A Crack Kid Grows Up
Nathaniel J. Pallone in Treating Substance Abusers in Correctional Contexts: New Understandings, New Modalities, 2012
The subject had difficulty functioning in the workplace. He maintained a job at a fast-food restaurant for approximately one month. He was fired, according to his supervisor, “because of constant illness and because he seemed to get flustered when things got busy. During rush hours, he couldn’t count change correctly if he was at the cash register and he couldn’t produce food quickly enough when he was in the kitchen. He did okay during training or when things were slow. He was a nice kid and he tried really hard, but it just didn’t work out.” He next worked as a taxi driver but, after two accidents in his first week of work, was again dismissed. He worked on construction sights, first mixing concrete. “He was so clumsy,” reported his supervisor. “He tripped over things and spilled things all the time. He was a hazard on the worksite and probably cost us $1000.00 in broken equipment and wasted supplies.” He also apprenticed briefly as a drywall finisher. “I could train him if I had enough time,” reported his supervisor. “He had a good eye and he had the height, strength and speed necessary. He needed a lot of direction, though.” The job he held the longest was in a warehouse, loading crates of fertilizer and other chemicals for delivery. He eventually quit because “being around all that stuff all the time was making me sick. My skin stung and I couldn’t breathe.” Currently, in prison, he is employed cleaning bathrooms. “I think I’m pretty good at it, but it doesn’t pay very well,” he reported in a letter to a friend.
Indoor Air Quality
James M. Rippe in Lifestyle Medicine, 2019
Molds are organisms with rigid cell walls that are a subset of the diverse group of organisms called fungi that lack chlorophyll and vascular tissue. Mold, like others in the kingdom Fungi, live on organic matter such as decaying plants and living animal tissue. They have the capability to digest materials deemed unusable by other organisms, which allows mold to grow on home materials such as carpeting, drywall, ceiling tiles, and building materials made from organic matter. Molds do not produce leaves, and they reproduce by germination of small particles called spores. Spores are not readily seen by the naked eye and range in size from 2 to 20 microns in diameter and up to 100 mm in length, with characteristic microscopic shapes sizes and colors. Molds need a moisture rich environment with an average humidity of greater than 65%, a temperature of 50–90°F, and an organic substrate such as wood on which to reproduce and germinate. Once germination occurs, spores can grow, aerosolize, and be inhaled or come in contact by humans in the environment. This was seen in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita where many homes had to be demolished due to excessive mold growth.54
Evaluating Toxic Tort Cases
Julie Dickinson, Anne Meyer, Karen J. Huff, Deborah A. Wipf, Elizabeth K. Zorn, Kathy G. Ferrell, Lisa Mancuso, Marjorie Berg Pugatch, Joanne Walker, Karen Wilkinson in Legal Nurse Consulting Principles and Practices, 2019
The most commonly filed toxic tort claims relate to asbestos exposure. Asbestos includes two families of minerals, serpentine and amphibole, in widespread use until the early 1970s. The mineral fibers are heat resistant and were woven into cloth or used as a non-organic binding agent in insulation, plaster, drywall products, fireproofing, brakes, and gaskets. There were reports of workers in asbestos factories suffering from lung disease starting in the 1890s, though it was not until the 1960s that epidemiological studies began to show that even lower exposure levels by end users resulted in an increase in risk of disease.
An updated evaluation of potential health hazards associated with exposures to asbestos-containing drywall accessory products
Published in Critical Reviews in Toxicology, 2019
Neva F. B. Jacobs, Kevin M. Towle, Brent L. Finley, Shannon H. Gaffney
Prior to the use of dry wallboard, interior walls in US homes were made by applying wet plaster to a slatted wooden lath frame (i.e. lath and plaster method). It took several days for the plaster to dry and set, making this construction method time consuming and costly. In the early 1900s, United States Gypsum Company (US Gypsum) developed a dry, gypsum-based, fireproof wallboard tile, marketed as Pyrobar. The formulation was reengineered into a layered gypsum and paper wallboard sold as Sackett board. By 1916, it was sold as a single plaster and paper layer under the names Adamant Panel Board and Sheetrock (USG Corp. 2019). Wallboard is now commonly referred to as sheetrock and drywall.
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