How well-targeted are payroll tax cuts as a response to COVID-19? evidence from China.

Numerous countries cut payroll taxes in response to COVID-19, including China, which reduced employer contributions by up to 21 percentage points. We use administrative data on more than 800,000 Chinese firms to evaluate payroll tax cuts as a business relief measure. We estimate that the tax cuts cover 31.5% of the decline in business cash flow, but labor informality causes 53% of registered firms-24% of aggregate economic activity-to receive no benefits at all. We quantify the targeting of the policy in terms of how much benefits flow to small firms less able to access external finance and to sectors worse hit by COVID-19. We find that (1) small firms and vulnerable industries are comparatively more labor intensive, which leads to desirable targeting; (2) labor informality worsens, but does not eliminate, targeting by firm size; and (3) labor informality is uncorrelated with the COVID-19 shock, and therefore does not affect targeting by sector. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s10797-022-09746-w.

Environmental chamber studies of eye and respiratory irritation from use of a peracetic acid-based hospital surface disinfectant.

Objective: To characterize personal exposures and measures of eye and respiratory tract irritation in controlled environmental chamber studies of 44 healthy adult volunteers simulating upper-bound use of peracetic acid (PAA)-based surface disinfectant for terminal cleaning of hospital patient rooms. Design: Experimental, within-subject, double-blinded cross-over design. Methods: Objective and subjective exposure effects were assessed for PAA and its components: acetic acid (AA) and hydrogen peroxide (HP). Deionized water was included as a control. Breathing-zone concentrations of PAA, AA, and HP were assessed for 8 female multiday volunteers (5 consecutive days) and 36 single-day volunteers (32 females and 4 males). Wetted cloths were used to wipe high-touch surfaces for 20 minutes per trial. Also, 15 objective measures of tissue injury or inflammation and 4 subjective odor or irritation scores were assessed. Results: Disinfectant trials showed 95th percentile breathing zone concentrations of 101 ppb PAA, 500 ppb AA, and 667 ppb HP. None of the volunteers observed over 75 test days exhibited significant increases in IgE or objective measures of eye and respiratory tract inflammation. Subjective ratings for disinfectant and AA-only trials showed similar increases for odor intensity and nose irritation, with lower ratings for eye and throat irritation. Females were 2.5-fold more likely than males to assign moderate + irritation ratings. Conclusions: Simulated upper-bound hospital use of PAA-based disinfectant led to no significant increases in objective markers of tissue injury, inflammation, or allergic sensitization, and no frank signs of eye or respiratory tract irritation.

PM1 particles at coal- and gas-fired power plant work areas.

With the increased interest in the possible adverse health effects attributed to inhalation of fine particle matter, this study was conducted to gather preliminary information about workplace exposures at coal- and gas-fired power plants to fine particles (PM(1); i.e. <1 µm) and ultrafine particles (i.e. <0.1 µm). Combustion of fossil fuel is known to produce fine particles, and due to their proximity and durations of exposure, power plant workers could be a group of individuals who experience high chronic exposures to these types of particles. The results of a series of real-time instrument measurements showed that concentrations of PM(1) were elevated in some locations in power plants. The highest concentrations were in locations near combustion sources, indicating that combustion materials were leaking from conventional fossil fuel-fired boilers or it was associated with emission plume downwash. Concentrations were the lowest inside air-conditioned control rooms where PM(1) were present at levels similar to or lower than upwind concentrations. Microscopic examinations indicate that PM(1) at the coal-fired plants are dominated by vitrified spheres, although there were also unusual elongated particles. Most of the PM(1) were attached to larger coal fly ash particles that may affect where and how they could be deposited in the lung.

Benzene inhalation by parts washers: new estimates based on measures of occupational exposure to solvent coaromatics.

Questions persist regarding assessment of workers' exposures to products containing low levels of benzene, such as mineral spirit solvent (MSS). This study summarizes previously unpublished data for parts-washing activities, and evaluates potential daily and lifetime cumulative benzene exposures incurred by workers who used historical and current formulations of a recycled mineral spirits solvent in manual parts washers. Measured benzene concentrations in historical samples from parts-washing operations were frequently below analytical detection limits. To better assess benzene exposure among these workers, air-to-solvent concentration ratios measured for toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylenes (TEX) were used to predict those for benzene based on a statistical model, conditional on physical-chemical theory supported by new thermodynamic calculations of TEX and benzene activity coefficients in a modeled MSS-type solvent. Using probabilistic methods, the distributions of benzene concentrations were then combined with distributions of other exposure parameters to estimate eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) exposure concentration distributions and corresponding daily respiratory dose distributions for workers using these solvents in parts washers. The estimated 50th (95th) percentile of the daily respiratory dose and corresponding eight-hour TWA air concentration for workers performing parts washing are 0.079 (0.77) mg and 0.0030 (0.028) parts per million by volume (ppm) for historical solvent, and 0.020 (0.20) mg and 0.00078 (0.0075) ppm for current solvent, respectively. Both 95th percentile eight-hour TWA respiratory exposure estimates for solvent formulations are less than 10% of the current Occupational Safety and Health Administration permissible exposure limit of 1.0 ppm for benzene.

Airborne crystalline silica concentrations at coal-fired power plants associated with coal fly ash.

This study presents measurements of airborne concentrations of respirable crystalline silica in the breathing zone of workers who were anticipated to encounter coal fly ash. Six plants were studied; two were fired with lignite coal, and the remaining four plants used bituminous and subbituminous coals. A total of 108 personal breathing zone respirable dust air samples were collected. Bulk samples were also collected from each plant site and subjected to crystalline silica analysis. Airborne dust particle size analysis was measured where fly ash was routinely encountered. The results from bituminous and subbituminous fired plants revealed that the highest airborne fly ash concentrations are encountered during maintenance activities: 0.008 mg/m3 to 96 mg/m3 (mean of 1.8 mg/m3). This group exceeded the threshold limit values (TLV) in 60% of the air samples. During normal production activities, airborne concentrations of crystalline silica ranged from nondetectable to 0.18 mg/m3 (mean value of 0.048 mg/m3). Air samples collected during these activities exceeded the current and proposed TLVs in approximately 54% and 65% of samples, respectively. Limited amounts of crystalline silica were detected in samples collected from lignite-fired plants, and approximately 20% of these air samples exceeded the current TLV. Particle size analysis in areas where breathing zone air samples were collected revealed mass median diameters typically between 3 microm and 8 microm. Bulk and air samples were analyzed for all of the common crystalline silica polymorphs, and only alpha quartz was detected. As compared with air samples, bulk samples from the same work areas consistently yielded lower relative amounts of quartz. Controls to limit coal fly ash exposures are indicated during some normal plant operations and during episodes of short term, but high concentrations of dust that may be encountered during maintenance activities, especially in areas where ash accumulations are present.

Fungal types and concentrations from settled dust in normal residences.

Analysis of settled dust collected from carpeting and furnishings is occasionally used by investigators to determine whether an environment contains unusual fungi. Little information is available concerning the types and concentrations of culturable fungi present on textile surfaces in normal residential settings not affected by unusual mold reservoirs, such as from fungal growth sites within the built environment. This study presents the results of the collection and analysis of surface dust from 26 residential environments that were prescreened by interview, physical inspection, and air sampling to limit the surface dust collection to structures in which there was no history of water intrusion, flooding, plumbing leaks, signs of mold growth, or evidence of unusual airborne fungal spore types or concentrations. In those structures found to have no history or indications of water events or unusual fungi, surface dust was vacuumed from prescribed horizontal areas on carpet and textile-covered furnishings. These samples were then subjected to fungal culture, from which viable colonies were enumerated and identified. Based on the study results, it does not appear reasonable that the frequently quoted total fungi concentration exceeding 10(5) CFU/g is definitive evidence that a residential surface is contaminated with unusual amounts of culturable fungi. Collocated samples collected from eight side-by-side carpets sections revealed poor reproducibility. While settled dust sampling may be appropriate for determining the fungal status of a localized area, or as a gross screening tool, using settled dust results alone to establish the presence of unusual fungal types or concentrations within a structure appears to be inappropriate, and using settled dust results with other investigative methods, such as visual observations and air sampling, requires cautious interpretation.