http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/in_the_news/inspector.html
In The News /
May 18
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A tip from an alert online shopper who noticed an unusual posting on Craigslist allowed authorities to recover 64 pounds of dangerous elemental mercury from a Floodwood, Minn., resident. The seller said his grandfather apparently had planned to use the mercury for mining gold.
Duluth News Tribune, Minnesota
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Consumers should not eat shellfish from South Korea and retailers should stop selling it, federal and state regulators said Thursday. An agency analysis of the Korean shellfish program found unacceptable water pollution levels in shellfish-growing areas and periodic detection of norovirus.
Washington Post
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The Obama administration is asking a presidential commission to help decide an ethical quandary: Should the anthrax vaccine and other treatments being stockpiled in case of a bioterror attack be tested in children?
Associated Press
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Doctors say they need to know what's in natural gas drilling companies' secret chemical formulas in order to treat patients who may have been exposed to them. A new law in Pennsylvania will give physicians access to the information, but says they can't tell anyone else, not even other doctors, what's in those formulas.
All Things Considered, NPR
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An oil spill was discovered off Brazil's coast near the country's Espirito Santo state, Brazil's Navy said on Thursday, the latest in a series of spills that have raised questions about the safety of a massive expansion of the country's oil production capacity.
Reuters
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In the dank bowels of the ship, a million microbes squirm and writhe. Their watery cradle — the ballast — plays a central role in balancing the weight of cargo ships. But if flushed into the wrong environment, these aliens could very well take over ecosystems.
New York Times
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Fumigation has done wonders for strawberry production, but it's under attack and it may have to change. The most powerful fumigant, methyl bromide, is getting phased out gradually because it can eat away at Earth's ozone layer.
All Things Considered, NPR
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Apple Inc plans to power its main US data center entirely with renewable energy by the end of this year, taking steps to address longstanding environmental concerns about the rapid expansion of high-consuming computer server farms.
Reuters
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Bangladesh is a prime example of a vulnerable developing nation that faces formidable challenges in food security, water shortages, the health of oceans, disaster readiness and assuring people a livelihood. Bangladesh will be directly affected by the decisions that are made at the Rio+20 conference, said one UN expert.
New York Times
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Following an increase in cyclones that have affected Vietnam in the last five years, a number of organizations have begun working in disaster-prone coastal areas of Vietnam, building on evidence that mangroves can play a crucial role in reducing the destruction.
Reuters
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The federal government has pulled the plug on one of Canada's most famous science facilities, the Experimental Lakes Area program in northwestern Ontario, which was instrumental in banning phosphorus in detergents and stopping acid rain, as part of budget cuts at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Postmedia News
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British Columbia doesn’t need to ban cosmetic pesticide use, according to an all-party government committee convened to probe a possible ban on the sale and use of cosmetic pesticides used to ensure a perfect lawn and weed-free garden.
Canadian Press
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The Canadian government is to mark the 25th anniversary of its green business advisers by shutting the agency down, saying funding will be cut in 2013 because of the availability of information from thinktanks, the internet and universities.
The Guardian, United Kingdom
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Beijing will introduce new fuel standards on May 31 that municipal officials say are nearly on a par with the European Union's Euro V, the first Chinese city to do so. The new standards are expected to reduce sulfur dioxide emissions from 50 to 10 milligrams per kilogram, according to the Beijing environmental protection bureau.
China Daily
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By Mike Soraghan
EnergyWire
18 May 2012
Drilling companies that once touted clean, green natural gas are going back to being big, brown oil companies. So do they have to change their lobbying pitch, and if so, how?
The primary talking point as natural gas vied for political market share was that gas burns twice as clean as coal. That leaves the drilling business with a message disconnect. Several drilling companies carry blue flames or green stripes in their logos even as they assure their shareholders that they're moving into oil as fast as they can.
more…
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By Meredith Cohn
Baltimore Sun
18 May 2012
A day after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cut in half the threshold for determining lead exposure in the nation's children, pediatricians faced the task of identifying new cases from thousands of their old files.
The recommendation from the CDC recognizes what doctors have long believed: that any amount of lead can be harmful.
more…
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New Science
Understand the latest scientific findings
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Exposure to bisphenol A at levels commonly found in the general population may cut a woman's chance of getting pregnant if she is undergoing fertility treatment, a study from Harvard University finds. Women with higher levels of the chemical, widely used in food can linings and receipt paper, were less likely to get pregnant than women with lower levels. more…
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Women exposed to low levels of cadmium in their food have changes in DNA markers that alter gene regulation and increase their cancer risk. This study for the first time suggests that cadmium may be turning genes on or off in a way that triggers disease. more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/media_review/inspector.html
Media Notes
Notable media news and reviews
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The lack of scientific information in a Daily Mail article undermines the credibility of a possible link between a cluster of birth defects and the widely used herbicide atrazine. Readers will find it hard to understand the issue based on the incomplete coverage. more…
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A story in the Windsor Star is one of the first to cover a new type of flame retardant that has contaminated the air of U.S. cities and remote areas of the world. The story, though, doesn't mention research that shows these chemicals already have accumulated in mammals and household dust. more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/editorials/inspector.html
Editorials
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Newark Star-Ledger
New Jersey is under the impression it’s won the war on lead poisoning. That will be news to the thousands of kids who will test positive for high lead levels this year.
more…
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Poughkeepsie Journal
Mercifully, a resolution could be in sight for about 150 homeowners in Hopewell Junction who have waited far too long for a permanent solution to water pollution that has jeopardized their health and tainted their properties. It’s imperative these homes get connected to a new, public water source.
more…
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http://www.environmentalhealthnews.org/frontpage/opinions/inspector.html
Opinions
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Gary Wilson
Great Lakes Echo
The White House announced last week that it will present options for a “potential permanent solution” to stop advancing Asian carp by the end of 2013. Environmental groups were not impressed. Maybe they should have been. Obama's the best friend the Great Lakes have ever had.
more…
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Keiji Takeuchi
Asahi Shimbun
Did Tokyo Electric Power Co. ask government officials to allow all company workers to evacuate the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant at a critical stage of last year’s accident, or didn’t it? That question must be answered before the government resumes operations at nuclear plants.
more…
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By Lisa Palmer
Daily Climate
18 May 2012
The drive to improve climate science education in public schools – and the effort to add 'balance' to those lesson plans – is reshaping how science is taught in America. Starting Monday, a two-part DailyClimate.org series by reporter Lisa Palmer explores the leading edge of this changing landscape of science education.
more…
By Douglas Fischer
Daily Climate
3 May 2012
With Asia's energy demands pulling more U.S. coal to West Coast ports, rail-line communities across Montana fear the effects: More train traffic, health problems, noise and congestion.
more…
By Peter Dykstra
Daily Climate
1 May 2012
A Fox TV commentator, midgame, links global warming to home runs, and fans on all sides of the climate debate call foul.
more…
By Rae Tyson
Daily Climate
30 April 2012
Snakehead with a side of Kudzu? Washington, D.C.'s Barton Seaver is pushing boundaries in the kitchen, urging restaurants to use menu choice to help sustain diversity – and connect the dots – in a changing climate.
A Climate Query.
more…
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Hot Topics
From today's news and archives
Want more? search here
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In The News (CONTINUED) /
May 18
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Despite soil samples the state took recently coming back as nonhazardous, some Mecca residents remain deeply skeptical about a recycling plant blamed for the noxious smells that permeated their community. Palm Springs Desert Sun, California
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The Louisiana Bucket Brigade, an environmental watchdog group that focuses on industrial emissions, says the state Department of Environmental Quality has done such a poor job of enforcing federal air quality laws in the state that the federal government should take over the job. New Orleans Times-Picayune, Louisiana
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The nearly 100 plaintiffs alleging death, cancer and other illnesses from radioactive emissions from two defunct Armstrong County nuclear fuels plants are awaiting a trial date for what is likely to be a second set of a multimillion-dollar federal lawsuit. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pennsylvania
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As federal regulators review a controversial program exempting government designated “model workplaces” from regular safety checks, newly released records detail significant safety risks, injuries and even deaths at the sites across Massachusetts. New England Center for Investigative Reporting
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A young man in China has so little confidence in the hygiene of his company's cafeteria that he supplements each meal with antibiotics. That is his undoing. When the man later falls ill, drugs fail to save him. An autopsy reveals why: His body is riddled with multiple strains of drug-resistant bacteria. Science
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To control the mosquitoes that cause malaria and dengue, one chemist has invented a way to embed pesticides in microcapsules stirred into house paints. “The paint acts like a vaccine for houses and buildings,” she said. Business Week
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