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Issues: Health and the Environment
All contributor posts in Health and the Environment
November 4, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemicals, formaldehyde, IARC, IRIS, katrina, leukemia, toxic, toxicchemicals, TSCA
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...
October 28, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- atrazine, carbaryl, carbofuran, EPA, hazard, inerts, IRIS, pesticide, regulation, scientificintegrity, toxic, toxicchemicals, TRI
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...
October 21, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- bee, carbamate, carbaryl, flea, pesticide, petcollar, petition, pets, poison, pollinator, ticks, toxic, toxicchemicals
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Protection Agency (EPA) announced that the use of carbaryl, a highly toxic pesticide, in pet collars will be withdrawn!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...
September 10, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- bee, beehive, hazard, IPM, pesticide, pollinator, toxic, toxicchemicals
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...
September 9, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- corporate, liability, litigation, nanomaterials, nanoparticle, nanotechnologies, nanotechnology, toxic, toxicchemicals
My friend Rich Liroff runs an organization called Investor Environmental Health Network (IEHN) that encourages companies to reduce or eliminate toxic chemicals from their product lines. Smart. IEHN uses shareholder resolutions along with direct meetings with companies to encourage them...
August 21, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- agriculture, atrazine, pesticide, simplesteps, syngenta, toxic, toxicchemicals, water, watershed
In today's new NRDC atrazine report we analyzed a mountain of data showing widespread water contamination from atrazine, a toxic herbicide. The data was mostly, but not all, generated by Syngenta, the main manufacturer of atrazine. Are you drinking atrazine in your...
August 19, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemicals, china, health, nanoparticle, nanotechnologies, nanotechnology, toxic, toxicchemicals
A study from Chinese scientists just out today reports on seven workers in a paint factory that were exposed to nanoparticles along with many other hazardous chemicals during their toxic workday. Two have already died of their diseases. All suffered shortness...
July 27, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- bee, CCD, chemicals, colonycollapsedisorder, imidacloprid, neonicotinoid, pesticide, pollinator, simplesteps
I was out inspecting my bee hive this weekend. Yep, i've become a hobby beekeeper...its all the rage, dontcha know. Even though on most days my bees love me, yesterday one little rascal had a bad thought about me, culminating...
June 1, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- asbestos, BPA, cancer, chemicals, conflict, disclosure, industry, pesticide, science, scientificintegrity, toxic, toxicchemicals
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...
May 21, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemicals, EPA, hazard, IRIS, policy, toxic, toxicchemicals
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...
May 14, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemicals, FACA, integrity, peerreview, science, scientificintegrity, toxic, toxicchemicals
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...
May 11, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- cancer, carbamate, carbofuran, FQPA, hazard, pesticide, simplesteps, toxic, toxicchemicals
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...
April 20, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemicals, Frontline, PBS, pharmaceutical, poison, simplesteps, smartgrowth, stormwater, sustainable, toxic, toxicchemicals, water, watershed
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...
April 13, 2009
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- chemistry, EPA, perchlorate, rocketfuel, simplesteps, toxic, toxicchemicals, water
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...
December 17, 2008
Posted by Jennifer Sass in Health and the Environment
- Tags:
- healthhazard, liability, litigation, nanomaterials, nanotechnology, REACH, toxicchemicals
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...