Toxic Chemicals

Petrochemical Giants Are Slowly Killing Black Louisiana Communities

March 13, 2019 Mike Ludwig, Truthout.org Educate! Black Working Class, Louisiana, Toxic Chemicals

Milton Cayette Jr. has just returned from a birthday party at the senior center in Welcome, one of the unincorporated hamlets nestled beside the earthen levee running along the east bank of the Mississippi River in the 5th District of Louisiana’s St. James Parish. Sitting in the kitchen of his home, Cayette begins listing the petrochemical facilities in the area, starting about five miles upriver near the Sunshine Bridge, where a chemical plant run by the company Mosaic produces diammonium phosphate and ammonia. Next door another plant produces styrene, a chemical used to make rubbers and plastics.

A Tale Of Two Toxic Cities

March 5, 2019 By Sharon Lerner, Theintercept.com Educate! EPA, pollution, Toxic Chemicals

After a crucial division of the Environmental Protection Agency reassessed the dangers of two key pollutants — ethylene oxide and chloroprene — the risk of cancer from air pollution shot up in many communities around the country. In 109 census tracts around the United States, the risk was suddenly unacceptable, according to the EPA’s own standards. Yet the agency didn’t take the next logical step: regulating these compounds or limiting emissions to protect residents from exposure. Instead, what happened next depended on where these hotspots were — and who was living there.

The U.S. Military Is Poisoning Germany

February 18, 2019 By Pat Elder, Civilianexposure.org Educate! Contamination, Germany, Toxic Chemicals, US military

Germany is experiencing a public health crisis with millions of people potentially exposed to drinking water contaminated with Per and Poly Fluoroalkyl Substances, or PFAS. A major source of this chemical contamination comes from the aqueous film forming foam (AFFF) used in routine fire-training on U.S. military bases. After igniting, then dousing massive fires with the lethal foam containing PFAS, the American bases allow the poisons to leach into the groundwater to contaminate neighboring communities which use groundwater in their wells and municipal water systems.

This EPA Rule Change Could Kill Thousands

January 11, 2019 By Olivia Alperstein, Otherwords.org Educate! EPA, Regulation, Toxic Chemicals

While Americans were quietly preparing to ring in the New Year, the EPA gave families a deadly present to start the year off wrong. On December 28, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a proposal that would effectively weaken the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), which protect American families from mercury and other harmful air pollutants emitted by power plants. The EPA “proposes to determine that it is not ‘appropriate and necessary’ to regulate” these emissions, the EPA wrote in a statement. This means that the regulations will lose the necessary legal mechanism that actually enables them to actually be enforced.

Fracking Wastewater Spikes 1,440% In Half Decade, Adding To Dry Regions’ Water Woes

September 12, 2018 By Sharon Kelly, Desmogblog.com Educate! Fracking, Toxic Chemicals, Waste

Between 2011 and 2016, fracked oil and gas wells in the U.S. pumped out record-breaking amounts of wastewater, which is laced with toxic and radioactive materials, a new Duke University study concludes. The amount of wastewater from fracking rose 1,440 percent during that period. Over the same time, the total amount of water used for fracking rose roughly half as much, 770 percent, according to the paper published today in the journal Science Advances. “Previous studies suggested hydraulic fracturing does not use significantly more water than other energy sources, but those findings were based only on aggregated data from the early years of fracking,” Avner Vengosh, professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment, said in a statement.

When Covering Up A Crime Takes Precedence Over Human Health: BP’s Toxic Gulf Coast Legacy

May 16, 2018 By Dahr Jamail, Truthout.org Educate! Crime, Health Care, Toxic Chemicals

On April 20, 2010, BP's Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded. Over the next 87 days, it gushed at least 200 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico, creating the worst human-made environmental disaster in US history and afflicting the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Less than one year after the disaster began, I spoke with Fritzi Presley, a Gulf Coast resident in Long Beach, Mississippi, who was already very sick at the time. Her doctor was treating her for bronchitis, extreme headaches, memory loss and other symptoms which mirrored those of hundreds of other sick fishers and cleanup workers I had interviewed. Her blood tests revealed m-Xylene, p-Xylene, hexane and ethylbenzene in her body -- chemicals that MacArthur Award-winning toxicologist Wilma Subra had already shown to be present in BP's crude oil.

Weedkiller Products More Toxic Than Their Active Ingredient, Tests Show

May 11, 2018 Carey Gillam, Theguardian.com Educate! EPA, Monsanto, Toxic Chemicals

US government researchers have uncovered evidence that some popular weedkilling products, like Monsanto’s widely-used Roundup, are potentially more toxic to human cells than their active ingredient is by itself. These “formulated” weedkillers are commonly used in agriculture, leaving residues in food and water, as well as public spaces such as golf courses, parks and children’s playgrounds. The tests are part of the US National Toxicology Program’s (NTP) first-ever examination of herbicide formulations made with the active ingredient glyphosate, but that also include other chemicals. While regulators have previously required extensive testing of glyphosate in isolation, government scientists have not fully examined the toxicity of the more complex products sold to consumers, farmers and others.

In ToxicDocs.org, A Treasure Trove Of Industry Secrets

January 12, 2018 By Tik Root, Undark.org Resist! Chemicals, Environment, pollution, Toxic Chemicals

Philip Scranton, a historian at Rutgers University, had taken aim at their book“Deceit and Denial: The Deadly Politics of Industrial Pollution” — and at Markowitz in particular. Scranton accused him of everything from “overgeneralization and failure to corroborate” to “selectively appropriat[ing] information,” among a list of other alleged misdeeds. Rosner and Markowitz’s peers quickly came to their defense, calling Scranton a “hired gun” for the chemical industry. (Scranton had in fact been hired by a group of companies to review two chapters in the book, along with a report Markowitz had prepared for a court case involving job-related chemical exposure.) But Rosner and Markowitz knew there would be more rounds to the stressful, time consuming, and seemingly never-ending fight.

Meat Industry Linked To Largest Toxic Dead Zone In US History

November 3, 2017 Alexandra Jacobo, nationofchange.org Resist! Animals, Food and Agriculture, Toxic Chemicals

By Alexandra Jacobo for Nation of Change - The meat industry, more specifically corporate giants such as Tyson foods, has been directly linked to the environmental catastrophe know as the toxic dead zone. Corporations that are a part of the meat industry use industrial-scale agriculture to raise their animals, which is the number one source of water pollution in the country. Even though there are better solutions available to minimize the impacts on the environment, corporations continue to use resource-intensive and ecologically destructive practices. This pollution has lead to toxic “dead zones”, which are areas where there is no longer enough oxygen for fish to survive. The largest dead zone in the United States is in the Gulf of Mexico. America currently houses five times as many livestock animals as humans. More than a third of America’s agricultural land is dedicated for the production of corn and soy, key ingredients in animal feed products. American humans only consume 10 percent of that which is produced. A new campaign launched by Mighty Earth is aiming to expose Tyson’s role in the process of livestock feed production that causes major pollution – and hold them accountable for it.

Toxic Firefighting Chemicals ‘Most Seminal Public Health Challenge’

October 19, 2017 Christopher Knaus, www.theguardian.com Educate! Contamination, Public Health, Toxic Chemicals

By Christopher Knaus for The Guardian - A top United States environmental official has described the contamination of drinking water by toxic firefighting chemicals as the most seminal public health challenge of coming decades. The US, like Australia, is still grappling with how to respond to widespread contamination caused by past use of per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (Pfas) in firefighting foam. The manmade chemicals share a probable link with cancer, do not break down in the environment and have contaminated groundwater, drinking water, soil and waterways. The Australian government has continued to maintain there is no concrete evidence of a link between the chemicals and adverse health impacts, but has been criticised for the inadequacy of its response. The government’s stated position sits in stark contrast with a view expressed this week by a senior official in the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a government agency and the country’s leading public health institution. Patrick Breysse, director of the CDC’s National Centre for Environmental Health, described the chemicals as “one of the most seminal public health challenge for the next decades”, according to the Bloomberg news agency.

Toxic Waste Sites Flooded In Houston Area

September 3, 2017 Jason Dearen and Michael Misecker, a href="http://www.AP.org" target="_blank" >www.AP.org Educate! Houston, Hurricane Harvey, Toxic Chemicals, TX

By Jason Dearen and Michael Misecker for Associated Press. The Associated Press surveyed seven Superfund sites in and around Houston during the flooding. All had been inundated with water, in some cases many feet deep. On Saturday, hours after the AP published its first report, the EPA said it had reviewed aerial imagery confirming that 13 of the 41 Superfund sites in Texas were flooded by Harvey and were "experiencing possible damage" due to the storm. The statement confirmed the AP's reporting that the EPA had not yet been able to physically visit the Houston-area sites, saying the sites had "not been accessible by response personnel." EPA staff had checked on two Superfund sites in Corpus Christi on Thursday and found no significant damage. AP journalists used a boat to document the condition of one flooded Houston-area Superfund site, but accessed others with a vehicle or on foot. The EPA did not immediately respond to questions about why its personnel had not yet been able to do so.

Toxic Industrial Chemicals Found In 10 Types Of Macaroni And Cheese Powders

July 17, 2017 Staff, www.ecowatch.com Resist! Food and Agriculture, Toxic Chemicals

By Staff of Earth Justice - Laboratory testing of 10 varieties of macaroni and cheese products has revealed toxic industrial chemicals (known as phthalates) in the cheese powders of all of the tested items, according to the Coalition for Safer Food Processing & Packaging, a national alliance of leading public health and food safety groups. In recognition of National Macaroni and Cheese Day, the coalition has issued a call to The Kraft Heinz Company—the dominant seller of boxed macaroni and cheese, with 76 percent of market share—to drive industry-wide change by eliminating any sources of phthalates (THAL-eights) that may end up in its cheese products. Detailed information and a public petition are available at http://www.KleanUpKraft.org. "Serving up one of America's favorite comfort foods shouldn't mean exposing your children and family to harmful chemicals," said Mike Belliveau, executive director of the Environmental Health Strategy Center, a coalition member. "Our test results underscore the need for industry to comprehensively test their products for phthalates and determine the steps needed to eliminate them." Two million boxes of macaroni and cheese are sold every day in the U.S.

EWG Database Reveals 16,000 Foods That May Be Packaged With BPA

June 25, 2016 Monica Amarelo, www.ewg.org Educate! BPA, Food and Agriculture, Toxic Chemicals

By Monica Amarelo for EWG - WASHINGTON––For consumers who want to avoid bisphenol A, EWG today unveiled an easily searchable database of more than 16,000 food and beverage items that may come in cans, bottles or jars containing the hormone-disrupting chemical, better known as BPA. The list was compiled from a little-known food industry inventory and is now available at EWG'sFood Scores database. BPA acts like estrogen in the body and is especially dangerous for pregnant women and children in critical stages of development.

People Near Wyoming Fracking Town Show Elevated Levels Of Toxic Chemicals

June 23, 2016 Zahra Hirji, www.insideclimatenews.org Educate! Fracking, Toxic Chemicals, Wyoming

By Zahra Hirji for Inside Climate News - Researchers tested air pollution in Pavillion, Wyo., along with local residents, suggesting a link between the toxic chemicals released and biological impacts. A new study brings researchers and environmental advocates closer than ever to tracing whether toxic chemicals spewing out of natural gas production sites are making their way into the bodies of people who live and work nearby.

Poor More Likely To Live Near Chemical Hazard

January 31, 2016 Amanda Starbuck, www.foreffectivegov.org Educate! Environmental Justice, Environmental racism, Inequality, Poor people, Toxic Chemicals

By Amanda Starbuck for Center for Effective Government. The Center for Effective Government released a new report and interactive map to coincide with the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The report demonstrates that the struggle for social justice is far from over. Across the country people of color and the poor are disproportionately impacted by chemical facility hazards, and in many areas, the amount of inequality is profound. We mapped all 12,000+ facilities reporting to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Risk Management Program (RMP). These facilities use large enough amounts of extremely hazardous chemicals that they must submit risk and response plans to the EPA. Communities near these facilities face the greatest danger from a toxic chemical release or explosion and are often exposed to toxic emissions on a daily basis. We compared the demographics of people living within one mile of these dangerous facilities to the rest of the population. The results are stark.

«1 2 3 »

Daily movement news and resources