ChemRisk

Last updated

ChemRisk is a Delaware Limited Liability Company, a for-profit scientific consulting firm headquartered in San Francisco, California that is part of Cardno ChemRisk. [1] [2] ChemRisk founder and former president, Dennis Paustenbach, "has long been an expert witness and top consultant" to "scores of companies in the chemical, energy and medical products industries" facing lawsuits over products or environmental practices or product safety. [2] Their clients included San Francisco-based utility Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and BP. ChemRisk uses toxicology and risk assessment to measure the hazards of chemicals in soil, air, water, food, sediments and consumer products. [3]

Contents

Paustenbach and his firm have "drawn the scrutiny of investigative journalists." [2]

Background

Paustenbach, who earned his PhD in environmental toxicology from Purdue University in 1982, created ChemRisk in 1985, with its headquarters in San Francisco, as an environmental consulting firm. Using assessments models regarding health risk, ChemRisk quantified risks of chemicals in "foods, water, air, sediment, soil, and consumer products". [4] He worked at Eli Lilly in Indianapolis for two years before taking a masters in industrial hygiene. [5] The new field of risk assessment was emerging in 1982, which integrated environmental toxicology and industrial hygiene. While working for Stauffer Chemical in Connecticut in the early 1980s, he "gained expertise in how chemicals were regulated" as he interacted with federal agencies through his job. [5] He then worked for Syntex Pharmaceuticals in California's Silicon Valley. For three years Paustenbach worked on a project related to hexachlorophene, and dioxin which is its toxic byproduct. where Hexachlorophene had previously been manufactured at a production facility in Times Beach, Missouri. "Large amounts of dioxin, a toxic byproduct of hexachlorophene, had been accidentally mixed with motor oil and sprayed on roads and land throughout the town, creating a huge liability as it became the country's most visible toxic waste site and forcing the town's entire population to re-settle elsewhere." [5]

His 1986 Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology co-authored article, "A Critical Examination of Assumptions Used in Risk Assessments of Dioxin Contaminated Soil" [6] [Notes 1] was written in response to the Times Beach, Missouri crisis. In it the authors concluded that there were "flaws and shortcomings" in the original Times Beach risk assessment. Paustenbach noted that since 1984 studies had replaced previously held assumptions with new "quantitative evidence" about the estimation of exposures to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, more commonly known as dioxins. The article found flaws in the EPA studies and concluded that much higher levels of dioxins were "acceptable for residential and nonresidential areas." [6] ChemRisk cited this article in their September 5, 1990 report commissioned by Hercules Inc. [7]

In the early 1990s, ChemRisk operated as a division of the environmental engineering and consulting firm Rancho Cordova-based McLaren/Hart Environmental Engineering. Paustenbach was appointed as McLaren/Hart President and CEO in 1993. By 1998, McLaren/Hart—which operated from 1977 to 2000—had become the 11th largest environmental engineering firm in the area. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Paustenbach moved ChemRisk to Exponent from 1998 to 2003. [12] In "mid-to-late 2003", he re-established ChemRisk. [12] At that time some of operations that had been handled by Exponent were moved to the newly re-formed ChemRisk. [12]

In his August 1, 2018 article in New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy, David Egilman said that the role of scientific consulting firms such as ChemRisk and Exponent, was litigation. [13] These firms use "dose-reconstruction studies and policy arguments" in legal defenses using "multidisciplinary" teams that they include "scientists, physicians, engineers, and regulatory consultants". [13] ChemRisk has described its role as one in which its "scientists and engineers" served as "technical advisors to lawyers in all aspects of environmental, occupational, toxic tort, and product liability litigation, including technical strategy development, providing scientific advice, expert testimony, selection and preparation of expert witnesses, assistance in cross-examining opponent's expert witnesses." [12] [13]

In his presentation to the March 1, 2007 Senate Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions hearing Examining Asbestos, Focusing on Efforts to Better Protect the Health of American Workers and their Families entitled "Asbestos: Still Lethal/Still Legal", veteran environmental consultant Barry Castleman, whose PhD was on asbestos, described how ChemRisk "seeded literature" on asbestos. He drew attention to the $120 million a year worth of asbestos brake linings and brake shoes" imported into the United States from "countries such as Brazil, China, Colombia, and Mexico, that use a lot of asbestos. [14] Castleman said that by 2007, annually there were 10,000 Americans that died from the way asbestos was used in the past. [14] Since 1972 Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA) standards have required warning labels on brake and clutch parts made with asbestos. Ford Motor Company began to use them in 1980; Chrysler in 1984. General Motors had not documented when it started to use labels warning consumers of their brake parts about asbestos. OSHA never cited "any seller of these unlabeled products for violation of the standard." [14] On July 26, 2006 OSHA posted a factsheet by industrial hygienist Ira Wainless on its website which explained the "mandatory appendix" of the 1994 OSHA "asbestos standard applicable to mechanics doing brake and clutch repair. Former OSHA chief John Henshaw, whose daughter Shannon Henshaw Gaffney had been hired by ChemRisk after she "obtained her doctorate in environmental science in 2004" was also listed as a "teaming partner" at ChemRisk in early 2005. John Henshaw had acted as an expert witness for a leading defendant, Honeywell International in their Bendix brakes lawsuit in 2004. [15] [16] Soon after Wainless' factsheet was posted, Henshaw contacted his former subordinates at OSHA urged his "former subordinates at OSHA to retract the factsheet and possibly redo it with additional references". [14] On November 6, 2006, OSHA threatened to suspend Wainless for not including articles that had been "commissioned jointly by General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler, starting in 2001". Castleman said that "Shannon Henshaw Gaffney's services [had] appeared 21 times on Chemrisk asbestos litigation bills to the Big Three in 2004, totaling around $10,000." [14] The Baltimore Sun reported that the OSHA brakes warning "survived the challenge." [17] Castleman described how ChemRisk and Exponent provided litigation services as a "key" part of the defense strategy used by General Motors, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler. [14] Castleman said that Exponent and Chemrisk authors' work has "technical shortcomings, such as selectivity in what was included in these reviews and what was not." He said their work was "solicited for the purpose of fighting personal injury claims brought by mechanics and their family members" as part of a "strategy of corporate defense lawyers, approaching and generously supporting the scientist-authors, most of whom had previously published little or nothing on asbestos. These publications were created to provide evidence that mechanics' asbestos exposures do not cause asbestos diseases. They were to be published by the best scientists money could buy." [18]

Merger with Cardno

By 2012, when Cardno, an "Australian infrastructure services group" acquired ChemRisk for US$33 million, the firm had a staff of 95 with expertise "across toxicology, industrial hygiene, epidemiology, ecotoxicology, environmental sciences, medicine, engineering, statistical analysis and risk assessment." [19] Their client base then included "Johnson & Johnson, John Crane Group, Ford Motor Company and Union Carbide. [19] Cardno would expand their consulting services to include "occupational health and safety, product sustainability, consumer product safety and contaminated site evaluations." [19]

Core expertise

By 2014, over two-thirds of Cadrno ChemRisk LLC contracts involved litigation while the rest were related to general consulting. [3] Focus areas of expertise included "dioxin, asbestos, lead, Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), chromium, benzene, methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), beryllium, cobalt, diacetyl, rubber particles, nanoparticles, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, Bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP) and phthalates, Volatile organic compound (VOCs) & diesel exhaust, mercury, glycol ethers." [3]

Clients

When Cadrno merged with ChemRisk in 2012, clients included "Johnson & Johnson, John Crane Group, Ford Motor Company and Union Carbide. [19] [20] ChemRisk played a key role in the litigation defending their clients in cases that were followed extensively by the media. This included Pacific Gas and Electric Company in relation to 1993 lawsuit by the town of Hinkley regarding the Hexavalent chromium (Chromium-6) contamination of the groundwater, [21] [22] BP in relation to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, [23] [24] and DuPont who hired ChemRick to environmental chemist Wilma Subra's findings that the 2005 flooding of the Dupont DeLisle Plant by 2005 Hurricane Katrina had released toxins that were harmful to human health. [25]

Hercules Incorporated

The contract with Hercules was the first major contract for Paustenbach and ChemRick. Paustenbach's 1986 paper had found flaws in the original Times Beach, Missouri risk assessment. [6] Paustenbach noted that since 1984 studies had replaced previously held assumptions with new "quantitative evidence" about the estimation of exposures to 2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin, more commonly known as dioxins. ChemRisk cited this article in their September 5, 1990 report commissioned by Hercules Inc. [7] Hercules was one of several chemical companies that had, from 1964 to 1968, manufactured and sold a "specific phenoxy herbicide, code named Agent Orange" at the request of the Department of Defense. Hercules was one of the nine manufacturers of Agent Orange that were sued by Vietnam veterans and their families starting in the 1970s. Litigation, which was consolidated into the 1980 "Agent Orange Product Liability Litigation said that the "veterans' exposure to dioxin, a toxic by product found in Agent Orange and believed by many to be hazardous, had caused various health problems." [7] While the chemical companies involved said that based on recent scientific research, there was no link between Agent Orange and the veterans' medical problems. Seven of the chemical companies settled the class-action suit on May 7, 1984 out of court; they would compensate the veterans $180 million if they agreed to drop all claims against them. [26]

Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment

In 1990, ChemRisk was hired by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to prepare Phase 1 (1990–1994) of the nine-year long Rocky Flats Historical Public Exposures Studies arising from the radioactive contamination from the Rocky Flats Plant. The Rocky Flats Plant located south of Boulder, Colorado was originally managed by Dow Chemical Company, then transferred to Rockwell in 1975. [27] : 13  At that time, ChemRisk was a division of McLaren/Hart, a large environmental engineering and consulting firm. [8] [9] [10] [11]

Pacific Gas & Electric chromium-6 pollution

In 1993, 650 residents of Hinkley, California, located 120 miles northeast of Los Angeles, filed a lawsuit against Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E)—a San Francisco-based utility—accusing PG&E of contaminating the town's groundwater with chromium-6—causing a host of ailments, from various types of cancer to severe digestive disorders. [28] [29] From 1952 to 1966 PG&E dumped "roughly 370 million gallons of chromium-tainted wastewater" into unlined wastewater spreading pond around Hinkley. [21] [28] : 228  "Chromium 6 is one of the cheapest and most efficient commercially available corrosion inhibitors and was used by PG&E in their compressor stations." [28] [29] In 1996, "after arbitrators awarded $130.5 million in the first 39 cases, PG&E decided to settle for a whopping $333 million"— [29] the largest settlement ever paid in a direct-action lawsuit in U.S. history. [30] In 2000, the lawsuit became an international cause célèbre, when Erin Brockovich, the blockbuster movie was released. However the chromium remained and by 2013, the plume was "more than six miles long and two miles wide and gradually expanding." [30] [31]

In 1987 the Chinese scientist—Jian Dong Zhang published a paper reporting "significant association between chromium pollution of drinking water and higher rates of stomach cancer in villages in rural northeast China." PG&E hired ChemRisk as scientific consultants to disprove the allegations. ChemRisk purchased Zhang's original data, distorted the findings, rewrote the paper and published it in April 1997 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM)—the official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine—as a retraction of Zhang's 1987 paper. It was published under Zhang's name—who was then a retired Chinese government health officer, in spite of his written objection—and a second Chinese scientist, Shu Kun Li. [32]

The fake 1997 JOEM article had lasting consequences for drinking water regulation. The United States Environmental Protection Agency cited the article when it allowed continued use of chromium in a wood preservative. The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry discounted chromium-6 as an oral carcinogen because of this article. [32]

In 1996 Paustenbach and Steven Patierno were co-authors of a highly-influential article arguing that chromium 6 is not genotoxic. [33] "One of PG&E's key experts was Steven Patierno, a former professor of pharmacology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences who had conducted numerous studies on the metal. Patierno, now the deputy director of the Duke Cancer Institute, has been an expert defense witness in seven chromium lawsuits. He hasn't wavered in his view that drinking low doses of chromium (VI) does not cause cancer." [31] [34]

In 2006 JOEM undertook a six-month internal review of the 1997 retraction. By the time JOEM undertook their investigation, Zhang had already died but the second author agreed the paper should be retracted when JOEM. [35] According to an 2005 article by Peter Waldman in The Wall Street Journal, ChemRisk had authored the article as consultants for PG&E who were "being sued for alleged chromium pollution." [35]

"It has been brought to our attention that an article published in JOEM in the April 1997 issue by Zhang and Li failed to meet the journal's published editorial policy in effect at that time... Specifically, financial and intellectual input to the paper by outside parties was not disclosed."

— Paul Brandt-Rauf, Editor JOEM

In 2005, The Wall Street Journal reported on the influential role ChemRisk had played in changing the narrative about chromium by authoring the article as consultants for PG&E. [22] In addition to ChemRisk, Paustenbach later worked with Exponent; [36] Paustenbach and ChemRisk have "drawn the scrutiny of investigative journalists." [2] [37]

Since 1995 he Environmental Protection Agency and California's EPA concluded that drinking chromium causes cancer but they faced powerful opposition from the chemical industry in making its ruling official. Since 1995 John Morgan who works for the California Department of Public Health, has worked to debunk allegations that chromium pollution caused a cluster of cancer cluster in the Hinkley area. In 2013 the Center for Public Integrity (CPI) found glaring weaknesses in Morgan's analysis that challenge the validity of his findings. "In his first study, he dismisses what others see as a genuine cancer cluster in Hinkley. In his latest analysis, he excludes people who were exposed to the worst contamination." [21] The year long investigation by CPI, Toxic Clout , produced in partnership with the PBS NewsHour, "unmasked the deep, sometimes hidden, connections entangling the chemical industry, scientists and regulators, revealing the industry's sway and the public's peril." [38]

In 2013 California Environmental Protection Agency finally ruled that "drinking hexavalent chromium, the rust inhibitor that PG&E dumped in Hinkley, can cause cancer." [21]

GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler

Between 2001 and 2016, General Motors, Ford Motor Company, and DaimlerChrysler spent about $23 million for the "consulting and publishing services of Exponent and Chemrisk, and scientists including Dennis Paustenbach, Michael Goodman, David Garabrant, Mary Jane Teta, Patrick Hessel, Patrick Sheehan, Elizabeth Lu, Gregory Brorby, and Brent Finley. [14] [18] [39] : 292–3 

DuPont

Dupont hired ChemRisk—an "industry risk assessor"—to quantify the amount of C8 that had been released from Dupont's Parkersburg, West Virginia-based Washington Works plant between 1951 and 2003. ChemRisk's 2004 report said that the over 1.7 million pounds of perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as C8—which was used to produce Teflon—had been "dumped, poured and released" into the environment. [40]

In 2005 DuPont hired ChemRisk's Houston, Texas branch of the "environment and health consulting firm" to review the work of environmental chemist Wilma Subra. [25] They challenged Subra's findings, whose work showed that heavy metals and other pollutants that had accumulated over time at the DuPont DeLisle Plant were stirred up when the facility was flooded by Hurricane Katrina. [25] ChemRisk researcher Mark Harris argued that the toxicants such as arsenic that Subra found in soil samples, did not pose a health risk. Subra found higher levels of dioxin and chromium levels in sediment samples from the facility. [25] ATSDR found that in 2004, "DuPont DeLisle’s titanium dioxide plant reported the third highest amount of dioxin-like compounds in EPA’s Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). In 2005, the Hurricane Katrina storm surge flooded significant portions of the plant." However, there was no threat to human health. [41] [42] [43] [44] By 2005, almost 2000 people had sued DuPont claiming dioxin emissions from Dupont Delisle Plant in Mississippi, had caused cancers. [45] In August 2005, Glen Strong, an oyster fisherman with the rare blood cancer multiple myeloma, was awarded $14 million from DuPont, [45] but the ruling was overturned June 5, 2008, by a Mississippi jury who found DuPont's plant had no connection to Mr. Strong's disease. [46] [47] DuPont's DeLisle plant is one of three titanium dioxide facilities produce the most dioxins in the United States, according to the US EPA's Toxic Release Inventory. DuPont maintains its operations are safe and environmentally responsible. [48] [49] [50]

BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill

In September 2011 ChemRisk published an article entitled "Study by Leading Scientific Consulting Firm Finds No Evidence of Health Dangers for Gulf Coast Cleanup Workers" in the journal Environmental Science and Technology [23] [24] concluding that off-shore workers who cleaned up BP's oil between April and October 2010 found that exposure to "airborne benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) fell well below the Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs) established by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)." [1] [24] In 2013 Cherri Foytlin and her colleague, Karen Savage authored article about ChemRisk in Huffington Post. [51]

Faced with accusations that Paustenbacn and ChemRisk had "slanted scientific findings to suit its clients"—ChemRisk launched a libel suit against Cherri Foytlin and her colleague, Karen Savage who had co-authored an article about ChemRisk in Huffington Post. [51] The case was thrown out of a New York court so ChemRisk launched another libel suit in Massachusetts. [51] When ChemRisk attempted to withdraw the suit, Foytlin and Savage filed that ChemRisk "filing, Ms. Foytlin and Ms. Savage argued that ChemRisk, a unit of Cardno ChemRisk, should not be allowed simply to withdraw its lawsuit. Instead, they say the company should pay their lawyers, who have represented them on a pro bono basis, and issue an apology for dragging them through years of litigation." [51]

In their article, Foytlin and Savage "raised questions about a 2011 ChemRisk study that found no link between chemicals released during the 2010 explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, and health problems reported by cleanup workers." They claimed that "ChemRisk has a long, and on at least one occasion fraudulent, history of defending big polluters, using questionable ethics to help their clients avoid legal responsibility for their actions." [37] [51]

ChemRisk filed a lawsuit against Cherri Foytlin and Karen Savage, the two environmental activists whose article "ChemRisk, BP and Purple Strategies: A Tangled Web of Not-So-Independent Science" was posted on the Huffington Post site. ChemRisk lost the case based on Massachusetts Anti-SLAPP Statute—"legislation that provides a special motion to dismiss lawsuits designed to chill public participation in government." [52]

Johnson & Johnson

As reported by the St. Louis Record , in the lawsuit before the St. Louis City Circuit Court, 22 women sued Johnson & Johnson saying that J&J baby powder had caused their ovarian cancers. Mark Lanier, the attorney for the plaintiffs challenged a witness for Johnson & Johnson—ChemRisk's Dana Hollins, a "board certified industrial hygienist". [53] Hollins said that studies by an expert witness for the plaintiffs—Dr. David Egilman—were "flawed". Egilman said that "960 studies showed the presence of asbestos in J&J talc powder out of 1,400 studies conducted." [53] Morton Dubin, J&J's attorney said that Egilman had "inflated his exposure calculations". Hollins said that Egilman had not performed "his analysis scientifically on sound data." [53] Lanier said that Hollins who has a master's degree in public health and who was introduced as a scientist—an "industrial hygienist as in epidemiologist" was much less qualified to speak on the issue of asbestos exposure than witnesses for the plaintiffs such as Egilman and Jacqueline Moline, who is the director of the World Trade Center Medical Monitoring Committee. [53] According to the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Science Magazine , Egilman's contribution to the trial was "decisive". He interviewed the women regarding how often they applied the talc. With his student researchers, they also thoroughly examined "thousands of pages of internal J&J documents unearthed during the litigation" revealing that "J&J found no asbestos in the talc because its tests were not sensitive enough". Egilman compared this to "trying to weigh a needle on a bathroom scale." The jury awarded the "16 surviving women and the families of the six who had died" with $4.69 billion—the "largest award in Missouri's history." [54] By 2019, John & Jonson faced over 14,000 lawsuits "alleging their talc products contained asbestos and caused cancer in women." Johnson & Johnson deny the claims. [55] [56]

Notes

  1. ↑ According to the February 18, 2016 article "Brokers of junk science?" which is part of their 2016 series entitled Science for Sale the Center for Public Integrity (CPI), critics also claim that Critical Reviews in Toxicology and Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology are "purveyors of junk science. CPI said they published "misleading, industry-backed articles that threaten public health by playing down the dangers of well-known toxic substances such as lead and asbestos. The articles often are used to stall regulatory efforts and defend court cases."

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erin Brockovich</span> American environmental activist

Erin Brockovich is an American paralegal, consumer advocate, and environmental activist who was instrumental in building a case against Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E) involving groundwater contamination in Hinkley, California for attorney Ed Masry in 1993. Their successful lawsuit was the subject of the Oscar-winning film, Erin Brockovich (2000), starring Julia Roberts as Brockovich and Albert Finney as Masry.

Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins (PCDDs), or simply dioxins, are a group of long-lived polyhalogenated organic compounds that are primarily anthropogenic, and contribute toxic, persistent organic pollution in the environment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxic waste</span> Any unwanted material which can cause harm

Toxic waste is any unwanted material in all forms that can cause harm. Mostly generated by industry, consumer products like televisions, computers, and phones contain toxic chemicals that can pollute the air and contaminate soil and water. Disposing of such waste is a major public health issue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perfluorooctanoic acid</span> Perfluorinated carboxylic acid

Perfluorooctanoic acid is a perfluorinated carboxylic acid produced and used worldwide as an industrial surfactant in chemical processes and as a material feedstock. PFOA is considered a surfactant, or fluorosurfactant, due to its chemical structure, which consists of a perfluorinated, n-heptyl "tail group" and a carboxylic acid "head group". The head group can be described as hydrophilic while the fluorocarbon tail is both hydrophobic and lipophobic.

The permissible exposure limit is a legal limit in the United States for exposure of an employee to a chemical substance or physical agent such as high level noise. Permissible exposure limits were established by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). Most of OSHA's PELs were issued shortly after adoption of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in 1970.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chemical hazard</span> Non-biological hazards of hazardous materials

Chemical hazards are hazards present in hazardous chemicals and hazardous materials. Exposure to certain chemicals can cause acute or long-term adverse health effects. Chemical hazards are usually classified separately from biological hazards (biohazards). Chemical hazards are classified into groups that include asphyxiants, corrosives, irritants, sensitizers, carcinogens, mutagens, teratogens, reactants, and flammables. In the workplace, exposure to chemical hazards is a type of occupational hazard. The use of personal protective equipment may substantially reduce the risk of adverse health effects from contact with hazardous materials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chloroprene</span> Chemical compound

Chloroprene (IUPAC name 2-chlorobuta-1,3-diene) is a chemical compound with the molecular formula CH2=CCl−CH=CH2. Chloroprene is a colorless volatile liquid, almost exclusively used as a monomer for the production of the polymer polychloroprene, better known as neoprene, a type of synthetic rubber.

IARC group 1 Carcinogens are substances, chemical mixtures, and exposure circumstances which have been classified as carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). This category is used when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in humans. Exceptionally, an agent may be placed in this category when evidence of carcinogenicity in humans is less than sufficient, but when there is sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals and strong evidence in exposed humans that the agent (mixture) acts through a relevant mechanism of carcinogenicity.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hexavalent chromium</span> Chromium in the +6 oxidation state

Hexavalent chromium (chromium(VI), Cr(VI), chromium 6) is any chemical compound that contains the element in the +6 oxidation state (thus hexavalent). It has been identified as carcinogenic, which is of concern since approximately 136,000 tonnes (150,000 tons) of hexavalent chromium were produced in 1985. Hexavalent chromium compounds can be carcinogens (IARC Group 1), especially if airborne and inhaled where they can cause lung cancer.

Occupational lung diseases comprise a broad group of diseases, including occupational asthma, industrial bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bronchiolitis obliterans, inhalation injury, interstitial lung diseases, infections, lung cancer and mesothelioma. These can be caused directly or due to immunological response to an exposure to a variety of dusts, chemicals, proteins or organisms. Occupational cases of interstitial lung disease may be misdiagnosed as COPD, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or a myriad of other diseases; leading to a delay in identification of the causative agent.

A toxic tort claim is a specific type of personal injury lawsuit in which the plaintiff claims that exposure to a chemical or dangerous substance caused the plaintiff's injury or disease.

Anthony Mazzocchi was an American labor leader. He was a high elected official of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW), serving as vice president from 1977 to 1988, and as secretary-treasurer from 1988 to 1991. He was credited by President Richard Nixon as being the primary force behind enactment of the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970, was a mentor to Karen Silkwood, a union activist in Oklahoma; and a co-founder of the Labor Party. For his efforts, he was called the "Rachel Carson of the American workplace."

Brazilian hair straightening is a semi-permanent hair straightening method done by temporarily sealing a liquid solution consisting of formaldehyde or a formaldehyde derivative and a preservative solution into the hair with a hair iron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Toxic injury</span> Medical condition

A toxic injury is a type of injury resulting from exposure to a toxin. Toxic injuries can manifest as teratogenic effects, respiratory effects, gastrointestinal effects, cardiovascular effects, hepatic effects, renal effects, neurological effects, or a combination thereof. They can also produce delayed effects, including various forms of cancer and learning disability. Effects can occur after acute (short-term) or chronic (long-term) exposure, depending on the toxicity, dose, and method of exposure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds</span> Class of chemical compounds

Dioxins and dioxin-like compounds (DLCs) are a group of chemical compounds that are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the environment. They are mostly by-products of burning or various industrial processes or, in the case of dioxin-like PCBs and PBBs, unwanted minor components of intentionally produced mixtures.

The Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) was founded in 1969 by the National Coal Board (NCB) as an independent charity in Edinburgh, UK and retains its charitable purpose and status today. The "Institute" has a subsidiary, IOM Consulting Limited, which became fully independent in 1990 and now celebrates its 25th year within the IOM Group as an independent consultancy and also the commercial part of the IOM organization. It specializes in asbestos surveys and services, occupational hygiene services, nanotechnology safety, laboratory analysis and expert witness consulting services. IOM is therefore one of the UK's major independent "not for profit" centres of science in the fields of environmental health, occupational hygiene and occupational safety.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzodioxin</span> Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin, chemical compound

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin (sometimes shortened, though inaccurately, to simply 'dioxin') with the chemical formula C12H4Cl4O2. Pure TCDD is a colorless solid with no distinguishable odor at room temperature. It is usually formed as an unwanted product in burning processes of organic materials or as a side product in organic synthesis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hinkley groundwater contamination</span> Human-caused environmental event in the US

From 1952 to 1966, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) dumped about 370 million gallons of chromium-tainted wastewater into unlined wastewater spreading ponds around the town of Hinkley, California, located in the Mojave Desert about 120 miles north-northeast of Los Angeles.

Dennis J. Paustenbach PhD, CIH, DABT, is an American scientist, businessman, researcher, and author. Dennis is currently President of Paustenbach and Associates, which is a consulting firm who uses risk assessment techniques to characterize occupational and environmental health hazards. He is the founder and former president of ChemRisk, a consulting firm specializing in the use of toxicology and risk assessment to characterize the hazards of chemicals in soil, air, water, food, sediments and consumer products. He was, for about 4 years, a Group Vice-President of Exponent.

This timeline of events related to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) includes events related to the discovery, development, manufacture, marketing, uses, concerns, litigation, regulation, and legislation, involving the human-made PFASs. The timeline focuses on some perfluorinated compounds, particularly perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and on the companies that manufactured and marketed them, mainly DuPont and 3M. An example of PFAS is the fluorinated polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), which has been produced and marketed by DuPont under its trademark Teflon. GenX chemicals and perfluorobutanesulfonic acid (PFBS) are organofluorine chemicals used as a replacement for PFOA and PFOS.

References

  1. 1 2 Foytlin, Cherri (14 October 2013). "ChemRisk, BP and Purple Strategies: A Tangled Web of Not-So-Independent Science". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Meier, Barry (11 October 2015). "Science Consultant Pushes Back Against Unlikely Opponents". The New York Times. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Cardno ChemRisk Recruiting Presentation (PDF), retrieved September 22, 2019
  4. ↑ "Dennis J Paustenbach's research while affiliated with Cardno ChemRisk and other places". Research Gate.
  5. 1 2 3 Teater, Barry. "Leaving a lasting imprint". The Jackson Laboratory. Retrieved September 24, 2019.
  6. 1 2 3 Paustenbach, Dennis; Shu, F.J. (1986). "A Critical Examination of Assumptions Used in Risk Assessments of Dioxin Contaminated Soil". Regulatory Toxicology and Pharmacology. 6 (3): 284–307. doi:10.1016/0273-2300(86)90019-X. PMID   3775086.
  7. 1 2 3 Rehnquist (1996-03-04), Hercules Incorporated, Et Al., Peti Tioners v. United States , retrieved September 23, 2019
  8. 1 2 "McLaren/Hart files voluntary Chapter 11 - Sacramento Business Journal" . Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  9. 1 2 ChemRisk. Reconstruction of Historical Rocky Flats Operations and Identification of Release Points. ChemRisk (a division of McLaren/Hart), Alameda, CA 1992 Prepared for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
  10. 1 2 ChemRisk. Estimating Historical Emissions from Rocky Flats 1952–1989. ChemRisk (a division of McLaren/Hart), Alameda, CA 1994 Prepared for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
  11. 1 2 ChemRisk. Exposure Pathway Identification and Transport Modeling. ChemRisk (a division of McLaren/Hart), Alameda, CA 1994 Prepared for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment
  12. 1 2 3 4 Bohme, Susanna Rankin; Zorabedian, John; Egilman, David S. (December 2005). "Maximizing profit and endangering health: corporate strategies to avoid litigation and regulation" (PDF). International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. 11 (4): 338–348. doi:10.1179/oeh.2005.11.4.338. ISSN   1077-3525. PMID   16350467. S2CID   46644561 . Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  13. 1 2 3 Egilman, David (August 1, 2018). "The Production of Corporate Research to Manufacture Doubt About the Health Hazards of Products: An Overview of the Exponent Bakelite® Simulation Study". New Solutions: A Journal of Environmental and Occupational Health Policy. 28 (2): 179–201. Bibcode:2018NewSo..28..179E. doi: 10.1177/1048291118765485 . ISSN   1048-2911. PMID   29712511.
  14. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Asbestos: Still Lethal/Still Legal: the Need to Better Protect the Health of American Workers and their Families". Senate Hearing: Examining Asbestos, Focusing on Efforts to Better Protect the Health of American Workers and their Families. March 1, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2019. Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate. 110th Congress
  15. ↑ Sellers, Steven M. (June 16, 2017). "Honeywell Loses Second Bid to Flip $5.8M Asbestos Verdict" . Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  16. ↑ Hayes, Peter (January 28, 2019). "Honeywell International Beats Bendix Brakes Asbestos Claim" . Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  17. ↑ Schneider, A. (December 17, 2006). "Brakes warning remains/OSHA statement on asbestos exposure hazard survives challenge". Baltimore Sun.
  18. 1 2 "Barry Castleman, ScD, Environmental Consultant, Statement to Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee" (PDF). Senate Hearing: Examining Asbestos, Focusing on Efforts to Better Protect the Health of American Workers and their Families. March 1, 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2019. Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, United States Senate. 110th Congress
  19. 1 2 3 4 "Cardno acquires California-based ChemRisk". Market Intelligence Service. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Cardno acquires California-based ChemRisk". Market Intelligence Service, Environment Analyst. December 12, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  21. 1 2 3 4 Heath, David (3 June 2013), "Erin Brockovich's Biggest Debunker, Debunked: A closer look finds serious flaws in the research of a scientist trying to disprove an infamous California cancer cluster", Center for Public Integrity via Mother Jones, retrieved April 13, 2013
  22. 1 2 Waldman, Peter (December 23, 2005). "Study Tied Pollutant to Cancer; Then Consultants Got Hold of It". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660 . Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  23. 1 2 ChemRisk LLC, Study by Leading Scientific Consulting Firm Finds No Evidence of Health Dangers for Gulf Coast Cleanup Workers, CISION (Sept. 2, 2011, 4:04 PM)
  24. 1 2 3 "Study by Leading Scientific Consulting Firm Finds No Evidence of Health Dangers for Gulf Coast Cleanup Workers". Environmental Science and Technology. July 28, 2011.
  25. 1 2 3 4 "Study on pollutants along Gulf is wrong, DuPont officials say", Tuscaloosa News, Delisle, Mississippi, 17 December 2005, retrieved April 13, 2013
  26. ↑ Stanley, Jay; Blair, John D., eds. (1993). Challenges in military health care: perspectives on health status and the provision of care. Transaction Publishers. p. 164. ISBN   978-1-56000-650-3.
  27. ↑ Buffer, Patricia (2003). Rocky Flats History. Department of Energy.
  28. 1 2 3 "The 'Erin Brockvich effect': How media shapes toxics policy" (PDF). Environs. 26 (2): 219–32. 2003.
  29. 1 2 3 Welkos, Robert W. (12 March 2000), Digging for the Truth: With tensions over accuracy in film running high, 'Erin Brockovich' pays attention to real-life detail , retrieved April 13, 2013
  30. 1 2 Venturi (28 September 2013). "PG&E Hit With Class Action Lawsuit Over Lingering Hinkley Contamination". Hinkley: San Bernardino County Sentinel. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  31. 1 2 "Chemical Industry Clout Delays EPA Regulation of Hexavalent Chromium". PR Watch. 2013-03-27. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  32. 1 2 Jian Dong Zhang; Shu Kun Li (April 1997). "Summary: retraction of 1987 article regarding chromium 6 as causing stomach cancer". Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.
  33. ↑ Mirsalis, Jon C.; Hamilton, Carol M.; O'Loughlin, Kathleen G.; Paustenbach, Dennis J.; Kerger, Brent D.; Patierno, Steven (21 December 1996). "Chromium (VI) at plausible drinking water concentrations is not genotoxic in the in vivo bone marrow micronucleus or liver unscheduled DNA synthesis assays". Environmental and Molecular Mutagenesis. 28 (1). Wiley-Liss, Inc: 60–63. Bibcode:1996EnvMM..28...60M. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-2280(1996)28:1<60::AID-EM9>3.0.CO;2-I. PMID   8698048. S2CID   42029257.
  34. ↑ "How industry scientists stalled action on carcinogen – Center for Public Integrity". 13 March 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  35. 1 2 Waldman, Peter (23 December 2005), Study Tied Pollutant to Cancer; Then Consultants Got Hold of It:'Clarification' of Chinese Study Absolved Chromium-6; Did Author Really Write It?, The Wall Street Journal, retrieved April 13, 2016article ID SB113530126572230084
  36. ↑ Egilman, David (2006). "Corporate Corruption of Science— The Case of Chromium(VI)". International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health. Commentary. 12 (2): 169–176. doi:10.1179/oeh.2006.12.2.169. PMID   16722197. S2CID   27619936.
  37. 1 2 Meier, Barry (October 11, 2015). "Science Consultant Pushes Back Against Unlikely Opponents". The New York Times. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  38. ↑ Toxic Clout (PDF), 2013, retrieved September 22, 2019
  39. ↑ Egilman, David; Bohme, Susanna Rankin (2006). "Scientific Method Questioned". International Journal of Occupational Health.
  40. ↑ Mordock, Jeff (April 1, 2016). "Taking on DuPont: Illnesses, deaths blamed on pollution from W. Va. plant". Delaware Online. Retrieved September 30, 2019.
  41. ↑ "Health Consultation Exposure Investigation Report" (PDF). U.S. Department of health and Human Services. 4 April 2007. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  42. ↑ U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight (March 10, 2009). The Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR): Problems in the Past, Potential for the Future? (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 25, 2009. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  43. ↑ Beamish, Rita (March 12, 2009). "Agency to improve reporting of neighborhood toxics". Associated Press. Archived from the original on January 24, 2013. Retrieved April 4, 2009.
  44. ↑ Britt E. Erickson (March 30, 2009). "An Obscure Agency Under Fire". Chemical & Engineering News. 87 (13): 27. doi:10.1021/cen-v087n013.p027.
  45. 1 2 Montgomery, Jeff (July 17, 2005). "Pollution suit goes against DuPont; Miss. jury awards $14 million to waterman who got cancer". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware.
  46. ↑ "Miss. jury rules for DuPont in $14m dioxin case". CNN. Retrieved August 22, 2008.[ permanent dead link ]
  47. ↑ "Jury Finds DuPont Dioxins Not Responsible for Child's Death". 11 June 2007. Retrieved August 22, 2008.
  48. ↑ Montgomery, Jeff (July 17, 2005). "It's toxic, but DuPont wants it near homes; Capping waste pile at Edge Moor costs $5 million; moving it would cost $380 million". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware.
  49. ↑ Mascitti, Al (nd). "In losing lawsuits, looks like DuPont has no one to blame but itself". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware.
  50. ↑ LaFontaine, Ryan (August 17, 2005). "Dioxins likely released". Biloxi Sun Herald.
  51. 1 2 3 4 5 Barry Meirer (11 April 2016). "Activists Push to Continue a Libel Suit Against Them". The New York Times. Retrieved April 13, 2016.
  52. ↑ Waugh, Heidi K (2019). "First Amendment Rights—"See ya in Boston, bruh": making the link between the right to petition, activism, and the Massachusetts Anti-Slapp Statute". Western New England Law Review. 41: 43. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  53. 1 2 3 4 Sammon, John (July 3, 2018). "Lanier goes after J&J epidemiologist who says plaintiff asbestos findings wrong". St. Louis Record. St. Louis. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  54. ↑ Starr, Douglas (January 22, 2019). "Expert witness David Egilman wins billions—and makes enemies—as he fights companies over public health". Science Magazine AAAS. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  55. ↑ "Johnson & Johnson sued over allegations products contained asbestos". Calgary Sun. September 3, 2019. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
  56. ↑ "Johnson & Johnson ordered to pay record $417 million in lawsuit linking baby powder to cancer". The Star. August 21, 2017. Retrieved September 23, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.