Environmental Health

A new California rule may herald the end of toxic flame-retardant chemicals in furniture.

"Only about half of the prescription drugs and other newly emerging contaminants in sewage are removed by treatment plants."

"In an interview with Yale Environment 360, Robert Martin, co-author of a recent study on industrial farm animal production, explains how a powerful and intransigent agriculture lobby has successfully fought off attempts to reduce the harmful environmental and health impacts of mass livestock production."

"Many organic farmers are hopping mad right now at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and their reason involves perhaps the most under-appreciated part of agriculture: plant food, aka fertilizer. Specifically, the FDA, as part of its of food safety regulations, wants to limit the use of animal manure."

"The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion in federal court Wednesday asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging the Environmental Protection Agency has failed to follow through on upholding an environmental justice pledge."

"Children may enjoy plopping down in foam-filled chairs just their size, but a report released Wednesday by several advocacy groups says those chairs may contain flame retardants that could be harmful."

"On paper, California's rules on the transport and disposal of hazardous waste are among the nation's strictest. But there are huge holes in the system."

"House lawmakers are expressing optimism about a landmark Senate compromise to reform the country’s chemical safety law."

"One afternoon last winter, Julie Ellis unfurled a long, white tarp under a stand of trees near Coes Pond where hundreds of crows roost. Her mission: to collect as much bird poop as possible. Back in the laboratory, Ellis’ colleagues combed through the feces. Testing its bacteria, they discovered something unusual -- genes that make the crows resistant to antibiotics."

"This past summer, Aedes aegypti—the invasive African mosquito best known for carrying the potentially deadly diseases dengue and yellow fever—made its unexpected debut in California, squirming up from Madera to Clovis to Fresno and the Bay Area."