skip to main content

Natural Resources Defense Council

Switchboard

Frances Beinecke's Blog

Issues: Health and the Environment

Just What the Doctor Ordered: Climate Change, Public Health, and Clean Energy

May 18, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arctic, darfur, globalwarming, globalwarmingandhealth, health, heatwaves, lancet, malnutrition

Six years ago, the only people I talked to about global warming were other environmentalists. Now it is the top of the agenda for everyone from corporate CEOs to national security hawks. Last week, another sector joined in the growing...

Growing Green: Honoring Leaders Who Are Changing the Way We Farm and Eat

May 8, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably , Moving Beyond Oil

Tags:
agriculture, eatlocal, localfood, michaelpollan, simplesteps, sustainablefarming

Tomorrow night NRDC will do something it has never done before: give out the inaugural Growing Green Awards to leaders in the sustainable food movement. Selected by a panel chaired by Michael Pollan, the best-selling author of the Omnivore's Dilemma,...

Breast Cancer Risk and the Air We Breathe

May 5, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment

Tags:
americanlungassociation, asthma, breastcancer, diesel, dieselexhaust, estrogen, PAHs, pollution, simplesteps, smog

Last week, the American Lung Association came out with its annual State of the Air report, and concluded that six out of every ten Americans live in communities with unhealthy air. I read these results not only as the head...

Phasing out Phthalates & Clearing the Air

March 12, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airfresheners, chemicals, EPA, phthalates, pregnancy, SCJohnson, simplesteps

SC Johnson, the maker of some of the world's most popular household cleaning products, has just announced two bold steps that will help consumers make healthier choices. First, the company will provide ingredient information for all of its air care and...

America Leads on Major Human Health Victory: Curbing Mercury Pollution

February 26, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment

Tags:
coalfiredpowerplants, mercury, mercuryinfish, obama, powerplants, tuna

Over the past year, I have noticed a disturbing trend. More and more people approach me to say that they or someone they love has dangerously high levels of mercury in their system. When actor Jeremy Piven recently bowed out...

President Obama: Continue to Lead on Restricting Mercury

January 30, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment

Tags:
coalfiredpowerplants, mercury, mercuryinfish, obama, tuna

President Obama has deftly used his time in office to make bold statements on everything from Guantanamo to global warming. In two weeks, he will have another opportunity to send a message to the world that the United States is...

Household Trash Is Managed Better than the TVA’s Coal Ash

January 8, 2009

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
arsenic, cancer, coalash, coalfiredpowerplants, coalindustry, dirtycoal, EPA, kingstonfossilplant, toxins, TVA

Americans have been assaulted on the airwaves with ads about so-called "clean coal." What happened in East Tennessee, where a breach of a coal ash pond at a power plant send a billion gallons of toxic sludge into nearby communities,...

In Memory of a Toxics Warrior

December 22, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment , The Media and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
almeyerhoff, california, chemicals, health, toxins

It is with great sadness that I write about the passing of our dear friend and colleague Al Meyerhoff. A leader in NRDC's San Francisco office from 1981 to 1998, Al was a potent force for NRDC and the environment....

What's Worse than Chemo? A Common Toxin that Renders It Less Effective

December 16, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, chemotherapy, endocrinedisruptors, estrogen, plasticbottles, simplesteps, toxins, waterbottles

I had breast cancer almost ten years ago, and I found chemotherapy to be more trying than I could have imagined. I prefer to leave it in the past, but recent reports brought it all back and triggered an alarming...

Breast Cancer Awareness: From Pink Ribbons to a Right to Know Law

October 28, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, breastcancermonth, endocrinedisruptors, phthalates, plasticbottles, simplesteps

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I am a breast cancer survivor, and in the years immediately after my diagnosis, I sometimes found the annual proliferation of pink ribbons difficult--it was hard to be reminded of cancer every time...

Honeybees, NRDC's Lawsuit, and EPA's Discontent

September 4, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:
clothianidin, colonycollapsedisorder, EPA, honeybees, NRDClawsuit, officeofpesticideprograms, pesticides, pollination

Last week, the Environmental Protection Agency registered its discontent with NRDC. Why? Because it claims we are overstepping by asking a public agency to share more public information. Maybe you don’t view the behavior of honeybees as a matter of...

Why Endocrine Disruptors Should Be a Household Word

April 25, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Curbing Pollution , Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, endocrinedisruptors, hardplastic, phthalates, plasticbottles, pregnancy, simplesteps

In the past week, there have been a lot of news reports and blog chatter about BPA, also known as bisphenol-A. Finally, government agencies, consumers, and manufacturers are starting to take this toxin seriously. But BPA is only one member...

Calling a Toxin a Toxin: BPA Gets the Name It Deserves

April 17, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, endocrinedisruptors, estrogen, healthcanada, nationaltoxicologyprogram, plasticbottles, simplesteps, syntheticestrogen

It’s been a bad week for bisphenol-A, and that’s a good thing. Not one but two government agencies came out for the first time publicly saying that this chemical--found in plastic water bottles, canned food, and numerous baby products--could harm...

Breast Cancer and One of the Most Pervasive Chemicals of Modern Life

March 25, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybottles, bisphenol-a, BPA, breastcancer, plasticbottles, simplesteps, waterbottles

I had breast cancer nine years ago. I have a strong constitution--and a strong will--and those carried me far during my diagnosis and treatment. But still it was a difficult time for me and my family. One thing that brought...

Read the Label Before You Run the Bath

February 15, 2008

Posted by Frances Beinecke in Health and the Environment , Living Sustainably

Tags:
babybath, babyproducts, babyshampoo, endocrinedisruptors, EPA, infertility, phthalates, simplesteps, toxins

The evening baby bath routine is one of the simple pleasures of life for young parents. My three girls loved playing in the water. And seeing their unfettered delight in splashing in the water calmed me down after harried days....