Another day, another sign of the reach of the global ocean plastics crisis. A Greenpeace expedition to Antarctica turned up microplastics in more than half of ocean water samples taken in the world’s southernmost waters. It also found chemicals dangerous to wildlife in a majority of snow samples, Greenpeace reported Wednesday. “We may think of […]
A new study from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows an “unexpected and persistent increase” in global emissions of an ozone-depleting chemical even though an international treaty forced production to completely halt by 2010. NOAA scientists suggest that emissions are most likely from new, unreported production from an unidentified source in eastern Asia. […]
One of the major health concerns associated with the widespread use of plastics is exposure to bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is an endocrine disruptor, meaning it mimics the effects of estrogen on the body and has been linked to the growth of tumors in the breast, uterus and prostate, impacts on pregnancy and fertility and […]
Officials with the White House and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ( EPA) tried to block a critical report on a class of toxic chemicals after a White House aide warned that a “public relations nightmare” would follow after its release, according to emails reported by POLITICO on Monday. The Agency for Toxic Substances and […]
By Sharon Kelly Back in 2008, residents of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and surrounding areas received a notice in the mail advising them to drink bottled water instead of tap water—a move that U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) internal memos at the time described as “one of the largest failures in U.S. history to supply clean drinking […]
Amid conflicting scientific studies and growing public concern over the impacts of the world’s most widely used herbicide, the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP) has launched research to examine the health risks of glyphosate and glyphosate-formulations. “Due to the multiple interpretations of evidence on the potential health risks of glyphosate exposure, major public concern about […]
The Defense Department has for the first time disclosed the locations of military installations where tap water or groundwater on or off base is contaminated with highly toxic fluorinated chemicals. But the list is incomplete, naming only locations where water is polluted above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) “safe” level for tap water, which […]
Lawmakers in Hawaii passed a bill Tuesday prohibiting the sale of sunscreens that are harmful to ocean ecosystems, including coral reefs. The bill now heads to Governor David Ige for his signature. If signed, Hawaii will ban these sunscreens starting Jan. 1, 2021 and become the first state in the nation to enact such a […]
Researchers from the University of Rochester have found the first evidence that early life exposure to groundwater contaminated by fracking chemicals “alters” the immune system in mice. The paper, published Tuesday in Toxicological Sciences, could imply potential health dangers for the roughly 17.6 million Americans living within a mile of least one active oil or […]