ISSA, Lincolnwood, Ill., has been selected to serve on a committee establishing a policy for the Environmental Protection Agency that would allow claims of environmental preferability, including the use of eco-labels, in conjunction with the marketing of disinfectants, sanitizers and other pesticide products.

The committee is made of representatives from the industry, state and local governments, various federal agencies and enviornmental and public health organizations.

The first meeting is scheduled for late August/ early September with a follow up meeting set in October.

 

C-diff Cases Grow By 10,000 A Year

 

According to the World of Building Service Contracting, a new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study has found the number of people hospitalized with Clostridium difficile (C-diff) has been growing by more than 10,000 cases a year. Almost 300,000 hospitalizations in 2005 were traced to C-diff, twice the number in 2000 when the superbug was rarely seen. C-diff is spread by spores in feces that are difficult to kill with most conventional household cleaners or antibacterial soap and has grown resistant to certain antibiotics that work against other healthy colon bacteria.

 

Minimum Wage Increases

 

The federal minimum wage rose 70 cents in July. The increase, from $5.85 to $6.55 per hour is the second of three annual increases required by a 2007 law. The final increase next year will bring the federal minimum to $7.25 an hour.

The new minimum is less than the inflation-adjusted 1997 level of $7.02 and below the inflation-adjusted calculator from 40 years ago, according to a Labor Department inflation calculator.




POSTED ON: 8/1/2008