Environmental Health

Air Pollutants May Damage IQs Before Baby's First Breath

"In a sweltering summer in New York City back in 1999, Yolanda Baldwin was eight months pregnant with her first child. She lived across the street from a busy intersection and often wondered what the fumes might be doing to her unborn child. Now Baldwin and several hundred other mothers whose sons and daughters have been monitored for a decade have an answer: Before children even take their first breath, common air pollutants breathed by their mothers may reduce their IQs."

Source: EHN, 07/26/2010

With Help of US Gov't, Firestone Built Liberian 'State Within a State'

The Firestone company, the second largest employer in Liberia, is so powerful in that country that the people there have little recourse when they complain that it is poisoning their water. Firestone's massive rubber plantation there was set up with help from the U.S. government in the 1920s. Firestone is now owned by the giant Bridgestone Americas, a Japanese company.

Source: Nation, 07/22/2010

America’s Asbestos Age Leaves Toxic Legacy and a Half-Million Deaths

While federal rules have drastically cut use of asbestos in the U.S., the legacy of decades of use is still killing Americans. As many as 10,000 die of asbestos-related illness each year. Are scientists being paid to bring fraudulent science into court by companies who hope to limit their liability?

Source: Center for Public Integrity, 07/22/2010

OSHA Releases New Data on Gulf Spill Responders

"The Obama administration has released a new analysis of chemical monitoring performed by BP PLC in order to tamp down concerns that offshore responders battling the oil giant's Gulf of Mexico gusher have been exposed to a chemical linked to lingering health problems among cleanup workers long after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill."

Source: Greenwire, 07/20/2010

"Army Corps Considering Coal Ash To Fix Levees"

"The Army Corps of Engineers wants to use ash cast off from coal-fired electrical generation to shore up dozens of miles of Mississippi River levees, drawing fire from environmentalists worried that heavy metals from the filler might make their way into the river."

Source: AP, 07/14/2010

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