Posted by Gina Solomon in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment
"The arsenic was probably there all along." That's what our team of scientists kept hearing from EPA and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ) staff in the months and years following Hurricane Katrina. As a public health advocate, I didn't...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
The H1N1 flu vaccine is starting to be available at clinics, hospitals, and doctor's offices around the country. With the pandemic flu in full swing, many people are asking whether they should get the vaccine. The concerns are especially acute...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
Almost ten years after Julia Roberts played the title role in the movie, the saga about chromium contamination in drinking water continues. The current sequel opens in California on Monday, when the Cal/EPA Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA)...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment
This week I've been reflecting on my experiences four years ago when Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the levees broke, and the city flooded. What a terrible day that was. In the aftermath, a team from NRDC contacted city and...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
The H1N1 ("swine") flu pandemic is in full swing, and we can expect many more cases this fall as kids go back to school. I'm still anxiously watching this virus and hoping that it will remain relatively mild (as flu...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
We have a whodunit on our hands here in California. Unfortunately it's a serious case, because the health effects will be far-reaching, and the ripples will hurt both people and science. Under the cloak of the California budget crisis, a...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
It's amazing how confusing it can be when a new disease emerges, and advice starts flying around. One thing that I want to nip in the bud right now is the idea that "antibacterial" soaps can be helpful for fighting Swine...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
Today the World Health Organization (WHO) raised the pandemic alert level for swine flu to 5. That's on a scale of 0-6, so the needle's creeping up into the red zone. A pandemic 5 means that there is human-to-human spread of...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
The automated voice on my answering machine at first sounded like a telemarketing call. Yet as my finger moved to the 'delete' button, I stopped. "THIS IS A TEST OF THE DISASTER HEALTHCARE VOLUNTEERS NOTIFICATION SYSTEM," the mechanical voice intoned....
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
When my team at NRDC decided to study whether flea collars leave a hazardous residue on cats and dogs, we really didn't know if there was a problem. It seemed possible that we wouldn't find much, and that the residues...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
When I give talks on health and the environment, I almost always get asked about mercury. People want to know whether it's safe to eat fish, whether the mercury in fish is dangerous, and how they can protect themselves. These questions...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment
Last summer I stood in a school yard next to the huge cement kiln in the town of Oro Grande, California. It was hard not to be impressed. The school was new, and the soccer field was perfectly manicured. The playground...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
Maybe it's because I'm a doctor, or maybe it's just that I'm a nerd; but data and numbers are really important to me. When I see patients in clinic, I monitor their vital signs, try to do a good physical exam,...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment
I took a friend who's visiting from Ireland to our local flea market this weekend. It's quite a cultural experience. She found some unique (and inexpensive) gifts to bring home. I trolled for my favorite stuff - toxic junk. Sure...
Posted by Gina Solomon in Environmental Justice , Health and the Environment
The other day I got a call from one of my colleagues, Joe Lyou, from Southern California. Joe runs a great group called the California Environmental Rights Alliance. CERA advocates for environmental justice in communities unlucky enough to have major pollution...
