Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today, I released a new report on the need for scientific journals to enforce strict and effective conflict disclosure policies for authors, peer reviewers, and even journal editors. The report, titled, Effective and Practical Disclosure Policies: NRDC Paper on Workshop to...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today the new EPA Administrator, Lisa Jackson, announced a new process for assessing toxic chemicals under the IRIS (Integrated Risk Information System) program, in addition to $5 million and 10 new employees for the IRIS program. The new process puts...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
When President Obama issued a call for public comments on how to fix the dismal state of scientific distortion, manipulation, and suppression that had marked the Bush Administration, NRDC answered the call. So did many other public interest groups and...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has cancelled all food uses of a nasty toxic bird-killing, worker-poisoning pesticide called carbofuran. Yay! Way to earn back the "EP" in your name, EPA! Initially, EPA had said that although uses...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Ever wonder what becomes of that rainwater that runs off pesticide-treated lawns, golf courses, and farm fields? What about the hormone-disupting pharmaceuticals that we flush down the toilet because they are past their due date, leftover, or unwanted? Where does...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Perchlorate, a component of rocket fuel and contaminant of some fertilizer, is also a contaminant in drinking water and in many common foods including milk, tomatoes, lettuce, carrots, and fruit juice. It has also been found in breast milk and...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today the online information site nanowerk posted a commentary from Skip Lockard, a toxic-tort lawyer based in Atlanta, warning manufacturers and retailers of products containing nanomaterials to take effective and immediate action to protect workers and consumers, because: 'Failure to...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
A report released today by the NRDC Health Program documents many examples of Bush Administration budget cuts to key data collection programs that monitor hazardous pollutants in our air, water, food, and even our bodies. The loss of these monitoring programs will...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
If you've used a pesticide on your lawn in the past 60 years, there's a good chance you've used 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (aka 2,4-D) - a carcinogen that was also one-half of the recipe for the infamous Agent Orange. 2,4-D is a...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
In a great victory for NRDC, public health and worker safety, yesterday the chemical industry capitulated today in their long-running effort to reverse a partial ban on a group of pesticides known as the Ethylene bisdithiocarbamates, or EBDCs for short,...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
On January 10, 2005, NRDC petitioned EPA to cancel both agriculture and residential uses of carbaryl. Today, October 29, 2008, EPA finally published in the Federal Register its response to our petition. Unfortunately, its decision is to deny our petition,...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today, I provided testimony before the US House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, at hearings entitled: Science under Siege: Scientific Integrity at the U.S. EPA about political interference with Agency scientists, in their efforts to assess and regulate...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
The smell of a humid Washington summer is rising from the concrete like steam off a blood-sticky slaughterhouse floor as the Nation's capitol winds down from a week of chasing our tails, and switches to chasing mocha-frappa-cuppa-crappa from head shops...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today, a scathing letter was sent to the Department of Labor (DOL) blasting them for their proposed risk assessment rule that would make it even more difficult for the already-slower-than-molasses department to issue workplace safety rules. In this time of...continued→
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today, NRDC filed a lawsuit against the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for their failure to hand over their communications with industry related to a class of toxic plastics chemicals called phthalates.Phthalates make plastics flexible, like infant products and children's...continued→
