By Liz Borkowski Aman at Technology, Health & Development reminds us that itâs World Water Week, and provides a great collection of water-related links for the occasion. Several of the articles are about a backlash against bottled water â apparently, a critical mass of people has just discovered that a) tap water is often as […]
The expert panel evaluating the chemical bisphenol A for the National Toxicology Program has âsome concernâ that BPA exposure causes neural and behavioral effects in developing fetuses, infants, and children. The panel has âminimal concernâ or ânegligible concernâ that BPA affects the prostate or causes premature puberty or birth defects. (PDF draft meeting summary here) […]
It no longer seems unusual to see an article in the Washington Post or the New York Times about Bush administration officials interfering with science for political reasons. Over the past week, though, two major news sources that reach a different audience have given this problem a lot of ink.
In today’s New York Times, Eric Lipton and Louise Story examine the problem of lead in inexpensive children’s jewelry. Inspections have found lead problems one out of five times when testing these products, suggesting that hundreds of thousands of contaminated jewelry items remain on the market. Here’s why jewelry is particularly problematic: Jewelry is perhaps […]
By Harrison Newton, National Nursing Centers Consortium (Lead Safe DC) The recent recall of top-selling toys made by Mattel Inc. because they âcouldâ contain the neurotoxin lead should cause government, academia and the public to consider why we are still allowing lead to harm our communities. Canât we do better? Of course we can, and the […]
Our regular readers may remember that back in March, environmental advocates raised concerns about the National Toxicology Program contractor preparing a draft report on bisphenol A, because the contractor had ties to companies that manufacture this particular chemical. (Read past posts on the issue.) After investigating the allegations, the NTP fired the contractor, Virginia-based Sciences International. Now, Susanne Rust […]
By David Michaels We are pleased that the Washington Post has come to the same conclusion we have here at the Pump Handle (see here and here): something needs to be done to shake up the attorneys at the Federal Emergency Management Agency. In an editorial today entitled FEMA’s Toxic Environment, the Post tells FEMA […]
By David Michaels In the continuing post-Hurricane Katrina debacle, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is facing two daunting tasks: Cleaning up some of the 56,000 trailers that are off-gassing formaldehyde, a toxic chemical; and Cleaning up the FEMA Office of General Counsel, which is evidently staffed with unethical attorneys. One recommended that the agency […]
By Myra L. Karstadt, Ph.D On June 13, a team of which I was part received EPAâs highest award: The Administratorâs Gold Medal for Exceptional Service. According to the citation, the award was given to us âFor successful conclusion of the largest administrative penalty action in history which will significantly improve reporting of TSCA toxic chemical […]
By David Michaels Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Director R. David Paulison needs to pursue disciplinary charges against the attorneys who advised the agency to ignore its responsibility to take care of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina. Last week, we reported on the revelations that FEMA attorneys advised the agency not to test for the […]