This is the first in a series of planned commentaries on protecting workers from toxic chemicals.
February started with news that's all too familiar in the United States: An incident involving highly toxic industrial chemicals sparked a large fire, threatening an explosion, forcing evacuations, and putting workers and community members directly in harm's way. In this case, the danger came from a derailed train in Ohio that was hauling cancer-causing vinyl chloride, used to make certain types of plastic; toxic phosgene, an industrial chemical that was also used as a chemical weapon in World War I; and other substances.
This chemical disaster posed a threat to rail workers, first responders, and community members, and after a controlled burn to prevent an explosion, reported fish kills, and the discovery of additional toxic chemicals in some of the train cars, lingering questions remain about the long-term hazards facing community residents. It's one of many high-profile fires, spills, leaks, explosions, and other industrial incidents to have made the news over the years. But extreme, acute threats like the Ohio derailment aren't the only toxic chemical dangers facing workers and surrounding communities.
Many chronic, lower-level exposures happen in workplaces every day, posing significant but far more hidden risks to workers, their families, and their communities. Toxic exposures in industrial facilities and other settings can cause a range of health problems. These include nervous system effects like headaches, dizziness, confusion, and memory loss; cancer; breathing problems including coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath, and asthma attacks; skin irritation and rashes; and reproductive and developmental effects such as infertility, birth defects, and other health problems.
Neither extreme, short-term hazards nor longer-term exposures are evenly distributed across the country. States with high concentrations of chemical plants, such as Texas, Louisiana, and Ohio, have the largest number of workers affected by toxic chemicals. In other states, including Virginia, workers are exposed to toxic chemicals in a variety of industries, including chemical plants, refineries, and other industrial facilities. The Delaware River Basin in Pennsylvania is also home to facilities like these.
These states also have a higher incidence of cancer and other health problems related to chemical exposures, and such harms often impact overburdened and historically marginalized communities to a greater extent than other, more affluent cities, towns, and counties. Over the next couple of years, we'll be digging into these issues and seeing how they impact workers and overburdened communities at industrial facilities in Pennsylvania and the Delaware River basin.
But how do risky chemical exposures happen and lead to these problems? Many industrial facilities produce and use a wide range of substances, and facility workers are often directly exposed to toxic chemicals during the manufacturing process. As the Ohio train derailment made all too clear, such exposures can also happen during catastrophic industrial and infrastructure failures and when transporting toxic chemicals.
Additionally, many industrial facility workers are not adequately trained or equipped to handle dangerous chemicals safely, and many don't have access to proper protective gear. This increases their risk of exposure and the potential for health problems. The communities surrounding these chemical facilities are also at risk, as toxic chemicals can be released into the air and water, contaminating the environment and posing a threat to public health.
Policy Solutions
Ongoing chemical exposures in industrial facilities, other workplaces, and surrounding communities cry out for stronger regulations and enforcement of safety standards, as well as increased funding for research on the health impacts of toxic chemical exposure.
At the federal level, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) sets standards for workplace safety, including exposure to toxic chemicals. However, most of these standards are too weak to protect workers, and enforcement could and should be much stronger. In addition, California officials have pushed for a national registry of chemicals and their potential health effects, as well as mandatory reporting of chemical releases, modeled on the state's similar law.
At the state level, efforts to enhance enforcement and penalties should be implemented to ensure that employers are meeting their obligations to protect workers from toxic chemical exposures. Virginia, Pennsylvania, and other states should enhance enforcement and penalties for non-compliance. This could involve strengthening penalties for employers who violate exposure limits or creating a whistleblower protection program to encourage workers to report hazardous conditions in the workplace.
Protecting workers from toxic chemical exposure in industrial facilities is a crucial issue that demands attention and action. By implementing stronger regulations and enforcement of safety standards, as well as investing in research and education, we can better protect the health and well-being of workers and their communities.
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Marcha Chaudry | February 16, 2023
February started with news that's all too familiar in the United States: An incident involving highly toxic industrial chemicals sparked a large fire, threatening an explosion, forcing evacuations, and putting workers and community members directly in harm's way. In this case, the danger came from a derailed train in Ohio that was hauling cancer-causing vinyl chloride, used to make certain types of plastic; toxic phosgene, an industrial chemical that was also used as a chemical weapon in World War I; and other substances. But extreme, acute threats like the Ohio derailment aren't the only toxic chemical dangers facing workers and surrounding communities.
James Goodwin | February 15, 2023
Last week, the Biden administration took the next step on its important initiative to “broaden public engagement in the federal regulatory process,” announcing a set of proposed reforms and asking for more public feedback. As the announcement explains, these proposals reflect input the administration received during a public listening session and an open comment period it conducted last November — both of which I participated in along with several members of the public interest community. I was pleased to find that many of our recommendations were reflected in the proposals.
James Goodwin | February 9, 2023
On February 8, conservatives in the U.S. House of Representatives began their assault on the Clean Water Act with a hearing aimed at attacking the Biden administration’s rule to more clearly define the law's scope of protections. Center for Progressive Reform Member Scholar Dave Owen, a law professor at the University of California College of the Law in San Francisco, was the only witness invited to fend off these dangerous attacks.
James Goodwin | February 9, 2023
“Finish the job” was a fitting theme for President Joe Biden’s second State of the Union address. It provided a valuable oratorical perch from which Biden could both tout his impressive legislative successes of the last two years and call on Congress to pass laws that, to quote Biden himself, help build an economy and support a society “from the bottom up and the middle out.” But Biden needs to heed his own call to “finish the job.”
Allison Stevens | February 8, 2023
In his second State of the Union address, President Joe Biden hailed his administration’s significant accomplishments over the last two years and called on lawmakers to “finish the job” on a wide variety of policy issues. He uttered the phrase over and over — more than a dozen times, in fact — in relation to everything from repairing the economy and controlling the cost of prescription drugs to expanding access to affordable health insurance and making the tax code fairer. About a third of the way through his 73-minute speech, he called on the country to “finish the job” when it comes to climate change.
Daniel Farber | February 7, 2023
In their crusade against “wokeness,” congressional Republicans are taking aim at a Labor Department rule about pension plan investments. The rule’s transgression is apparently that it makes it easier for pension plans to consider how climate-related risks might affect a company’s bottom line. To avoid being woke, the GOP would apparently prefer pension managers to close their eyes to financial realities, sleepwalking their way through the climate crisis. The real fear, of course, is that more wide-awake investment might disfavor some of the GOP’s biggest corporate supporters.
James Goodwin | January 31, 2023
Where are President Joe Biden’s regulatory process reforms? That’s the question many progressive advocates have been asking since the administration released its Day One memo inaugurating a “process with the goal of producing a set of recommendations for improving and modernizing regulatory review.” Two years later, this process remains in limbo.
Rebecca Bratspies | January 20, 2023
Arriving in New York City, you might take the Van Wyck Expressway past the Jackie Robinson Parkway on your way from JFK airport. Or you might cross the Kościuszko Bridge as you travel from LaGuardia airport. Or you might take the George Washington Bridge to the Major Deegan Expressway. Or, you might use the Goethals Bridge, or the Pulaski Skyway, or the Outerbridge Crossing. What, if anything, would those trips tell you about the city (other than that we desperately need better mass transit)? All this infrastructure commemorates individuals who helped shape the city’s history. Yet, few people remember that, before these names became a shorthand for urban congestion, they were actual people.
James Goodwin | January 18, 2023
The federal judiciary is in crisis. Now stocked with conservative jurists who openly disdain the courts’ limited constitutional role and actively dismiss the public they serve, this critical branch of our government presents an unacceptable risk to the stability of our democracy and economy. But there are solutions at hand.