This page shows you the latest news items in this category. This is page number 10.
Total 464 results found since Jan 2013.
EPA Finds Asbestos Use Poses Risk to Chloralkali Workers
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released an asbestos draft risk evaluation Monday that found serious health dangers to workers in the chloralkali industry, the country’s last remaining user of raw asbestos.
There is an “unreasonable risk to workers, occupational non-users, consumers and bystanders” the EPA found when evaluating several asbestos products still being imported and used today.
The draft risk evaluation was an initial review of asbestos by the EPA under the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).
“It is being disseminated for peer review purposes and is not final,” an EPA spokesperson to...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - April 2, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news
Scientists find bug that feasts on toxic plastic
Bacterium is able to break down polyurethane, which is widely used but rarely recycledA bacterium that feeds on toxic plastic has been discovered by scientists. The bug not only breaks the plastic down but uses it as food to power the process.The bacterium, which was found at a waste site where plastic had been dumped, is the first that is known to attack polyurethane. Millions of tonnes of the plastic is produced every year to use in items such as sports shoes, nappies, kitchen sponges and as foam insulation, but it is mostly sent to landfill because it it too tough to recycle.Continue reading...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - March 27, 2020 Category: Science Authors: Damian Carrington Environment editor Tags: Plastics Science Environment Pollution Source Type: news
Emissions of several ozone-depleting chemicals are larger than expected
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology) MIT researchers have found that much of the current emission of these gases likely stems from large CFC 'banks' -- old equipment such as building insulation foam, refrigerators and cooling systems, and foam insulation, that was manufactured before the global phaseout of CFCs and is still leaking the gases into the atmosphere. Based on earlier analyses, scientists concluded that CFC banks would be too small to contribute very much to ozone depletion, and so policymakers allowed the banks to remain.
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - March 17, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news
Acute respiratory obstruction due to accidental inhalation of Perlite: a novel mechanism for upper airway occlusion with cast formation - Tiemensma M, Fitzpatrick RW, Raven MD, Byard RW.
A 56-year-old man died following a fall resulting in complete submersion into a deep pit containing insulation material, expanded perlite. The most striking finding at autopsy was of impacted, moist pale yellow perlite that extended from the epiglottis int...
Source: SafetyLit - February 28, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Drowning, Suffocation Source Type: news
A Look at Specialty Polymers for Surgical Robots
The surgical robot industry is developing specialized products for neurosurgery, spinal surgery and other medical procedures that require greater precision, flexibility, and control than is possible with conventional techniques. Today, more than 5,000 surgical robots are installed worldwide – and that market is expected to grow at a double-digit rate over the next few years. For the designers of surgical robots, this presents both challenges and opportunities.
The healthcare industry has discovered the numerous advantages of robotic surgery. For example, surgeons can benefit from having a higher viewing a...
Source: MDDI - February 19, 2020 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Anna Maria Bertasa Tags: Materials Assembly and Automation Source Type: news
Improving home insulation and encouraging cycling and walking could save the NHS £3.7billion a year
Reducing energy demand in transport, buildings and industry - by insulating homes and getting people out of their cars - would reduce early deaths through pollution and pneumonia, they say.
Source: the Mail online | Health - January 30, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
The influence of environmentally friendly flame retardants on the thermal stability of phase change polyurethane foams - Liu D, Hu A.
To improve thermal insulation, microencapsulated phase change materials (micro-PCMs), expandable graphite (EG), and ammonium polyphosphate (APP) were introduced into polyurethane foam (PUF) to enhance the thermal stability and improve the thermal insulatio...
Source: SafetyLit - January 27, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Burns, Electricity, Explosions, Fire, Scalds Source Type: news
Synergistic fire hazard effect of a multifunctional flame retardant in building insulation expandable polystyrene through a simple surface-coating method - Li L, Shao X, Zhao Z, Liu X, Jiang L, Huang K, Zhao S.
This work reports a strategy based on γ-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (KH550) and graphene oxide (GO)-functionalized 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide (DOPO) to fabricate P-N-Si integrated flame retardant [KDOPO-modified GO (DGO)] through mi...
Source: SafetyLit - January 22, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Burns, Electricity, Explosions, Fire, Scalds Source Type: news
Determination of thermal properties and fire retardant ability of Philippine bamboo as natural thermal insulation - Amatosa TA, Loretero ME, Manilhig MG, Laksono AD, Yen Y.
This study investigated the thermal characteristics for organic thermal insulation materials developed from single-layer particleboard from bamboo-waste and analyzed concerning fire retardant ability. The Differential Scanning Calorimetry conducted the pre...
Source: SafetyLit - January 13, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Burns, Electricity, Explosions, Fire, Scalds Source Type: news
Helmet design based on the optimization of biocomposite energy-absorbing liners under multi-impact loading - Fernandes FAO, Alves de Sousa RJ, Ptak M, Migueis G.
Cellular materials have been used in many applications such as insulation, packaging, and protective gear. Expanded polystyrene has been widely used as energy-absorbing liner in helmets due to its excellent cost-benefit relation. This synthetic material ca...
Source: SafetyLit - January 13, 2020 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Engineering, Physics, Structural Soundness and Failure Source Type: news
US Officials Respond to Asbestos Issue at Tokyo 2020 Water Polo Venue
Officials with USA Water Polo are confident that organizers of the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics will fix an ongoing asbestos issue at the water polo venue for this year’s games.
Japanese newspaper The Asahi Shimbun originally reported that officials had discovered asbestos-containing insulation in at least two locations of the Tatsumi International Swimming Center in 2017. But the human carcinogen was not removed during renovations to the arena.
Exposure to asbestos is the primary cause of mesothelioma, a deadly cancer with no definitive cure.
Following reports of the asbestos issue, Tokyo 2020 organizers are taking “...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - January 6, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Matt Mauney Source Type: news
They Had Half Their Brains Removed. Here ' s What Happened After
TUESDAY, Nov. 19, 2019 -- Many people think of their brain as an overstuffed attic. Every square-inch is either crammed with information or working overtime to help the body function properly. So is it even conceivable that a person be normal with...
Source: Drugs.com - Daily MedNews - November 19, 2019 Category: General Medicine Source Type: news
Experimental and analytical characterization of firebrand ignition of home insulation materials - Wessies SS, Chang MK, Marr KC, Ezekoye OA.
Wildland firebrands are known to ignite materials in attic spaces of homes. To clarify the effects of choices in attic insulation materials for homes located at the wildland urban interface, this study seeks to characterize the effects of firebrand charact...
Source: SafetyLit - October 31, 2019 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Burns, Electricity, Explosions, Fire, Scalds Source Type: news
A New Study Suggests Tainted Talcum Powder Can Cause a Rare Cancer. Here ’s How That Could Play Out in the Courtroom
A new 33-patient case study published in the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine provides some of the strongest proof yet that exposure to asbestos-tainted talcum powder may cause malignant mesothelioma, a rare and deadly cancer that affects tissues lining internal organs.
This isn’t only an important scientific discovery—it could also give new ammunition to plaintiffs in the thousands of cases brought against brands selling talcum-powder-based products alleged to cause cancer, like Johnson & Johnson’s Baby Powder.
“It’s very, very hard, in general, to prove exactly what cau...
Source: TIME: Health - October 15, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Jamie Ducharme Tags: Uncategorized Environmental Health HealthSummit19 Research toxins Source Type: news
40 Years of Medical Device Implants
There have been considerable changes in the medical device industry over the last 40 years, particularly in medical implants. As the NuSil brand of Avantor celebrates its 40th anniversary, we reflect on these changes and what they mean for the next 40 years. The company was born out of two especially demanding industries—medical implants and aerospace—and consequently developed highly specialized ultra-pure silicones and worked to translate application needs into fundamental silicone chemistry and processing.
We’ve seen five key developments in implants, which we explor...
Source: MDDI - September 27, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Julie Cameron Tags: Materials Source Type: news
