Benzene and cancer:

Eula Bingham-experience bares "the real world" and smart politics saves lives

Eula Bingham, toxicologist and former head of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, is now at that place in her professional life where she can look back over her long career and identify its turning points and evaluate what worked and what didn't, what was important and what of lesser significance. In two interviews, she also looks at the present and the future and expresses concerns about the way we live now.

Joint occupational and environmental pollution prevention strategies: a model for primary prevention

Occupational and environmental health issues are not always considered simultaneously when attempting to reduce or eliminate hazardous materials from our environment. Methods used to decrease exposure to hazardous chemicals in the workplace often lead to increased exposure in the environment and to the community outside the workplace. Conversely, efforts to control emissions of hazardous chemicals into the environment often lead to increased exposure to the workers inside the plant. There are government regulations in place that ensure a safe work environment or a safe outside environment; however, there is little integration of both approaches when considering the public's health as a whole. This article examines some of the reasons behind this dichotomy, focusing on the regulatory and policy frameworks with respect to workplace and environment that have resulted in the inability of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to coordinate their efforts to protect public health. The components of the Pollution Prevention Act and its potential to serve as a model for integrating occupational and environmental health are discussed. Limitations regarding enforcement of pollution prevention, as well as its disconnection from the work environment are equally highlighted. The article finishes by examining the barriers to integrating the occupational and environmental health paradigms and the promotion of primary prevention in public health.