I grew up in the Canadian prairies where I learned to love open spaces, wild places, big skies, long summer nights, cozy cold winters, and the comfort of good friends. I came to the US as a post-doctoral student of toxicology and environmental health. After about a dozen successful years as a bench scientist conducting basic medical research, I wanted to transition into policy work. I joined NRDC in 2001 to work towards strengthening the regulation of toxic chemicals. When not in the office I like to hike, bike, white water kayak, and walk my dog.
Posted September 7, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Yesterday, the New York Times (NYT) published a story on the Battle of the BPA Experts, titled, "In Feast of Data on BPA Plastic, No Final Answer". This battle, like the one between Godzilla and King Kong, involves powerful minds...continued→
Posted August 25, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
If you have a pest problem - creepy crawlies in your home, garden, school, or farm - who do you call? Before you reach for a can of deadly cancer-causing skull-and-crossbones chemical-death spray, try checking out the advice of your Regional...continued→
Posted August 24, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
You may have heard recent media reports about an angry scientist sending inappropriate emails to one of the world’s biggest chemical manufacturers (for example, in Nature news, and Sciencemag). Frankly, I did not want to weigh in on UC Berkeley Professor Tyrone...continued→
Posted August 17, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a deal with Bayer CropScience to end the use of a highly toxic pesticide, Aldicarb. This is good news for health and environmental protection. Aldicarb is part of the N-methyl carbamate family...continued→
Posted July 22, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today NRDC filed a lawsuit against EPA for 'unreasonable delay and failing to act' on our 2007 petition to cancel one of the most hazardous pesticides on the market, chlorpyrifos. Yay NRDC, and our partners in this lawsuit, Pesticide Action Network North...continued→
Posted June 9, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
Today, after years of pushing by NRDC and others, EPA announced that it is cancelling all - ALL- uses of the pesticide endosulfan. Yay! Endosulfan is a toxic, long-lasting pesticide that travels through the atmosphere and ends up in the Arctic,...continued→
Posted May 3, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
For our new 2010 report on atrazine water contamination, I have reviewed the studies on the environmental impacts and health effects of atrazine and many other agriculture chemicals. The findings confirm our 2009 report that showed widespread water contamination, but also provide...continued→
Posted April 28, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today is the day that we honor those among us that have died on the job, some by preventable accidents, some by preventable occupational diseases. This week the government released the new statistics on work-related deaths and injuries among youth workers, 15-24...continued→
Posted April 21, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
On Thursday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will put into force its long-overdue lead-safe workpractices rule, called the Lead: Renovation, Repair and Painting (LRRP) Rule. Yay! This rule will go a long long way towards protecting homeowners, their families, and renovators...continued→
Posted March 2, 2010 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Are you sitting down? Good. Because a new study by Berkeley Professor Tyrone Hayes is reporting that 10% (N=4) of male frogs raised in atrazine-laced water (2.5 ppb) not only have female sex characteristics, including eggs, but they will attract and successfully...continued→
Posted December 8, 2009 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Kudos to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) for its announcement this week that its pesticide assessments will now start to consider the high risks to under-age farmworkers, 12-17 yrs old, and young children that are taken into...continued→
Posted November 4, 2009 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
I won't bury the lead: last week the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), the most prestigious international body for cancer assessment in the world, determined that sufficient evidence exists to link formaldehyde with leukemia, a cancer of the blood...continued→
Posted October 28, 2009 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Under the leadership of the Obama Administration, and with Administrator Lisa Jackson at the helm of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) all sorts of good things have been happening to increase public transparency, scientific integrity, and health protections. Many of...continued→
Posted October 21, 2009 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the use of carbaryl, a highly toxic pesticide, in pet collars will be withdrawn! In 2005 NRDC filed a petition to cancel carbaryl. We asked that EPA cancel uses of carbaryl in pet flea collars...continued→
Posted September 10, 2009 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
With the colder weather coming, beekeepers all over the country are getting their hives winter-ready. The experienced beekeepers are harvesting the honey as well, but new-bees like me (get it? newbies? lame, I know) won't be taking any honey this...continued→
Switchboard is the staff blog of the Natural Resources Defense Council, the nation’s most effective environmental group. For more about our work, including in-depth policy documents, action alerts and ways you can contribute, visit NRDC.org.
