Continuing to report on my recent educational trip north of the border, here are some highlights of the second part of Ms. Dietrich’s talk. The title of the session was “Unsolved IH Mysteries – challenges and scientific intrigues for the future”

Debbie started out by discussing a lot of developments currently going on with particulates. There was discussion on the loss of metals and other particulate on the sidewalls of filters. More will be heard on this in the future and we may see changes in how labs analyze these samples. Currently – only hexavalent chromium sample cassette walls must be wiped. She then moved on to what she is calling the new total particulate sampling – what we call the inhalable fraction. Currently there are almost 60 ACGIH inhalable TLV’s and 11 others on the intended to change list. ACGIH will only be listing new TLV’s as inhalable and no longer as total. The gold standard for collection these samples is the IOM sampler. You can now collect inhalable and respirable fractions at the same time with the IOM sampler. Also a Baby IOM is being developed which will allow collection of contaminates in both the vapor and particulate form. Cool!!

Of course no discussion on particulate is complete today if you do not discuss nanoparticles. We used to call these particles ultra fines with the biggest difference is that nanoparticles are made by design and ultra fine particles were made unintentionally – but the size of both were the same. Currently these particles are measured by mass – but studies have shown that total number or surface area is a better measure of the particles and their potential health effects on us. This is hot topic and more on these particulates will be forth coming.

I could go on and on, but I have to close this entry before it gets too long and tedious.

If you would like more on these topics – drop me a line – or if you have comments or information to add - please do so by submitting your comments.

Thanks

I recently had a chance to go to the Occupational Hygiene Association of Ontario (OHAO) Spring Symposium. I t was nice to see a lot of old Canadian friends and clients and make some new acquaintances, The Industrial Hygiene world is indeed a small one. My real reason for going to the Symposium was to take advantage of the knowledge and wisdom of Ms. Debbie Dietrich from SKC. If you have never attended a presentation by Debbie, you are missing something. She is a very dynamic and animated speaker. Debbie lives in Texas and this presentation was in Toronto in March, so you know Debbie had something to say about the temperature difference she encountered.

She gave 2 separate presentations. The first 1 was titled New Considerations for Sampling Metals. The first topic was, as you might expect, hexavalent chromium. She went into detail on wipe sampling, skin contamination, and some direct reading options available. She then moved on to the metal of recent public health concern – lead. Recent discoveries of lead in electronics and toys here in the USA has put this metal back in the public eye. There is very strong movement afoot in the European Union to remove lead form all electronic equipment. This means if you are doing business with an EU country, your products will need to be lead free. Of course we have all heard about the recalls of toys made in China that contain lead. Suggestions on how to sample toys and electronics were presented. One very interesting part of this presentation was the facts she presented on lead being an ototoxin. This means lead can be a source of hearing loss. So even if your job does not involve exposure to loud noises, you may still be at risk for hearing loss if you are exposed to lead. She gave us 2 web sites that details the work done on this subject. If you would like the links to them, drop me an email and I will glad to send them to you.

Mercury was the next topic. Not so much on personal exposure issues, but rather ambient air issues. The USA EPA is targeting emissions from power plants burning coal. This covers hundreds and hundreds of plants in the USA. She discussed a few of the methods available to sample for mercury – USA EPA Appendix K being the main one. By January 1, 2009, all coal-fired power plants will need to monitor for mercury.

Lastly, she discussed what may be the next hexavalent chromium metal – manganese. There have been many lawsuits and more each day, concerning welders, on behalf of the workers exposed to manganese and their work related illnesses. Manganese mainly causes a disease called manganism and its symptoms are closely related to the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. I am sure we will be hearing more on this hot topic metla in the future.

Well it seems this entry turned out longer then I expected. I will just have to discuss Debbie’s other topic in another soon to come blog entry.

I thought I would get everyone caught up to date on my progress with getting our home ready to put on the market. So far I do not think I have done anything to decrease the value of the house, so that is a good thing. My list of completed projects so far:

My daughters’ back room
Replace the ceiling tiles and trim
Replace my daughters’ back room light

Enclosed porch
Replace the ceiling tiles and trim

2nd bathroom
Lay down tiles
Strip the wallpaper and paint
Replace the light fixture

Downstairs bedroom
Replace the ceiling tiles

Still to come
Install pedestal sink
Install new vanity
Install new fixtures
Install new vinyl flooring
Install new light fixtures
Re-stain the deck
Strip wall paper from 2 more rooms
Prime and paint and more prime and more paint

Progress is slow but sure, so we are still on schedule to put it up for sale this spring. If anyone is interested in buying a great house in the Syracuse area, get in touch with me.

More details later as I make more progress.

I am still heading south with the weight, so I must be doing something right. 4 weeks in row now that I have lost weight. I am down to 197 pounds. So I have now lost 13 pounds in 4 weeks. I am at the halfway point of my quest to lose 25 pounds by May 30th.

I know the next 12 pounds are going to tougher to lose then the first 13 were, so I will just have to work harder and continue eating healthy.

Another good week of training, except I still have to get to the pool.

Run – plan was to run 17 miles – I actually ran 21 miles
Bike – plan was for 70 minutes of riding – I rode for 70 minutes
Elliptical – 2 30 minute sessions were planned and completed
Lifting – 3 sessions planned and completed

No swim sessions were done – my bad.

The training, especially the biking and running are going to start getting longer and harder – so I hope I am able to keep up with the increased intensity.