Phthalates - EPA assessment?

Oy! yet again, one is confronted with material from academic courses, and realizes 'hey, this actually was useful!" EPA considering risk assessment for phthalates

Phthalates have been used in toys, cosmetics, personal-care products, food packaging, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and cleaning and building materials. They have been found in products such as teethers and pacifiers that babies put in their mouths.

President George W. Bush signed a law this year banning three types of phthalates in children's toys and child care items, except for minute amounts, while temporarily banning three others pending further study. - well, even an idiot can get it right once in a while -

The same six phthalates have been banned in European toys for nearly a decade.

Risk Communication

The Godfather Guru of Risk Communication, Peter Sandman, has quite a few columns on his website, www.psandman.com, including this one, Simplification Made Simple, published in the Sept. 2008 issue of The Synergist. The website has the unabridged version.

Zamboni Inhalation Risks

Zamboni: originally developed by Frank Zamboni in '49, registered as an international trademark, it is nonetheless used as a generic colloquialism for ice resurfacing vehicles in ice hockey arenas. Think of a giant ride-on lawn mower that melts the ice and then squeegees it smooth, using an internal combustion engine for power both to move & melt. They can slice your fingers off. [well, duh]. They can scare the bejeepers out of small children by leaving a bloody trail of crimson transmission fluid on the ice. They can become runaway weapons of vehicular mayhem if controlled by a vodka-swilling driver. When will society wise up to the inherent dangers of the seemingly innocent Zamboni? From the CBC comes yet another story of Zamboni baloney: Public health officials in Quebec City are alerting people who attended a weekend hockey tournament in Portneuf to be vigilant about any breathing problems, after a Zamboni used at the event emitted toxic fumes. Seven people were sent to hospital with chest pains and breathing problems after playing hockey at the St. Ubalde arena rink on Sunday. Two of them are still in intensive care, while another is suffering from a build-up of liquid in the lungs. Health officials suspect the patients inhaled nitrogen-oxide emitted by a Zamboni machine with an improperly calibrated motor, operating in an arena that wasn't very well ventilated. IAQ: Electric surfacers: apparently they leave the ice harder & players happier Problems in hockey rinks (esp. PM2.5): What's more, 14 per cent also tested higher than 100,000 particles of pollution per cubic centimetre, roughly the equivalent of the air quality that might be experienced standing next to Toronto's Highway 401, the busiest road in the country. --- parts per cubic centimeter? I realize the US (and industrial hygienists are even worse than most American scientists) is pretty oblivious to the whole concept of S.I. units or 'metric'. But why not ppm? or even per cubic meter (like us)? Guarding: Chop off kid's fingers Powered Industrial Trucks: ZUI: zamboni under the influence Totally unrelated to health, but really cool photos: looks like the zamboni ran over a penguin: