Posted on November 13, 2017

APHA presenters and moderator from the “Making TSCA Matter to Workers and Families,” session: Patrice Sutton, University of California, San Francisco; John Morawetz, Intl. Chemical Workers Union; Eve Gartner, Eartjustice; Rebecca Reindel, AFL-CIO, and Linda Reinstein, ADAO

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.

For the session, ADAO was pleased to join the following esteemed presenters:

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

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