Encouraging inherently safer production in European firms: a report from the field.

It is now generally recognized that in order to make significant advances in accident prevention, the focus of industrial firms must shift from assessing the risks of existing production and manufacturing systems to discovering technological alternatives, i.e. from the identification of problems to the identification of solutions. Encouraging the industrial firm to perform (1) an inherent safety opportunity audit (ISOA) to identify where inherently safer technology (IST) is needed, and (2) a technology options analysis (TOA) and to identify specific inherently safer options that will advance the adoption of primary prevention strategies that will alter production systems so that there are less inherent safety risks. Experience gained from a methodology to encourage inherently safer production (ISP) in industrial firms in the Netherlands and Greece is discussed. Successful approaches require both technological and managerial changes. Firms must have the willingness, opportunity, and the capability to change. Implications for the EU Seveso, IPPC, and EMAS Directives are also discussed.

Low-level chemical sensitivity: implications for research and social policy.

There is increasing evidence that human exposure to levels of chemicals once thought to be safe--or presenting insignificant risk--are, in fact, harmful. So-called low-level exposures are now known to be associated with adverse biological effects including cancer, endocrine disruption, and chemical sensitivity. This requires that we change both (1) the way we design research linking chemicals and health, and (2) the solutions we devise to address chemically caused injury. The new and emerging science of low-level exposure to chemicals requires appropriate social policy responses which include regulation of toxic substances, notification of those exposed, and compensation and reasonable accommodation to those affected. Research and social policy need to be focused towards two distinct groups: (1) those individuals who could become chemically intolerant as a result of an initiating exposure, and (2) those individuals who have already become chemically intolerant and are now sensitive to chemicals at low levels.

The economic and social context of special populations.

Changes in both technology and international trade are altering the world economy and hence are affecting the demand and supply of labor and the nature of work and working conditions. New materials, faster and more powerful computers, electronic and mobile communications, alternative energy systems, miniaturization, robotics, and biotechnology pose new opportunities, problems, and challenges. The tremendous expansion in information-based technologies in both manufacturing and services has resulted in impressive increases in productivity and demand for new skills, but they also have brought about the displacement and de-skilling of some labor by capital, the lowering of wages, and the increase of contingent, part-time, and temporary work. Special populations, in particular, may be differentially impacted.

Monitoring the worker and the community for chemical exposure and disease: legal and ethical considerations in the US.

Biomonitoring of workers and communities raises important legal and ethical concerns, but the two contexts are different. Monitoring workers is usually done by, or at the instigation of, the employer who, in law, is responsible for their health and safety. Whenever worker monitoring leads to the removal of workers, difficult issues emerge affecting labor-management relations, labor law, and discrimination law. Resulting legal and ethical questions are usually framed with the context of the employment contract or labor relationship. In contrast, public health or environmental officials may be the driving force behind biomonitoring of the community. No employer-employee relationship exists, and the doctor-patient relationship may be tenuous. The community may often request biomonitoring, but the situation is no less contentious. On the basis of an historical view of monitoring events within the US, mechanisms are suggested to promote positive interactions between employers and workers and among agencies, individuals, and groups in the monitoring of chemically contaminated communities.

Approaches for assessing health risks from complex mixtures in indoor air: a panel overview.

Critical to a more definitive human health assessment of the potential health risks from exposure to complex mixtures in indoor air is the need for a more definitive clinical measure and etiology of the health effects of complex mixtures. This panel overview highlights six of the eight presentations of the conference panel discussion and features a number of the major topical areas of indoor air concern. W. G. Meggs assessed clinical research priorities with primary focus on the role of volatile organic chemicals in human health, recognizing the areas where definitive data are lacking. By recognizing many types of chemical sensitivity, it may be possible to design studies that can illuminate the mechanisms by which chemical exposure may cause disease. The critically important topic of multiple chemical sensitivity was discussed by N. A. Ashford, who identified four high risk groups and defined the demographics of these groups. P. A. Schulte addressed the issue of biological markers of susceptibility with specific considerations of both methodological and societal aspects that may be operative in the ability to detect innate or inborne differences between individuals and populations. Three case studies were reviewed. H. Anderson discussed the past and present priorities from a public health perspective, focusing on those issues dealing with exposures to environmental tobacco smoke and formaldehyde off-gassing from materials used in mobile home construction. J. J. Osborne described several case studies involving wood smoke exposure to children, with emphasis on the significantly greater occurrence of chronic respiratory symptoms and acute chest illness for children from homes heated with woodburning stoves.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Policy considerations for human monitoring in the workplace.

Human monitoring for toxic substances exposure in the workplace raises opportunities for occupational disease prevention but can also lead to possible undesirable and discriminatory consequences for workers. The scientific requisites for sound monitoring practices are discussed, and caution is urged against unjustified and unfair use of screening results.