Journal of public health policy
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1999
Biography Historical ArticleCharles V. Chapin (1856-1941), "Dean of City Health Officers".
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1999
ReviewLimitations of occupational air contaminant standards, as exemplified by the neurotoxin N-hexane.
Available industry guidelines and federal standards have failed to fully protect workers from chemical toxicity: none exist for most chemicals, many are biased toward what can easily be achieved, and many were developed long after health consequences became evident. Limitations of occupational air contaminant standards in the United States are well illustrated by standard-setting for the neurotoxin n-hexane. In the 1940s, the American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH) first promulgated industrial guidelines known as "threshold limit values" (TLVs), including an 8-hour time-weighted average of 500 ppm for inspired n-hexane. ⋯ Court of Appeals in 1992. As a result, the current OSHA PEL for n-hexane remains at the 500 ppm level adopted in 1971, which even then was too high based upon available scientific evidence. New information over this long period, including that obtained from industrial outbreaks of disease due to chemical exposures, has not been incorporated into revised federal standards.
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1999
"I didn't know the gun was loaded": an examination of two safety devices that can reduce the risk of unintentional firearm injuries.
Some handguns contain built-in safety devices intended to prevent injuries caused by erroneously believing that a handgun is loaded. A loaded chamber indicator indicates the presence of ammunition in the gun; a magazine safety prevents the gun from being fired when the ammunition magazine is removed, even if one round remains in the firing chamber. In our patent search these devices date back to the turn of the century. ⋯ S. adults, 34.8% of poll respondents (incorrectly) thought that a firearm with its ammunition magazine removed could not be shot, or said that they did not know. Some of the 1100 unintentional gun deaths in the U. S. each year might be prevented if the prevalence of these and other safety devices is increased through legislation, litigation, or voluntary manufacturer action.
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J Public Health Policy · Jan 1998
ReviewUpdate on health care in Canada: what's right, what's wrong, what's left.
Americans wanting to understand health care in Canada must take into account three issues: first, what's right about the system, and always has been--it is an accessible system providing universal access to comprehensive medical care. What isn't wrong with the system, that is, the lies promulgated in the United States press about long waiting lines for care and Canadians pouring across the border for care unavailable in Canada, is included. The second issue is what's wrong, and has always been wrong, with the Canadian system: it's a private-practice, fee-for-service medical (some would say "sickness") care system in which the social determinants of health and primary prevention have never been appropriately funded. Finally, for several years there have been, and continue to be, real and ever-escalating threats to the Canadian system in the form of block-granting and serious cuts.