Research
The Pump Handle
Category archives for Research
New study sheds light on the health effects of job insecurity
Posted by The Pump Handle on September 28, 2012 It’s not news that unemployment is bad for a person’s health. But it turns out that just the threat of unemployment is bad as well.
Optimism and the HIV/AIDS epidemic
Posted by The Pump Handle on September 18, 2012 Recent biomedical advances in AIDS research have allowed political figures such as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to proclaim that the phenomenon of a generation without HIV/AIDS is within reach. But how well-founded is this optimism?
Investigative reporters team up to expose national disgrace: US coal miners still get black lung
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on July 9, 2012 Three of my favorite investigative journalists have worked together to expose a national disgrace: coal miners in the U.S. still develop black lung disease.
New study shows black lung and silicosis among U.S. surface coal miners, not just a problem for underground miners
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 19, 2012 A x-ray surveillance program finds nearly four dozen cases of coal workers pneumoconiosis among surface coal miners in the U.S., while coal operators including Alpha Natural Resources and CONSOL Energy insist that workers on strip mining jobs aren’t exposed to enough dust to cause disease.
National Academies Press celebrates first year of free PDFs
Posted by Liz Borkowski on June 15, 2012 The National Academies Press celebrates its first year of offering free PDF books for downloading. Several important public health publications are among the free offerings.
Diesel exhaust a human carcinogen concludes WHO’s cancer panel
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 12, 2012 A panel of scientific experts convened by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer concluded today that diesel engine exhaust is carcinogenic to humans. Previously, the classification for diesel exhaust had been “probably carcinogenic to humans.”
Trying to avoid the “cancer-causing” label, diesel manufacturers join the club
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on June 11, 2012 An expert panel convened by the WHO’s Int’l Agency for Research on Cancer is evaluating the scientific evidence on the carcinogenicity of diesel exhaust. In preparation for the meeting, diesel engine manufacturers, oil companies and mining firms hired consultants to re-analyze and critique the epidemiological studies conducted by others to manufacturer doubt about
Another member of Congress wants to micromanage research funding
Posted by Liz Borkowski on May 16, 2012 Representative Jeff Flake’s mocks political science studies to advance a spending-bill amendment barring NSF funding of political science research.
Lung cancer risk of diesel-exposed workers reconfirmed, kudos to MSHA for addressing hazard 10 years ago
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on March 5, 2012 The Center for Public integrity’s Jim Morris was the first to report that two long awaited cancer mortality studies of US workers exposed to diesel exhaust finds significantly elevated levels of lung cancer. Researchers with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) proposed the studies two decades…
FAA’s pilot fatigue prevention rule could translate to other occupations
Posted by Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH of George Washington University School of Public Health & Health Services on December 21, 2011 Ms. Madeline Loftus, 24, was just one of the 50 individuals who lost their lives on February 12, 2009 when Continental Flight 3407 crashed in a neighborhood near Buffalo, NY. The NTSB investigation and a frightening PBS Frontline investigation called “Flying Cheap” identified airline industry practices that compromise pilots’ fitness for duty, including severe fatigue,…