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Issues: Health and the Environment

Bisphenol A: Is it Gone? What's Next?

April 18, 2008

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
bisphenol-a, bottles, BPA, containers, copolyester, endocrinedisruptors, food-cans, nalgene, polycarbonate, simplesteps

The dominos are really starting to fall, as major manufacturers and retailers line up to announce that they are removing bisphenol A (BPA) from their products, or are pulling these products from their shelves. Although it’s gratifying to see this...

Federal Agency is First to Acknowledge Risks of Plastic Chemical

April 14, 2008

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
bisphenol-a, BPA, endocrinedisruptors, nalgene, nationaltoxicologyprogram, NTP, plastic, simplesteps

The National Toxicology Program (NTP) today released a draft evaluation of the widespread chemical, bisphenol A, becoming the first federal agency in the world to express concern regarding this chemical’s potential to cause harm to fetuses, infants and children.  Bisphenol A...

Lead in Toys and in our Air

March 31, 2008

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airpollution, children, lead, leadpoisoning, pollution, simplesteps, toys

I just got back from a visit with my adorable 9 month old nephew in Florida. It was fun to hold him and play with him. He’s even starting to crawl, and we got some great photos and video of...

Your Friendly Neighborhood Lead Polluter

March 24, 2008

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airpollution, children, EPA, leadpoisoning, NAAQS, simplesteps, smelter

The town of Herculaneum, Missouri is a big red blotch on the map. Leslie and Jack Warden, raised their son there, less than a mile from the Doe Run lead smelter. Their son has Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD). Her niece...

Air pollution standards: Will the next debacle be about lead?

March 17, 2008

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment , U.S. Law and Policy

Tags:
airpollution, cleanairact, EPA, lead, leadpoisoning, ozone, simplesteps

This past week, the EPA gave itself another black eye by adopting a standard for ozone (smog) pollution that EPA science advisors say is inadequate to protect human health or the environment. Check out the Washington Post story here. Worse still,...

Eco-Consumers and Health

November 1, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
consumer-product, cosmetics, endocrinedisruptors, lead, phthalates

On Halloween day, 43,000 sets of "Ugly Teeth" party favors were recalled due to dangerous lead contamination. This piles on top of recalls of candy collection buckets, Frankenstein drinking goblets, and more lead-tainted toys. Now that's really a Halloween scare!...

White House Meddling in Health and Global Warming Science

October 24, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
CDC, centersfordiseasecontrol, EPW, Gerberding, globalwarming, health, IPCC, Senate, WhiteHouse

What is it about global warming that the occupants of the White House don't seem to understand? It's beginning to seem like the only people who just don't get it are a few people in big buildings in Washington. Only two weeks after...

Sneezing and Wheezing: Ragweed, Ozone, and Global Warming

October 17, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
allergies, asthma, co2, globalwarming, ozone, ragweed

Asthma and allergies are among the most annoying and even disabling common health problems. About 36 million Americans suffer from some kind of allergy, and about 17 million people have asthma. These diseases result in millions of missed school days,...

Why Won't Toxic Lead Just Go Away?

October 12, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
children, consumers, cosmetics, CPSC, EPA, gasoline, health, lead, lipstick, metals, poisoning, product

So today we learn that lead is in lipstick. In recent months we've read about lead in children's toys, lunchboxes, contaminated candy, children's costume jewelry, and many other common products in our homes. Will it ever end?Since the days of the...

Chemicals, Fragrances, and Sensitivity

October 10, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airfreshener, chemical-sensitivity-syndrome, fragrance, multiple-chemical-sensitivity, perfume

When we released our report on air fresheners a couple of weeks ago, I was focused mostly on two issues: (1) the worrisome fact that consumers have no right to information about what's in common household products and that these products aren't...

Eat Fish or Don't Eat Fish?

October 4, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
fish, mercury, omega-3-fatty-acids, pregnant

Everyone seems to be buzzing about the latest round in the "fish wars". So I'll wade into the fray with my own perspective on this issue. I've spent a lot of time looking at the data on both the benefits...

Clearing the Air: Walgreens Pulls Worrisome Air Fresheners from the Shelves

September 20, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airfreshener, endocrinedisruptors, hormone, phthalates, sperm, Walgreens

It was nice to wake up to some good news this morning. Walgreens took a look at our test results that showed diethyl phthalate (DEP) in some of their air freshener products, and moved fast to do the right thing....

Air Fresheners - How safe are they?

September 19, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
airfreshener, consumers, household, phthalates, sperm, testosterone

I swear these things are everywhere. When I'm at the hospital, there's a can in every bathroom. The nurses and housekeeping staff spritz away in patient rooms, in the nurses' station, and in the hallways. When I go into people's...

Preparing for Global Warming

September 12, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment , Solving Global Warming

Tags:
climatechange, disease, globalwarming, health, heat, institute-of-medicine, IPCC, pollen

I just spent the last two days at a meeting of the Institute of Medicine on "Climate and Human Health". The setting was nice - San Francisco's Presidio National Park - but the topic was disturbing. Here's the gist: Nobody's...

Chemical Toxicity Testing

September 9, 2007

Posted by Gina Solomon in Health and the Environment

Tags:
chemicals, NAS, nationalacademyofsciences, pesticides, testing, toxicity

A couple of months ago, a scientific panel from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a report on the future of toxicity testing. The summary of the report, which can be found here, outlined a new approach to figuring out...

Gina Solomon
Gina Solomon
Senior Scientist
San Francisco
I've been a Senior Scientist at NRDC for twelve years, and my work is focused on protecting people...
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