nitrogen compounds, xenobiotic solvents, and various sulphur compounds into the environment as categorised by a compost odor wheel. Each odorant possesses a characteristic odour signature – quality and threshold as well as a toxicity value. This paper presents data relating the human odour detection limit to human health threshold criteria developed by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the United States Environmental Protection Agency Region 9 and the World Health Organisation. This comparison indicates that: (1) the human odour threshold concentrations (OTC) for most compost odorants are far lower than their respective human health risk (regulatory) threshold values, (2) several compost odorants have OTC that are below some of their respective regulatory thresholds and above others (i.e. dimethyl amine, formic acid acetone, ethyl benzene and toluene) and (3) only the VOCs probably present as contaminants in the raw composting material have OTC greater than all of its regulatory thresholds (i.e. benzene). Benzene is the most hazardous VOC associated with composting and should be monitored.

A Short History of Occupational Safety and Health in the United States

2020 ◽  
Vol 110 (5) ◽  
pp. 622-628
Author(s):  
David Rosner ◽  
Gerald Markowitz
Keyword(s):  
Working Conditions ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Mine Safety ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Short History ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Before And After ◽  
History Of

As this short history of occupational safety and health before and after establishment of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) clearly demonstrates, labor has always recognized perils in the workplace, and as a result, workers’ safety and health have played an essential part of the battles for shorter hours, higher wages, and better working conditions. OSHA’s history is an intimate part of a long struggle over the rights of working people to a safe and healthy workplace. In the early decades, strikes over working conditions multiplied. The New Deal profoundly increased the role of the federal government in the field of occupational safety and health. In the 1960s, unions helped mobilize hundreds of thousands of workers and their unions to push for federal legislation that ultimately resulted in the passage of the Mine Safety and Health Act of 1969 and the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. From the 1970s onward, industry developed a variety of tactics to undercut OSHA. Industry argued over what constituted good science, shifted the debate from health to economic costs, and challenged all statements considered damaging.

Recent Developments in Health Law

1994 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-92
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Medical Personnel ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Bloodborne Pathogens ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Safety And Health

In American Dental Association v. Martin, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit reviewed a challenge to a rule of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). In December, 1991, OSHA passed a standard to protect health care workers from viruses transmitted by blood—bloodborne pathogens—including the hepatitis B virus (HBV) and the human immunodeficiency virus, the virus known to cause AIDS. Three health care organizations, whose members are dentists, medical personnel firms, and home health employers, petitioned the court to review OSHA's rule.The Occupational Safety and Health Act was passed to assure employees that they would have as safe and healthy a working environment as feasible. Congress sought to ensure this by vesting the Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health with the authority to promulgate mandatory safety and health standards. In promulgating standards concerning toxic materials or harmful physical agents, the secretary sets rules that most adequately assure that an employee will not suffer a material impairment of health or functional capacity while performing work-related duties.

Playing Chicken with People: The Occupational Safety and Health Consequences of Throughput über Alles

1995 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 633-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Linder
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Stress Disorders ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Department Of Agriculture ◽  
Safety And Health

The political-economic and legal analysis of regulation in this article argues that the speed of work on disassembly lines in poultry processing plants, the fastest growing factory employment in the United States, is de facto regulated not by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the agency charged with protecting workers, but, perversely, by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. In arrogating to itself the power to set line speeds in connection with its inspection of processed carcasses, the Department of Agriculture has one-sidedly promoted chicken oligopolies' interests by accommodating their drive to produce as much product as quickly and cheaply as possible (throughput über alles) and especially without regard to the incidence of repetitive stress disorders associated with high-speed machine-paced manual production. In contrast, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has failed either to assert its statutory authority over this vital determinant of workers' well-being or to persuade any administrative or judicial tribunal that it possesses such authority. Consequently, the article concludes, the health and safety of 200,000 low-paid and largely unorganized, female, and non-white workers continue to be held hostage to the self-valorization needs of capital and the state's cheap food policy.

screen. Chemicals which are shown to be mutagenic in Phase I assays progress to Phase II. In addition, a certain number of chemicals giving negative results in Phase I are committed also to further testing in Phase II, based primarily on known biological activity of structurally related compounds, and on estimated levels of human exposure. Chemicals which are positive mutagens in Phase progress to Phase III. III. WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION'S (WHO) INTERNATIONAL AGENCY FOR RESEARCH ON CANCER (IARC) IARC Monographs on the Evaluation of the Carcinogenic Risk of Chemicals to Humans In the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) initiated a program of evaluation of the carcinogenic risk of chemicals to humans. "The objective of the program to elaborate and publish in the form of monographs, critical reviews of data on carcinogenicity for groups of chemicals to which humans are known to be exposed, to evaluate these data in terms of human risk . . . and to indicate where additional research efforts are needed." The IARC Monographs are recognized an authoritative source of information on the carcinogenicity of environmental chemicals. The first users' survey, made in 1976, indicates that the monographs are consulted routinely by various agencies in 24 countries. IV. OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ADMINISTRATION (OSHA) A List of Substances Which May Be Candidates for Further Scientific Review and Possible Identification, Classification and Regulation Potential Occupational Carcinogens. Publication of this list by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration the first action taken in following the "Cancer Standard" procedures promulgated by OSHA in January, 1980.

1994 ◽  
pp. 17-17
Keyword(s):  
Phase I ◽  
Phase Ii ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Carcinogenic Risk ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
World Health ◽  
International Agency ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Negative Results ◽  
Safety And Health

Occupational Co-exposures to Multiple Chemical Agents from Workplace Measurements by the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 402-415
Author(s):  
Delphine Bosson-Rieutort ◽  
Philippe Sarazin ◽  
Dominique J Bicout ◽  
Vikki Ho ◽  
Jérôme Lavoué
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Exposure ◽  
Web Application ◽  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Metal Cluster ◽  
Integrated Management ◽  
Measurement Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Safety And Health

Abstract Objectives The occupational environment represents an important source of exposures to multiplehazards for workers’ health. Although it is recognized that mixtures of agents may have differenteffects on health compared to their individual effects, studies generally focus on the assessment ofindividual exposures. Our objective was to identify occupational co-exposures occurring in the United States using the multi-industry occupational exposure databank of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Methods Using OSHA’s Integrated Management Information System (IMIS), measurement data from workplace inspections occurring from 1979 to 2015 were examined. We defined a workplace situation (WS) by grouping measurements that occurred within a company, within the same occupation (i.e. job title) within 1 year. All agents present in each WS were listed and the resulting databank was analyzed with the Spectrosome approach, a methodology inspired by network science, to determine global patterns of co-exposures. The presence of an agent in a WS was defined either as detected, or measured above 20% of a relevant occupational exposure limit (OEL). Results Among the 334 648 detected exposure measurements of 105 distinct agents collected from 14 513 US companies, we identified 125 551 WSs, with 31% involving co-exposure. Fifty-eight agents were detected with others in >50% of WSs, 29 with a proportion >80%. Two clusters were highlighted, one for solvents and one for metals. Toluene, xylene, acetone, hexone, 2-butanone, and N-butyl acetate formed the basis of the solvent cluster. The main agents of the metal cluster were zinc, iron, lead, copper, manganese, nickel, cadmium, and chromium. 68 556 WS were included in the analyses based on levels of exposure above 20% of their OEL, with 12.4% of co-exposure. In this analysis, while the metal cluster remained, only the combinations of toluene with xylene or 2-butanone were frequently observed among solvents. An online web application allows the examination of industry specific patterns. Conclusions We identified frequent co-exposure situations in the IMIS databank. Using the spectrome approach, we revealed global combination patterns and the agents most often implicated. Future work should endeavor to explore the toxicological effects of prevalent combinations of exposures on workers’ health to prioritize research and prevention efforts.

Evaluation of the Risk Reduction Effectiveness in OSHA’s Workplace Atmosphere Sampling Activities

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremy M. Gernand
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Safety ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
The United States ◽  
Industrial Sector ◽  
Occupational Safety And Health ◽  
Worker Safety ◽  
Health Administration ◽  
Exposure Limit ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Safety And Health

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in the United States is responsible for the promulgation and enforcement of rules to protect and enhance worker safety in most medium and large commercial enterprises. To that end, the agency has collected and processed more than 240,000 atmospheric samples of chemicals and aerosols in a variety of workplaces in the past 30 years. Though the agency spends more than $500 million per year even in the face of increasing overall employment, there exist only targeted evaluations of OSHA sampling activity for specific issues like formaldehyde or silica in the published literature. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of this effort including assessment of the hazard potential distribution of sampled workplace atmospheres for all recorded pollutants over the time period from 1984 to 2011, the budgetary requirements of this activity over time in comparison to the assessed risk, and an evaluation of the probable effectiveness of such activity given changes in US industrial employment over that time period. The effectiveness of the sampling program is assessed according to specific criteria including the probability of detecting exceedances of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit (REL) for individual pollutants, the trend in the overall hazard level of detected atmospheres, the coverage of industries by worker population, and the cost-efficiency of the program in identifying hazardous atmospheres. Special attention is given to lead, toluene, and various mineral- and metal-based particulate matter, which have all seen new rules implemented in the recent past. Findings show that the number of samples per employed person has decreased markedly since the beginning of the study period and become less aligned with the changes in population distribution among US regions, however the probability of detecting a hazardous level of a chemical or aerosol pollutant has increased. Extrapolations of this information and the associated changes in industrial sector employment indicate that US workplace atmospheres are marginally less hazardous at the end of the study period than they were at the beginning.

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