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New TSA Uniforms Trigger a Rash of Complaints[Formaldehyde]
The Washington Post ^ | 05 Jan 2009 | Steve Vogel

Posted on 01/07/2009 10:11:09 AM PST by BGHater

The new blue uniforms issued to Transportation Security Administration officers at hundreds of airports nationwide may have a snazzy look, but they have become a major irritant for some of those employees.

The new uniforms are causing rashes and other irritations among transportation security officers who screen passengers at airports, according to the union representing the workers.

"We're hearing from hundreds of TSOs that this is an issue," said Emily Ryan, a spokeswoman for the American Federation of Government Employees. Most of the complaints have been for skin rashes, but they have also included runny or bloody noses, lightheadeness, red eyes, and swollen and cracked lips, union officials say.

The union blames formaldehyde, which is a chemical byproduct of the permanent-press finish applied by clothing manufacturers to prevent mildew and stains.

A spokesman for TSA said that the problem is not serious or widespread, and that few workers have complained. The agency said that tests done on the uniforms have not found unacceptable levels of formaldehyde or any other chemical.

"So far, a handful of officers have reported minor irritations," said Christopher White, a TSA spokesman.

In response to the complaints, the manufacturer, VF Solutions of Nashville, used an independent laboratory to test shirts worn by complaining officers as well as previously unworn uniforms. "Each and every uniform tested was found to be well under acceptable limits for a number of substances known to cause irritation, including formaldehyde," the TSA said in a statement.

Neal Waters, vice president of public safety for VF Solutions, said the formaldehyde present on the TSA shirts and pants was well below the industry standard of 75 parts per million. "There wasn't enough present to even register on the tests," he said.

(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


TOPICS: Government
KEYWORDS: allergy; formaldehyde; tsa; uniforms; workplace
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1 posted on 01/07/2009 10:11:10 AM PST by BGHater
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To: BGHater; tx_eggman

“Made in China - Hecho en Chino”


2 posted on 01/07/2009 10:13:56 AM PST by SpinnerWebb (mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves)
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To: BGHater
You mean they're changing from THIS spiffy number?
Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting

3 posted on 01/07/2009 10:17:53 AM PST by Dick Bachert
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To: BGHater
At the risk of getting a zot, karma is a bitch.
4 posted on 01/07/2009 10:18:50 AM PST by Jonah Hex ("Never underestimate the hungover side of the Force.")
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To: BGHater; Terabitten
VF Solutions, simply the BEST!!!

"Issuing boxy, uncomfortable, toxin laden, uniforms since 1988!"

Kind of an aside, but did anyone catch that DHS show on ABC last night?

Not bad, but I can't see John Q. Public watching 13 weeks of that, although I guess if you see it everyday it's not that interesting.

So, TSA, the buck-toothed, retarded foundling of DHS gets two measly spots on the entire show. Scene one is some overweight, badge-heavy screener telling some woman she can't bring her water on the plane and the reason is top secret or something. Beautiful.

Scene number two is some guy getting all weepy and maudlin over his screening job, about how the public is his responsibility. I don't know about his agency, but if the reaction to that is anything like what I've seen in mind, he can expect to find a vulgarity beginning with the letter P dug into his locker with a knife courtesy of his co-workers.

Those guys just can't catch a break.

T, list worthy? maybe a stretch.

Owl_Eagle

“When the stock market crashed,
Franklin Roosevelt got on the television
and didn’t just talk about
the princes of greed, he said,
‘Look, here’s what happened.’"
-Slow Joe Biden

5 posted on 01/07/2009 10:22:27 AM PST by End Times Sentinel (In Memory of my Dear Friend Henry Lee II)
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To: BGHater

Most public contact with the TSA is pretty negative. They’ll get about as much public sympathy as striking professional athletes.


6 posted on 01/07/2009 10:22:48 AM PST by Tallguy ("The sh- t's chess, it ain't checkers!" -- Alonzo (Denzel Washington) in "Training Day")
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To: BGHater

wash before wearing, morons.


7 posted on 01/07/2009 10:27:45 AM PST by GeronL (long lost freeper)
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To: BGHater
The new blue uniforms issued to Transportation Security Administration officers at hundreds of airports nationwide may have a snazzy look, but they have become a major irritant for some of those employees.

Good. Then we're not the only ones who are irritated.

8 posted on 01/07/2009 10:30:05 AM PST by DoughtyOne (I see that Kenya's favorite son has a new weekly Saturday morning radio show.)
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To: BGHater
New TSA Uniforms


9 posted on 01/07/2009 10:40:00 AM PST by steve-b (Intelligent design is to evolutionary biology what socialism is to free-market economics.)
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To: Tallguy
I've noticed a significant uptick in the caliber of screening personnel lately. Pleasant, intelligent, and efficient. This cannot be simply a function of new training or policy; you can't train people into what DNA and parenting neglected. This has to be the result of changes made at the hiring level. I've also noticed more behavioral profiling--chatting you up, looking in you in the eye instead of staring into whatever carryon they're rummaging through. Good.

Dunno what they did with all the misfits they had manning the lines, but wherever they hid them, it must be a very large place.

10 posted on 01/07/2009 10:42:00 AM PST by Eroteme
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To: SpinnerWebb
Washed in Chinese water!!!
11 posted on 01/07/2009 10:48:00 AM PST by org.whodat (Conservatives don't vote for Bailouts for Super-Rich Bankers! Republicans do!)
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To: GeronL
wash before wearing, morons.

See, for example, Rao S, Shenoy SD, Davis S, Nayak S. "Detection of formaldehyde in textiles by chromotropic acid method." Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol 2004;70:342-4. Available from: http://www.ijdvl.com/text.asp?2004/70/6/342/13474

"It is generally recommended that these clothes should be washed before wearing to reduce the level of free formaldehyde.[4] But in our study the majority of the textiles did not show a reduction in their formaldehyde content despite two washes, implying that wearing washed clothes may not be entirely safe."
Reference 4 is "Textile and shoe dermatitis." In: Fischer's contact dermatitis, 5th Ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins; 2001. p. 279-315.
12 posted on 01/07/2009 10:54:35 AM PST by Gondring (Paul Revere would have been flamed as a naysayer troll and told to go back to Boston.)
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To: BGHater
Just wondering, but does anyone believe that the TSA has had anything to do with preventing another attack on this country by radical Islamic Jihadists?

Didn't think so.

IMHO the only thing they are good at is creating logjams at airports and inconveniencing millions of air travelers nationwide. They are VERY good at that for sure. What a waste of money and time.

13 posted on 01/07/2009 11:22:44 AM PST by mc5cents (Show me just what Mohammd brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman)
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To: BGHater
The new uniforms are causing rashes and other irritations among transportation security officers who screen scream at passengers at airports.

There ya go. I have sooooo much sympathy.

14 posted on 01/07/2009 11:33:09 AM PST by JimSEA
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To: DoughtyOne
My goodness, pre-death external embalming?

Nothing like being prepared. Are they expecting a big terrorist attack on TSA employees?

LOL

15 posted on 01/07/2009 11:37:28 AM PST by Syncro (Mi TagLine)
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To: BGHater
From further down in the article: "The union blames formaldehyde, which is a chemical byproduct of the permanent-press finish applied by clothing manufacturers to prevent mildew and stains."

Now, are the mildew and stains from the shipping of the uniforms or poor hygiene on the part of TSA employees?

16 posted on 01/07/2009 11:46:03 AM PST by mikey_hates_everything
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To: Syncro

LOL. I wonder if we could secretly switch them to the ones that poof cyan pepper in the groin area about once every sixty seconds.

;-p


17 posted on 01/07/2009 11:47:30 AM PST by DoughtyOne (I see that Kenya's favorite son has a new weekly Saturday morning radio show.)
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To: Gondring

wearing clothes is dangerous? why didnt someone tell me before i got fat?


18 posted on 01/07/2009 1:43:24 PM PST by GeronL (long lost freeper)
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To: SpinnerWebb
did the American company manufacture the uniforms or just resell uniforms actually made in China??

And - at what cost??

seems like a poor time for such expenditures!

19 posted on 01/07/2009 1:56:06 PM PST by elpadre (nation)
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To: Eroteme

I have actually noticed the same thing-much quieter and more professional bearing.

Casual questioning, and the big mouths screaming instruciton shave virtually gone


20 posted on 01/07/2009 2:13:19 PM PST by 5Madman2 (There is no such thing as an experienced suicide bomber)
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