David Michaels

Insights into US life expectancy stagnation from birth cohort mortality dynamics | PNAS US life expectancy remained essentially flat in the 2010s. This trend has occurred in the presence of advancing innovations in medical care, especi...

So excited to see this fantastic cohort take on US mortality trends in @pnas.org, with some amazing Lexis diagrams that I may print out and frame for my wall. Great work from @leahrabrams.bsky.social @octaviobramajo.bsky.social @alysonvanraalte.bsky.social 👏👏
www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/... #demography

Doctors Need More Nutrition Training. That Won’t Solve America’s Chronic Disease Crisis. Medical education matters, but the real problem is a food environment dominated by ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks.

Doctors Need More Nutrition Training. That Won’t Solve America’s Chronic Disease Crisis.
Medical education matters, but the real problem is a food environment dominated by ultra-processed foods and sugary drinks.
Read & subscribe (for free!) www.celinegounder.com/p/doctors-ne...

"Unless you can prove that this poison is really that dangerous that it kills people, the chemical industry has the right to sell that product." - Dr. David Michaels on industries subversion of "innocent until proven guilty" #MomsPlasticsSummit #momsky #climatechange #plasticpollution

Workplace Amputations Are on the Rise - Public Health Watch Over a decade, an average of seven U.S. workers a day suffered workplace accidents that caused or led to amputations. Those numbers are expected to go up with reduced federal oversight under the Trump...

The danger of this Administration turning its back on workers and trying to strip protections for workers in the most dangerous jobs. publichealthwatch.org/2026/03/04/w...

Join us this morning for what promises to be a fantastic discussion of how we can reduce chemical pollution and help our children stay healthy.

Labor Secretary’s Top Aides Forced Out

There were no tawdry DOL scandals during the @Obama or Biden administrations. Just dedication to enforcing our laws. Just sayin'. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/03/u... @drdavidmichaels.bsky.social @juliesulabor.bsky.social @alt-dol.altgov.info

Dispatches From the Front Lines of Workplace Safety and Health - Confined Space What's happening in the world of workplace safety and health?

Need a little break from war and chaos? Check out what's happening in the world of workplace safety and health:

Dispatches From the Front Lines of Workplace Safety and Health jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...

Engineered stone workers get lung transplants as industry pushes Congress for legal shield Silicosis is a public health problem unfolding for engineered stone fabricators across America, and questions are mounting about who is ultimately responsible if workers get sick

Hundreds of workers who fabricate kitchen countertops from artificial stone slabs have developed silicosis. Dozens have died.

The industry's response: ask congress for complete immunity from lawsuits filed by sick workers.

Check out this powerful news report by Anna Werner for @investigatetv.com

2026 Summit: Plastic on Our Minds & in Our Brains (Livestream) · Moms Clean Air Force Join Moms Clean Air Force for our annual summit **Plastic on Our Minds and in Our Brains: The new science of petrochemical dangers and strategies for safeguarding our children's health** on March 4, 2...

Here's the correct link: www.mobilize.us/momscleanair...

Register for the Livestream

I'm joining David Michaels at the Moms Clean Air Force Summit to talk about the chemical industry's Big Tobacco-style campaign to sow doubt about the science tying plastics and #PFAS to a raft of serious health problems. Tune in to the livestream this Wednesday 3/4 @ 9:30am. app.sosha.ai/s/gi0eUFaS

Engineered stone workers get lung transplants as industry pushes Congress for legal shield Silicosis is a public health problem unfolding for engineered stone fabricators across America, and questions are mounting about who is ultimately responsible if workers get sick

More than 500 workers in California, most of them Latino, have been diagnosed with silicosis linked to engineered stone fabrication. 54 have had lung transplants and 29 have died. Meanwhile the industry is lobbying Congress to exempt them from lawsuits.
www.investigatetv.com/2026/03/02/e...

Opinion | A win for 11.9 million workers Most independent contractors want the flexibility they lose when they become direct employees.

So the editorial board of @washingtonpost.com supports the Trump rule on independent contractors. Yet NO disclaimer that Bezos and Amazon depend on misclassification of drivers for their biz model. @prospect.org
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Trump officials move to kill system that protects US from chemical disasters EPA rolls back rules as chemical firms claim provisions in RMP protection system too expensive to implement

The Trump administration is slowly dismantling the federal disaster management system that protects the nation from chemical catastrophes, such as fires and explosions at high-risk facilities. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Exclusive | U.S. Power-Plant Pollution Rose Sharply in 2025 The increase was a rare uptick in an otherwise long-term downward trend, partly because of more coal being burned to generate electricity.

Explosive, exclusive article in Wall Street Journal, documenting some of 1st results of Trump rollbacks:

U.S. Power-Plant Pollution Rose Sharply in 2025.

Rising emissions coincide with Trump administration’s push for coal use & rollback of Biden-era climate regulations. www.wsj.com/us-news/clim...

Workplace Fatalities Drop in Last Biden Year - Confined Space 5070 workers were killed in American workplaces in 2024, a drop in the number and rate of workplace fatalities from 2023.

5,070 workers were killed on the job in the US in 2024 -- the last year of the Biden administration, down 4.0 percent from 5,283 in 2023.

The number of highway construction workers killed went up, as did public employees killed on the job.
jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...

Important development today in preventing silicosis among artificial stone fabrication workers.

Habitable, an important source of guidance for architects & designers, downgraded quartz & engineered stone countertops from yellow to red - DON'T USE - on their Informed Product stoplight rankings. 🧵

Opinion | Again, Trump Completely Misreads the Law

@levmenand.bsky.social and @jmichaels.bsky.social explain that Trump's new efforts to levy tariffs under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974 are also illegal.

Here's a gift article:

Workplace Fatalities Drop in Last Biden Year - Confined Space 5070 workers were killed in American workplaces in 2024, a drop in the number and rate of workplace fatalities from 2023.

5,070 workers were killed on the job in the US in 2024 -- the last year of the Biden administration -- a drop from the previous year.

But with Trump reducing the number of #OSHA inspections and cutting inspectors to an all-time low, will that trend continue?

jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...

RFK Jr., once poisoned by mercury, is silent as EPA weakens rules against it The HHS secretary has fought mercury pollution for years. He’s now in an administration that wants to make it easier for industries to dump it into the air

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that contaminates people when air pollution settles on rivers and streams and gets into the fish we eat. Current Health Secretary RFK jr once had mercury poisoning from eating too much tuna, but has been silent these rollbacks

www.eenews.net/articles/rfk...

Workplace Inspections by OSHA Dropped Over a Six-Month Period of 2025

Trump kills.

#OSHA workplace inspections down 20% last year. With less enforcement and weaker deterrence, more workers will get sick, injured and killed.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/18/u...

Maximum Line Speed Rates for Young Chicken and Turkey Establishments Operating Under the New Poultry Inspection System FSIS is proposing to amend the regulations to: allow young chicken establishments operating under the New Poultry Inspection System (NPIS) to operate at line speeds up to 175 birds per minute (bpm); i...

Not sure how this is MAHA, but it's definitely a huge gift to Big Ag at the expense of worker safety and consumer health. This proposal would substantially increase the inspection speeds for "young chicken" (175 birds per minute) and turkey (60 bpm)
www.federalregister.gov/documents/20...

The Air We Breathe May Be Raising Our Risk of Alzheimer’s Large Medicare study finds association between long-term PM2.5 exposure and increased Alzheimer’s risk.

The Air We Breathe May Be Raising Our Risk of Alzheimer’s
Large Medicare study finds association between long-term PM2.5 exposure and increased Alzheimer’s risk.
Read & subscribe (for free!)
www.celinegounder.com/p/the-air-we...

Making child labor great again.

The USDA announced it would extend faster line speed waivers to meat processors, citing "extensive research" that had not confirmed a "direct link" to worker injuries. In fact, there were only 2 studies (meat & poultry) both of which found job-specific line speed did increase the risk.

Feds "Clear" Nevada OSHA of Favoring Musk Company. But Who Will Clear the Feds? - Confined Space Federal OSHA investigation gives Nevada OSHA a clean bill of health for dropping citations against Elon Musk's Boring Company. But someone needs to investigate the investigators

Feds "Clear" Nevada #OSHA for withdrawing citations against Elon Musk's Boring company.

But they fail to even investigate illegal or unethical pressure by Governor's to drop citations after meeting with Musk's people.

jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...

Workers Who Won't Be Coming Home: The Weekly Toll - Confined Space On average, over 100 workers are killed every week in the United States due to traumatic injuries suffered at work. Here are how w few died last week.

How Workers died last week: Snowplowing, falls, forklift, train, carbon monoxide, helicopter, drowning, trash compacter, vehicle incidents, carbon monoxide poisoning and shootings.

The Weekly Toll

jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...

How a Century of Preserved Hair Strands Vindicated America’s Most Controversial Public Health Intervention A groundbreaking analysis of hair samples spanning 100 years provides definitive proof that banning leaded gasoline dramatically reduced toxic exposure. The research validates one of history's most…

A 100-year archive of human hair shows exactly how leaded gasoline poisoned the public—then how lead levels plunged after it was phased out and banned for on-road use. Powerful evidence that environmental regulation works. Read more:
www.webpronews.com/how-a-centur...
#PublicHealth

Doctors say measures to control an incurable lung disease aren't enough Silicosis is an often deadly lung disease linked to inhaling toxic dust from cutting engineered stone. California has passed new safety measures for workers in the last few years, but doctors say they...

Measures to control an incurable lung disease aren't enough
@kqednews.kqed.org @npr.org

- Lopez feels desperate sitting at home, unable to work ... His wife asked NPR not to use her name due to fears of deportation. She chokes back tears... The couple have four kids. www.npr.org/2026/02/01/n...

The Decline and Fall of the “Regulatory Czar” - Legal Planet The office of the regulatory czar has lost its main function as Trump has moved away from cost-benefit analysis, and its now adrift.

The regulatory czar was once a powerful figure using cost-benefit analysis to control agency regulations. But Trump disdaims cost-benefit analysis, there's no nominee for the position, and the stand-in faces possible disbarment.

legal-planet.org/2026/01/29/t...

Reported Workplace Injuries and Illnesses decline in Last Biden Year - Confined Space The number and rate of workplace injuries and illnesses in 2024 reached the lowest number since 2003  according to a report issued last week the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Workplace Injuries and Illnesses decline in last Biden year in the private sector, but go up in public sector jordanbarab.com/confinedspac...