This page provides a list of corrections and clarifications to Synergist articles that have been published since 2010. Where appropriate, links are provided to amended articles in the digital Synergist.
August 2023
On page 38, the "By the Numbers" infographic, which provides information from a study of California workers and mental health, contains an incorrect explanation related to workers in transportation and material moving occupations. The text should read, "53: Among workers that reported ever seriously thinking of suicide, the percentage of workers in transportation and material moving occupations who, in 2020, reported suicidal ideation in the past year." Both the digital version and the PDF of the August issue have been updated with the corrected text. The study on which the infographic is based is available from the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.
December 2022
The digital version of the article "How 'Professional' Is Professional Judgment?" has been updated to reflect the five steps in the industrial hygiene process of anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of hazards, and confirmation of protection from risks.
February 2022
Joanna Greig’s name was misspelled on page 21. Greig is coauthor of the article “Finding Good Science: How to Critically Appraise Scientific Literature.” The digital version of the article has been corrected.
On page 35, the titles of two coauthors of the article “The Challenge for Industrial Hygiene 4.0” were misprinted. Andrea Cattaneo is an associate professor, not assistant professor, at the University of Insubria, and a member of the national board of directors of the Italian Association of Industrial Hygienists (AIDII). Domenico Cavallo is director, not president, of the Institute for the Certification of Prevention Professionals, as well as a professor at the University of Insubria. The digital version of the article has been corrected.
September 2021
The credentials for Penney Stanch, the author of "Incorporating Equity into Workplace Health and Safety," were misstated on pages 4 and 25. Stanch is a CIH, CSP, and CPE. The digital version of the article has been updated.
August 2021
The article "Managing Reproductive and Developmental Health Hazards: Elements of a Successful Workplace Program" incorrectly stated that radiation is the only reproductive hazard governed by an OSHA standard. The digital version of the article has been updated to clarify that radiation is one of only a few reproductive hazards addressed by OSHA.
June/July 2021
Due to an editing error, the biographical information provided in the "Contributors" section on page 4 for Richard M. Newton is in fact that of his coauthor, Edgar Y. Reed. Newton and Reed are the authors of "A Standard to Protect Miners: The AIHA Mining Working Group's Collaboration with the ISO Mining Technical Committee." The correct biographical information for both authors appears on page 33 and in the digital version of the article.
April 2021
The article “Virtual Once More: A Preview of AIHce EXP 2021” on page 14 in the April print issue misidentified the author of “Moving to an All-Virtual AIHce” on page 8 in the same issue. The author is AIHA President Lindsay Cook. The digital version of the magazine has been updated.
January 2021
On page 32, the article "Evaluating Exoskeletons" mistakenly asserts that the ISO 31000 standard includes estimates of the percentage reductions in hazard risk provided by administrative controls and by PPE, respectively. These estimates do not appear in ISO 31000. The incorrect sentences have been removed from the digital version of the article.
December 2020
The digital version of the article "A Ventilation Checklist: Helping Control Airborne Disease Transmission in Non-Healthcare Facilities" has been updated to provide additional context regarding item 3. The new information addresses the possibility that setting the HVAC air supply fan to “on” could potentially lead to indoor humidity problems in warm, humid climates.
June/July 2020
On page 28, the article “The Marijuana Dilemma” incorrectly attributes the resource “What You Need to Know About Marijuana Use and Driving” to the Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety. The fact sheet is a CDC publication. The digital version of the article has been corrected.
May 2020
The article “COVID-19 and the Industrial Hygienist” in the May issue specified an incorrect unit of measurement in its discussion of the potential of ultraviolet light to sterilize influenza virus. The correct unit of measurement is microwatts per centimeter squared (μw/cm2). The digital version of the article has been corrected.
April 2020
The article “Chemical Protective Clothing 101” incorrectly stated the issue of the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene in which the paper "Glove Permeation of Chemicals: The State of the Art of Current Practice, Part 1: Basics and the Permeation Standards" is published. The paper appears in the December 2019 issue of JOEH, not November 2019. The digital version of the article has been corrected.
March 2020
The article “Surface Sampling for Chemotherapy Drugs” incorrectly stated the eight-hour time-weighted average provisional occupational exposure limit for cyclophosphamide, as proposed by pharmaceutical companies that make the drug. The OEL is 0.01 mg/m3, not 0.01 μg/m3. Thus, the conversion to a mass per unit area (ng/cm2), assuming the volume of air inhaled over an eight-hour period is 10 m3, is roughly 10 ng/cm2, not 0.01 ng/cm2. The digital version of the article has been corrected.
November 2019
In the article "Cost Estimates for OEHS Recommendations," a sentence on page 31 refers to "$160 per year" as the operating and maintenance costs of a new HVAC filter system. The cost should have been presented as $160 per month. The digital version of the article has been corrected.
March 2019
Due to a design error, Figure 1 in the article "A Nomogram for Lab Hoods" printed out of proportion. Because of this error, the printed nomogram cannot be used to accurately estimate the parameters of lab hoods. A corrected version of the nomogram is available online (PDF), and both the digital version of the article and the archived PDF of the issue (see the Synergist library on Catalyst) have been updated with the correct image.
November 2018
The first paragraph of the article "Laboratory Chemical Safety Incidents, 2001-2018" included incorrect dates related to the tragic laboratory fire at UCLA that led to Sheharbano Sangji's death. The incident occurred on Dec. 29, 2008, and Sangji died Jan. 16, 2009. The digital version of the article has been amended with the correct dates.
October 2018
In the article "Advice for Active Sampling," a sentence on page 28 is open to misinterpretation. The sentence reads, “If the final flow rate is less than 5 percent of the initial flow rate, both can be used, giving minimum and maximum bounds to the exposure concentration.” On the advice of the authors, the digital version of the article has been edited to read, “If the final flow rate deviates more than 5 percent from the initial flow rate, both can be used, giving minimum and maximum bounds to the exposure concentration.”
September 2018
A sentence in the article “New York Steam Pipe Explosion Raises Asbestos Concerns” on page 17 of the September issue misidentified the type of asbestos samples taken by the New York Department of Environmental Protection as bulk samples. The samples were air samples. The incorrect sentence was removed from the digital version of the article.
June/July 2018
The image of a worker in protective clothing that accompanied the article “Dual Hazard Protection” on page 28 of the June/July issue may have inadvertently implied that the pictured garment is both flame resistant and chemical resistant. The image depicts the DuPont Tychem 6000, which is chemical resistant but not flame resistant. To properly identify the garment, a note has been added to the digital version of the article. Elsewhere, the article accurately refers to a different garment, the DuPont Tychem 6000 FR, as a combination flame resistant/chemical resistant garment.
March 2018
The digital version of the article "Getting Ventilation Right" has been updated to provide a more complete list of organizations that developed model building codes.
February 2018
The digital version of the article "A Close Look at Portland Cement" has been amended with editor's notes to clarify that, after fabrication, most of the silica in portland cement may be amorphous silica. See the April 2018 issue for an exchange of letters about this article.
June/July 2015
The Synergist editors received a letter from the AIHA Oil and Gas Working Group clarifying two statements made in the June/July 2015 cover article:
“Dear Editor,
The June/July 2015 issue of The Synergist featured a cover story entitled ‘Focus on Fracking: Debate Continues over Environmental Health Effects’ authored by Michelle F. Gillie. At the beginning of the article is an editor’s note that states, ‘This article is adapted from a forthcoming AIHA white paper on the occupational and environmental health effects of fracking.’ At the end of the article, it is stated that the AIHA Environmental Issues Committee is ‘working jointly with the AIHA Oil and Gas Working Group and Risk Assessment Committee on a white paper on the occupational and environmental health impacts from hydraulic fracturing.’ Members of the Oil and Gas Working Group would like to provide additional background information regarding the state of progress of the white paper at the time at which the Synergist article was published.
As of June/July 2015, the draft white paper was in its second round of internal review among the authors, had not yet been finalized among the authors, and had not yet undergone any external peer review or any review by the AIHA Board of Directors. Therefore, the content and conclusions found in the final version of the white paper may ultimately be different than the adaptation presented in this Synergist article.
Thank you,
Officers of the AIHA Oil and Gas Working Group”
The Synergist regrets any confusion these statements may have caused.
April 2013
An article on page 21 of the April 2013 issue incorrectly stated that the SMEs referred to in the European Commission report, "Review of REACH," are subject matter experts. The term "SMEs" actually refers to "small- and medium-sized enterprises."
January 2013
A picture on pages 6 and 12 of the January 2013 issue depicted incorrect respirator usage. In the picture, which accompanied a story about working safely with silica, a worker is shown cutting stone with a saw while wearing an inappropriate respirator for silica dust. The respirator in the picture is for organic vapors and needs a particulate filter to protect against silica dust generated by the saw.
August 2012
The article “Future, Redefined” in the print edition of the August 2012 Synergist contains an incorrect photograph. Under the subheading “‘Model Workplaces,’ Preventable Deaths” on page 28, Chris Hamby, the speaker discussed in that section, is not pictured. The photo is of AIHA President Allan K. Fleeger.
May 2012
The article "OSHA Revises HazCom Standard to Align with GHS" on page 10 incorrectly states that the updated standard requires ACGIH Threshold Limit Values (TLVs) to appear on chemical labels. The standard requires TLVs to appear on safety data sheets, not labels.
October 2011
An article on page 13 of the October 2011 issue incorrectly stated that 3,000 people in the U.S. develop mesothelioma every year from exposures to erionite and asbestos. The article should have said that mesothelioma kills 3,000 people in the U.S. each year (source) and that only a small fraction of people exposed to erionite and asbestos develop the disease.
February 2011
On page 32, the “AIHA Board Candidates’ Forum” included an incorrect occupational title for Mike Taylor, CIH. Taylor’s title is “Global Manager, Safety, Health and Environment” at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, Utah.
August 2010
An editor's note to the article "It's Getting Better All the Time" on page 22 incorrectly identified author Bob Di Rienzo as vice president of quality systems at ALS Global. Di Rienzo is quality assurance manager at ALS Global’s laboratories in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Ft. Collins, Colorado.
August 2010
Due to an editing error, a graphic was removed from Marilyn Black’s article “The Complete Picture: Identifying Individual VOCs Is a Key Step in IAQ Studies” on pages 27 and 28 of the August issue. Information from the graphic has been incorporated into a corrected version (PDF) of the article.
June/July 2010
The June/July 2010 Synergist incorrectly reported that Joel Cohen, CIH, was nominated to the health position on the California Occupational Safety and Health Standards Board (OSHSB). AIHA member Henry McDermott, CIH, CSP, was nominated for the position. McDermott was appointed to the OSHSB in June.