Environmental Health

"In pollution hotspots like western Pennsylvania — where petrochemical facilities are proliferating — local residents, distrustful of companies and government, are taking advantage of low-cost technologies to do their own monitoring of air, water, and noise pollution."

"For young children, any amount of lead exposure is bad. The element can damage children’s brains, stunt growth and cause developmental problems. Now, a new definition of lead poisoning will increase the number of U.S. children found to have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood."

"With the African island nation suffering a food crisis driven by drought on a warming planet, WFP says it's an alarm bell on the need to step up protection for vulnerable people"

"A Michigan city [Benton Harbor] that is urging residents not to drink tap water failed to timely warn people about high levels of lead and must make improvements at the water plant, federal regulators said Tuesday after an inspection revealed a variety of problems."

"A new study of hundreds of white-tailed deer infected with the coronavirus in Iowa has found that the animals probably are contracting the virus from humans, and then rapidly spreading it among one another, according to researchers."

"From the urban sprawl of Houston to the riverways of Virginia, air pollution from industrial plants is elevating the cancer risk of an estimated quarter of a million Americans to a level the federal government considers unacceptable." "The EPA allows polluters to turn neighborhoods into “sacrifice zones” where residents breathe carcinogens. ProPublica reveals where these places are in a first-of-its-kind map and data analysis."

"For years, a dangerous salmonella strain has sickened thousands and continues to spread through the chicken industry. The USDA knows about it. So do the companies. And yet, contaminated meat continues to be sold to consumers."

"Nearly one in six EPA staffers who responded to a survey say they still have allegations about lapses in scientific integrity during the Trump era that they haven’t reported, even under an administration that says it prioritizes science, according to data the agency released Monday."

"A new, more stringent review of the environmental impacts of a massive proposed plastics plant along the Mississippi River in St. James Parish will likely take more than two years."