Posted on November 13, 2017
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was honored to join public health leaders from across the country at the 145th American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting and Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia from November 4 – 8.
This year’s meeting, Creating the Healthiest Nation: Climate Changes Health, was centered around one of our nation’s most urgent public health challenges – climate change. Excitement filled the air as thousands of attendees from across the country came together to educate and to learn. I was thrilled to catch up with many longtime colleagues, and I even got a chance to connect with the new U.S. Surgeon General. The spirit of the meeting truly embodied community and collaboration.
On November 8th, ADAO had the opportunity to present during the Occupational Health and Safety session, “Making TSCA Matter to Workers and Families,” to a fantastic audience including some staff members from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). My presentation, “Asbestos: TSCA Progress and Pushback in a Changing Political Climate,” explained the features of the new Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), which should facilitate a ban on asbestos. We discussed the ways in which economic and political interests are expected to derail efforts to ban asbestos – and how asbestos victims and the public health community are responding to ban asbestos opponents. Lastly, in honor of this year’s theme, we also discussed the heightened risk of exposure to asbestos as a result of extreme weather events caused by global climate change, like the hurricanes and wildfires we’ve seen so many of recently.
- Eve Gartner, J.D., Earthjustice, New York, NY; “A deep dive: Understanding the key provisions of the reformed TSCA”
- Patrice Sutton, MPH, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Juleen Lam, PhD, MHS, MS, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA; Patricia Koman, MPP, PhD, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI; and Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, MPH, University of California San Francisco, San Franciso, CA; “Perils and promise of TSCA for protecting children from exposure to toxic environmental chemicals”
- Rebecca L. Reindel, MS, MPH, AFL-CIO, Washington, DC; “Worker safety and health and TSCA: Opportunities, limitations, and looking forward”
Click here to learn more about the meeting’s informative sessions.
ADAO salutes the APHA for their leadership, innovation, and commitment to protecting public health. We look forward to next year’s convention when we will build on the plans and progress we made this year.
Stay tuned for details of next year’s meeting and expo!
Together, change is possible.
Linda Reinstein