IN THE NEWS / JAN 6

  • Democrats plan an early push against tobacco.

    The new Congress plans to move aggressively against the tobacco industry by regulating cigarettes, raising sales taxes and ratifying an international antitobacco treaty. New York Times

  • Bay advocates sue EPA.

    An unusual coalition of environmentalists, watermen and former officials filed suit against the U.S. EPA, asking a judge to overhaul the floundering government campaign to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. After 25 years and nearly $6 billion in spending, it has failed to deliver. Washington Post

  • Residents fight proposed power plant over pollution.

    Twenty premature deaths a year - that's what Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment estimates it would cost Salt Lake and Davis counties in human terms if Utah goes forward with plans to approve a new power plant adjacent to the Holly Refinery in West Bountiful. Salt Lake Tribune, Utah

  • Coal-ash spill may strip TVA of 'deference' from U.S., states.

    The deluge of ash from a coal-fired power plant that buried 300 acres of eastern Tennessee is sparking new state and federal scrutiny of the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest U.S. public power company. Bloomberg News

  • Airing a threat: Group fights coal plant expansion.

    Tulsa is already chagrined by the "F" it received on the American Lung Association test for ozone and air pollution. And it's unclear what the impact would be if one of the world's largest power providers builds a second coal-fired plant in this tiny Oklahoma town. Tulsa World, Oklahoma

  • More abused than used.

    The sea is hideously polluted. Over 60m litres of oil run off America’s streets and find their way into the oceans each year. Even more alarming is the plague of plastic. But the sea can be harnessed for energy, and to store carbon. Economist

  • The curse of carbon.

    Most people can appreciate the seriousness of rising sea levels. Much harder to grasp are most of the other consequences of global warming--and especially of the build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Economist

  • Open-pit mine continues to swallow city.

    An immense open-pit mine located 4380 metres above sea level is swallowing up the centre of the city of Cerro de Pasco in Peru's central highlands, while the damages, in the form of toxic waste, spread to nearby villages. Inter Press Service

  • Hundreds of thousands in Strip without water.

    Between 600,000 and 700,000 Gazans have no water, some of them going on a week. About one million have no electricity, raw sewage is running in the streets in some places and various localities, especially in the northern Gaza Strip, face the threat of sewer backups. Haaretz, Israel

  • Nanotechnology: The science of tiny raises big hopes and also big fears.

    Nanotechnology is rocketing under the radar to transform how we live, work and play. It manipulates matter so small the naked eye can't see it and the mind's eye can't comprehend. Canadian Press

  • Your house can make you sick.

    Chemicals found in common home furnishings can cause asthma and flu-like symptoms, and your basement or bathroom may be harboring allergy-inducing mold. You could even be experiencing a reaction to a more dangerous substance that could cause kidney damage or cancer. CNN Money

  • Pesticide use in California declined in 2007.

    Pesticide use declined statewide in California and in San Joaquin County in 2007, and, while weather, economics and farming activities are factors, state and local regulators pointed to a downward trend in the application of many of the most toxic materials. Stockton Record, California

Crops absorb livestock antibiotics, new science shows.

c@rljones/flickr

For half a century, meat producers have fed antibiotics to farm animals to increase their growth and stave off infections. Now scientists have discovered that those drugs are sprouting up in unexpected places.

Vegetables such as corn, potatoes and lettuce absorb antibiotics when grown in soil fertilized with livestock manure, according to tests conducted at the University of Minnesota.

Today, close to 70 percent of all antibiotics and related drugs used in the United States are routinely fed to cattle, pigs and poultry, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Although this practice sustains a growing demand for meat, it also generates public health fears associated with the expanding presence of antibiotics in the food chain.

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New Science

Understand the latest scientific findings
  • PCBs influence allergy risk. Jan 05, 2009

    The type of chemicals someone is exposed to in the womb, or soon after birth, may predetermine the risk for developing respiratory infections as an infant and allergy and asthma as an adult, according to a study that focused on PCBs and DDE. In the study, both the amount and type of PCBs a baby was exposed to in the womb, or in the first three months after birth, affected the number of respiratory infections a child had. Some types of PCBs seemed to be associated with increased respiratory infections; other types seemed be associated with fewer infections. more…

  • Mercury-laden whale meat may foster heart disease. Jan 05, 2009

    Eating mercury contaminated seafood increases the risk of heart disease in men, reports a unique study that examined whalers on the Faroe Islands. The researchers found a clearly significant correlation of increased blood pressure and arterial thickness with higher mercury levels found in their bodies. more…

Media Review

Scientists critique media coverage
  • Lung cancer gene discovery. Dec 22

    BBC's short report puts discovery in perspective but is overly focused on tobacco. more…

  • Pork problems. Dec 10

    The recent recall of Irish pork was driven by dioxin contamination, though several media outlets incorrectly referred to these chemicals as 'PCBs.' more…

  • Simply stunning. Dec 09

    The USA Today series "Toxic Air and America’s Schools" (beginning 8 December 2008) is simply stunning in its scope and breadth. more…

  • Unscientific reassurances. Dec 09

    Widespread coverage of a report by the US Geological Survey on contamination in tap water could have done a better job at challenging the Survey’s reassurances that the exposures are safe. more…

Editorial sampler

  • Coal ash -- a Tennessee wake-up call.

    Coal burning is to the environment what cigarette smoking is to the body, a point brought home with startling clarity last month when an earthen dam holding back a vast reservoir of coal ash at a Tennessee power plant ruptured. more…

  • George W. Bush becomes the ocean conservation president.

    A man whose administration doesn't exactly have a green seal of approval from environmentalists will grant monument status today to three vast and breathtaking areas teeming with marine life in the South Pacific. more…

Opinion

More news from EHN From Environmental Health News

Scientists to EPA: Risks of chemicals that alter male hormones should be analyzed together.

A national panel of experts says EPA must change its focus and analyze chemicals that endanger male reproduction cumulatively or it will "seriously underestimate" the risks to human health.

more…

Coal is the great danger as 'peak oil' approaches, scientist warns.

The most important question about peak oil - and the largest source of uncertainty in climate models - is whether the end of oil will usher in a century of coal.

more…

California unveils six-step strategy to promote green chemistry.

After 20 months of brainstorming, California officials unveil steps to promote use of safer, sustainable chemicals in the state's consumer products and industries

more…

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IN THE NEWS (CONTINUED) / JAN 6