biodiversity

Victory: EU Votes to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

Victory: EU Votes to Ban Bee-Killing Pesticides

Beyond Pesticides A landmark decision by the European Commission yesterday, means that bee-killing, neonicotinoid pesticides will experience a continent-wide ban in Europe for two years. A 15-member states majority supported the ban, with eight against and four abstaining. European Health and Consumer Commissioner Tony Borg explains, “Since our proposal is based on a number of risks to […]

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    America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2013

    America’s Most Endangered Rivers of 2013

    American Rivers For thirty years, our America’s Most Endangered Rivers report has highlighted urgent threats to rivers and has spurred the public to take action. Through the report, we have helped sound the alarm on hundreds of rivers, saving them from threats like pollution and new dams. The river at the top of the 2013 […]

    Why You Need to Ditch Dryer Sheets

    Why You Need to Ditch Dryer Sheets

    Wait a minute—how do dryer sheets do that?Mmm, the fresh scent of laundry that’s been dried with dryer sheets. Unfortunately, dryer sheets can contain some harmful chemicals—including hidden fragrance chemicals that lots of people are sensitive to—that vent off into the air we breath and rub off on our clothes and then onto our skin. […]

    Dateline TV Producer Tested for Chemicals—What She Finds Will Shock You!

    Dateline TV Producer Tested for Chemicals—What She Finds Will Shock You!

    Did you catch the Dateline episode yesterday? It was a great report. The producer Andrea Canning wanted to see how her daily behavior could affect the levels of bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates and triclosan in her urine. Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy First, she found her baseline numbers, which […]

    100 Million+ Americans Exposed to Toxic Drinking Water

    100 Million+ Americans Exposed to Toxic Drinking Water

    Environmental Working Group Photo courtesy of Shutterstock A new Environmental Working Group analysis of 2011 water quality tests by 201 large U.S. municipal water systems that serve more than 100 million people in 43 states has determined that all are polluted with unwanted toxic chemicals called trihalomethanes. These chemicals, an unintended side effect of chlorination, […]

    Landmark Study Exposes the Impact of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals on You, Your Family and the Environment

    Landmark Study Exposes the Impact of Hormone-Disrupting Chemicals on You, Your Family and the Environment

    United Nations Environment Programme World Health Organization Many synthetic chemicals, untested for their disrupting effects on the hormone system, could have significant health implications according to the State of the Science of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and World Health Organization (WHO). The joint study calls for […]

    European Agency Finds Insecticide Unacceptable Danger to Bees

    European Agency Finds Insecticide Unacceptable Danger to Bees

    Beyond Pesticides The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) yesterday presented its report which finds that the neonicotinoid class of insecticides poses unacceptable hazards to bees. The report concludes that certain crops treated with neonicotinoid chemicals—imidacloprid, clothianidin and thiamethoxam—are of “critical concern” for bee health. Beekeepers and environmental activists welcome these recent scientific findings that they […]

    New Garbage Patch Discovered in the South Pacific Gyre

    New Garbage Patch Discovered in the South Pacific Gyre

    Scientists from The 5 Gyres Institute have discovered the first evidence of a “garbage patch,” an accumulation zone of plastic pollution floating in the South Pacific subtropical gyre. The new study, published in the journal Marine Pollution Bulletin marks the first documentation of a defined oceanic garbage patch in the Southern Hemisphere, where little research […]