A wild mink in Utah was the first wild animal in the U.S. found with COVID-19. Peter Trimming via Wikipedia, CC BY-SA
By Jonathan Runstadler and Kaitlin Sawatzki
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, researchers have found coronavirus infections in pet cats and dogs and in multiple zoo animals, including big cats and gorillas. These infections have even happened when staff were using personal protective equipment.
<p>
<br/>
</p>
<p>More disturbing, in December the United States Department of Agriculture confirmed the first case of a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/science/covid-wild-mink-utah.html" target="_blank">wild animal infected with SARS-CoV-2</a>, the virus that causes COVID-19. Researchers found an infected wild mink in Utah near a mink farm with its own COVID-19 outbreak.</p><p>Are humans transmitting this virus to wildlife? If so, what would this mean for wild animals – and people too?</p>
<h2>How Viruses Hop Between Species</h2><p>We are <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=iAQr9XwAAAAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">two scientists</a> who study <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=pgjLWAEAAAAJ" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">viruses in wildlife</a> and are currently <a href="https://sites.tufts.edu/CoVERS" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">running a study</a> investigating the potential for SARS-CoV-2 transmission from humans into domestic and wild animals.</p><p>When viruses move from one species into another, scientists call it spillover. Thankfully, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nrmicro.2017.45" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">spillover doesn't occur easily</a>.</p><p>To infect a new species, a virus must be able to bind to a protein on a cell and enter the cell while dodging an immune system the virus hasn't encountered before. Then, as a virus works to avoid <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coviro.2011.07.002" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">antibodies and other antiviral attackers</a>, it must replicate at a high enough volume to be transmitted on to the next animal.</p><p>This usually means that the more closely related two species are, the more likely they are to share viruses. Chimpanzees, the species most closely related to humans, <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/05/primatologists-work-keep-great-apes-safe-coronavirus" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">can catch and get sick from many human viruses</a>. Earlier this month, veterinarians at the San Diego Zoo announced that the zoo's <a href="https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/pressroom/news-releases/gorilla-troop-san-diego-zoo-safari-park-test-positive-covid-19" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">troop of gorillas was infected with SARS–CoV–2</a>. This indicated it is possible for this virus to jump from humans to our close relatives.</p><p>Some viruses tend to stay in a single species or in closely related species, while other viruses seem innately more capable of large species jumps. Influenza, for example, can infect a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/flu/other/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wide variety of animals, from sparrows to whales</a>. Similarly, coronaviruses are known to <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1038%2Fs41579-018-0118-9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">regularly jump between species</a>.</p><p>The question of how many and which species can be infected by SARS-CoV-2 – and which ones might be able to support continued circulation of the virus – is an important one.</p>
<h2>Searching for COVID-19 in Wildlife</h2><p>For human-to-wildlife spillover of SARS-CoV-2 to occur, an animal needs to be exposed to a high-enough viral dose to become infected.</p><p>The highest-risk situations are during direct contact with humans, such as a <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/01/science/Covid-bats.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">veterinarian's caring for an injured animal</a>. Contact between a sick person and a pet or farm animal also poses a risk, as the domestic animal could act as an intermediate host, eventually passing the virus to a wild animal.</p><p>Another way COVID-19 could spill over from humans into animals is through indirect infection, <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/can-marine-mammals-catch-covid-19-new-study-says-its-possible-180976471/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">such as through wastewater</a>. COVID-19 and other pathogens can be detected in waste streams, many of which end up dumped, untreated, into environments where wildlife like marine mammals may be exposed. This is thought to be how <a href="https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0062259" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">elephant seals in California became infected with H1N1 influenza</a> during the swine flu pandemic in 2009.</p><p>To study whether spillover of SARS-CoV-2 is happening, our team at Tufts is partnering with veterinarians and licensed wildlife rehabilitators across the U.S. to collect samples from and test animals in their care. Through the project, we have tested nearly 300 wild animals from over 20 species. So far, none – from bats to seals to coyotes – have shown any evidence of COVID-19 by swab or antibody tests.</p><p>Other researchers have launched targeted surveillance of wild animals in places where captive animals have been infected. The first confirmed infection in a wild mink was found during <a href="https://promedmail.org/promed-post/?id=8015608" target="_blank">surveillance near an infected mink farm</a>. It's not yet clear how this wild mink got the coronavirus, but the high density of infected minks and potentially infectious particles from them made it a high-risk location.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUwNjgyMC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1OTA3ODk3OX0.-nR4pFCXOW974_jiSjY0HHR2_8gVL5cA8eYdLMSd5tI/img.jpg?width=980" id="fc711" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b901ace8188e316e4e411e7c5c690d83" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="800" />
Gorillas have been affected by human viruses in the past and are susceptible to the coronavirus. Thomas Fuhrmann via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
<h2>Bad for Animals, Bad for Humans</h2><p>When a virus infects a new species, it sometimes mutates, adapting to infect, replicate and transmit more efficiently in a new animal. This is called host adaptation. When a virus jumps to a new host and begins adapting, the results can be unpredictable.</p><p>In late 2020, when SARS-CoV-2 jumped into farmed mink in Denmark, <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/don/03-december-2020-mink-associated-sars-cov2-denmark/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">it acquired mutations that were uncommon in humans</a>. Some of these mutations occurred in the part of the virus that most vaccines are designed to recognize. And it didn't just happen once – these mutations <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe5901" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">independently arose in mink farms multiple times</a>. While it's not yet clear what impact, if any, these mutations may have on human disease or the vaccine, these are signs of host adaptation that could allow novel variants of the virus to persist and reemerge from animal hosts in the future.</p><p>Another risk is that SARS-CoV-2 could cause disease in animals. Ecologists are especially concerned about endangered species like the <a href="https://www.aaha.org/publications/newstat/articles/2020-12/endangered-black-footed-ferret-gets-experimental-covid-19-vaccine-in-colorado/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">black-footed ferret</a>, which is closely related to minks and thought to be very susceptible to the virus.</p><p>Human-to-wildlife spillover has happened before. In the late 20th century, the Ebola virus jumped from humans into great apes and has resulted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/543S56a" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">devastating consequences for these endangered animals</a>. More recently, a human respiratory virus has been <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-020-01506-8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">detected in threatened mountain gorilla populations</a> and has caused deaths as well.</p><p>But perhaps the biggest risk to humans is that spillover could result in the coronavirus establishing a reservoir in new animals and regions. This could provide opportunities for reintroduction of COVID-19 into humans in the future. This month researchers published a paper showing that this had already happened on a small scale with <a href="https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abe5901" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human–to–mink–to–human transmission on mink farms</a> in Denmark.</p><p>While our team has found no evidence of COVID-19 in wild animals in the U.S. at this time, we have seen convincing evidence of regular spillover into dogs and cats and some zoo animals. The discovery of the infected wild mink confirmed our fears. Seeing the first wild animal with natural COVID-19 is alarming, but sadly, not surprising.</p>
<p>
<em>Jonathan Runstadler is a professor of infectious disease and global health at the Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Kaitlin Sawatzki is a postdoctoral infectious disease researcher at Tufts University.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statements: </em><em>Jonathan Runstadler receives funding from NIH/NIAID. </em><em>Kaitlin Sawatzki receives funding from the NIH/NIAID.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/is-covid-19-infecting-wild-animals-were-testing-species-from-bats-to-seals-to-find-out-151467" target="_blank">The Conversation</a></em><em>.</em><br/>
</p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/151467/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>From Your Site Articles
- Gorillas in San Diego Test Positive for Coronavirus - EcoWatch ›
- Wildlife Rehabilitators Are Overwhelmed During the Pandemic. In ... ›
- Coronavirus Pandemic Linked to Destruction of Wildlife and World's ... ›
- Utah Mink Becomes First Wild Animal to Test Positive for Coronavirus ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Doug Emhoff, U.S. Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, Jill Biden and President-elect Joe Biden wave as they arrive on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol for the inauguration on Jan. 20, 2021 in Washington, DC. Joe Raedle / Getty Images
By John R. Platt
The period of the 45th presidency will go down as dark days for the United States — not just for the violent insurgency and impeachment that capped off Donald Trump's four years in office, but for every regressive action that came before.
<p>It's been said that Trump was the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-worst-president-environment-2645034831.html" target="_self">worst environmental president in history</a>, and that's easy to see from his administration's record. They rolled back decades of environmental progress by slashing protective regulations, strangled the agencies tasked with enforcing the regulations that remained, pushed corporate agendas damaging to wildlife, human health and the climate, and stoked the flames of right-wing extremists — including people whose radical agendas often attack public-land protections or climate science.</p><p>That barely covers it all, of course. It would take an entire book — a whole library — to fully convey the environmental damage done under Trump.</p>
<p>And now it's up to a new administration — and the work of a lot of people on top of it — to undo the damage and hopefully make up for four lost years of potential progress.</p><p>President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, together with the Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, have a tough task ahead of them.</p><p>Make that many tough tasks. They'll need to rebuild the ranks of government workforces while reinforcing the trust in government and the trust in America on the world stage. They'll need to pass and restore regulations that don't just return us to the status quo but radically improve on it — taking the world forward at a time when the effects of climate change and the extinction crisis continue to worsen. 2020 tied for the <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/08012021/2020-earth-hottest-year-temperatures/" target="_blank">hottest year on record</a>, and Trump <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/trump-has-listed-the-fewest-endangered-species-of-any-p-1845854952" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">added fewer species</a> to the Endangered Species Act than any other president while <a href="https://www.npr.org/2019/08/12/750479370/trump-administration-makes-major-changes-to-protections-for-endangered-species" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">slashing protections</a> for those already on the list. They'll need to address environmental justice at a time when white supremacy is at its most vocal point in decades and firmly entrenched in some areas of government. They'll need to resist the usual corporate influence that could slow things down along the way.</p>
<p>And they'll need to do it all while helping the country stabilize and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and Trump's botched response to the crisis, not to mention the continued threat from seditious domestic terrorists.</p><p>That's a lot on one plate, but they're already off to a good start. Biden and Harris ran on a strong climate platform and have assembled an experienced climate team. Neither the platform nor the team is perfect — progressives think they can do much better — but they're light years ahead of anything we saw under the previous administration.</p><p>And of course, now that the Democrats have won the Senate, Biden's cabinet picks are more likely to be confirmed and the country will no longer face the obstruction ever-present under the majority leadership of Mitch McConnell.</p>
<p>But at the same time, Republicans have risen to power in cities and state legislatures around the country, and many of them are <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/us/politics/trump-republicans.html" target="_blank">still fueled by MAGA Trumpism</a> and unhinged conspiracy theories. The right-wing media, meanwhile, continue to shape and mold millions with their unique brand of misinformation and discord. Both trends will present a barrier to progress at every level.</p><p>So what's the agenda for moving forward under the Biden-Harris administration? Below, you'll find a series of articles and expert commentaries from <em>The Revelator</em>'s archives addressing key steps the incoming team can take to restore the EPA, protect key species, address the COVID-19 pandemic in a just and climate-focused manner, and more.</p><p>We'll continue to add to these roadmaps as the administration gets its footing, and we invite any insiders and experts to <a href="https://therevelator.org/contact#write-for-us" target="_blank">contribute their own voices</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://therevelator.org/reform-blm-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reform the Bureau of Land Management: Biden Must Succeed Where Obama Failed</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/climate-new-deal/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">For a Path Forward on Climate, Let's Learn From the Original New Deal</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/gray-wolf-biden-administration/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Gray Wolf Recovery and Survival Require Immediate Action by the Biden Administration</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/restoring-epa-biden/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biden Can Restore the EPA, But It Will Require Steadfast Effort</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-restore-rollbacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">How Biden Can Do More Than Just Restore Trump's Environmental Rollbacks</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-climate-plan-trent/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biden-Harris Climate Plan: 'Not Trump' Is Not Enough</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-leadership-wildlife-crime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biden Must Take a Leadership Role Against Wildlife Crime</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/multisolving-covid-recovery/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Multisolving Our Way to COVID-19 Economic Recovery</a></p><p><a href="https://therevelator.org/biden-climate-farber/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Biden Can Leverage Larger Trends to Make Climate Progress</a></p><p><em>And here's a report from our parent organization, the Center for Biological Diversity:</em></p><p><a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/report-50-critical-environmental-reforms-president-biden-can-enact-without-congress-2020-12-03/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">50 Critical Environmental Reforms President Biden Can Enact Without Congress</a></p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://therevelator.org/rebuilding-years/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- Biden Announces $2 Trillion Climate and Green Recovery Plan ... ›
- How Biden and Kerry Can Rebuild America's Climate Leadership ... ›
- Biden's EPA Pick Michael Regan Urged to Address Environmental ... ›
- How Joe Biden's Climate Plan Compares to the Green New Deal ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Like many other plant-based foods and products, CBD oil is one dietary supplement where "organic" labels are very important to consumers. However, there are little to no regulations within the hemp industry when it comes to deeming a product as organic, which makes it increasingly difficult for shoppers to find the best CBD oil products available on the market.
<p>Here you can learn about the importance of organic hemp oil, why it's better for the environment, and which CBD companies actually make trustworthy products with sustainable farming processes. origins which weigh heavily on many consumers who want to buy a product that's produced in the best way possible for not only themselves to ingest, but for the environment as well through sustainable farming methods. </p><h2>What Is CBD Oil?</h2><p>First things first, CBD stands for cannabidiol, and it's a cannabinoid found within cannabis sativa plants. This plant compound is believed to have many potential benefits, and it is primarily derived from hemp plants via a CO2 extraction process. </p><p>Since CBD is extracted from industrial hemp, which contains only trace amounts of THC (the psychoactive component in cannabis plants), this means that CBD won't make you feel high like marijuana, which has much higher levels of THC that causes psychoactive effects. Instead, the effects of CBD are much more subtle and promote a general sense of calm and relaxation in most users.</p><h2>What Makes a CBD Oil Organic?</h2><p>In terms of organic labels, perhaps the most important (and prominent) certification comes from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA). This government organization has been labeling foods as "organic" for many years, but what exactly does this certification entail? Essentially, a label indicating that a product is "USDA Organic" or "Certified Organic" means that at least 95% of the ingredients are obtained from organic sources.</p><p>For a crop to be considered organic by the USDA, it must be grown without the use of industrial solvents, irradiation, genetic engineering (GMOs), synthetic pesticides, or chemical fertilizer. Instead, farmers rely on natural substances and <a href="https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2012/03/22/organic-101-what-usda-organic-label-means" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">mechanical, physical, or biologically based farming</a> techniques to cultivate healthy and organic crops.</p><p>Before the passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, no hemp-derived products could be dubbed as "certified organic" since the hemp plant and its extracts were still categorized as a Schedule I Controlled Substance. However, it's still difficult for CBD companies to obtain a USDA certified organic label for their products due to the legal grey area that still surrounds CBD extracts. </p><p>Because of these challenges, and due to the fact that industrial hemp has only recently become an agricultural crop, very few CBD oils are USDA certified organic. Rather, many CBD products contain hemp extracts from plants that were grown in organic conditions but may not be federally certified.</p><h2>What are the Best Organic CBD Oil Brands?</h2><p><em>Each product featured here has been independently selected by the writer. If you make a purchase using the links included, we may earn commission.</em></p><em><br></em>
<h2>Why Organic Hemp Oil Matters</h2><p>Hemp is a unique plant, not only for its rich cannabinoid content, but also for its ability to absorb a wide variety of components in soil. But this trait poses great risks when it comes to the creation of CBD products derived from hemp.</p><p>Because hemp has a high capacity for compound uptake, this means that the plants can retain <a href="https://www.remedyreview.com/industry/lab-test-results/" target="_blank">harmful chemicals like pesticides</a>, heavy metals, and other residual solvents. This is especially true when it comes to synthetic chemicals that are more toxic to humans, and difficult to remove once they have been absorbed by the hemp plant.</p><p>Organic farming practices help reduce the risk of hemp crops absorbing harsh chemicals that may later end up in CBD oil after extraction. When you're taking CBD as a wellness supplement to help alleviate your symptoms or improve your overall well-being, the last thing you want is to ingest compounds that might negatively outweigh the benefits of CBD. This is an important reason to look for third party lab test results when shopping for CBD products since these certificates of analysis can show the full cannabinoid and terpene profile of a hemp extract, as well as test results that search for the presence of any residual solvents.</p><p>In addition to creating a better end product, organic farming practices are also better for the environment. Sustainable and organic farming methods may <a href="https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy</a>. The use of natural pest deterrents as opposed to chemical pesticides is also better for nearby animal populations and ecosystems.</p><h3>Organic vs. Natural</h3><p>While there are only a select few companies offering certified organic ingredients in their products, almost every brand in the CBD market creates "natural" products. The term "all-natural" or "plant-based" does not mean that a product is organic, and since hemp oil is a natural derivative of hemp plants, these products are often referred to as all-natural. However, there are some synthetic CBD oils that should be avoided because they are chemically constructed and may produce unwanted side effects that are not caused by naturally derived CBD extracts.</p><h2>What are the Benefits of Organic CBD Oil?</h2><p>There's a long list of potential CBD oil health benefits, and some of the most common wellness advantages include:</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2503660/" target="_blank">Chronic pain relief</a></li><li><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4604171/" target="_blank">Anti-anxiety effects</a></li><li>Better sleep</li><li><a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/inner-source/201901/cbd-oil-mental-health-should-you-take-it-too" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Improvements in mood</a></li><li>Internal balance and regulation</li></ul><p>When dealing with pain, inflammation, sleep issues, and mental health struggles, it can be hard to find sufficient treatment options. The use of certain prescriptions can cause unwanted side effects, yet they are often the only solution for patients with these medical conditions. In search of other therapies, people have started to flock towards CBD oil as an alternative remedy for a variety of conditions. However, it should be noted that CBD products are not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and you should seek your doctor's advice before using CBD if you have a serious medical condition.</p><h2>Look at the Labels Before You Buy CBD Oil</h2><p>When you go online to buy CBD oil, you'll quickly realize there is an overwhelming number of brands that are saturating the market. It can be difficult to determine which products are truly as good as they make themselves out to be. Always look for up-to-date third-party lab tests so you know you are getting a great product, and don't hesitate to contact the brand if you have any additional questions. And if you're intent on purchasing 100% organic CBD oil, it's best to look for certified products or brands that are held to strict regulatory standards.</p><p><strong>Melena Gurganus </strong>is the Reviews Editor at EcoWatch. She is passionate health and wellness and her writing aims to help others find products they can trust. Her work has been featured in publications such as Health, Shape, Huffington Post, Cannabis Business Times, and Bustle.<br></p>
Spruce
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjI3OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTM2NzgzOX0.axY0HjeqRctJsR_KmDLctzDpUBLBN-oNIdqaXDb4caQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="774be" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="8379f35b1ca8a86d0e61b7d4bfc8b46e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="spruce organic cbd oil" data-width="710" data-height="959" /><p>As one of the best brands in the business, Spruce CBD is well-known for its potent CBD oils that feature many additional beneficial phytocannabinoids. This brand works with two family-owned, sustainably focused farms in the USA (one located in Kentucky and one in North Carolina) to create its organic, small product batches. The max potency Spruce CBD oil contains 2400mg of full-spectrum CBD extract, but the brand also offers a lower strength tincture with 750mg of CBD in total.</p>
$89
CBDistillery
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjkzNC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTU4OTM4Nn0.ypRdeDSBcE87slYrFfVrRwtJ2qGIK6FD5jBB4pndTMo/img.jpg?width=980" id="b473b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9930b53c9d58cb49774640a61c3e3e75" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="cbdistillery cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>All of the products from CBDistillery are <a href="https://ushempauthority.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">U.S. Hemp Authority Certified</a>, and for good reason. The company only uses non-GMO and pesticide-free industrial hemp that's grown organically on Colorado farms. Its hemp oils are some of the most affordable CBD products on the market, yet they still maintain a high standard of quality. CBDistillery has a wide variety of CBD potencies across its product line (ranging from 500mg to 5000mg per bottle) and offers both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils to give customers a completely thc-free option.</p>
$35
FAB CBD
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIyNS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NDIwOTEyMn0.MlTjz096FJ0ev_-soK7_Z-FeQeJczWoeh9Qi9SSkHsY/img.jpg?width=980" id="04b26" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="76aa4862f44603242e318982acea6646" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="fab cbd oil" data-width="800" data-height="800" /><p>For an organic CBD oil that has it all, FAB CBD offers plenty of variety for any type of consumer. All of its products are made with zero pesticides and extracted from organically grown Colorado industrial hemp. FAB CBD oil comes in five all-natural flavors (mint, vanilla, berry, citrus, and natural) and is also available in four strengths (300, 600, 1200, and 2400mg per bottle).</p>
$39
NuLeaf Naturals
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDY4NjIxOS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NzExNTgyMX0.D6qMGYllKTsVhEkQ-L_GzpDHVu60a-tJKcio7M1Ssmc/img.jpg?width=980" id="94e4a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3609a52479675730893a45a82a03c71d" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="nuleaf naturals organic cbd oil" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>As an industry-leading brand, it comes as no surprise that NuLeaf Naturals sources its CBD extract from organic hemp plants grown on licensed farms in Colorado. The comany's CBD oils only contain two ingredients: USDA certified organic hemp seed oil and full spectrum hemp extract.</p><p>NuLeaf Naturals uses one proprietary CBD oil formula for all of its products, so you will get the same CBD potency in each tincture (60mg per mL), but can purchase different bottle sizes depending on how much you intend to use.</p>
$38.50
Charlotte's Web
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNDcwMjk3NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzQ0NjM4N30.SaQ85SK10-MWjN3PwHo2RqpiUBdjhD0IRnHKTqKaU7Q/img.jpg?width=980" id="84700" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a2174067dcc0c4094be25b3472ce08c8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" alt="charlottes web cbd oil" data-width="1244" data-height="1244" /><p>Perhaps one of the most well-known brands in the CBD landscape, Charlotte's Web has been growing sustainable hemp plants for several years. The company is currently in the process of achieving official USDA Organic Certification, but it already practices organic and sustainable cultivation techniques to enhance the overall health of the soil and the hemp plants themselves, which creates some of the highest quality CBD extracts. Charlotte's Web offers CBD oils in a range of different concentration options, and some even come in a few flavor options such as chocolate mint, orange blossom, and lemon twist.</p>
$60
From Your Site Articles
- Best CBD Oils of 2020: Reviews & Buying Guide - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Oil for Pain Management - Top 10 CBD Oil Review 2020 ... ›
- Best CBD for Dogs 2020 - Organic CBD Oil for Pets - EcoWatch ›
- Full Spectrum CBD Oil: What To Know - EcoWatch ›
- Charlotte's Web: A Review of the Certified B Corp CBD Brand ›
- Best CBD Waters: Plus All You Need to Know - EcoWatch ›
- The Best Water Soluble CBD Available Online - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD for Sleep (Lab-Tested, Person-Tested Oils) - EcoWatch ›
- CBD Oil for Dogs: 7 Benefits & Treatment Guide - EcoWatch ›
- NuLeaf Naturals CBD Review | Are They Worth The Cost? - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Capsules & Pills - Buyer's Guide (Update for 2021) - EcoWatch ›
- Because Price Matters: Most Affordable CBD Oils of 2021 - EcoWatch ›
- Strongest CBD Oils to Buy in 2021? - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Oils For Pain: Top 3 Brands of 2021 - EcoWatch ›
- Best CBD Vape Pen: Top Brands of 2020 - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Samples of chocolate, strawberry and taro ice cream in the Chinese city of Tianjin tested positive for coronavirus. Alex Lau / Conde Nast via Getty Images
Ice cream samples in the Chinese municipality of Tianjin have tested positive for traces of the new coronavirus.
<p>The virus showed up in samples of chocolate, strawberry and taro ice cream produced by the Tianjin Daqiaodao Food Company that were submitted for inspection, Chinese media reported Friday, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/ice-cream-tianjin-covid-19_n_600215fbc5b697df1a05b059" target="_blank">according to HuffPost</a>.</p><p>"If you have recently purchased this product, please contact the community to report," a government press release read, as <a href="https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/ice-cream-covid19/" target="_blank">Snopes.com reported</a>. "At present, the traceability of the source of the virus is still in progress."</p>
<p>The press released obtained by Snopes was released on Jan. 15 by the Tianjin Municipal People's Government. It stated that the company had been temporarily shuttered and all of its employees were in quarantine. As of Jan. 14, 700 of the 1,662 employees had tested negative for the virus and the rest were still awaiting their results.</p><p>In total, there were more than 4,800 boxes of contaminated ice cream. Around 2,090 were still in storage, but 2,750 had already shipped. Of those, more than 930 stayed in Tianjin while around 1,800 were sent outside the city, which is close to Beijing.</p>
<p>Government officials said they were working to locate all of the ice cream sold in Tianjin, The Associated Press reported. They also informed authorities in other municipalities where the ice cream was sold. So far, there is no evidence that anyone has been infected by the ice cream.</p><p>The ice cream was made with whey powder imported from Ukraine and milk powder imported from New Zealand.</p><p>University of Leeds virologist Dr. Stephen Griffin told <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-ice-cream-tests-positive-for-coronavirus-in-china-12188761" target="_blank">Sky News</a> that the positive test was probably not cause for alarm.</p><p>"It's likely this has come from a person, and without knowing the details, I think this is probably a one-off," he said.</p>
<p>Griffin speculated that the ice cream probably became infected during the production process or because of poor hygiene at the factory. The ice cream's cold temperature and fat content would then have allowed the virus to survive.</p><p>"We probably don't need to panic that every bit of ice cream is suddenly going to be contaminated with coronavirus," Griffin told Sky.</p><p>SARS, which is related to the new coronavirus, has been shown to survive as an infectious virus up to 28 days at around 39 degrees Fahrenheit, HuffPost pointed out. It also survived for an extended amount of time at colder temperatures.<br></p><p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said the risk of contracting the virus from food or food packaging is low. "Currently, there is no evidence that food is associated with spreading the virus that causes COVID-19," the CDC website <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/food-and-COVID-19.html#:~:text=Currently%2C%20there%20is%20no%20evidence%20that%20food%20is%20associated%20with,thought%20to%20be%20very%20low." target="_blank">reads</a>.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Coronavirus Found on Frozen Food Imported to China. Should You ... ›
- Here's How to Clean Your Groceries During the COVID-19 Outbreak ... ›
- Young Children May Have Higher Coronavirus Levels, Raising ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Trending
How to Stay Safe With a More Contagious Coronavirus Mutation on the Loose
18 January
Health + Wellness
The new variant, known as B.1.1.7, spread quickly through southeastern England in December, causing case numbers to spike and triggering stricter lockdown measures. Hollie Adams / Getty Images
By Suresh Dhaniyala and Byron Erath
A fast-spreading variant of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 has been found in at least 10 states, and people are wondering: How do I protect myself now?
<p>We saw what the new variant, known as B.1.1.7, can do as it <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2020/12/mutant-coronavirus-united-kingdom-sets-alarms-its-importance-remains-unclear" target="_blank">spread quickly through southeastern England</a> in December, causing case numbers to spike and triggering stricter lockdown measures.</p><p>The new variant has been estimated to be <a href="https://cmmid.github.io/topics/covid19/uk-novel-variant.html" target="_blank">50% more easily transmitted than common variants</a>, though it <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7003e2.htm?s_cid=mm7003e2_e" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">appears to affect people's health in the same way</a>. The increased transmissibility is believed to arise from a <a href="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.29.424708v1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">change in the virus's spike protein</a> that can allow the virus to more easily enter cells. These and other <a href="https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.12.24.20248834" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">studies on the new variant</a> were released before peer review to share their findings quickly.</p><p>Additionally, there is some evidence that patients infected with the new B.1.1.7 variant may have a <a href="https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.12.24.20248834v1.full" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">higher viral load</a>. That means they may expel more virus-containing particles when they breathe, talk or sneeze.</p><p>As professors who study <a href="https://www.clarkson.edu/people/byron-erath" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fluid dynamics</a> <a href="https://www.clarkson.edu/people/suresh-dhaniyala" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and aerosols</a>, we investigate how airborne particles carrying viruses spread. There is still a lot that scientists and doctors don't know about the coronavirus and its mutations, but there are some clear strategies people can use to protect themselves.</p>
Airborne Particles Are Still the Biggest Problem
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-it-matters-that-the-coronavirus-is-changing-and-what-this-means-for-vaccine-effectiveness-152383" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">SARS-CoV-2 variants</a> are believed to spread primarily through the air rather than on surfaces.</p><p>When someone with the coronavirus in their respiratory tract coughs, talks, sings or even just breathes, infectious respiratory droplets can be expelled into the air. These droplets are tiny, predominantly in the range of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0021850211001200?casa_token=KtyrsEfbeqcAAAAA:vv10sSxm33tzg0EQvNMIFtV7GCu5gE9QAzuyzHKr2_4Cl0OFkUJoGwzn4d0ZnEWS19NsOTuH" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">1-100 micrometers</a>. For comparison, a human hair is about 70 micrometers in diameter.</p><p>The larger droplets fall to the ground quickly, rarely traveling farther than 6 feet from the source. The bigger problem for disease transmission is the tiniest droplets – those less than 10 micrometers in diameter – which can remain suspended in the air as aerosols for <a href="https://academic.oup.com/cid/article/50/5/693/325466" target="_blank">hours at a time</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bb67b83dcafe589f350daf3df60fa29d"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UNCNM7AZPFg?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>With people possibly having more virus in their bodies and the virus being more infectious, everyone should take extra care and precautions. Wearing face masks and social distancing are essential.</p><p>Spaces and activities that were previously deemed "safe," such as some indoor work environments, may present an elevated infection risk as the variant spreads.</p><p>The concentration of aerosol particles is usually highest right next to the individual emitting the particles and decreases with <a href="https://aip.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/5.0025476" target="_blank">distance from the source</a>. However, in indoor environments, aerosol concentration levels can quickly build up, similar to how <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-smoky-bar-can-teach-us-about-the-6-foot-rule-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-145517" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cigarette smoke accumulates within enclosed spaces</a>. This is particularly problematic in spaces that have poor ventilation.</p><p>With the new variant, aerosol concentration levels that might not have previously posed a risk could now lead to infection.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ5Njc1My9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MTg5MzExM30.2KlkIn9wVomwIkIEvkEpjx9alJ61pU4Onv54-nS-Ric/img.png?width=980" id="7052f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="64f0b78347b7911d5eee1f15d7999b22" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1290" data-height="932" />
Daily case reports and 7-day rolling average as of Jan. 16, 2021.Chart: The Conversation, CC-BY-ND Source: COVID Tracking Project Get the data
What Can You Do to Stay Safe?
<p>1) Pay attention to the type of face mask you use, and how it fits.</p><p>Most off-the-shelf face coverings are not 100% effective at preventing droplet emission. With the new variant spreading more easily and likely infectious at lower concentrations, it's important to select coverings with materials that are most effective at stopping droplet spread.</p><p>When available, N95 and surgical masks consistently perform the best. Otherwise, face coverings that use <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352431620301802?casa_token=-Dj6nGBAm24AAAAA:qq9BpbzCKaPDFcV73ohA2fCnhE_Zlkss6Bei3kUwq9QYndhHj0Vafbbd-ef_855lx6knDfUt" target="_blank">multiple layers of material</a> are preferable. Ideally, the material should be a tight weave. High thread count cotton sheets are an example. Proper fit is also crucial, as gaps around the nose and mouth can <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsnano.0c03252" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">decrease the effectiveness by 50%</a>.</p><p>2) Follow social distancing guidelines.</p><p>While the current social distancing guidelines are not perfect – <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-smoky-bar-can-teach-us-about-the-6-foot-rule-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-145517" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">6 feet isn't always enough</a> – they do offer a useful starting point. Because aerosol concentrations levels and infectivity are highest in the space immediately surrounding anyone with the virus, increasing physical distancing can help reduce risk. Remember that people are infectious <a href="https://medical.mit.edu/faqs/COVID-19#faq-10" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">before they start showing symptoms</a>, and they many never show symptoms, so don't count on seeing signs of illness.</p><p>3) Think carefully about the environment when entering an enclosed area, both the ventilation and how people interact.</p><p>Limiting the size of gatherings helps reduce the potential for exposure. Controlling indoor environments in other ways can also be a highly effective strategy for reducing risk. This includes <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-a-smoky-bar-can-teach-us-about-the-6-foot-rule-during-the-covid-19-pandemic-145517" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increasing ventilation rates</a> to bring in <a href="https://theconversation.com/keeping-indoor-air-clean-can-reduce-the-chance-of-spreading-coronavirus-149512" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">fresh air and filtering existing air</a> to dilute aerosol concentrations.</p><p>On a personal level, it is helpful to pay attention to the types of interactions that are taking place. For example, many individuals shouting can create a higher risk than one individual speaking. In all cases, it's important to minimize the amount of time spent indoors with others.</p><p>The CDC has warned that B.1.1.7 could <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7003e2.htm?s_cid=mm7003e2_w" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">become the dominant SARS-CoV-2 variant</a> in the U.S. by March. Other fast-spreading variants have also been found in <a href="https://virological.org/t/genomic-characterisation-of-an-emergent-sars-cov-2-lineage-in-manaus-preliminary-findings/586" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Brazil</a> and <a href="https://www.who.int/csr/don/31-december-2020-sars-cov2-variants/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South Africa</a>. Increased vigilance and complying with health guidelines should continue to be of highest priority.</p>From Your Site Articles
- FDA Approves First In-Home Test for Coronavirus - EcoWatch ›
- What Does 'Recovered From Coronavirus' Mean? - EcoWatch ›
- The Immune System's Fight Against the Coronavirus - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Kevin Maillefer / Unsplash
By Lynne Peeples
Editor's note: This story is part of a nine-month investigation of drinking water contamination across the U.S. The series is supported by funding from the Park Foundation and Water Foundation. Read the launch story, "Thirsting for Solutions," here.
In late September 2020, officials in Wrangell, Alaska, warned residents who were elderly, pregnant or had health problems to avoid drinking the city's tap water — unless they could filter it on their own.
<p style="">More than 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) away, the people of <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/7208933-Scituate-Water-Notification-9-10-2020.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Scituate, Massachusetts</a>, received a letter that same month cautioning about the same group of contaminants in their <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a>.</p>
<p>At issue wasn't any of the well-known and widely feared water infiltrators such as <em>E. coli </em>or <a href="https://ensia.com/features/drinking-water-contamination-pfas-health/" target="_blank">per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)</a>. The culprit chemicals tainting taps from <a href="https://www.floridatoday.com/story/news/local/environment/2016/05/31/elevated-disinfection-byproducts-taint-cocoa-water/85184636/" target="_blank">Cocoa, Florida</a>, to the <a href="https://auburnpub.com/news/local/several-cayuga-county-water-systems-violate-standard-for-chlorination-byproduct/article_d5568ecc-edd0-55b1-a858-37aaf2b1c82f.html" target="_blank">Finger Lakes of New York</a> to a correctional facility in <a href="https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/drinking-water-enforcement-tennessee-98500/" target="_blank">Only, Tennessee</a>, are, in fact, less recognized yet more ubiquitous: disinfection by-products.</p><p>"Take a glass of water. You may or may not have pesticides, pharmaceuticals, PFAS and lead in it. Usually not," says Susan Richardson, a professor of biochemistry at the University of South Carolina in Columbia. "But there's always something that is in your drinking water, and that's disinfection by-products."</p><p>Aptly named, the chemicals form in water when disinfectants that are widely used to kill pathogens in municipal drinking water facilities react with organic compounds. These compounds may be present in the water as a result of natural processes such as the decay of leaves and animal matter, as well as human activities that may release solvents, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and industrial chemicals. Exposure to disinfection by-products through drinking, bathing or <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.6b00808" target="_blank">swimming</a> has been linked to potential <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213343720302876" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased risks</a> of <a href="https://www.ewg.org/childrenshealth/23264/study-disinfection-byproducts-drinking-water-may-increase-risk-low-birth" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">low birthweight babies</a>, birth defects, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29676755/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">miscarriages</a> and <a href="https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/EHP4495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cancer</a>.</p><p>"Disinfection is hugely important. We've got to kill those pathogens," says Richardson. "We had millions of people dying from waterborne illnesses before we started disinfecting water in the 1800s."</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTg0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2MjIyNTA3OH0.DKXIFu4fZ0XqVAZV7df25Oy2M3D8In7XWlMAwuQZJbA/img.jpg?width=980" id="a78a8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="83c6c4c4dcac6fa45d912d7316b69bdb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1440" data-height="426" /><p>Cholera and typhoid fever were once deadly and pervasive threats. Still today, when concentrations of disinfectants fall too low, drinking water can become a breeding ground for dangerous pathogens such as <a href="https://ensia.com/features/legionella-pathogens-drinking-water/" target="_blank">Legionella</a>, <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12638998/" target="_blank"><em>E. coli</em></a><em>, </em>even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1991/04/19/world/cholera-kills-1100-in-peru-and-marches-on-reaching-the-brazilian-border.html" target="_blank">cholera</a>.</p><p>"It's a trade-off between inactivating pathogens that are going to make people sick today versus the long-term, low-level risk of chemicals in the water," says Christy Remucal, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.</p><p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2213343720302876" target="_blank">Striking a balance</a> may be even more challenging today as waters become increasingly compromised due to population growth, wastewater intrusion, energy exploration, climate change — and now the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Richardson.</p><p>During the pandemic, many places have increased use of chlorine for disinfection in indoor and outdoor settings and during wastewater treatment, resulting in the potential for higher levels of disinfection by-products. Authors of a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.0c04394" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">study</a> published in October warn that this "upsurge and overuse of chlorine-based disinfectants" may pose a threat to human health "by impacting water quality."</p><p>Concentrations of harmful chemicals have also likely increased in buildings left vacant during Covid-19 shutdowns. The longer that water sits in pipes, explains Richardson, the longer it has to react with disinfectants and form more by-products.</p><p>Still, Gregory Korshin, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Washington in Seattle, encourages perspective on the issue of disinfection by-products. The answer, he and others say, is not to stop disinfecting water, nor is it for everyone to buy bottled water.</p><p>"There is a dark side of disinfection," adds Korshin. "But this doesn't compromise the notion that drinking water in the U.S. is safe."</p>
Unintended Consequences
<p>Chemists first discovered disinfection by-products in treated drinking water in the 1970s. The trihalomethanes they found, they determined, had resulted from the reaction of chlorine with natural organic matter. Since then, scientists have identified more than 700 additional disinfection by-products. "And those only represent a portion. We still don't know half of them," says Richardson, whose lab has identified hundreds of disinfection by-products. </p><p>Identification of disinfection by-products is incredibly difficult, she explains, because these chemicals are not simply flowing down a river from an industrial site or running off a farm. "They didn't exist before," she adds. "It's a complete unknown — there's no preconceived idea of what these chemicals look like."</p><p>Another research team recently discovered more previously unidentified disinfection by-products. As they described in a January 2020 <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b04926" target="_blank">study</a>, potentially carcinogenic chemicals are formed through the interaction of chlorine and not only organic matter in the environment but also manmade materials that include phenols such as <a href="https://ensia.com/features/what-will-it-take-to-rid-our-store-shelves-of-bpa/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">bisphenol A (BPA)</a> and other plasticizers, as well as sunscreen agents and antimicrobials.</p><p>"These phenol compounds are incredibly widespread because of their properties," says Carsten Prasse, a coauthor on the study and an assistant professor of environmental health and environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University. He highlights their use in both plastic pipes and plastic bottles, which frequently carry drinking water.</p>
What’s Regulated and What’s Not?
<p>The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) currently regulates 11 disinfection by-products — including a handful of trihalomethanes (THM) and haloacetic acids (HAA). While these represent only a small fraction of all disinfection by-products, EPA aims to use their presence to indicate the presence of other disinfection by-products. "The general idea is if you control THMs and HAAs, you implicitly or by default control everything else as well," says Korshin.</p><p>EPA also requires drinking water facilities to use techniques to reduce the concentration of organic materials before applying disinfectants, and regulates the quantity of disinfectants that systems use. These rules ultimately can help control levels of disinfection by-products in drinking water.</p><a href="https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/reviewed-disinfection-byproducts.php" target="_blank"><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTg1OC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MzYyNTAwNX0.1IaCMF-b4X9jtCSFsZuQfRvQCO54EqgfRcGulUoMP10/img.jpg?width=980" id="36d2f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e8502b4c0de9cbd99651d4978548af81" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1144" data-height="1036" /></a>
Click the image for an interactive version of this chart on the Environmental Working Group website.
<p>Still, some scientists and advocates argue that current regulations do not go far enough to protect the public. Many question whether the government is regulating the right disinfection by-products, and if water systems are doing enough to reduce disinfection by-products. EPA is now seeking public input as it considers potential revisions to regulations, including the possibility of regulating additional by-products. The agency held a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/dwsixyearreview/potential-revisions-microbial-and-disinfection-byproducts-rules" target="_blank">two-day public meeting</a> in October 2020 and plans to hold additional public meetings throughout 2021.</p><p>When EPA set regulations on disinfection by-products between the 1970s and early 2000s, the agency, as well as the scientific community, was primarily focused on by-products of reactions between organics and chlorine — historically the most common drinking water disinfectant. But the science has become increasingly clear that these chlorinated chemicals represent a fraction of the by-product problem.</p><p>For example, bromide or iodide can get caught up in the reaction, too. This is common where seawater penetrates a drinking water source. By itself, bromide is innocuous, says Korshin. "But it is extremely [reactive] with organics," he says. "As bromide levels increase with normal treatment, then concentrations of brominated disinfection by-products will increase quite rapidly."</p><p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15487777/" target="_blank">Emerging</a> <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b05440" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">data</a> indicate that brominated and iodinated by-products are potentially more harmful than the regulated by-products.</p><p>Almost half of the U.S. population lives within 50 miles of either the Atlantic or Pacific coasts, where saltwater intrusion can be a problem for drinking water supplies. "In the U.S., the rule of thumb is the closer to the sea, the more bromide you have," says Korshin, noting there are also places where bromide naturally leaches out from the soil. Still, some coastal areas tend to be spared. For example, the city of Seattle's water comes from the mountains, never making contact with seawater and tending to pick up minimal organic matter.</p><p>Hazardous disinfection by-products can also be an issue with desalination for drinking water. "As <a href="https://ensia.com/features/can-saltwater-quench-our-growing-thirst/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">desalination</a> practices become more economical, then the issue of controlling bromide becomes quite important," adds Korshin.</p>Other Hot Spots
<p>Coastal areas represent just one type of hot spot for disinfection by-products. Agricultural regions tend to send organic matter — such as fertilizer and animal waste — into waterways. Areas with warmer climates generally have higher levels of natural organic matter. And nearly any urban area can be prone to stormwater runoff or combined sewer overflows, which can contain rainwater as well as untreated human waste, industrial wastewater, hazardous materials and organic debris. These events are especially common along the East Coast, notes Sydney Evans, a science analyst with the nonprofit Environmental Working Group (EWG, a collaborator on <a href="https://ensia.com/ensia-collections/troubled-waters/" target="_blank">this reporting project</a>).</p><p>The only drinking water sources that might be altogether free of disinfection by-products, suggests Richardson, are private wells that are not treated with disinfectants. She used to drink water from her own well. "It was always cold, coming from great depth through clay and granite," she says. "It was fabulous."</p><p>Today, Richardson gets her water from a city system that uses chloramine.</p>Toxic Treadmill
<p>Most community water systems in the U.S. use chlorine for disinfection in their treatment plant. Because disinfectants are needed to prevent bacteria growth as the water travels to the homes at the ends of the distribution lines, sometimes a second round of disinfection is also added in the pipes.</p><p>Here, systems usually opt for either chlorine or chloramine. "Chloramination is more long-lasting and does not form as many disinfection by-products through the system," says Steve Via, director of federal relations at the American Water Works Association. "Some studies show that chloramination may be more protective against organisms that inhabit biofilms such as Legionella."</p><p>If a drinking water facility fails to meet EPA regulations for disinfection by-products, one relatively easy and cheap modification is to add ammonia to the existing treatment, turning chlorine to chloramine. Many large community water systems in the U.S. now use chloramine. By doing so, according to Richardson, they have dropped levels of regulated disinfection by-products by up to as much as 90%.</p><p>However, there is one major drawback to this shift: the creation of potentially more harmful by-products. "It might push down on regulated disinfection by-products, but then other things pop up that are even more toxic," says Richardson, whose research team discovered previously unknown disinfection by-products in chloraminated drinking water. One of those finds, <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/es304786b" target="_blank">iodoacetic acid</a>, is the <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30919613/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">most DNA-damaging disinfection by-product</a> known to date.</p><p>Prasse underscored the concern: "From a regulatory perspective, we could say we're fine. But it's a false sense of security."</p><p>Rather than continuing on the toxic treadmill of replacing one potentially toxic chemical for another, a more effective solution may be to focus upstream in the treatment process — such as keeping organics out of the system in the first place. "That requires engineers, chemists, toxicologists and regulators to come together and figure something out," says Prasse.</p>
Alternative Approaches
<p>When he moved to the U.S. from Germany, Prasse says he immediately noticed the bad taste of the water. "You can taste the chlorine here. That's not the case in Germany," he says.</p><p>In his home country, water systems use chlorine — if at all — at lower concentrations and at the very end of treatment. In the Netherlands, <a href="https://dwes.copernicus.org/articles/2/1/2009/dwes-2-1-2009.pdf" target="_blank">chlorine isn't used at all</a> as the risks are considered to outweigh the benefits, says Prasse. He notes the challenge in making a convincing connection between exposure to low concentrations of disinfection by-products and health effects, such as cancer, that can occur decades later. In contrast, exposure to a pathogen can make someone sick very quickly.</p><p>But many countries in Europe have not waited for proof and have taken a precautionary approach to reduce potential risk. The emphasis there is on alternative approaches for primary disinfection such as ozone or <a href="https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/eco-friendly-way-disinfect-water-using-light/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">ultraviolet light</a>. Reverse osmosis is among the "high-end" options, used to remove organic and inorganics from the water. While expensive, says Prasse, the method of forcing water through a semipermeable membrane is growing in popularity for systems that want to reuse wastewater for drinking water purposes.</p><p>Remucal notes that some treatment technologies may be good at removing a particular type of contaminant while being ineffective at removing another. "We need to think about the whole soup when we think about treatment," she says. What's more, Remucal explains, the mixture of contaminants may impact the body differently than any one chemical on its own. </p><p>Richardson's preferred treatment method is filtering the water with granulated activated carbon, followed by a low dose of chlorine.</p><p>Granulated activated carbon is essentially the same stuff that's in a household filter. (EWG recommends that consumers use a <a href="https://www.ewg.org/tapwater/reviewed-disinfection-byproducts.php#:~:text=EWG%20recommends%20using%20a%20home,as%20trihalomethanes%20and%20haloacetic%20acids." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">countertop carbon filter</a> to reduce levels of disinfection by-products.) While such a filter "would remove disinfection by-products after they're formed, in the plant they remove precursors before they form by-products," explains Richardson. She coauthored a <a href="https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.9b00023" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2019 paper</a> that concluded the treatment method is effective in reducing a wide range of regulated and unregulated disinfection by-products.</p><br><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ1OTg2MC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0MjI3OTk2NX0.XuxufjUTyOygRCpgnG2jXqOIy4isl7Vz1QlnMmKSyHM/img.jpg?width=980" id="003a3" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0da178217c0a9dd4c3c880e1c05a86f9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1144" data-height="312" />
Greater Cincinnati Water Works installed a granulated activated carbon system in 1992, and is still one of relatively few full-scale plants that uses the technology. Courtesy of Greater Cincinnati Water Works.
<p>Despite the technology and its benefits being known for decades, relatively few full-scale plants use granulated active carbon. They often cite its high cost, Richardson says. "They say that, but the city of Cincinnati [Ohio] has not gone bankrupt using it," she says. "So, I'm not buying that argument anymore."</p><p>Greater Cincinnati Water Works installed a granulated activated carbon system in 1992. On a video call in December, Jeff Swertfeger, the superintendent of Greater Cincinnati Water Works, poured grains of what looks like black sand out of a glass tube and into his hand. It was actually crushed coal that has been baked in a furnace. Under a microscope, each grain looks like a sponge, said Swertfeger. When water passes over the carbon grains, he explained, open tunnels and pores provide extensive surface area to absorb contaminants.</p><p>While the granulated activated carbon initially was installed to address chemical spills and other industrial contamination concerns in the Ohio River, Cincinnati's main drinking water source, Swertfeger notes that the substance has turned out to "remove a lot of other stuff, too," including <a href="https://ensia.com/features/drinking-water-contamination-pfas-health/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PFAS</a> and disinfection by-product precursors.</p><p>"We use about one-third the amount of chlorine as we did before. It smells and tastes a lot better," he says. "The use of granulated activated carbon has resulted in lower disinfection by-products across the board."</p><p>Richardson is optimistic about being able to reduce risks from disinfection by-products in the future. "If we're smart, we can still kill those pathogens and lower our chemical disinfection by-product exposure at the same time," she says.</p><p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://ensia.com/features/drinking-water-disinfection-byproducts-pathogens/" target="_blank">Ensia</a>. </em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649953730#/" target="_self"></a></p>
Read More
Show Less
Water Protectors Arrested in Minnesota After Chaining Themselves Inside Enbridge Line 3 Pipe
15 January
Energy
Environmental activist Winona LaDuke (C) and water protectors stand in front of the construction site for the Line 3 oil pipeline near Palisade, Minnesota, on Jan. 9, 2021. Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Water protectors were arrested Thursday after halting construction at a Minnesota worksite for Enbridge's Line 3 project by locking themselves together inside a pipe segment.
<p>"After moving to Minnesota to attend college and study environmental science, I was excited to be in a place where people valued protecting the Earth and finding a viable future. What I found, however, was a state that had formed 'ambitious' climate goals yet endorsed one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, tar sands oil," water protector Abby Hornberger said in a statement. "I realized that Indigenous ways of knowing and practicing harmony with the environment are continuously ignored."</p><p>KFGO <a href="https://kfgo.com/2021/01/14/2-arrested-during-latest-line-3-protest/" target="_blank">reports</a> that Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said two protesters who were taken into custody on Thursday now face charges of trespassing and obstructing.</p>
<p>Hornberger explained that "the Line 3 pipeline far outweighs all clean energy initiatives and progress being made in renewable energies. Line 3 will destroy Minnesota's essential clean water resources for future generations and will ultimately drive us into climate doom. Education and spreading awareness is no longer enough to create meaningful change for me."</p><p>"Enbridge's last-ditch effort to build fossil fuel infrastructure is killing people and the planet. I refuse to be complicit in settler colonialist practices, and feel that I have to put my body on the line to protect Indigenous communities' sovereignty and all of our futures," Hornberger added. "This is not just an issue relevant to some, it affects each of us on a deeper level that goes beyond our daily lives. It determines if we will have a livable future."</p>
<div id="5204b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4238296ced019235c5ebedb5c4188673"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349769464896745473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Water Protectors Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline to #StopLine3
(Backus, MN) Thursday morn… https://t.co/NWH4lBcyJY</div> — giniw collective (@giniw collective)<a href="https://twitter.com/GiniwCollective/statuses/1349769464896745473">1610645092.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Indigenous and environmental activists have long opposed the Canadian company's efforts to <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/minnesota-projects/line-3-replacement-project" target="_blank">replace</a> an aging oil pipeline with a larger one running from Alberta, through North Dakota and Minnesota, to Wisconsin — noting Enbridge's <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/resources" target="_blank">track record on spills</a> and that cultural maps <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/01/14/water-protectors-lock-down-inside-line-3-pipeline?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">indicate</a> "numerous sacred and significant sites lie in the path of the Line 3 project."</p><p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/12/nightmarish-indigenous-and-climate-leaders-outraged-over-minnesota-permits-line-3" target="_blank">has come under fire</a> from Indigenous and climate leaders in recent months as the state has approved key permits that Enbridge needs to complete the new Line 3, especially given the Democratic governor <a href="https://twitter.com/govtimwalz/status/1095374006071504896?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said publicly</a> in February of 2019 that projects like this one "don't just need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit."</p><p>As some water protectors on Thursday protested inside a pipe segment a few miles from a man camp in Backus, "dozens more held space," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/01/14/water-protectors-lock-down-inside-line-3-pipeline?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to</a> the Giniw Collective. The group also pointed out that "Enbridge is working 24 hours per day at several worksites, as a pending injunction to halt work while tribally led lawsuits are heard has yet to be decided."</p>
<p>Water protector Andrew Lee said that he participated in the action against Line 3 on Thursday "to protect the treaties that my ancestors failed to uphold."</p><p>"I've learned over the course of this year that Tim Walz isn't going to protect us, the government of Minnesota isn't going to protect us, and the federal government isn't going to protect us," Lee continued. "I believe it is my duty, as a colonizer and as a person with the privilege, to do so, to put my body on the line to stop the Enbridge Corporation from building this pipeline."</p><p>"It breaks my heart and enrages me to see how these people are desecrating the Earth and the lengths they will go to leech every last dollar they can from its surface," they said. "But for as much as I'm here in anger and fear, I'm also here in love."</p>
<p>Thursday's action came after eight people were arrested on Saturday, when <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/news/january092021" target="_blank">scores</a> of water protectors and Anishinaabe jingle dress dancers gathered at the Mississippi River, then walked onto a Line 3 worksite. <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/news/january092021" target="_blank">According to</a> a statement from organizers:</p><blockquote>After praying and sharing a healing jingle dance, water protectors went to Haypoint, Minnesota, where Enbridge is actively boring under Highway 169 on its way to the Willow and Mississippi Rivers.<br>Construction stopped as water protectors held space and documented <a href="https://fb.watch/2YA1x0szE0/" target="_blank">irregularities</a> in the pipe being put into the ground. Nearly 30 police squad cars from multiple counties and the Department of Natural Resources were onsite.</blockquote>
<p>The statement, which confirmed the eight arrests, also said that "one arresting officer in a Cass County uniform without a badge refused to put on a face mask and grinned at the crowd as he held a zip-tied water protector. Enbridge's worksites and man camps have quickly become hotspots for Covid-19 in Aitkin County."</p><p>While critics of Line 3 and similar projects have long raised health and safety concerns — including about the <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-american-and-women-s-organizations-request-un-help-on-sexual-violence-_srxHIWjqEmyrmz9OPMmZw" target="_blank">well-documented connection</a> between man camps and the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women — the pandemic, which has hit Indigenous communities hard, has further fueled opposition.</p><p>"We saw Minnesota's police officers protecting a Canadian tar sands pipeline being built by mostly out-of-state workers, for sale on foreign market," said Tara Houska, founder of Giniw Collective. "We need good-paying jobs up north that don't require us to destroy our environment. Where is the investment in the north land? Where is the upholding of treaty rights? Where is the Walz administration on this pandemic pipeline?"</p>
<div id="94ce5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="384e44bc9a6701e11c25627380232d6f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1347984613700984833" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are here to protect the water. Hundreds of us today at the Rally for the Rivers and more every day. We will… https://t.co/ww5HOuF6ZI</div> — MN350 (@MN350)<a href="https://twitter.com/MN_350/statuses/1347984613700984833">1610219550.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Activists are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/15/biden-urged-stand-against-line-3-water-protectors-battle-dirty-tar-sands-pipeline" target="_blank">calling on</a> President-elect Joe Biden to stand up for those "on the frontlines of fossil fuel racism and the climate crisis" by stopping Line 3. On Thursday, more than 75 Indigenous women leaders <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/14/over-75-indigenous-women-urge-biden-stop-climate-wrecking-pipelines-and-respect" target="_blank">wrote</a> to the next president, urging him to block Line 3 and two other projects that "pose grave threats to Indigenous rights, cultural survival, sacred water and land, the global climate, and the public health crises within our communities, which have been greatly exacerbated by Covid-19."</p><p>As Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe and a signatory to the letter, put it: "The Biden administration can uphold their climate justice claims by acting to stop Line 3, stop Keystone XL, and stop Dakota Access Pipeline, now."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/14/arrests-minnesota-after-water-protectors-chain-themselves-inside-pipe-section-halt" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
- Indigenous-Led Water Protectors Take Direct Action Against ... ›
- Indigenous and Climate Leaders Outraged Over Minnesota Permits ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A coalition of climate, Indigenous and racial justice groups gathered at Columbus Circle to kick off Climate Week with the Climate Justice Through Racial Justice march on Sept. 20, 2020. Erik McGregor / LightRocket via Getty Images
Environmental groups and the foundations that fund them made incremental, if mixed, progress toward diversifying their staff and leadership in 2020 but remain overwhelmingly white, according to a report issued by Green 2.0 Wednesday.
<p>The results are based on self-reported data from 37 of the country's top 40 environmental NGOs and just 11 of the top 40 foundations and grant providers. Since Green 2.0's first report in 2017, on average, the groups have increased their people of color on staff from 56 to 62 in 2020; on senior staffs increased from four people of color to five; and on boards, averaged four people of color, up from three.</p>
<p>Green2.0's executive director, Andrés Jimenez, commended the improvements, but said the changes were far from adequate in the context of the movement's history. The historic and present effects of redlining and other systems of (environmental) racism disproportionately burden communities of color with pollution. </p>
<p>The environmental movement remains predominantly white, however, especially in its leadership and funding — an inequity that has caused the movement to fail to account for and react to the harms caused by systemic racism. </p><p>"The survival of the environmental movement is going to be dependent on the community participation and leadership of communities of color and young people," said Rep. Raúl Grijalva, chair of the House Natural Resources Committee. "It can't be cloistered and it can't be selective anymore." </p><p>Jimenez also chastised the failure of so many foundations and grant providers to provide data for the survey even though some of them made public statements in the wake of the nationwide protests following the killing of George Floyd this past summer.</p>
<p>As reported by <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/numbers-don-t-lie-green-movement-remains-overwhelmingly-white-report-n1253972?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106540840&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--vnu7e70huofRhkD5SqqC1zZXsM_Gqe4_lxOiNbi0998WihJMmXHfm4KU0fDl9ef8gaywGga25hF_phlpczlubyu2kVw&utm_content=106540840&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">NBC News</a>:</p><blockquote>President-elect Joe Biden has made issues of climate change and diversity a pillar of his incoming administration. Environmental groups said he signaled the importance of inclusion with the <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/biden-selects-michael-regan-north-carolina-environmental-chief-head-epa-n1251598" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">selection of Michael Regan</a>, who is Black, to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/native-americans-rep-haaland-s-nomination-interior-secretary-signals-new-n1251727" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deb Haaland</a>, a Native American member of Congress from New Mexico, as his interior secretary.</blockquote>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/numbers-don-t-lie-green-movement-remains-overwhelmingly-white-report-n1253972?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106540840&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--vnu7e70huofRhkD5SqqC1zZXsM_Gqe4_lxOiNbi0998WihJMmXHfm4KU0fDl9ef8gaywGga25hF_phlpczlubyu2kVw&utm_content=106540840&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NBC</a>, <a href="https://thehill.com/changing-america/respect/equality/534097-the-results-are-in-how-diverse-is-the-mainstream?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106540840&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--rG_mkQDKsNzxlbB2w24DxzhC_nj42zTZ6upg7snIJt_G_E6QmJlpLZ98rxsBTV80agXFRhT07crK14Ul7qsR99xY8Xg&utm_content=106540840&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Hill</a>, <a href="https://login.politicopro.com/?redirect=https%3A%2F%2Fsubscriber.politicopro.com%2Farticle%2F2021%2F01%2Fgreen-groups-diversity-push-stalled-in-2020-3986324%3Futm_campaign%3DHot%2520News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106540840&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8HJbELIbjwQQgPY0-rFXWqnF5SfDm_XjBOUax4berNbeOzsAXUsxOcrPCjd8X1WoyfFMEAzVUhnMnWWHq-sYUB752Xfw&utm_content=106540840&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Politico Pro</a>, <a href="https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2021/01/environmental-organizations-remain-overwhelmingly-white/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106540840&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8j2MvTp8OOCpljo9lBRbdf3EGYShP_DJcpiGENxaWAPOk7U0AJuv014iml4rLncK0Nhfec_k7tbliIg3PjjaI5ZTVlVA&utm_content=106540840&utm_source=hs_email" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yale Climate Connections</a></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em></p>
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Singapore is cited as one of the many cities facing light pollution issues. leungchopan / Getty Images
By Tim Schauenberg
When the Earth shook the Los Angeles region on the night of January 17, 1994, many houses, bridges and power lines were toppled. At that moment, the brightly illuminated metropole was plunged into darkness.
<p>People torn from their beds emerged to the reality of having been hit by an earthquake. They also, according to local observatories and police stations who reportedly received phone calls to this effect at the time, emerged to alleged sightings of a "giant silvery cloud" in the sky. What they were seeing was actually <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/milky-way-gobbled-up-smaller-galaxy-in-cosmic-crash-astronomers-find/a-49706252" target="_blank">the Milky Way</a> and stars which until then, had remained obscured behind the dazzling city lights.</p><h2>From a Revolution to a Pollutant</h2><p>The 19th-century invention of electric light was a genuine revolution, and over a century later, it is hard to imagine a life without it. Yet today, more than 80% of the world's population live under light-polluted skies. In Singapore, for example, nights have become so bright that people's eyes now struggle to adapt to real darkness. </p><p>Christopher Kyber, a scientist at the Potsdam-based German Research Center for Geosciences, describes the introduction of artificial light as "one of the most dramatic changes we've made to the biosphere."</p><p>He says throughout evolution, there was a constant signal coming from the environment. "This is daytime, this is nighttime, this is the lunar month. In areas that experience strong light pollution, that signal has been dramatically changed."</p><p>Scientists estimate our planet is becoming 2% brighter every year, with the consequences of that increase growing ever more visible. </p>
<h2>Is Light Making Us Sick?</h2><p>People living in big cities are likely to be most affected by too much artificial light. </p><p>"It's just horrible. You can see the orange glow across the whole of Mumbai," said Nilesh Desai, an IT worker and light pollution activist in India's second-largest city. </p><p>"Lights used to be on until 12am or sometimes until 3:00am," he said, in reference to illuminated billboards, floodlights and streetlamps. "I used to get disturbed by those lights, you know, bright lights coming into my room, my bedroom, and it definitely impacted me because I could not sleep."</p><p>When he lodged a complaint with the authorities in 2018, they ignored him.</p><p>Science shows links between artificial light and eye injury, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/technology-that-helps-us-fall-asleep/a-44540273" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">sleeplessness</a>, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/study-obesity-cuts-life-expectancy-by-up-to-10-years/a-19398951" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">obesity</a> and in some cases, even <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/53-million-germans-suffer-from-depression-each-year/a-46506088" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">depression</a>. A US study on shift workers from 2007 even makes a connection with breast cancer. It is all related to melatonin, a hormone that is released when it gets dark.</p><p>"When we don't get that hormone, when we don't produce that hormone because we're exposed to so much light in our apartment, or as a shift worker, then the whole working of this biological clock system becomes problematic," Kyber said.</p>
<h2>Lighter Nights Affect Biodiversity </h2><p>It's not only humans that need a natural day-night rhythm. Wildlife also struggles to adapt to the use of artificial light at night. Corals, for example, don't reproduce as usual, migratory birds can lose their sense of orientation, and, rather than walking towards the sea, newly hatched turtles have been found walking inland, where they die. </p><p>"There is a tremendous change because the increase of brightness at nighttime is new to evolution," said Sibylle Schroer, a scientist at the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries in Berlin. </p><p>Insects are also affected. One study suggested that an estimated 100 billion nocturnal insects die in Germany each summer as a result of artificial light. Usually reliant on the moon for orientation, the critters become so distracted by bright streetlamps for example, that they fly around them all night. They then die from exhaustion, are too weak to reproduce or become easy prey for predators.</p><p>Another report published in 2016 showed that plants growing near streetlights are pollinated significantly less often at night and produce less fruit than their unlit counterparts. Even trees feel the impact of light at night, budding earlier and with later leaf fall than others.</p>
<h2>The Climate Impact </h2><p>With fossil fuels still the main source of global electricity production, the unnecessary use of light at night also <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/delhi-is-choking-on-its-smog/a-41309472" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">contributes to air pollution</a> and climate change. According to Pavan Kumar, a scientist at the Rani Lakshmi Bai Central Agricultural University in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, "More than 12 million tons of carbon dioxide are released into the atmosphere each year due to extreme nighttime light." </p><p>With better light management and urban planning, those emissions could be significantly reduced, and resources and money could be saved, he continued.</p><p>So far, movement on such measures has been slow. France and Croatia have taken the lead, introducing legal limits on excessive nighttime illumination by imposing bans on lights in eco-sensitive areas. In some places, like in parts of France, there are set times when lights in public spaces have to be dimmed or switched off.</p><p>Back in Mumbai, after protests from citizens like Nilesh Desai, city representatives have indicated they are willing to reduce light pollution. In a victory for Desai, a stadium close to his home has been told to remove its floodlights. As there is very little legislation around the regulation of light pollution, Mumbai politicians have also called on the Indian environment ministry to implement laws. </p><p>Desai hopes it won't take a blackout to see the Milky Way over his city one night.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from </em><em><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/light-pollution-the-dangers-of-bright-skies-at-night/a-56209536" target="_blank">Deutsche Welle</a>.</em><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/r/entryeditor/2649940234#/" target="_self"></a></p>From Your Site Articles
- A Stargazer's Guide to Protected Dark Skies - EcoWatch ›
- Big Cities, Bright Lights: Ranking the Worst Light Pollution on Earth ... ›
- Fireflies Face Extinction From Habitat Loss, Light Pollution and ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
A gorilla and baby in San Diego. Mohamed Abdelrazek / EyeEm / Getty Images
Gorillas at California's San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the zoo announced on Monday.
<p>While studies have shown that primates can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, this is the first time the virus has been passed to great apes, as far as scientists are aware.</p><p>"Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well," San Diego Zoo Safari Park executive director Lisa Peterson said in the press release. "The troop remains quarantined together and are eating and drinking. We are hopeful for a full recovery."</p>
<div id="48f1e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07ae85abcb5d8869a6cddab4bbced806"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348721392624168960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Members of our gorilla troop tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Aside from some conges… https://t.co/8nzpISp7qm</div> — San Diego Zoo Safari Park (@San Diego Zoo Safari Park)<a href="https://twitter.com/sdzsafaripark/statuses/1348721392624168960">1610395212.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Zoo staff first became concerned about the gorillas Jan. 6 when two of them began coughing. So they sent fecal samples to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CA HFS) to test them for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Preliminary tests did show that the virus was present in the troop Jan. 8. The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) then <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2021/sa-01/ca-gorillas-sars-cov-2" target="_blank">confirmed</a> the presence of the virus in three gorillas on Monday. However, Peterson told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gorillas-test-positive-coronavirus-728944350363be5d4b0bc907f31f3b8d" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> Monday that eight gorillas who live together are all believed to be infected.</p><p>The zoo suspects the infection first passed to the gorillas from a member of their care team, who also tested positive for the virus. The individual was asymptomatic and wore a mask around the gorillas at all times. The zoo has been closed to the public since Dec. 6, <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-zoo-says-gorilla-troop-positive-with-sars-cov-2-marking-1st-known-transmission-to-apes/2492954/" target="_blank">NBC7 San Diego reported</a>.</p>
<p>"There is some question: Did it come human-animal? That's being determined and want us to respect that process," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as NBC7 San Diego reported. "But nonetheless, that's long been a concern – human to animal transmission – but our beloved gorillas, obviously, we are concerned about."</p><p>The zoo noted it is unclear how the gorillas will react to the virus, since it has never been observed in apes before. However, conservationists have been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-great-apes-2645576034.html" target="_self">concerned</a> since the pandemic started that the disease might spread to great apes. Gorillas have been known to die of human respiratory viruses like the common cold. In March of 2020, 27 experts from the Great Ape Health Consortium wrote an open letter calling for all great ape tourism to pause and for field work to be reduced to protect wild gorillas from catching the new disease.</p>
<p>The gorillas in San Diego are western lowland gorillas, according to The Associated Press. Poaching and disease have decreased this type of gorilla's population by more than 60 percent in 20 years, the World Wildlife Fund said.</p><p>For now, the San Diego gorillas are receiving vitamins, fluids and food, but they are being monitored by veterinarians and the zoo is talking to experts who have treated coronavirus in humans in case the gorillas get worse. Any information the zoo officials acquire will be shared with scientists, health officials and conservationists to protect gorillas in the wild.</p><p>While no other great apes have contracted the virus, it has spread to other zoo animals, mostly large cats, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/11/gorillas-san-diego-zoo-coronavirus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. All of them have recovered. The virus has also been reported in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/denmark-mink-coronavirus-2648633663.html" target="_self">farmed</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/utah-mink-coronavirus-2649520996.html" target="_self">wild minks</a> and some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pets-coronavirus-2645784937.html" target="_self">cats and dogs</a>.</p>
<p>The USDA said that the risk of animals passing the virus to people is currently considered low, but encouraged those who are infected or think they may be infected to stay away from pets or other animals.</p><p>Director of viral diagnostics at the University of California San Francisco Charles Chiu <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Two-gorillas-test-positive-for-coronavirus-at-San-15862229.php" target="_blank">told the San Francisco Chronicle</a> that the important thing to determine from a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> perspective was if the gorillas had all contracted the virus from one person or spread it amongst themselves. The latter would be much more serious.</p><p>"Then you can have an ongoing source of infection, and ongoing source of new variants that in turn can be transmitted back to humans," Chiu said. "It's very worrisome."</p>
From Your Site Articles
- Can Your Pets Get and Transmit Coronavirus? - EcoWatch ›
- Coronavirus Shines Light on Zoos as Danger Zones for Deadly ... ›
- Utah Mink Becomes First Wild Animal to Test Positive for Coronavirus ›
- Coronavirus: Tiger at Bronx Zoo Is First Animal in US to Test Positive ›
- COVID-19 Could Threaten Already Vulnerable Great Apes - EcoWatch ›
- Is COVID-19 Infecting Wild Animals? - EcoWatch ›
Read More
Show Less
Trending
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder Among Officials to Be Charged in Flint Water Crisis
13 January
Politics
Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is seen testifying on Flint, Michigan's tainted water scandal on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 17, 2016. Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials face new charges over the Flint water crisis, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
<p>Snyder governed Michigan in 2014, when a state-appointed special manager of Flint, Michigan, switched the majority Black city's water supply to the Flint River. The river's highly corrosive water was not treated, enabling it to leach <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from aging pipes that contaminated the water system. Bacteria in the water was also blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that sickened at least 90 and killed 12.</p><p>"The very fact that people are being held accountable is an amazing feat," LeeAnne Walters, a Flint mother of four who is credited with exposing the contamination, told The Associated Press. "But when people's lives have been lost and children have been severely hurt, it doesn't seem like enough."</p><p>Walters wanted more details about the charges, which are so far unclear. The Associated Press learned from two people with knowledge of the investigation that the state attorney general's office had informed defense lawyers about pending charges and court appointments.</p><p>A source told <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/flint-water-probe-snyder-charges/6642737002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Detroit News</a> Tuesday that Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon would face criminal charges. Former Flint public works director Howard Croft will likely be charged as well, his lawyer confirmed. Indictments of up to 10 people could be announced as soon as Thursday. But the attorney general's office has said it is not ready to release more information.</p>
<p>"It's an ongoing investigation," Courtney Covington, the attorney general's office spokeswoman, told The Detroit News. "The team is working diligently, though and we do hope to have an announcement on the status of that investigation soon."</p><p>The new charges would be part of an investigation into the Flint water crisis instigated by prosecutors working for Attorney General Dana Nessel. A previous investigation launched by former Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette had already charged Lyon, among others, but Nessel's office <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-criminal-charges-2638815965.html" target="_self">decided to drop</a> all previous charges in 2019 and start over, arguing that there were major problems with the initial investigation.</p><p>Snyder's lawyer spoke out against any potential charges, arguing they were politically motivated.</p><p>"It is outrageous to think any criminal charges would be filed against Gov. Snyder. Any charges would be meritless," attorney Brian Lennon said in a written statement reported by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/us/michigan-former-governor-snyder-flint-water-charges/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "Rather than following the evidence to find the truth, the Office of Special Counsel appears to be targeting former Gov. Snyder in a political escapade."</p>
<p>However, there is already some evidence Snyder knew more about the crisis than he claimed. In mid-January 2016, he told reporters he had just learned about the Legionnaires' outbreak, The Associated Press reported. But his urban affairs adviser Harvey Hollins later told a judge that Snyder had been informed on Christmas Eve 2015.</p><p>Flint politicians and activists spoke out in favor of Snyder's conviction.</p><p>"It's just wonderful. It's finally here. It's hitting me right now," former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told The Detroit News. "It's about time. All evidence pointed to him that he knew, that he knew what was going on. It was a cover-up for 18 long months that something was going on with Flint and the water."</p><p>The criminal investigation is separate from a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-michigan-water-crisis-settlement-2647038028.html" target="_self">$600 million settlement</a> that the state of Michigan reached with victims in August 2020.</p><p>In the meantime, Flint is still repairing its infrastructure. Current Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley told the<a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/former-michigan-governor-charges-flint-water-crisis/6644125002/https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/former-michigan-governor-charges-flint-water-crisis/6644125002/" target="_blank"> Detroit Free Press </a>that a project to replace all lead home service lines was almost finished, with less than 500 left to be excavated.</p><p>"Our community has been through a tragedy it never should have faced, but Flint is strong and we will continue moving forward," Neeley told the Detroit Free Press.</p>
From Your Site Articles
- What You Need to Know About the Flint Water Crisis - EcoWatch ›
- Michigan Agrees to Pay $600 Million to Flint Water Crisis Victims ... ›
- Michael Moore: 10 Things They Won't Tell You About the Flint Water ... ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
Groundbreaking Court Case Argues U.S. Climate Denial Policy Violates Americans’ Right to Be Free
07 January
Popular
People's Climate Solidarity March crossing the Mississippi in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on April 15, 2017. Fibonacci Blue / Flickr
By Carter Dillard
In 2019 a study linked climate change and hotter weather to early childbirth in the United States. "That's enough to take somebody from what's considered to be a pretty healthy pregnancy into a 'we are somewhat worried' pregnancy," said Alan Barreca, a UCLA professor of environment and human health and lead author of the study.
<p>Prior to this, several studies showed that the most effective way to mitigate the climate crisis, in terms of individual behavior, was to choose a <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/janetwburns/2017/07/20/scientists-say-family-planning-is-our-best-bet-to-reduce-climate-change/#480ee30d40f5" target="_blank">smaller family, and have fewer children than one normally would</a>.</p><p>That means the best thing we can do to protect our kids is to change the way we plan families. If you think about that statement, it makes sense: Planning ahead is much <a href="https://havingkids.org/fair-start-research/" target="_blank">more effective</a> than simply reacting to a situation. But as the <a href="https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2018/01/15/biodiversity-climate-change/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">climate crisis kills off nature</a> and <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/state-of-the-climate-2020-set-to-be-first-or-second-warmest-year-on-record" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">superheats the planet at an accelerating rate</a>, pregnancies give us a beautiful window to see the interconnection in one stark way — at the nexus between the human world and the nonhuman world and the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/world/africa/comoros-climate-change-rivers.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">environment we are overrunning</a> — and to consider the best solution to the problem.</p>
<p>There's something hidden in this question that could be preventing the world from taking the effective action necessary to deal with the climate crisis, and <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/annals-of-inquiry/the-pandemic-is-not-a-natural-disaster" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">related crises like the COVID-19 pandemic</a>. What do we mean by the environment? What are we protecting from the climate crisis, and wish to have in the future? This is called the normative baseline problem, and it halts progress on policy and action as we struggle at the crossroads of different ways to go, between <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more anthropogenic</a> and <a href="https://foundationforclimaterestoration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">less anthropogenic</a> choices.<br></p><p>The baseline problem tends to linger when we consider things in terms of human welfare. If we switch to a framework of human freedom, our preference should become clear. Should infants be free of the ravages of an anthropogenic climate? How can we be free from others without restoring nature, or adhering to <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1259151/virus-highlights-nature-s-right-to-be-left-alone" target="_blank">the highest environmental baseline possible</a>? Freedom from the power of <a href="https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol29/iss3/5/" target="_blank">others is contingent upon restoring nature</a> and the wild — or a baseline based on the absence of human power — and pursuing the highest form of environmental protection. Freedom from others logically starts with the nonhuman world or the rewilding of our planet.</p>
<h3>The Baseline Problem</h3><p>There is a <a href="https://www.simplypsychology.org/cognitive-dissonance.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">cognitive dissonance</a> prevalent in our species of evaluating something without thinking through the normative baselines, or the things against which we are making the evaluation. For example, I might think that — relative to how I will feel in a minute's time — it is a good idea to gorge on doughnuts right now. If I had really considered how I would feel later, and <a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/how-your-brain-stops-you-from-taking-climate-change-seriously" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">especially in the long run</a>, and if I keep making the same decision, I would realize that I should have thought beyond the short term, or made the decision at a later point of time.</p><p>The baseline problem <a href="https://scholarship.law.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=2143&context=wmlr" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has dogged environmentalism</a> forever. It is a problem Cass Sunstein, former president Obama's regulatory czar, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Risk-Reason-Safety-Law-Environment/dp/0521016258" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">has tried to address</a> in his book <em>Risk and Reason</em>.</p>
<p>The world made the baseline mistake in developing environmental policy decades ago, choosing to treat nature as a resource for humans. The baseline was too low and allowed policies that fell short;<a href="https://mashable.com/article/climate-change-2020-records/" target="_blank"> indeed, it is</a> <a href="https://mashable.com/article/climate-change-2020-records/" target="_blank">one of the reasons our planet continues to superheat</a>. We are <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y6fv4fyx" target="_blank">making that same mistake now with regard to COVID-19</a>, by <a href="https://www.aspca.org/news/alarmingly-covid-19-relief-funds-prop-factory-farming" target="_blank">financially stimulating factory farming</a> and other forms of ecocide that degrade the buffer (or social distancing) between people that our pre-<a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/anthropocene/" target="_blank">Anthropocene</a> environment offered. Degrading that "natural buffer" <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/04/climate-change-coronavirus-linked/" target="_blank">exacerbates the risk of pandemics</a> and <a href="https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/03/28/social-distancing-is-a-privilege/" target="_blank">determines how we can react to them</a>. As the New Republic reported, the next pandemic <a href="https://newrepublic.com/article/157129/next-pandemic-hiding-arctic-permafrost" target="_blank">could be hiding in the Arctic permafrost</a>.</p><p>Solving the baseline problem will allow us to trace these calamities — <a href="https://earther.gizmodo.com/its-horrific-climate-change-is-killing-the-great-barri-1842728096" target="_blank">like the unfolding death of the Great Barrier Reef</a> — and help us back to an ultimate source, and, perhaps, to a solution. We can no longer use a baseline for environmental policy that treats nature or the nonhuman world as a human resource. This is the baseline most environmentalists use, and the one that created the Anthropocene era in which we find the world today. A much higher baseline would view nature as something that ought to be a nonhuman habitat or the homes of sentient species who have a right to survive and thrive. This would be <a href="https://foundationforclimaterestoration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">a restorative baseline</a>, and the one more consistent with animal liberation. Such a baseline would be most protective against things like climate change and the pandemics it drives. A policy based on this baseline would revolve around ensuring our children have the only environment proven — over millennia‚ that allows humans and all species to thrive. It would seek to eliminate the way the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-38094186" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">absence of nature in our lives is degrading our psyches</a>.</p>
<p>In other words, what should our environment be like? What environment do our kids deserve? Do we want to raise kids <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/26/world/expensive-car-drivers-study-scli-scn-intl/index.html?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNN&utm_term=link&utm_content=2020-02-26T13%3A35%3A36" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">with antisocial personalities</a> who will plague their future generations with the same issues? Can we avoid doing so? Our choices to answer that question are being cut off as corporate and government forces convert nature into profits for the uber-wealthy. Our freedom to choose, our freedom through nature, is being taken away from us.</p><p>Whether we and our children have a right to that higher baseline and environment — what our future ought to look like — underlies the climate debates and the culture wars over how we respond to COVID-19. In this context, the debate centers around whether we should <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/uhenergy/2019/12/06/how-much-is-a-climate-change-solution-worth/#4f19d231f560" target="_blank">prioritize economic growth over preserving nature</a>, and <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/03/social-distancing-culture/609019/" target="_blank">the protection of human life</a>. The debate is between those who favor a lower environmental baseline and economic growth and those who favor a higher baseline and human rights, like the right of the most vulnerable groups to survive the pandemic.</p>
<p>It is a debate that is now being <a href="https://www.law360.com/articles/1259151/virus-highlights-nature-s-right-to-be-left-alone" target="_blank">fought out in federal court</a>. The case will determine a lot about what it means to be free in America — for us and for our kids.</p><p>Here is the key to that case, something many people miss. In order for us to be free, wilderness — or the relative absence of human domination over nature — has to remain and be protected as a potential baseline against the imposition of human power. Without it, we will lose our point of orientation to know what it means to be free from others. Or as Senator Frank Church of Idaho <a href="https://www.britannica.com/explore/savingearth/freedom-at-malheur" target="_blank">said</a> in helping to pass the Wilderness Act of 1964, that "without wilderness this country will become a cage." Consider this, and the uber-wealthy class: People like Elon Musk <a href="https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2020/1/7/21003272/space-x-starlink-astronomy-light-pollution" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">insert themselves between us and nature in order to overrun it</a> and promote <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/30/elon-musk-jack-ma-biggest-problem-world-will-face-is-population-drop.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased population growth to accelerate that process</a>. They envision a future in which the world is one big market, or a place they can dominate as the alternative — <a href="https://www.walden.org/quotation-category/government-and-politics-2/freedom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">or the free world of Thoreau</a> — recedes into extinction.</p>
<p>It's hard to think outside of the box when there is no outside, when there is no alternative to a man-made, human-dominated world. Anti-environmental groups who wish to convert the entire <a href="https://www.oxfam.org/en/press-releases/worlds-billionaires-have-more-wealth-46-billion-people" target="_blank">world into a market that is owned by a powerful few</a>, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/06/trump-executive-order-on-us-space-resources-and-mining-policy.html" target="_blank">who are now even eyeing the resources in space</a>, know and exploit this fact. When I am in nature, in the wild, I can see the box or cage from the outside. I am free because I have that perspective, point of orientation, or baseline. Shouldn't we ensure that our kids have the same choice, and can see from that perspective?</p><p>The founders of this country thought so. They understood how crucial it was to have a baseline that could be used to judge and orient ourselves against human power, and wrote it into the Declaration of Independence, <a href="https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/yhrdlj/vol10/iss1/1/" target="_blank">using the concept of wilderness and nature as the foundation</a> upon which to build the latticework of the American social contract. They understood that human rights and democracy are <em>objective</em> values and should orient around an external and objective point like nature. In the Declaration, they explicitly assured it to our progeny.</p>
<h3>No Freedom Without Nature</h3><p>In the case, which is now on appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, the <a href="https://aldf.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Animal Legal Defense Fund</a> and <a href="https://seedingsovereignty.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seeding Sovereignty</a>, two nonprofits, allege that the federal government's policy of ignoring the climate crisis — and in many cases knowingly exacerbating it — violates Americans' right to be free because it is destroying our environment relative to the higher, or restorative baseline. The concept of constitutional freedom can be complex but one way to unpack it is by dividing it into positive and negative freedoms — or the right to be <em>free from</em> the nonconsensual impact other people have on you, and the <em>freedom to</em> choose how to live your life. The plaintiffs allege our government is violating both these freedoms.</p><p>Consider the impact of the climate crisis on pregnant women, as the baseline environment, which generations of American mothers have enjoyed, and is now being degraded. Not only are <a href="https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/c-change/subtopics/climate-change-and-pregnancy-low-birth-weight/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the mothers and their babies subject to the disastrous and long-term impacts of the crisis</a>, but their choices and opportunities in life are being cut off by such long-term impacts. Instead of addressing this issue, the government's policies internationally have shifted the benefits to polluters, who use the wealth to minimize the harm of the crisis upon themselves and expand their own choices in life by ensuring poorer health, additional costs of care, etc. This case argues that because we have the right to be free from others and to live our lives as we choose, such government policies violate the Constitution, which protects us from these and similar intrusions. How can we have a right to be free from relatively nonintrusive things like <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-supreme-court-just-struck-a-blow-against-mass-surveillance/2018/06/25/1b5ee510-7653-11e8-b4b7-308400242c2e_story.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">government surveillance</a>, as the Supreme Court has always held, but not be free from life-threatening ecological impacts? We do have such a right — a right to a natural and restorative environmental baseline, or the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/stories-52066238" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highest possible standard of environmental protection</a>, which stands as a wall between us and those who would use nature for their own profits, and prevents from further endangering pregnant women and their children, and exacerbating pandemics in the future. Having that right is what it means to be free.</p>
<h3>Taking a Revolutionary Perspective and Acting on It</h3><p>The case of <em>Juliana v. United States</em>, which was filed in 2015 by 21 youth and organizational plaintiff Earth Guardians, is powerful and differs significantly from <a href="https://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/juliana-v-us" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">other constitutional litigations regarding the climate crisis</a> as it is focused on anthropocentric standards for environmental protection, and relies on the role of nature, and wilderness, in particular, in the American Revolution and the founding of the country. Could the Founding Fathers have imagined that Americans would one day be so impacted by others, that nature would be so degraded, that our own environment threatened pregnancy? How would they have wanted us to react to that threat and our rights to be free from others, and free to live our lives as we see fit, relative to the environmental baseline they enjoyed <a href="https://www.earthisland.org/index.php/advocates/suit/rewilding" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and extolled as a necessary condition of freedom</a>? This country is built on a promise to our progeny and we know the people who are making it impossible to keep that promise.</p><p>This is not about fealty to our Founding Fathers or some other form of nationalism masquerading as liberalism. If we don't orient our political systems around the absence of human power and <a href="https://foundationforclimaterestoration.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the restoration of nature</a>, we are adopting a concept of freedom that is incoherent. That, in turn, <a href="https://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2020/07/dillard-on-legitimacy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">poses serious legitimacy problems for any form of governance</a>, making consensual political association physically impossible. In other words, without the absence of human power — or nature or the nonhuman world — <a href="https://digitalcommons.pace.edu/pelr/vol29/iss3/5/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">it becomes impossible to consent to human power</a>. We cannot allow ourselves to simply embrace — and foist upon future generations — a world where we cannot be free from others' harmful influence, in which freedom from the power of others does not exist and political liberty is replaced <a href="https://www.consumerfreedom.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">by a degrading form of consumerist freedom</a>. In such a world, freedom is more economic than political, and the average person's role is reduced to being a buyer and seller in a world market rather than that of an empowered citizen in free democracies surrounded by nature. Those promoting such an emaciated form of freedom, and blocking family planning reforms that would ensure people are <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/02/24/humanitys-survival-on-earth-starts-with-having-smaller-families_partner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">empowered as truly free and equal</a> might be thought of as pre-constitutional, but it is preventing the intergenerational constituting or coming together of people as truly self-determining.</p>
<p>The move away from a lower or resource-based baseline has begun, in part, with the recognition <a href="https://tinyurl.com/y3zg9aqm" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">that humans and the environment are inextricably linked</a>, which is a partial move away from the view of nature as a resource <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674368224" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">and separate from humanity</a>. The next steps involve understanding exactly what we mean by the concept of nature and why we value it, and moving from the descriptive realm to the normative or evaluative realm — the realm of law and human rights — where we can articulate exactly how nature should be part of us and part of <em>who we as a species should be</em>. And when it comes to taking action, a useful perspective would be understanding that the fight for nature involves liberating <a href="https://tinyurl.com/mra52os" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the most vulnerable entities in the world — future generations and nonhumans</a>. This involves <a href="https://www.salon.com/2020/02/24/humanitys-survival-on-earth-starts-with-having-smaller-families_partner/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">universal reform of our family planning system</a>. One effective option would be to liberate them by seizing the resources of those at the top of the power and population pyramid that Nobel laureate <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Chu" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Steven Chu</a> recognized and using those resources <a href="https://havingkids.org/its-not-about-population-its-about-an-intergenerational-revolution/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">to fund universal family planning programs that promote smaller and more equitable families</a>. And while we have been taught that countries like the United States were "constituted" by god-like wealthy white men in the past, new scholarship argues that this idea is nonsense and that if we assume political power derives from actual people, <a href="https://lsolum.typepad.com/legaltheory/2020/07/dillard-on-legitimacy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">we are constantly either constituting legitimate democracies or deconstituting into illegitimate "pre-constitutional" political states</a>, depending on the family planning systems at play.</p>
<p>Do you think the idea of linking equity and a universal ethic of smaller families to population and family planning sounds far-fetched? Others, like <a href="https://mashable.com/video/michael-moore-planet-of-the-humans/" target="_blank">Michael Moore</a> and <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/24/david-brooks-who-is/" target="_blank">David Brooks</a>, are already making the connection in the mainstream.</p><p>The war on nature has turned into a war against us and our kids. We cannot afford to make the baseline mistake in the face of threats like the climate crisis, COVID-19, mass extinction and many other interrelated catastrophes. That is what the case is about: arguing that our fundamental human rights include a right and responsibility to nature, which in essence means <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/B-qdco0jAFa/" target="_blank">seeing ourselves as guests of nature</a>, and not its master. It is an argument that completely gels with changes around the country to <a href="https://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/0195150163.001.0001/acprof-9780195150162" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">limit destructive and mythical property rights</a>, such as those over animals and over specific parts of our environment, in favor of a form of personhood that would protect the most vulnerable entities in the world.</p><p>And whether courts recognize that right to be free in nature or not, the tide of those willing to fight for the highest standard of environmental protection, and to protect those most vulnerable will continue to rise all the way up to the doorsteps of our oppressors — specifically those who push for a lower environmental baseline and economic growth over our right and responsibility to nature.</p>
<p><em>Carter Dillard is the founder of <a href="https://havingkids.org/" target="_blank">HavingKids.org</a>. He served as an Honors Program Attorney at the United States Department of Justice and served with a national security law agency before developing a comprehensive account of reforming family planning for the Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal. He has begun to implement the transition to child-centric "Fair Start" family planning, both as a member of the Steering Committee of the Population Ethics and Policy Research Project, and as a visiting scholar of the Uehiro Center, both at the University of Oxford.</em></p><p><em><span></span>This article was produced by </em><a href="https://independentmediainstitute.org/earth-food-life/" target="_blank"><em>Earth | Food | Life</em></a><em>, a project of the Independent Media Institute.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
- To Stop Amazon Deforestation, Brazilian Groups Take Bolsonaro to ... ›
- Judge Orders Historic Hearing on Climate Science - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less
EPA’s ‘Secret Science’ Rule Will Make It Harder for the Agency to Protect Public Health
06 January
Science
Children's health in particular will be negatively impacted by this new rule. Rawpixel / Getty Images
By Gabriel Filippelli
The Trump administration has worked to weaken U.S. environmental regulations in many areas, from water and air pollution to energy development and land conservation. One of its most controversial actions is known as the "secret science" rule because it would require scientists to disclose all of their raw data, including confidential medical records, for their findings to be considered in shaping regulations. This measure has just been finalized.
<p>This proposal drastically limits what kinds of scientific and medical research the Environmental Protection Agency can draw on as it makes policy. According to press reports, an EPA advisory panel with <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/11/04/pruitts-new-science-advisers-add-more-industry-experts-conservatives-to-the-mix/" target="_blank">many members appointed by President Trump</a> <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/31/climate/epa-science-panel-trump.html" target="_blank">criticized the proposal</a>, saying it would do little to increase transparency and could limit what kinds of research get done.</p><p>As director of a <a href="http://www.urbanhealth.iupui.edu/" target="_blank">center on urban health</a>, I study issues including <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MEp4948AAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">human exposure to toxic substances</a> such as lead and mercury. Confidential patient information is a key resource for my work, and I believe that children's health will suffer as a direct result of this rule.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MDQzMy9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNzY1NzI4Nn0.lAHt3SCNKPOECkAp4PnSb4Rq4xxztBDa43lLRyQDCJI/img.jpg?width=980" id="62873" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d197090b9b00a5ed2deab9aec9a71df5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="904" />
Despite steps such as phasing out leaded gasoline, lead poisoning is still a serious public health problem across the U.S. AZDHS
Using Child Health Records to Map Lead Exposure
<p>My work is made possible because researchers can obtain confidential patient records, under strict regulations and oversight to ensure their confidentiality throughout analysis. These controls are mandated under <a href="https://www.hhs.gov/hipaa/for-individuals/guidance-materials-for-consumers/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">federal regulations</a> that were rightly instituted to protect people's identities and health data pursuant to the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA.</p><p>I started researching lead exposure hot spots in U.S. cities almost 15 years ago, well before thousands of kids were poisoned by lead in Flint. Pediatric exposure to lead results in permanent neurological effects – namely, reduced IQ and deficits in attention, learning and memory compared with nonintoxicated peers. These impacts <a href="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/lead-poisoning-and-health" target="_blank">are permanent</a>, so it is critical to identify and eliminate lead exposure sources before children are poisoned.</p><p>Because I did not have the resources to obtain and analyze millions of samples of soil, dust and water for lead, I turned to medical records. Children around the country have routine blood tests, and many of them include an assay for blood lead levels. I realized that if I could obtain those records, as well as each child's age, test date and home address, I could map out the distribution of lead poisoning.</p><p>In an ideal world public health experts wouldn't use maps based on kids who have already been permanently poisoned to find exposure sources. Nevertheless, 16,000 medical records later, I was able to produce a detailed block-by-block map of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-012-9474-y" target="_blank">blood levels in children</a> in Indianapolis.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTI2MDQ0Ni9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NTkxMDc5OH0.zxcJv5s3Lvr2TziQ4bX0hD-BQ3PpzyGASxEvfLzVqss/img.jpg?width=980" id="28c4f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f1fc8c49bfef2a4f9350d34525f40777" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1200" data-height="824" />
Blood lead levels of children in Indianapolis, Indiana, for the period February 2002 to December 2008 (n = 12,431) for children between ages 0 and 5.99 years (area = 1,044 km2). Filippelli et al, 2012., CC BY
Pinpointing Exposure Sources and Timing
<p>This approach led me and my colleagues to two major discoveries that have improved communities and shaped policy at the local and national levels. Neither of these insights could be used to implement solutions under the proposed secret science rule.</p><p>First, we found that the pediatric lead poisoning distribution patterns we identified from medical records <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-012-9474-y" target="_blank">matched a rudimentary map</a> of patterns of legacy lead contamination – lead emitted over decades by sources such as leaded gasoline, lead-based paint and industrial emissions – that we constructed from separate research work on <a href="https://www.mapmyenvironment.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">urban soil and dust</a>. This indicated that at least in Indianapolis, soil and contaminated dust generated from it was likely the major exposure mechanism for lead in children.</p><p>We were able to leverage that finding in some particularly contaminated neighborhoods where the EPA had previously carried out cleanups. Indeed, our work spurred the agency to reanalyze one of these poorly mitigated neighborhoods and reopen the cleanup over a <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-completes-cleanup-100-properties-american-lead-site-indianapolis-soil-sampling" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">much broader target area</a>.</p><span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a37a039636226eb137004af7c191fdbc"><iframe lazy-loadable="true" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ATNvg9RXzFE?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<p>Second, we were able to verify the source of seasonal variations in children's blood lead levels. Through some basic atmospheric modeling, we identified seasonal dust generation as the main driver of this pattern. For example, when soil becomes drier for an extended period of time, it generates more dust that can be tracked into homes or blown into the air. If that soil happens to be contaminated with lead, the dust is also contaminated and becomes a <a href="https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.7759" target="_blank">regional exposure source</a>.</p><p>After expanding this analysis to 10 different U.S. cities, we were confident enough to begin recommending to clinical networks that they take blood test dates into account. An August blood lead value could be double the level from a February test, so we believed it was important to consider timing in evaluating whether a child might be at risk of unsafe exposure. This led to the first such screening policy to be implemented around the timing of lead test results.</p><h2>Putting Blinders on Regulators</h2><p>Neither of these findings would have been possible without access to original, confidential patient medical records. For each patient we needed a specific home address and exact individual results from blood lead tests. These both are protected classes of personal information that must be kept confidential under federal regulations.</p>
<div id="bda5a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="deb1d11bb13f686c873a5bf1747f433e"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1201607312244387840" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Researchers must unite against US environment agency’s attack on scientific evidence; @NatureNews editorial… https://t.co/vIrJacdJ45</div> — ASA Science Policy (@ASA Science Policy)<a href="https://twitter.com/ASA_SciPol/statuses/1201607312244387840">1575320482.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>I participated in 2011 in the EPA's <a href="https://yosemite.epa.gov/sab/sabproduct.nsf/264cb1227d55e02c85257402007446a4/B1B17FB48ACEFE8D8525776D006C55CE/%24File/ISA_FOR_LEAD.PDF" target="_blank">Integrated Science Assessment for Lead</a> review process, in which the agency reviewed papers and consulted experts to determine whether provisions in the Clean Air Act regulating airborne lead exposure were adequately protecting Americans. Regulators were particularly interested in the small-scale links between blood lead levels and known sources of lead from dust that our research was finding. Eventually, the agency <a href="https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-and-hud-announce-new-lead-dust-standards-protect-childrens-health" target="_blank">lowered acceptable standards for lead in dust</a> in 2019.</p><p>Childhood lead exposure is still a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/graphics/lead-water/en/" target="_blank">public health hazard of epidemic proportions</a> in some parts of the U.S., particularly cities. The potential sources are relatively well known: soil, dust and water. The challenge is that researchers don't have adequate environmental measurements for these sources. Until we do, fine-scaled results revealed by human health data remain our best way to identify sources, and thus inform policies to protect children.</p><p>Now, under the secret science rule, EPA officials will have to pretend that this kind of research doesn't exist, since the patient records that it draws on can't be made public. There are ways to reverse this measure: Congress could repeal it under the <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1063712743" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Congressional Review Act</a>, or the Biden administration could refuse to defend it in the face of legal challenges. The slowest path would be conducting a new rule-making to rewrite it.</p><p>Until one of these things happens, I believe the Trump administration's action will leave hundreds of thousands of children across the U.S. at risk of a lifetime of avoidable harm from lead poisoning and other types of pollution that researchers analyze using private medical data.</p>
<p>
<em><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/gabriel-filippelli-314915" target="_blank">Gabriel Filippelli</a> is a </em><em>Professor of Earth Sciences and Director of the Center for Urban Health, IUPUI.</em>
</p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: </em><em><em>Gabriel Filippelli receives funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (Environmental Justice Small Grants Program) and from the Indianapolis Foundation.</em></em>
</p><p>
<em><em></em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://theconversation.com/epas-secret-science-rule-will-make-it-harder-for-the-agency-to-protect-public-health-128769" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em>
</p><p>
<br/>
</p><iframe height="1" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/128769/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" width="1"></iframe>From Your Site Articles
- EPA Updates Plans to Limit Use of Science in Decision-Making ... ›
- EPA Doubles Down On Its Attempt to Censor Science | NRDC ›
- EPA to Adopt Big Tobacco's 'Secret Science' Rule - EcoWatch ›
Related Articles Around the Web
Read More
Show Less