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 February 1, 2012 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
EPA made a public promise to complete its assessment of the highly toxic chemical Dioxin by the end of January - yesterday. Deadline missed. Why does it matter? We, the people, need the federal government - our government - to...continued→
Posted January 26, 2012 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Today we filed a federal lawsuit to block nanosilver, a potent antimicrobial pesticide, from market access. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has conditionally registered nanosilver for use in textiles including such things as clothing, baby blankets, and pillow cases. The "conditional" part...continued→
Posted January 25, 2012 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
Never heard of perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs)? They're used in many of the most common consumer products, including non-stick coatings, waterproofing chemicals, and stain-resistent coatings on clothing, furniture, food packaging, non-stick pans, shiny coatings in pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags, etc. They get...continued→
Posted October 18, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Big business chemical industries have repeatedly blocked the Environmental Protection Agency and other government bodies from assessing the harms of hazardous chemicals. NRDC provides a meticulous accounting of the evidence behind this in The Delay Game. This new report, released...continued→
Posted October 7, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
As my NRDC colleague Andrew Wetzler has noted, on October 5 "the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would not protect the northern leopard frog under the Endangered Species Act. Hidden in that announcement was the admission, however,...continued→
Posted October 3, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Chrome looks pretty sweet on car parts and motorcycles. Not so much in your drinking water. At least, that what the new science from the US National Toxicology Program indicates, when the rats drinking hexavalent chromium (Cr6) over a lifetime...continued→
Posted September 28, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
Today EPA took an important step towards protecting the public and wildlife from trichloroethylene (TCE), a very hazardous mutagenic cancer-causing chemical that pollutes the nation’s water and air. TCE is also the culprit involved in the Woburn, MA cancer cluster of...continued→
Posted August 28, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment, U.S. Law and Policy
My colleagues and friends at Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR) have just published a series of short commentaries titled, "How does our nation’s reliance on pesticides affect the health of those who plant and harvest our food?" Among the excellent...continued→
Posted June 10, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
Today the government released its 12th Report on Carcinogens (RoC) - naming styrene and formaldehyde as among the chemicals that are known (formaldehyde) or reasonably anticipated (styrene) to cause cancer in humans (see the media announcement here). This is a really big...continued→
Posted April 28, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places
Friday is Save the Frogs day, with a big rally in Washington DC and an online petition to ban atrazine, a weed-killing pesticide that is very harmful to frogs. Pesticides are harmful – that’s why they end in “…cide”, like...continued→
Posted April 21, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Environmental Justice, Health and the Environment
Pre-natal exposure to an especially toxic class of pesticides called "organophosphate pesticides" or OP's, has been linked to poor memory, learning deficits, and lower IQ when the children are school-aged in three studies just published today. These studies show that...continued→
Posted April 8, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Today the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released its long-awaited report on formaldehyde. The report confirms EPA’s determination that formaldehyde causes cancer in humans. The Academies recommended that EPA re-write its report to more clearly communicate the scientific reasoning underpinning...continued→
Posted February 28, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Curbing Pollution, Health and the Environment, Moving Beyond Oil, U.S. Law and Policy
This weekend the first in a series of stories in the New York Times on natural gas hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking' hit the newsstands. It was jam-packed with information about how reckless and poorly-managed this industry can be. Our NRDC...continued→
Posted February 18, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
Everything you wanted to know about pesticides, but were afraid to ask. Well, not everything - but, market trends from the industry sales and usage data. Wow, my heart rate is spiking! This report is supposed to be issued by...continued→
Posted February 18, 2011 by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
ILSI, the International Life Sciences Institute, is a wordy and misleading name for the global trade organization representing about 500 corporate members including food, chemical, and petrochemical companies. (Its member list is on page 14 of its 2010 Annual Report) On its...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.
