Yield of Low-Dose Computerized Tomography Screening for Lung Cancer in High-Risk Workers: The Case of 7189 US Nuclear Weapons Workers.

Objectives: To determine the lung cancer screening yield and stages in a union-sponsored low-dose computerized tomography scan program for nuclear weapons workers with diverse ages, smoking histories, and occupations.

Methods: We implemented a low-dose computerized tomography program among 7189 nuclear weapons workers in 9 nonmetropolitan US communities during 2000 to 2013. Eligibility criteria included age, smoking, occupation, radiographic asbestos-related fibrosis, and a positive beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test.

An official American Thoracic Society statement: diagnosis and management of beryllium sensitivity and chronic beryllium disease.

Rationale: Beryllium continues to have a wide range of industrial applications. Exposure to beryllium can lead to sensitization (BeS) and chronic beryllium disease (CBD).

Objectives: The purpose of this statement is to increase awareness and knowledge about beryllium exposure, BeS, and CBD.

Personal exposure, behavior, and work site conditions as determinants of blood lead among bridge painters.

Bridge painters are exposed to lead during several job tasks performed during the workday, such as sanding, scraping, and blasting. After the Occupational Safety and Health Administration standard was passed in 1993 to control lead exposures among construction workers including bridge painters, this study was conducted among 84 bridge painters in the New England area to determine the significant predictors of blood lead levels. Lead was measured in personal air and hand wipe samples that were collected during the 2-week study period and in blood samples that were collected at the beginning and at the end of the study period.

Skin and surface lead contamination, hygiene programs, and work practices of bridge surface preparation and painting contractors.

A 2005 regulatory review of the lead in construction standard by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) noted that alternative pathways of exposure can be as significant as inhalation exposure and that noncompliance with the standard pertaining to hygiene facilities and practices was the second most commonly violated section of the standard. Noncompliance with provisions of the standard and unhealthy work and hygiene practices likely increase the likelihood of take-home lead via contaminated clothing, automobiles, and skin, thus contributing to elevated blood lead levels (BLL) among construction workers and their family members. We performed a cross-sectional study of bridge painters working for small contractors in Massachusetts to investigate causes of persistent elevated BLLs and to assess lead exposures.

Task-based lead exposures and work site characteristics of bridge surface preparation and painting contractors.

This study of bridge painters working for small contractors in Massachusetts investigated the causes of elevated blood lead levels and assessed their exposure to lead. Bridge work sites were evaluated for a 2-week period during which personal and area air samples and information on work site characteristics and lead abatement methods were gathered. Short-duration personal inhalable samples collected from 18 tasks had geometric means (GM) of 3 microg/m(3) to 7286 microg/m(3).

Beryllium sensitization and lung function among former workers at the Nevada Test Site.

Background: Beryllium use at the Nevada Test Site (NTS) was not acknowledged until the late 1990's. Subsequently, the ongoing U.S.

Downsizing and social cohesion: the case of downsizing survivors.

Organizational downsizing was a pervasive feature of the U.S. economy during the 1980s and 1990s.

Organizational downsizing: implications for the health of survivors.

Public health has a long-standing interest in the adverse consequences of unemployment and job loss upon the physical and emotional health of those who lose their jobs. In recent years, the emergence of organizational downsizing as a commonplace phenomenon directs attention to an entirely new area of concern: the impact of downsizing on those who keep their jobs and continue to work in the new work environment. In this article, we examine the multi-dimensional ways in which downsizing affects the survivors of downsizing and changes their working conditions, social relationships, and emotional well-being.

Downsizing and health at the United States Department of Energy.

Background: Downsizing and reorganization not only affect workers who lose their jobs, but even workers who retain their jobs are affected in negative ways. The present study measured how downsizing was accomplished at five Department of Energy facilities by evaluating communication with workers, perceived fairness of the process, and job characteristics, and how each of these were associated with worker health and well-being.

Methods: The researchers collected quantitative data using structured surveys, and captured qualitative data using interviews, focus groups, and open-ended survey responses.