Anyone in the US who\u2019s depended on a respirator to provide protection against dust, smoke, mold or airborne viruses has likely relied on a small but mighty agency within the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to assure that they\u2019re shielded from things that could damage their health. <\/p>\n
The 1,300-person National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, was established in 1970 to ensure \u201cevery man and woman in the Nation safe and healthful working conditions and to preserve our human resources.\u201d <\/p>\n
On Tuesday, an estimated <\/strong>two-thirds of its staff was cut, or about 870 workers, as part of sweeping reductions across federal health agencies that wiped out entire divisions focused on the health and safety of miners, firefighters, health-care workers and others in one day. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a small thing, but it\u2019s massive in terms of its impact and its importance,\u201d said John McDonough, professor of the practice of public health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. \u201cAnd they\u2019ve just wiped it off the face of the Earth.\u201d <\/p>\n Among the most immediate consequences: Ongoing investigations to ensure <\/strong>the safety <\/strong>of lifesaving breathing equipment known as escape devices used in underground mines, in building fires and on naval ships have abruptly stopped, said Rich Metzler, former director of the institute\u2019s National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh. <\/p>\n \u201cNothing is happening with any investigations related to those products to make sure that they continue to be safe for their intended use, that they continue to perform,\u201d said Metzler, who left the agency in 2005 but still consults for the lab. \u201cWhat has happened by dismantling these programs has a huge impact on worker safety.\u201d <\/p>\n NIOSH-approved respirators are required by the Environmental Protection Agency to protect against pesticide exposure, Metzler said; the Mine Safety and Health Administration requires them for use in underground mines to protect against coal dust; the Department of Energy requires them for protection against toxic chemicals; and construction workers rely on them to protect against silica dust created in construction projects. <\/p>\n Consumers rely on NIOSH, as well. Many became familiar with its logo during the Covid-19 pandemic, when they were taught to look for it to ensure N95 face masks were the real deal. <\/p>\n Counterfeits are an issue, Metzler said, even now. Just before workers at the Pittsburgh lab were told to stop work last week, he said they\u2019d been testing cartridges sold online that attach to the front of respirators to protect against gases or particulates. <\/p>\n \u201cThey found out that none of them met the standard,\u201d Metzler said, while \u201call of the cartridges that they purchased that were on approved respirators passed.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s being destroyed. It\u2019s pretty straightforward,\u201d said Dr. David Michaels, professor at the George Washington University Milken School of Public Health and the assistant secretary of labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, or OSHA, from 2009 to 2017. <\/p>\n The only two programs left alone, Michaels said, appear to be two that have \u201cmandatory funding which compensates individuals who are sickened in some ways as a result of US government action \u2013 that\u2019s the World Trade Center program and the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program.\u201d <\/p>\n The World Trade Center program\u2019s director, though, was fired, Michaels noted, \u201cso it\u2019s hard to say that that\u2019s untouched.\u201d <\/p>\n The moves drew immediate reaction from industry, lawmakers and unions representing workers that rely on NIOSH protections. US Sen. Shelley Capito, R-West Virginia, said in a Thursday media briefing that she was having a call with US Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to ask him to reverse course. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m very concerned about \u2026 how they keep our miners [safe] and look at fire equipment to make sure our firemen are safe when they\u2019re working in dangerous situations, as our coal miners are,\u201d Capito said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping to affect a brighter outlook from him that \u2018you have cut into the bone here and [affected] an essential service for workplace safety.\u2019 \u201d <\/p>\n The United Mine Workers of America, a union representing coal miners, said the hundreds of NIOSH workers who were dismissed \u201cliterally save the lives of coal miners every day.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cThe announced significant downsizing of offices in Morgantown, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, are particularly devastating to the coal industry, which relies on the research done there to improve its safety practices,\u201d the union said in a statement. <\/p>\n The National Stone, Sand & Gravel Association, which represents 500 companies that rely on miners to produce building materials, also called on Kennedy to reconsider. The National Waste & Recycling Association called the NIOSH cuts \u201ca step in the wrong direction.\u201d <\/p>\n Edward A. Kelly, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters, posted on social media Wednesday that he spoke with the White House \u201cand urged the administration to fully restore these vital programs,\u201d specifically citing the Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program and the World Trade Center Health Program. <\/p>\n Kelly said \u201cthe call was productive, and they assured me that efforts are underway to reverse these cuts.\u201d <\/p>\n \u2018Cut into the bone\u2019<\/h2>\n