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Your Environment. Your Health.

Reducing Risk and Protecting Public Health through Research and Training

April 3-4, 2008
Bethesda, Maryland

NIEHS WETP 2008 Spring Awardee Meeting and Technical Workshop: WETP Spring Meeting, April 2, 2008. Reducing Risk and Protecting Public Health through Research and Training April 3-4, 2008

For 20 years, individuals and families, communities and businesses have benefited from the two Superfund programs of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS). Superfund programs primarily address the environmental problems of hazardous waste sites. The NIEHS Superfund Basic Research Program has played a crucial role in addressing challenges posed by such environmental contamination including health risks, toxicity, exposure predictions, fate and transport, and the need for cost-effective treatments. The NIEHS Worker Education and Training Program has provided science-based safety and health training for nearly 2,000,000 workers who handle hazardous materials and waste or who respond to emergencies involving hazardous materials. Working in parallel, these two programs are a national asset providing the science and the training that is the foundation of environmental protection.

On April 3rd and 4th, 2008, at the National Institutes of Health campus in Bethesda, Maryland, the two NIEHS programs held a joint meeting to discuss the benefits of their work in protecting human health from hazardous substances. This conference explored their strengths and interactions with the goal of enhancing collaboration among the institutions and organizations funded by the programs.

Agendas

Attendees

Workshop Description

Presentations

Click on the links below to view presentations and breakout session reports from April 2, April 3, or April 4 at the NIEHS WETP 2008 Spring Awardee Meeting and the Joint NIEHS SBRP-WETP Technical Workshop: Reducing Risk and Protecting Public Health through Research and Training.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008 

Meeting Notes: April 2, 2008 (45KB)

Time Topic
1:00-2:00 p.m. Welcome - NIEHS Update (627KB)
Joseph Hughs, Sharon Beard, Ted Outwater, Jim Remington, Carolyn Mason, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)
  • Funding
  • Program Updates
  • SBIR Awards
  • NIH Update
2:00-2:15 p.m.

NIEHS National Clearinghouse Update
Deborah Weinstock, Director, National Clearinghouse for Worker Safety and Training
2:15-3:30 p.m.

Department of Energy (DOE)/ NIEHS Program Update
This session provided a review of the DOE/NIEHS program with a focus on the implementation of the DOE 851 Worker Safety and Health Rule.

Introductions and Overview of the Program
Ted Outwater, NIEHS

DOE Policy Issues and Training (132KB)
Bill McArthur, Director, Office of Worker Safety and Health Policy, DOE

"Eight-fifty What?" USW 851 Gap Analysis and Needs Assessment Project (152KB)
Doug Stephens, Tom McQuiston, United Steelworkers/Tony Mazzocchi Center

CPWR Approach to 851
Don Ellenberger, CPWR- The Center for Construction Research and Training
4:00-5:00 p.m.

Concurrent Sessions

Business Official Meeting
Carolyn Mason, NIEHS

Grants Management and Funding

Program Official Meetings
Joseph Hughes, Ted Outwater, Jim Remington, NIEHS

Hazardous Waste Worker Training Program (HWWT)/ Hazardous Materials Disaster Preparedness Training Program (HPTP)/ Department of Energy (DOE) Issues

  • OSHA Disaster Site Worker Meeting
  • Earthquake Briefing
  • DOE 851 Meeting

Brownfields/Minority Worker Training Program Issues (286KB)
Sharon Beard, NIEHS

  • Performance Assessments
  • Brownfields 2008
  • Green Jobs

Thursday, April 3, 2008 

Meeting Notes: April 3, 2008 (70KB)

Time Topic
9:00-9:30 a.m. Welcome
Bill Suk, Acting Deputy Director, NIEHS
9:30-10:15 a.m. Keynote Address (1MB)
Philip J. Landrigan, Professor and Chairman, Department of Community & Preventive Medicine; Professor of Pediatrics, Director, Children’s Environmental Health Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
10:15-10:45 a.m. Program Overviews
Joseph “Chip” Hughes, Director, Worker Education and Training Program (WETP)
Claudia Thompson, (575KB) Acting Director, Superfund Basic Research Program (SBRP)
11:15 a.m.- 12:15 p.m. The Future of Risk Assessment: Community-Based Cumulative Risk Assessment

Defining Cumulative Risk
Mike Callahan, MDB, Inc.

The Importance of Cumulative Risk from a Community Perspective (6MB)
Robert Bullard, Clark Atlanta University

Chronic Stress as a Risk Modifier in Cumulative Risk: ATSDR's Activities in Superfund (189KB)
Pamela Tucker, ATSDR

Changing the Risk Assessment Paradigm: EPA's Activities in Cumulative Risk (899KB)
Lee Hofmann, EPA
12:15-12:30 p.m. Charge to Breakout Groups
Donald Elisburg, National Clearinghouse
1:30-5:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions

Breakout Session 1 - Preventing Exposure through Research and Training
Session Co-chairs: David Osterberg, University of Iowa and Craig Slatin, University of Massachusetts, Lowell
Breakout Session 2 - Bridging the Gap: Dialogue, Communication and Partnerships
Session Co-chairs: Linda Delp, UCLA and Madeleine Scammell, Boston University
Breakout Session 3 - Clean-up, Green-up, and Nano-technologies: Emerging Issues in Remediation, Clean Production and Engineered Nanomaterials
Session Co-chairs: Wendell Ela, University of Arizona and Bruce Lippy, The Lippy Group
5:00-5:30 p.m. Report Back from Breakout Sessions

Friday, April 4, 2008

Meeting Notes: April 4, 2008 (26KB)

Time Topic
8:30-9:30 a.m. Keynote Address (52KB)
John Howard, Director, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
9:30-10:30 a.m. Using Research to Protect Disaster Site Workers
Session Co-Chairs: Margaret Karagas, Dartmouth College and Jim Remington, WETP
10:45 a.m.- 12:00 p.m. Concurrent Sessions
  • Breakout Session 1 – Exposure Assessment and Data Capture
  • Breakout Session 2 – Deployment Readiness
  • Breakout Session 3 – Knowledge Transfer and Information Management
  • Breakout Session 4 – Medical Surveillance and Biomonitoring
12:00-12:30 p.m. Report Back from Breakout Sessions
12:30-1:00 p.m. Wrap-Up / Closing Remarks (514KB)
Gerald Poje, Independent Consultant, formerly with the U.S. Chemical Safety Board and NIEHS
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