Androlog Mail
Steven M. Schrader, Ph.D.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
Phone 513 533-8210 FAX 513 533 8138
<http://members.aol.com/schrad5/smshome.htm>
It is a pleasure to attach, FYI, today's NIOSH Update on the winners of
the 1999 Alice Hamilton Award for Excellence in Occupational Safety and
Health. The Update provides the press, the public, and NIOSH stakeholders
with information on these distinguished contributions to workplace health
and safety.
NIOSH UPDATE
May 6, 1999
SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE OF FIVE PUBLICATIONS
RECOGNIZED BY NIOSH WITH 1999 ALICE HAMILTON AWARD
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) today
recognized the scientific excellence of five recent NIOSH publications
that contribute new technical information and innovative methods for
protecting workers from serious injury, illness, and death on the job.
The entries received NIOSH's Alice Hamilton Award honoring superior
scientific merit in NIOSH technical and instructional materials produced
during 1998. The award is presented each year, on the basis of rigorous
reviews by panels of scientific experts from outside the Institute, for
outstanding NIOSH contributions in the areas of biological science,
engineering and physical science, human studies, and educational
materials.
'As a pioneering physician and researcher in workplace health and safety,
Alice Hamilton established a shining model for our field,' said NIOSH
Director Linda Rosenstock, M.D., M.P.H. 'It is a pleasure to honor, in
her name, the research that so well exemplifies Dr. Hamilton's tradition
of sound, vigorous, and collaborative science for the public good.'
The five recipients of the 1999 Alice Hamilton Award include:
A study that furthers scientists' ability to predict adverse effects
of chemical and other exposures on the male reproductive system, by
evaluating a new approach for assessing effects of lead on sperm.
A study that advances coal mine safety by analyzing, in new detail,
the geological stresses that play a significant role in deadly mine
cave-ins, and suggesting more effective techniques for preventing cave-ins
by predicting and controlling those stresses.
A study that signals a potential risk of cancer of the esophagus
from exposure to widely used metalworking fluids, based on a rigorous
statistical analysis of deaths among grinding and machining workers.
A study that alerts scientists for the first time to subtle effects
of a widely used fumigant on the central nervous system, based on the
largest analysis of exposed workers to date.
An innovative training video that provides employers and workers
with practical, user-friendly information for preventing hazardous
exposures to metal fumes and silica in foundries.
NIOSH announced the recipients in a ceremony at the institute's facilities
in Morgantown, W.Va. Dr. Margaret Becklake, a clinician, researcher, and
teacher whose honors include a Distinguished Achievement Award from the
American Thoracic Society, presented the keynote address. The ceremony
was broadcast to other NIOSH locations in Cincinnati, Ohio; Pittsburgh,
Pa.; Spokane, Wash.; Washington, D.C.; and Atlanta, Ga.
Publications were judged by the outside scientific review panels on
several criteria, including the complexity and originality of the
research, the significance of the research for addressing serious or
prevalent workplace hazards, and the clarity of the presentation. A
list of the winning publications follows.
For additional information on these publications, on Alice Hamilton Award
winners from past years, and on other NIOSH research, contact the
toll-free NIOSH information number, 1-800-35-NIOSH (1-800-356-4674).
Information on NIOSH research also is available on the World Wide Web at
www.cdc.gov/niosh.
1999 ALICE HAMILTON AWARD WINNERS
Biological Science Category
'Male Reproductive Effects of Lead, Including Species Extrapolation for
the Rabbit Model' -- William J. Moorman, Stephen R. Skaggs, John C. Clark,
Terry W. Turner, Douglas D. Sharpnack, and Steven M. Schrader, NIOSH,
Cincinnati, Ohio; James A. Murrell, Analytical Sciences Inc., Durham,
N.C.; Stephen D. Simon, Children's Mercy Hospital, Kansas City, Kan.; and
Robert E. Chapin, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences,
Research Triangle Park, N.C.
Predicting human effects from animal studies is a standard technique in
toxicology, but huge uncertainties remain for most outcomes, including
reproductive effects. Fundamental uncertainties about estimating 'dose'
delivered to the human or to the laboratory animal as a surrogate for the
human, best measures of exposure, and the presence of 'safe' threshold
levels remain open. This paper presents data on sperm count, semen
volume, and other measures in laboratory animals exposed to lead, matches
these effects with specific blood-lead levels in the test animals, and
estimates comparable blood-lead levels in humans as a step in developing a
more certain model for predicting human effects from those in animals.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Category
'Horizontal Stress and Longwall Headgate Ground Control' -- Christopher
Mark, Thomas P. Mucho, and Dennis Dolinar, NIOSH, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Horizontal stress in the ground, resulting from tectonic forces, causes
many of the rock fall hazards in coal mines. Stress lines can be
predicted and estimated using mathematical techniques, to prevent rock
falls and save miners' lives.
Human Studies Category
(two winners)
'Mortality Studies of Metalworking Fluid Exposure in the Automobile
Industry: VI. A Case-Control Study of Esophageal Cancer' -- Patricia A.
Sullivan, NIOSH, Morgantown, W.Va.; Ellen A. Eisen, Susan R. Woskie, David
Kriebel, and David H. Wegman, University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lowell,
Mass.; Marilyn F. Hallock, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; S.
Katherine Hammond, University of California-Berkeley, Berkeley, Calif.;
Paige E. Tolbert, Emory University, Atlanta, Ga.; and Thomas J. Smith and
Richard R. Monson, Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston,
Mass.
Metalworking fluid exposures remain common in the U.S. (where
approximately 1.2 million workers are exposed regularly) and around the
world. Esophageal cancer is one of the cancers whose incidence is rising
in North America. This is the first study to document an association
between metalworking fluids and esophageal cancer.
'Health Effects Associated with Sulfuryl Fluoride and Methyl Bromide
Exposure Among Structural Fumigation Workers' -- Geoffrey M. Calvert,
Charles A. Mueller, John M. Fajen, David W. Chrislip, John Russo, and Kyle
Steenland, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio; Thomas Briggle, USA Medical Services,
Miami, Fla.; Lora E. Fleming, University of Miami, Miami, Fla.; and
Anthony J. Suruda, Rocky Mountain Center for Occupational and
Environmental Health, Salt Lake City, Utah.
The pesticide sulfuryl fluoride is used increasingly for structural
fumigation in place of a series of pesticides shown to have adverse human
and environmental effects. Studying adverse health effects from
pesticides is always complicated because work location and working
conditions can change from day to day, among other factors. This is the
first paper suggesting that chronic health effects can also result from
exposure to this pesticide, and that the pesticide should not be used
without due caution.
Educational Materials Category
'Caution: Foundry at Work' (educational video) -- John Diether, Roger
Wheeler, Alan Echt, and Dennis O'Brien, NIOSH, Cincinnati, Ohio
Newer approaches to worker safety and health training, such as use of peer
instruction and small-group methods, require modern training materials
that will be informative, attention-getting, and audience-appropriate.
This educational video for use in foundries represents such a product.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Mon Jun 11 2001 - 22:44:51 CDT