public health

EPA Watchdog Finds Agency Failed in Flint Water Crisis

EPA Watchdog Finds Agency Failed in Flint Water Crisis

A report by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) internal watchdog organization published Thursday argued that the EPA needed to step up its monitoring of state drinking water in the aftermath of the Flint, Michigan water crisis, CBS reported. The report, conducted by the EPA’s Office of the Inspector General, found that EPA’s Region 5 […]

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    Invasive, Blinding Weed Spreads to Virginia

    Invasive, Blinding Weed Spreads to Virginia

    An invasive plant species whose sap can cause burns and blindness has spread to Virginia, CBS News reported Monday. Giant hogweed looks similar to common, harmless summer wildflowers like cow parsnip and Queen Anne’s lace. But it can grow to be 14 feet tall and its sap contains photosensitizing furanocoumarins that make any skin they […]

    Public Health Benefits of Adding Offshore Wind to the Grid

    Public Health Benefits of Adding Offshore Wind to the Grid

    By Jonathan Buonocore New plans to build two commercial offshore wind farms near the Massachusetts and Rhode Island coasts have sparked a lot of discussion about the vast potential of this previously untapped source of electricity. But as an environmental health and climate researcher, I’m intrigued by how this gust of offshore wind power may […]

    Judge Orders EPA to Comply With Clean Air Act in Ozone Lawsuit

    Judge Orders EPA to Comply With Clean Air Act in Ozone Lawsuit

    A federal judge ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take action to fight air pollution entering New York and Connecticut from five other states, Reuters reported. The EPA had until August 2017 to complete plans for states that failed to adapt to new ozone air-quality standards set by the agency in 2008, but […]

    Opioids Found in Seattle Mussels Could Put Salmon, Other Fish at Risk

    Opioids Found in Seattle Mussels Could Put Salmon, Other Fish at Risk

    A surprising finding from the waters of Seattle’s Puget Sound reveals that the opioid epidemic devastating human communities in the U.S. could be harming marine life as well. Every two years, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) transplants bay mussels raised in clean waters in Whidbey Island, WA to locations around Puget Sound […]

    High CO2 Levels Make Rice Less Nutritious, Study Finds

    High CO2 Levels Make Rice Less Nutritious, Study Finds

    Research published Wednesday in Science Advances found that rice grown with the higher atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations expected by the end of this century was less nutritious, signaling bad news for the more than two billion people who rely on the grain as their primary food source, a University of Washington (UW) press release published […]