I was called by the ABC National Radio program “AM” at 6:30 this morning to be interviewed about the use of face masks for protection against swine flu. The interview formed part of a story “Rush for surgical masks at Sydney airport” on the ABC website.
Occupational Hygiene
The CDC has issued good information on the swine flu outbreak, but the media is unaware that pictures of people wearing masks have the wrong mask and the fit is also poor. Little protection is given to the wearer. Few healthcare people would be aware of this shortcoming.
Swine Flu Respiratory Protection
Its interesting to see early definitions of industrial hygiene: Margaret A. Schaffner The American Political Science Review, Vol. 3, No. 2 (May, 1909), p. 218
Industrial Hygiene in 1909
What you see is not what you get. The paper: Stayner, L., E. Kuempel, et al. (2008). “An epidemiological study of the role of chrysotile asbestos fibre dimensions in determining respiratory disease risk in exposed workers.” Occup Environ Med 65(9): 613-619.
Asbestos fibre size
Nanotoxicology is a complex field but the synergistic effects of nanoparticles are now being studied.
Synergism in nanotoxicology
Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) used to be bought at a chemist’s shop as purple crystals. Way back, when Adam was a boy, it was included in snake bite kits
Potassium Permanganate
I had an invite from Dr Moshe Pritsker, the Editor-in-Chief to contribute to the new Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), the first video journal for biological research accepted in PubMed.
JoVE
A policeman stands outside the NYSE and the newspaper cation reads "ready for anything...". The policeman's respirator is only held by one strap, making any protection very low. The other strap is dangling.
Ready for anything…
I have seen industrial ventilation systems in many factories that are designed to remove “heavier-than-air” vapours from the ground. Unfortnately the factory owner has often wasted many thousands of dollars
The Heavier-Than-Air Myth
I travelled by air to Rockhampton by air recently to deliver an introductory occupational hygiene course for a client. I like to demonstrate industrial ventilation and one of the things I was unable to take on the plane with me was a Drager Smoke Tube.