New York City Personal Injury Lawyer - toxic substances

OKK Trading To Pay Civil Penalty For Violating Lead Paint Ban

Chrissie Cole — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 14:00:00 GMT

OKK Trading has agreed to pay a $665,000 civil penalty for allegedly importing and selling toys containing high levels of lead, in violation of a federal ban on lead paint on toys.

The penalty settlement was reached between the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and announced on Thursday.

Lead can be toxic if ingested by young children and can cause adverse health consequences.

The settlement also resolves several other allegations that the company knowingly imported and sold art materials, games, pacifiers and rattles that violated federal safety standards.

In agreeing to the settlement, the company denies the allegations.

The CPSC also announced this month that Mattle Inc. and its Fisher-Price subsidiary agreed to pay a $2.3 million civil penalty for importing and selling toys with excessive levels of lead.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

World Trade Center Stress is Comparable to the War, Study Says

Chrissie Cole — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 12:56:00 GMT

A newly released study suggests post-traumatic stress disorder, also known as PTSD, in World Trade Center rescue and recovery workers is comparable to that of U.S. war veterans returning from Afghanistan.

The study is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Many trade center workers suffered chronic impairment ranging from psychological distress to mental health and functioning that dramatically exceeds population norms.

The authors say the study findings underscore for a much needed long-term mental health screening and surveillance, and continued treatment for workers and that of their families.

10,132 workers participated in the study by answering a questionnaire. Nearly nine percent met criteria for percent, while five percent met criteria for panic disorders and sixty-two percent for substantial stress reaction.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Bill Pending in Congress to Continue Funding for 9/11 Responders

Chrissie Cole — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 21:52:00 GMT

Seven years have passed since the attack on the World Trade Center. The women and men who worked at Ground Zero now suffer from serious illnesses with no end in sight.

Doctors, politicians and first responders from New Jersey, came together in a recent gathering to call upon the government to continue funding efforts to treat and study the long-term health affects suffered by those who worked among the rubble following the collapse of the twin towers.

A New Jersey clinic intended to treat 200 people, now cares for more than 1,300. Many of them are firefighters, police officers and construction works. They are being treated for a host of different health conditions ranging from asthma to pulmonary fibrosis, sinusitis and sleep apnea and rare cancers.

Following the attack, nearly 90,000 liters of jet fuel created a cloud of black smoke that contained toxic compounds such as metals and benzene. Microscopic glass, asbestos and lead were also found, according to congressional testimony.

A bill pending in Congress to continue funding for these centers is named for James Zadroga, a New York City police detective who was at Ground Zero. Zadroga's father, a former police chief of North Arlington, told the story yesterday of his son's heroism at the World Trade Center and his eventual illness and death in January of 2006.

The legislation would provide long-term funding to allow the centers to continue evaluating emerging methods of treatment, said U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr.

He did not have an estimate on what the bill would cost, but last year, the effort to monitor and treat WTC responders was $108 million, a Pallone staff member said. According to congressional testimony, more than 51,000 responders from across the country have enrolled in the WTC health program, out of about 91,000 people involved in rescue, recovery and clean-up.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

Ricin Found in Las Vegas Motel; Seven People Taken to the Hospital

Chrissie Cole — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:10:05 GMT

Ricin, a known toxic substance, was found in a Las Vegas motel, according to preliminary testing. Authorities do not believe it is terrorism-related. Seven people were transported to local hospitals as a precautionary measure.

When it's injected, ricin is "one of the most toxic substances known," Stata Norton, University of Kansas professor emeritus and expert in toxic plants, tells the Health Blog. The poison interferes with RNA and blocks the body's ability to make protein. "If you can't synthesize protein, you're dead," Norton says.

What makes ricin particulary scary - there is no antidote. Once it's in the cell, there is no way to get it out.

A powdery substance believed to be ricin was found in the room along with castor beans. Ricin is made from castor beans.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Chrissie Cole

IBM Being Sued for Dumped Chemicals in New York

Jenny Albano — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 02:12:45 GMT

An IBM plant is being sued by its previous neighbors in New York because they claim IBM released chemicals into the air, ground and water for almost 80 years. The residents claim that these chemicals caused birth defects and cancer.

Some 90 residents of the upstate New York towns of Endicott and Union say that from 1924 to 2002, IBM dumped chemicals including trichloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene near the Endicott plant where the computer giant was born.

The residents are seeking unspecified damages. This lawsuit seems to be the first of many against IBM; nearly 1,000 people are claiming that they were adversely effected by the chemicals that were produced from the IBM plant.

IBM was started at Endicott, but the company sold the plant in 2002.

For more information on this subject, please refer to our section on Toxic Substances.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Jenny Albano