Environmental Toxins

Ohio EPA Cautions Against Illegal Burning

Fri, 08 Jun 2007 00:57:41 -0700

The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency is cautioning about illegal burning that can pollute the air. Open burning is considered illegal in many cases. Additionally, burning garbage, buildings, rubber, grease, asphalt or any other petroleum product always is prohibited. The Ohio EPA can fine those who violate the rule up to $250 a day and up to $1,000 a day for burning on industrial, commercial, institutional or municipal properties.

Ohio EPA Warns Against Illegal Burning

Environmental Group Sues EPA

Thu, 07 Jun 2007 00:18:25 -0700

The Center for Biological Diversity plans to file a lawsuit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for allowing pesticides to be used in the habitats of endangered species. The lawsuit alleges that the EPA did not adequately assess whether these chemicals are dangerous to these animals.

Environmental Group Sues EPA Over Bay Area Pesticides

EPA's Chemical Screenings Questioned

Wed, 06 Jun 2007 23:47:10 -0700

Some scientists fear that the Bush administration has developed a chemical testing program that is biased toward the chemical industry. A $76 million new program is underway to determine whether certain chemicals can affect human hormones. The program aims to specifically identify endocrine disrupters.

EPA's Chemical Screenings Questioned

Health Advisory Issued for Detroit Lake East of Salem

Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:23:58 -0700

A health advisory has been issued because of high algae levels found in several locations on Detroit Lake, which is about 60 miles from Salem, Oregon. Water sampling by the Forest Service has found that the algae produces toxins that are dangerous to humans and animals. The levels of algae are likely a result of dangerous toxins in the water.

Health Advisory Issued for Detroit Lake East of Salem

Infection Kills Infant in Toronto

Mon, 04 Jun 2007 21:57:49 -0700

The neonatal intensive care unit at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto remains closed after a premature baby died from the microbe serratia. Four other babies at the hospital also have tested positive for the serratia. Allison McGeer, the hospital's director of infection control, says that "this bacteria is not terribly uncommon so we don't know yet whether the other babies who are colonized have the same serratia as the baby that was infected."

Neonatal Unit Remains Closed After Fatal Infection

McPhail Did Not Test School for PCE

Fri, 01 Jun 2007 12:12:26 -0700

McPhail Associates Inc. had been hired by the city of Somerville, Massachusetts to test soil for contaminants from a former dry cleaner. McPhail, however, did not test Capuano School for contaminants; this is of great concern to parents of students at the school. In a report submitted to the city of Somerville in May 1999, McPhail said that they looked for the presence of "asbestos, total lead and pesticides/PCBs." The study did not offer any documentation on the "presence of lead paint, asbestos, or radon gas within the existing dwellings."

McPhail Did Not Test School Grounds for Neighbor's Contaminant

California Demands State's Auto Emissions Be Allowed

Thu, 31 May 2007 13:25:03 -0700

California officials asked federal regulators to allow California to establish its own strict auto emissions controls. They say that they plan to sue the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if their request is turned down. Attorney General Jerry Brown says "We're at a historic juncture. The Clean Air Act is clear that California can regulate emissions. I think the EPA administrator (Steve Johnson) will grant this, unless Bush or Karl Rove order him not to."

California Demands EPA Allow State's Stringent Auto Emissions Controls

EPA Study Shows Idling Worse Than Restarting Engine

Wed, 30 May 2007 12:46:19 -0700

The Environmental Protection Agency studied the exhaust levels from school buses while they were parked and idling compared to when the buses actually were turned off and then restarted. The study concludes that idling for more than three minutes causes more pollution than restarting the engine. By shutting off the bus, levels of carbon monoxide, fine particles, nitrogen oxide, and carbon dioxide were lowered. Alan J. Steinberg, the EPA Regional Administrator who made the announcement, said Pollution from school buses has health implications for everyone, especially asthmatic children. This study shows in no uncertain terms that allowing a bus to idle exposes children to more pollution and shows that a very simple step – shutting off that engine – can really make a difference.”

EPA School Bus Study Shows Idling Worse Than Re-starting Engines

Schwarzenegger Criticizes EPA for Tailpipe Emissions

Tue, 29 May 2007 12:29:31 -0700

Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor or California, and governor Jodi Rell, the governor of Connecticut, said in the editorial pages of the Washington Post that the Environmental Protection Agency has not done enough to combat global warming. The governors say that the EPA has the ability to regulate greenhouse gases, but did not do so. They also accuse the EPA from preventing states from creating their own standards to regulate emission gases.

Schwarzenegger Blasts EPA Over Tailpipe Emissions

Chemical Causes Cancer When Ingested

Mon, 28 May 2007 17:50:55 -0700

Hexavalent chromium, the chemical featured in the movie Erin Brockovich, has been found to definitively cause cancer in laboratory animals that drink it in their water. The study was published by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. Hexavalent chromium was used in the early 1990s in industrial manufacturing. It still is used in chrome planting and the making of dyes and plastics. Hexavalent chromium has long been recognized as a carcinogen that can cause lung cancer, but it had been unclear if the compound caused cancer when ingested.

Chemical Can Cause Cancer When Ingested

Deadly Fish Virus Found in Lake Winnebago

Mon, 28 May 2007 11:44:07 -0700

Fish collected from Lake Winnebago in Wisconsin have tested positive for hemorrhagic septicemia or VHS. The virus already may have appeared in Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and in the Mississippi River. Since May 2, 2007, the Wisconsin State Department of Natural Resources has received reports of hundreds of freshwater fish dying on Lake Winnebago.

Deadly Fish Virus Found in Lake Winnebago

EPA Searches for Better Asbestos Removal Technology

Fri, 25 May 2007 14:24:51 -0700

The Environmental Protection Agency released a plan to evaluate a new demolition process for buildings containing asbestos. Scientists and engineers from the EPA's National Risk Management Research Laboratory have developed a new method called the Alternative Asbestos Control Method to improve upon the current methods for demolishing buildings containing asbestos. Preliminary findings show that the AACM method is effective in cleaning up asbestos-contaminated buildings.

EPA study looks for better asbestos removal technology

Meth Toxins Leave Family Homeless

Thu, 24 May 2007 14:10:11 -0700

Cindy Wilson was thrilled to find a small house on Lawrenceburg Road in Ohio. She always had wanted to live in the country: "I had always heard my grandma telling stories about the farm she grew up on,” Wilson said. “It sounded perfect.” However, Wilson's dreams were shattered after neighbors told her that a former tenant of the house had used the house to make methamphetamine. The chemicals used to make methamphetamines are so toxic that police raiding meth labs wear environmental suits to protect themselves.

Meth toxins leave family homeless

Investigating Environmental Toxins from 9/11

Wed, 23 May 2007 13:57:27 -0700

Senator Hillary Clinton said that she and Rep. Jerry Nadler plan to chair a probe investigating the federal government's response and clean-up efforts following the September 11 terrorist attacks. Clinton said in a press release that "we need to examine what went wrong and assess whether the federal government is better prepared to respond to environmental hazards in future disasters. I also remain concerned about potential indoor contamination resulting from the collapse of the World Trade Center and want to take a close look at the EPA's inadequate program to test and clean residential areas in Manhattan."

Clinton, Nadler to investigate post-9/11 environmental cleanup

EPA Increases Dioxin Info

Tue, 22 May 2007 13:43:16 -0700

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has decided to increase reporting of dioxin compounds. Because of the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act of 1986 said that all facilities must report the amount of dioxin and dioxin-like compounds that are released or transferred from a facility. The EPA is now broadening the report to require that facilities give a report on each compound individually. The more detailed reports should allow communities to better determine the level of risk posed from dioxins and dioxin-like compounds released in an area.

EPA Increases the Information on Dioxin