In a basement laboratory at the University of New Mexico, Marcus Garcia rummaged through a bin full of plastic waste. He picked past bottles, chunks of fishing net, a toothbrush, a cup with a Pokemon character and a G.I. Joe. “Yes!” he exclaimed, holding up a discarded pipette tip. “Found it.”
Robert Taylor fought for years for stronger limits on the toxic chemical released by a neoprene factory in his Louisiana parish. Last year, the Biden administration finally delivered some relief, publishing a rule to reduce hazardous air pollutants from petrochemical plants.
Plastics are negatively impacting our health in shocking ways, with the problem growing worse over time amid lax government regulations, a group of scientists and policy experts warned on Thursday.
While this administration says removing toxics from the environment and keeping children healthy is their goal, many of their actions are doing the opposite.
It’s not just the fleece sweater. It’s the fleece stuffed animals and lovies my kid sleeps with, cuddled up under his chin throughout the night. It’s also the blankets, hats and pants. I’m increasingly concerned about the ubiquity of fleece.
Employees at the National Cancer Institute, which is part of the National Institutes of Health, received internal guidance last week to flag manuscripts, presentations or other communications for scrutiny if they addressed “controversial, high profile, or sensitive” topics. Among the 23 hot-button issues, according to internal records reviewed by ProPublica: vaccines, fluoride, peanut allergies, autism.
Two bills in Congress would prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency from using hundreds of chemical assessments completed by its IRIS program in environmental regulations or enforcement.
Formaldehyde, the chemical of choice for undertakers and embalmers, is also used in products like furniture and clothes. But it can also cause cancer and severe respiratory problems. So, in 2021, the Environmental Protection Agency began a new effort to regulate it.
A debate about whether black-colored plastic used in items including kitchen utensils could contain cancerous chemicals might be missing the point, according to experts.
Should you still be using black plastic? That was the question for many Americans after a study last year discovered high levels of flame retardants in cooking spatulas, sushi trays and kitchen peelers. Some news outlets urged consumers to throw out their black plastic spatulas, which could be contaminated with recycled electronic waste.
There’s been a marked shift in the types of diseases causing the most harm around the world over the past few decades. Chronic diseases like cancer, heart disease and metabolic disorders have overtaken infectious diseases like tuberculosis and cholera. It’s not genetics, age or lack of exercise driving the rapid rise in chronic disease, scientists at a new research center say.
Research into the disease has never been more far-reaching, but there is little consensus as to what is causing the rocketing rates of diagnosis in young adults.
Citing an “industrial epidemic of disease,” a group of scientists have launched an organization aimed at tracking and preventing diseases tied to pollution and products pushed by influential companies.
Tires and degrading garbage shed tiny pieces of plastic into the air, creating a form of air pollution that UC San Francisco researchers suspect may be causing respiratory and other illnesses.
Children are suffering and dying from disease that emerging scientific research has linked to chemical exposures, findings that require urgent revamping of laws around the world, according to a new paper published on Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).