By Kieran Cooke As another monsoon season begins, huge numbers of homeless Bangladeshis are once again bracing themselves against the onslaught of floods and the sight of large chunks of land being devoured by rising water levels. Bangladesh, on the Bay of Bengal, is low-lying and crisscrossed by a web of rivers: two thirds of […]
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 […]
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 […]
By Cedric Taylor On April 6, with little warning, the state of Michigan closed water point of distribution (POD) centers that have provided residents in Flint for the past three years with bottled water to drink, cook and bathe. This move was based on analysis showing that the city’s water quality had tested below action […]
As the UK government and businesses step up their war on single-use plastics, a British inventor has developed a way for UK consumers to hydrate on the go while still joining the fight. James Longcroft launched an Indiegogo campaign Monday to crowdfund production of his Choose Water bottle, which is plastic-free and decomposes within three […]
By Courtney Lindwall Health experts agree that there is no safe level of exposure to lead. Often making its way into our drinking water supply after leaching from old pipes, the heavy metal can cause serious and irreversible damage to the body—affecting the nervous system, fertility and cognitive ability, among other functions. Through the Safe […]
By Erik Hoffner Denis Hayes was the principal national organizer of the first Earth Day in 1970, and he took the event to the international stage in 1990. He is board chair of the international Earth Day Network, and president of the Bullitt Foundation. Earth Day 2018 is slated for April 22 and focuses on […]
Two decades after pollution from highly toxic fluorinated chemicals was first reported in American communities and drinking water, the number of known contamination sites is growing rapidly, with no end in sight. The latest update of an interactive map by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute at Northeastern University […]
By Brett Walton Anthony Spaniola knew something was off with his town’s water. He read accounts in the Detroit Free Press and attended community meetings hosted by state health and environment agencies. Until last summer Spaniola was concerned but didn’t think the situation was out of control. Then he saw foam on Van Etten Lake. […]