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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Celeste Monforton, MPH, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, The George Washington University/School of Public Health and Health Services, 2100 M Street NW, Suite 203, Washington, DC 20037, 202-994-0774, eohcnm@gwumc.edu and Christina E. Morgan, BA, Dept Environmental & Occupational Health, George Washington University, 2100 M Street NW, Suite 203, Washington, DC 20037.

Corporations, trade associations and other opponents of protective (and potentially costly) workplace health standards have used an array of tactics to obstruct the regulatory process and impede protections for workers. The strategies employed by these groups are revealed in publicly available documents (e.g., through Freedom of Information Act requests) and in confidential materials made available through litigation. This poster presentation will feature excerpts from internal memoranda, meeting minutes, and written correspondence from a variety of industries, including beryllium, chromium, tobacco, asbestos, trucking and mining. The poster, entitled In Their Own Words, will feature a creative multi-media collage, guided by the artistic principle of allowing the documents to speak for themselves. Those who experience In Their Own Words may be amused, angered, frustrated, or perplexed by the recurring themes that emerge in the industries' documents. Our ultimate goal is to inspire public health professionals to reject efforts to manufacture uncertainty about scientific evidence and defend health-protective workplace standards.

Learning Objectives: