By Nicole Ferox When my daughter was in preschool, she told me that instead of washing hands before lunch, the children used hand sanitizer. The thinking behind this was probably that hand sanitizer kills bacteria and viruses and therefore — presto! — problem solved. Hands are clean, and it’s so much quicker. But hand sanitizer […]
By Jessica Corbett In a report that elicited calls for congressional action, The New York Times revealed Wednesday that “senior officials at the Environmental Protection Agency disregarded the advice of their own scientists and lawyers in April when the agency issued a rule that restricted but did not ban asbestos.” Asbestos is a group of […]
On Wednesday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced the first 20 chemicals it plans to prioritize as “high priority” for assessment under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Given the EPA’s record of malfeasance on chemicals policy over the past two years, it is clear that these are chemicals that EPA is prioritizing to ensure […]
Ask any resident of San Francisco about the waterfront parrots, and they will surely tell you a story of red-faced conures squawking or dive-bombing between building peaks. Ask a team of researchers from the University of Georgia, however, and they will tell you of a mysterious string of neurological poisonings impacting the naturalized flock for […]
By Peter Hart Pennsylvania is home to more than 10,000 fracking wells, which forces communities to live with air pollution, water contamination and an array of health problems linked to drilling. The frackers want to drill more wells, and the state’s Democratic governor is not going to do anything to slow it down. But local […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported last week that in 2018 it issued so-called “emergency” approvals to spray sulfoxaflor—an insecticide the agency considers “very highly toxic” to bees—on more than 16 million acres of crops known to attract bees. Of the 18 states where the approvals were granted for sorghum and cotton crops, 12 […]
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) will propose a regulatory determination on highly toxic nonstick chemicals “by the end of this year,” a timeline that’s been criticized as too slow to take on the notorious drinking water contaminants. At a press conference on Thursday in Philadelphia, EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler announced a “comprehensive cross-agency […]
Under mounting public pressure, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may finally set a national limit on perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl compounds, or PFAS, concentrations in drinking water. “A decision is expected soon,” the Associated Press reported Monday. PFAS are a class of man-made chemicals found in a wide range of products, from non-stick cookware to […]
Children exposed to chemicals commonly found in personal care products may be at a higher risk of suffering from lung damage later in life, according to a new European study. The longitudinal study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, conducted by a team of European scientists, found that babies exposed in utero and shortly […]