From thenewlede.org
Dubbed a “climate haven,” a North Carolina community braces for change
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From wildfires racing through the drought-stricken west, to heavy flooding in the central and eastern regions of the United States, extreme weather events are spurring many Americans to seek refuge in more environmentally stable cities, so-called “climate havens.” On top of a list of identified...
on Tue, 5PM
From thenewlede.org
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By Carey Gillam, Margot Gibbs and Elena DeBre In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease,...
on Fri, 4PM
From thenewlede.org
New study finds potentially harmful pathogens traveling high in the atmosphere
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By Douglas Main A wide variety of fungi and bacteria, including E. coli and other potential human pathogens, have been found high in the atmosphere where they can travel for hundreds to thousands of miles before falling back to Earth, according to new research. Air samples collected from...
on Fri, 12PM
From thenewlede.org
California passes law ordering review of paraquat weed killer
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By Carey Gillam Efforts by some California lawmakers to ban the controversial weed killing chemical paraquat ended this week with passage of a law that keeps the chemical in use but requires a reevaluation by regulators within the next five years. Backers of a ban cited scientific evidence...
on Sep 14
From thenewlede.org
As the world heats up, so does the debate around artificial turf
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By Carmela Guaglianone Artificial turf carpets athletic fields, playgrounds, and residential lawns across the US, offering a low-maintenance alternative to natural grass that always looks lush and doesn’t require heavy watering. But while this popular synthetic material is marketed as...
on Aug 31
From thenewlede.org
Michigan notches a victory in effort to rein in polluting farm waste
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By Keith Schneider In a rare rebuke to the industrial farm sector, the Michigan Supreme Court this week ruled that state environmental regulators have full authority to require livestock and poultry operations to improve their handling of billions of pounds of manure that contributes to...
on Aug 23
From thenewlede.org
Deadline looms for California airports to stop using PFAS firefighting foams
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By Benjamin Purper A majority of California airports known to be contaminated with toxic PFAS chemicals are continuing to rely on PFAS-laden foams for firefighting, despite a looming state deadline to phase out the foams due to the risks they pose to human and environmental health. Only four...
on Aug 15
From thenewlede.org
California bill to ban food dyes in schools may have nationwide impact
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By Shannon Kelleher A bill that would ban six food dyes linked to childhood learning problems from meals served at California public schools is close to passage and could bolster efforts to make foods safer across the US, according to proponents. The measure has garnered strong bipartisan...
on Aug 14
From thenewlede.org
EPA has failed to protect consumers from PFAS-laced containers, lawsuit alleges
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By Shannon Kelleher US regulators have failed to protect the public from millions of plastic containers that contain toxic PFAS chemicals, which can leach into pesticides, condiments, household cleaners, and many other products, alleges a lawsuit filed this week by environmental groups. The...
on Aug 4
From thenewlede.org
A battle in rural Midwest as farmers fight carbon capture pipeline
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By Nina Elkadi Kathy Stockdale and her husband have spent almost 50 years working the land in central Iowa. As a family farmer raising corn and soybeans, Stockdale knows how to deal with harsh weather, poor crop prices, and an array of other challenges that come with a making a living in...
on Jul 30
From thenewlede.org
Proposed rule could protect 36 million workers from hazardous heat
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By Shannon Kelleher As dangerous heat waves sweep the US, the Biden administration this week announced a first-of-its-kind proposed rule that could help protect about 36 million workers from heat-related deaths and injuries. If finalized, the safety standard, proposed July 2 by the Department...
on Jul 30
From thenewlede.org
Monsanto Roundup trial win overturned by Oregon court
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By Carey Gillam An Oregon appeals court on Wednesday overturned a trial victory by Monsanto owner Bayer AG in a decision that adds to an ongoing debate over the company’s efforts to create a nationwide legal and legislative shield from lawsuits alleging Roundup weed killer causes cancer. ...
on Jul 13
From thenewlede.org
Baby bottle makers deceived parents over dangers of plastic products, lawsuits allege
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Two US baby bottle makers have been engaging in a “campaign of reckless deceit” about the dangers microplastics in their products pose to infants and
on Jun 26
From thenewlede.org
New hope for long-polluted communities, but skepticism of Superfund success remains
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By Barbara Reina and Carey Gillam Jackie Medcalf was a teenager when she moved with her family to a small farm near the San Jacinto River in Harris County, Texas. It felt like a good life, playing in the river and “eating off the land,” as Medcalf describes it. But the animals quickly grew...
on May 28
From thenewlede.org
An Iowa farm county seeks answers amid cancer rates 50% higher than national average
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By Keith Schneider EMMETSBURG, IOWA –Raised in rural Iowa, 71-year-old Maureen Reeves Horsley once considered her tiny hometown in the northwest part of the state to be a blessed space. She recalls a time when the streams here ran clean and the lake water was clear. The family farm where...
on May 9
From thenewlede.org
Bayer asks EPA to again approve twice-banned weed killer
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After multiple court-ordered bans, Bayer AG is once again asking the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to approve the controversial weed killer dicamba for use on genetically modified crops, the EPA announced this week. Dicamba has been responsible for millions of acres of damage to...
on May 4
From thenewlede.org
"Sustainable" company behind POM juice among California's top paraquat sprayers
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By Shannon Kelleher The Wonderful Company, which has been recognized for its sustainability initiatives and owns POM pomegranate juice, Fiji Water, and other popular brands, was among California’s top sprayers of the toxic weedkiller paraquat in 2021, according to a new analysis. The major...
on Apr 30
From thenewlede.org
An herbicide so hazardous that courts have banned it twice
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By Bill Freese In early February, something rather extraordinary happened in the world of American farming. For the second time, a federal court banned the hazardous herbicide dicamba, which has been wreaking havoc on farmers, rural communities and the natural world for seven long years. The...
on Apr 16
From thenewlede.org
“A huge victory for public health”: EPA set limits on PFAS toxins in drinking water
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By Shannon Kelleher US regulators on Wednesday put in place the nation’s first legally enforceable limits for levels of six toxic PFAS chemicals in drinking water, saying the moves should prevent thousands of deaths and reduce serious illnesses in people across the country. The rule is...
on Apr 14
From thenewlede.org
Concerned about developing babies, EPA warns about danger of weed killer used on farms, golf courses
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By Jonathan Hettinger The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on Monday took the rare step of issuing a warning about “serious, permanent, and irreversible health risks” associated with a chemical used to kill weeds on farms and golf courses and athletic fields. Citing “significant...
on Apr 6
From thenewlede.org
US court blocks EPA order to eliminate PFAS in plastic containers
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By Shannon Kelleher A US appeals court has vacated an action by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordering a company to stop producing plastic containers that leach toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) into pesticides, household cleaners, condiments, and many other...
on Apr 3
From thenewlede.org
Postcard from California: The global plastics crisis is a threat to human health
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By Bill Walker Last April, an annual assessment of the clarity of Lake Tahoe found it was the clearest it had been since the 1980s. But just months later, scientists reported that the iconic alpine lake straddling the California-Nevada border had alarming levels of a nearly invisible form of...
on Mar 29
From thenewlede.org
New report sparks questions and controversy over possible causes for Iowa "cancer crisis"
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By Keith Schneider Amid increasing scrutiny of a potential link between Iowa farm chemicals and cancer, a new report is generating controversy as it blames rising cancer rates not on the toxins used widely throughout the state, but on something else entirely: binge alcohol consumption. The...
on Mar 5
From thenewlede.org
New report questions USDA support for certain climate “smart” practices
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A new analysis of US Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding for “climate-smart” conservation practices argues that several are unlikely to actually have climate benefits and one may even increase harmful emissions, though government officials say the analysis is deeply flawed and based on...
on Mar 4
From thenewlede.org
Report finds EPA failing to do its job amid thousands of Seresto flea and tick collar complaints
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By Johnathan Hettinger The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has not properly reviewed the safety of a popular flea and tick collar that has been linked to more than 3,000 pet deaths, according to the agency’s top watchdog. The EPA’s Office of Inspector General (OIG), an independent...
on Mar 2
From thenewlede.org
For a second time, US court bans dicamba weed killers, finds EPA violated law
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By Johnathan Hettinger Dealing a blow to three of the world’s biggest agrochemical companies, a US court this week banned three weed killers widely used in American agriculture, finding that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) broke the law in allowing them to be on the market. The...
on Feb 10
From thenewlede.org
"We can't sit back" - Amid climbing cancer rates, Iowa health officials eye farm chemicals
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Faced with a startlingly high cancer rate in the key US farm state of Iowa, public health leaders are taking the politically precarious step of acknowledging that preventing disease necessitates cutting exposure to potentially cancer-causing chemicals, including those used in agriculture. In a...
on Dec 26
From thenewlede.org
New EPA plan for hormone-harming pesticides sparks hope, but also skepticism
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By Johnathan Hettinger A new US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) plan aimed at protecting the public from exposure to pesticides that harm reproductive health is sparking hope for advocates who have called for action for more than two decades, but skepticism remains high. The EPA is...
on Dec 21
From thenewlede.org
EPA orders company to stop making plastic containers that leach toxic PFAS
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By Shannon Kelleher The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered a major company to stop producing hundreds of millions of plastic containers each year that contain toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which leach into countless products. The so-called “forever...
on Dec 11
From thenewlede.org
Postcard from California: Why the ‘Erin Brockovich’ Chemical Is Still Unregulated
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By Bill Walker In 2001, California lawmakers passed a law requiring the state to set a legal limit for a cancer-causing chemical found in the tap water of more than 9 in 10 Californians called chromium-6. The legislation was spurred by the film “Erin Brockovich,” based on the true story of a...
on Nov 27
From thenewlede.org
"What we're up against" - North Dakota towns fight Farm Bureau to try to keep water clean
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By Keith Schneider DEVILS LAKE, ND – When Clark Steinhaus first heard about a plan to build a feeding operation for 2,499 hogs near the shoreline of North Dakota’s largest natural lake, he was alarmed. As chair of Pelican Township’s board of supervisors, Steinhaus worried the manure generated...
on Nov 6
From thenewlede.org
Glyphosate cancer findings of "extreme concern" as Europe weighs reauthorization of pesticide
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By Carey Gillam European researchers have found new evidence linking popular weed killing products to cancer at levels currently considered safe. The study focused on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and other brands, and is the latest of a series of studies examining the...
on Nov 1
From thenewlede.org
EPA fast-tracking of gene-altering pesticide sparks concerns
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By Shannon Kelleher US regulators are fast-tracking a novel, gene-altering insecticide in an unusual move that would greenlight the product for three years of commercial use before a standard testing period is completed. Calantha, a product of the company GreenLight Biosciences, contains the...
on Oct 22