DEPARTMENTS
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
DINA M. SIEGEL, CIH, CSP, FAIHA, is semi-retired and is currently a guest scientist at Los Alamos National
Laboratory, where she worked for 25 years in a variety of management and contributor roles. Her previous experience included OEHS for federal, contractor, and consultant firms.
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New Task Forces for IAQ and TSCA
BY DINA M. SIEGEL, AIHA PRESIDENT
At its July meeting, the Board of Directors approved the creation of task forces charged with recommending how our association should approach two issues of high importance to our members and the entire occupational and environmental health and safety profession. The IAQ Task Force will coordinate activities related to indoor air quality, while the TSCA Task Force will help position the OEHS profession as a partner to support EPA’s occupational risk evaluations, which are mandated by the Toxic Substances Control Act. This article summarizes the issues that led to the creation of these Task Forces.
PROMOTING HEALTHY IAQ
The COVID-19 pandemic clarified in stark terms the importance of IAQ. Here in the United States, the pandemic motivated the federal government to launch the Clean Air in Buildings Challenge to help building owners around the country reduce risks from airborne viruses and other contaminants. AIHA’s Commit to C.A.R.E. initiative supports this goal by motivating businesses and public health organizations to help make buildings and communities healthier and safer.
The standards and guidelines produced by ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, have long been important tools for improving IAQ in buildings. In 2022, ASHRAE released a new version of its influential standard 62.1, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, which specifies minimum ventilation rates and other measures intended to provide IAQ that’s acceptable to building occupants and that minimizes adverse health effects.
Most recently, ASHRAE developed standard 241, Control of Infectious Aerosols, which establishes minimum requirements for reducing the risk of disease transmission in buildings. At the request of the White House, ASHRAE developed standard 241 much more quickly than its other standards and guidelines: a committee was formed last December, and the standard was published in June.
Given ASHRAE’s influence on IAQ practices, AIHA’s IAQ Task Force will seek to build a closer relationship between our associations. The Task Force will also help coordinate AIHA volunteer groups’ IAQ activities and monitor how they are perceived by ASHRAE and other organizations. An important role for the Task Force will be to educate ASHRAE on how OEHS professionals help promote healthy IAQ.
The volunteers on the IAQ and TSCA Task Forces will play crucial roles in organizing AIHA’s response to these important issues.
ACCURATE EVALUATION OF RISKS
The 2016 Lautenberg Act amending TSCA requires EPA to conduct chemical risk evaluations. To support these evaluations, the agency typically requests data on workplace exposures. Often, however, workplace data aren’t representative of the wide range of exposures of interest to EPA. One complication is that EPA assesses risks based on exposures to all workers within what the agency defines as “conditions of use,” while OEHS data are more likely to represent workers with higher exposures. Communication about the OEHS approach is essential to ensure that EPA is accurately evaluating risks.
AIHA has helped bring these issues to greater prominence by partnering with the Foundation for Chemistry Research & Initiatives to hold a series of free online workshops. The final workshop, which will discuss risk characterization and risk management, will be held Nov. 9. You can register to attend online. The workshops aren’t recorded, but summaries of previous workshops are available on the SynergistNOW blog (workshop1, workshop 2, and workshop 3). For a more comprehensive discussion, read “Many Paths, One Goal” in The Synergist.
The goal of our TSCA Task Force is to influence EPA to more closely align with the way that OEHS professionals conduct occupational exposure assessments. The Task Force will help direct, prioritize, and coordinate these efforts, build closer relationships with trade associations such as the American Chemistry Council, and educate EPA on the fundamentals of occupational exposure assessments.
CRUCIAL GUIDANCE
The volunteers on the IAQ and TSCA Task Forces will play crucial roles in organizing AIHA’s response to these important issues. If you’re interested in serving, the deadline to apply is October 15.