Volume
4 Number 6 October 2006 |
NIOSH eNews Web page |
To subscribe, click here |
Printer Friendly Version |
NIOSH Team Offers Control Banding Training to Chilean Colleagues NIOSH Expands WTC Topic Page, Includes New HHS Link Benefits of Natural Compounds in Fighting Cancer Studied NIOSH Director to Address National Academy of Social Insurance |
7th Annual
Pilot Research Project Symposium to be Held this Month NIOSH
and NSC Offer Student Scholarship to Upcoming NSC Congress and
Expo NIOSH
Announces Proposed Study on Reusability of Filtering Facepiece
Respirators 2006
Federal Women of the Year NIOSH
and AIHA at the New York State Fair Look
for Us |
Roots are important, as the late Alex Haley once reminded us. NIOSH’s roots are embedded in decades of accomplishments, including the legacy of predecessor bureaus and offices whose responsibilities were transferred to NIOSH in 1971 under the Occupational Safety and Health Act. Recent events have spotlighted the heritage of NIOSH’s Morgantown, Pittsburgh, and Spokane laboratories in mining safety and health research; some of that history dates back nearly a century. In this year of celebrating NIOSH’s 35th anniversary, we should also note the occupational health contributions of our laboratories in Cincinnati. NIOSH’s Cincinnati family tree is planted in rich soil. It has been part of the local landscape since the 1850s, when the federal government established a U.S. Marine Hospital for river workers in the downtown area. The Marine Hospital Service was the predecessor of the Public Health Service, of which NIOSH is a part. Its mission in Cincinnati, in tending to the health of the boatmen who plied America’s commerce on the Ohio River, was a clear forerunner of our occupational safety and health charge. The Ohio was also a main artery of America’s booming industrial economy after World War II. Keeping pace with stakeholder needs, the Public Health Service dedicated the Robert A. Taft Sanitary Engineering Center in 1954, named for the nationally respected Senator from Ohio. President Eisenhower hailed the opening of this pioneering occupational and environmental health laboratory as a milestone “of special importance to every worker.” In 1962, the Public Health Service also began leasing space in a second facility on Ridge Road, now known as the Alice Hamilton Laboratory. After its creation in 1971, NIOSH occupied the Taft and Hamilton facilities, sharing space for a time with other agencies. Eventually, both became NIOSH laboratories exclusively. The dedicated scientists and engineers in the Cincinnati laboratories have produced many of NIOSH’s signal achievements. For example, many tools and techniques routinely used today across the U.S. to prevent work-related illnesses, from analytical, exposure assessment, and epidemiologic methods to risk assessment principles and engineering solutions, were developed or significantly enhanced in Cincinnati. Thanks in substantial measure to our research in Cincinnati, scientists and policymakers have been better able to address the complex, emerging health issues of the modern economy. These include indoor environmental quality, emergency preparedness, workstation design, work-related stress, nanotechnology, and lingering concerns about past occupational exposures in Cold War nuclear weapons plants. Cincinnati is a hub of NIOSH's customer outreach services. In our activities over the years, we have formed close professional and personal ties in the local community. Under the National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) and r2p, the laboratories continue to promote collaborative, results-oriented research. Recent accomplishments include these:
As you may know, we are working with CDC and the General Services Administration
in early stages of planning for a consolidated Cincinnati facility. In
this, we are anticipating the needs of our 21st Century stakeholders
as the U.S. Marine Hospital Service addressed the needs of the 19th Century,
and the Taft and Hamilton labs responded to those of the 20th Century.
We look forward to keeping you informed, and to soliciting your ideas,
as we move forward into our third century as part of the Cincinnati community. |
NIOSH Team Offers Control Banding Training to Chilean Colleagues |
On September 9-17, a five-member NIOSH interdivisional team traveled to Santiago, Chile, to provide training and technical assistance to the Occupational Health Department, Instituto de Salud Publica de Chile (ISP) [Chile Public Health Institute] and the Ministerio del Salud de Chile [Chile Ministry of Health] as part of the NIOSH 2006-2007 Program for Elimination of Silicosis in the Americas. The team presented a 3-day course and included live translation during the two classroom days and one field visit day to a quartz quarry and rock crushing plant. Attendees learned about strategies for assessing and controlling exposures to silica-containing dust in mines and other high-risk workplaces. On following days, the team participated in joint field site visits with ISP to a large underground and surface copper mine in the Andes and a rock crushing small enterprise in the Santiago region. Marilyn Fingerhut, NIOSH International Coordinator, signed a letter
of agreement on behalf of NIOSH Director John Howard, MD for cooperation
on silicosis elimination with the Directors of ISP, the Chilean Ministry
of Health, and PAHO-Chile. Plans are being made for continued collaboration
during 2007. The NIOSH team included Aaron Sussell, Faye Rice, Leo Blade,
Jay Colinet and Andrew Cecala. |
NIOSH
has expanded its Web topic page on information related to the NIOSH response
to the World Trade Center terrorist attack of September 11, 2001. The
topic page includes a link to a new U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services (HHS) Web site for information about HHS World Trade Center
Health Resources. This site serves as a central resource for responders,
volunteers, their families, health care professionals, and others seeking
information about health effects resulting from the September 11, 2001,
attacks on the World Trade Center. The site includes information and
addresses for medical monitoring and treatment programs for responders,
resources for health professionals who serve the exposed populations,
and links to published scientific reports about health effects associated
with the WTC exposures. The NIOSH page also includes a draft technical
document for standardizing postmortem examinations of individuals
dying after environmental exposures at the World Trade Center. The draft
document is currently undergoing scientific review and is a work in progress.
The NIOSH topic page can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/wtc. |
NIOSH
scientists and colleagues are exploring the potential for a natural
compound found in blackberries and other food products to offer a means
for preventing and treating certain types of cancers. Results of laboratory
tests reported in a recent peer-reviewed scientific article found that
the compound, cyanidin-3-glucoside, inhibited
and blocked processes in genes and cells that promote tumors. http://www.jbc.org/cgi/content/abstract/281/25/17359?maxtoshow=&HITS=10&hits=10&RESULTFO |
NIOSH Director to Address National Academy of Social Insurance |
NIOSH
Director John Howard, MD will speak to attendees at the Health and
Income Security for Injured Workers seminar on October 12-13 in Washington,
DC. The seminar is sponsored by the National Academy of Social Insurance.
Dr. Howard is one of four speakers who will discuss preparing for catastrophes
in the workplace. More information on the seminar is available http://www.nasi.org/calendar_reg3634/calendar_reg_show.htm?doc_id=395559. |
7th Annual Pilot Research Project Symposium to be Held this Month |
The
University of Cincinnati (UC) Education and Research Center will host
the 7th Annual Pilot Research Project
Symposium on October
12-13 at the Kettering Laboratory on the UC campus. The symposium will
feature presentations from the 2006 and 2007 Pilot Research Project Grant
Program awardees. DeLon Hull, Ph.D., NIOSH Associate Director for Research
and Technology Transfer, will provide a keynote address on October 12.
The Program is designed to increase the research capacity of research
trainees and young investigators in occupational safety and health research
at UC and collaborating programs in Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio. More
information on the symposium is available on the UC Web site, http://eh.uc.edu/erc/2006_PRP_Symposium.pdf.
The UC Education and Research Center is one of 16 ERCs funded by NIOSH. |
NIOSH and NSC Offer Student Scholarship to Upcoming NSC Congress and Expo |
NIOSH
and the National Safety Council have partnered to offer student scholarships
to the 2006 National Safety Council Congress and Expo, November 6-10
in San Diego, CA. Students interested in
occupational safety and health are encouraged to apply. Eight students
will be selected for the scholarship, which will cover transportation and
provide up to $400 for registration and other travel related expenses. Awardees
will be asked to share their experiences through short reports. Applications
must be submitted to rssdept@nsc.org by
October 15, 2006. More information on the application process can
be obtained from the NSC Research and Statistical Services Group at rssdept@nsc.org. |
NIOSH Announces Proposed Study on Reusability of Filtering Facepiece Respirators |
NIOSH
is seeking products or prototypes that disinfect or sterilize infectious
aerosols, such as viruses, for a new study on the reusability of filtering
facepiece respirators (FFR). Researchers at the NIOSH National Personal
Protective Technology Laboratory propose to study the effects of decontaminating
a diverse array of FFR including NIOSH-certified N95, P100, and N95 filtering
facepiece respirator/surgical mask. This project will also study the
survivability of a simulant influenza virus on FFR. Details on the proposed
study are available in the September 26, 2006 Federal Register Notice
at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2006/E6-15706.htm. |
Four
employees at the NIOSH Pittsburgh research facilities have been honored
as the 2006 Women of the Year by the Pittsburgh Federal Executive Board.
Millie Miller, Program Analyst; Angie Shepherd, General Engineer; and
Maryann D’Alessandro, Associate Director of Science, from the NIOSH
National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory, and Suzanne Wargo,
Program Support Assistant from the Office of Administrative and Management
Services, were recognized for their accomplishments and contributions
to women in the Federal Government. |
NIOSH
and the American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) cosponsored an
exhibit at the New York State Fair in Syracuse on August 24-September
4. NIOSH staff joined members of AIHA to disseminate information about
both organizations. Using the theme “Detecting hazards in the workplace,” the
exhibit included stations representing research to address physical,
biological and chemical hazards in the workplace. Over 932,000 people
attended the fair over the 12 days, providing opportunity for interaction. |
Look for the NIOSH exhibit booth at these upcoming conferences.
|
NORA
Sector Council Corresponding Members
As always,
contact the NORA Coordinator (NORACoordinator@cdc.gov), if you have any
questions. |
American
Welding Society to host session on new OSHA Hexavalent Chromium Regulation |
Preventing
Worker Injuries and Deaths from Mobile Crane Tip-Over, Boom Collapse,
and Uncontrolled Hoisted Loads Bicycle Saddles and Reproductive Health Topic Page |
Noise-Induced Hearing Loss in Children at Work and Play International Conference on Nanotechnology Occupational and Environmental
Health and Safety: Research to Practice Call for Papers: 2007 Johnson Conference: Workplace Aerosol Sampling
to Meet ISO Size-Selective Criteria |
NIOSH eNews on the Web: www.cdc.gov/niosh/enews/
NIOSH Home |
NIOSH Search | Site
Index | Topic
List | Contact
Us |