EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
"F.D.A. Bans Three Arsenic Drugs Used in Poultry and Pig Feeds"
NY Times, 10/02/2013"In resolving a longstanding dispute, the Food and Drug Administration has announced that it will rescind approval for three of the four arsenic drugs that had been used in animal feeds at the request of the companies that market them."
Kalamazoo River: "Public Health Report on 2010 Oil Spill Released"
AP, 10/01/2013"MARSHALL, Mich. -- People who canoe on, or wade or swim in, the Kalamazoo River near Marshall in southwestern Michigan are not expected to suffer any long-term harm from chemicals left in the water when an oil pipeline burst in 2010, according to a state report."
Unvaccinated Kids One Cause of 2010 Whooping Cough Outbreak: Scientists
LA Times, 10/01/2013"Children who did not get vaccinated against whopping cough are one of the causes of the 2010 outbreak of the illness, when more cases were reported than in any year since 1947, researchers say."
"Prions -- in Plants? New Concern for Chronic Wasting Disease"
WisconsinWatch, 09/30/2013"Prions -- the infectious, deformed proteins that cause chronic wasting disease in deer -- can be taken up by plants such as alfalfa, corn and tomatoes, according to new research from the National Wildlife Health Center in Madison."
Fracking Chemicals May Be Unknown, Even To Gas Drillers, Docs Suggest
Huffington Post, 09/27/2013"Critics of hydraulic fracturing, known widely as 'fracking,' have been pushing hard for natural gas companies to disclose all of the chemicals in the fluids that are used in the process. But what if the companies themselves don't even know what those chemicals are?"
"'High Levels' of Poison Found in Columbia Sewers as Probe Widens"
The State, 09/26/2013"Cancer-causing industrial chemicals have been found in the sewers at a Columbia-area restaurant as a state investigation of illegal dumping expands from the Upstate to the Midlands, where utility officials scrambled this week to learn more about the threat to central South Carolina."
Indiana OKs BP Wastewater Permit Requiring Major Mercury Reductions
NW Indiana Times, 09/26/2013"WHITING -- The Indiana Department of Environmental Management issued its final ruling on a permit application for BP's Whiting Refinery, requiring the company to cut its mercury releases into Lake Michigan by more than half."
Flame Retardants Banned Years Ago Finally Declining in Women: Study
EHN, 09/26/2013"Scientists have documented for the first time that banned flame retardants have declined in people in the United States, where levels of the chemicals had been growing exponentially."
Cleaner Air From Tackling Climate Change 'Would Save Millions of Lives'
Guardian, 09/24/2013"Tackling climate change would save millions of lives a year by the end of the century purely as a result of the decrease in air pollution, according to a new study."
"The study is published as scientists from around the globe gather in Stockholm to thrash out final details of a landmark assessment of climate science. Their final report is due to be released on Friday 27 September and will set out projections of wide-ranging impacts of global warming from droughts to floods to sea-level rise.
"California Lead-Paint Trial Winds To a Close"
San Jose Mercury News, 09/24/2013"SAN JOSE -- Anticipating a cleanup cost estimated as high as $1.6 billion, local governments from across California made their final legal pitch Monday to hold the paint industry accountable for allegedly threatening children's health by spreading toxic lead paint through tens of thousands of homes."
"Report: Environmental Chemicals a Pregnancy Risk"
AP, 09/24/2013"WASHINGTON -- From mercury to pesticides, Americans are exposed daily to environmental chemicals that could harm reproductive health, the nation's largest groups of obstetricians and fertility specialists said Monday."
"Air Pollution Destroys Health of Texas Fracking Communities"
ENS, 09/23/2013"KARNES CITY, Texas -- In the five years since the shale boom hit, the once-beautiful hills of south Texas have been transformed into a scarred, industrial landscape. The residents’ health is part of the collateral damage, according to the environmental watchdog group Earthworks. Their new study documents hazardous chemicals in the air and serious ailments reported by families living in close proximity to drilling operations."
Chemical Odor, Kids' Nosebleeds, Few Answers in South LA Neighborhood
LA Times, 09/23/2013"Monic Uriarte says she began having headaches and bouts of dizziness three years ago, about the time she and her neighbors began smelling a chemical odor on the streets and in their homes."
"Misgivings About How a Weed Killer Affects the Soil"
NY Times, 09/20/2013"ALTON, Iowa — The puny, yellow corn stalks stand like weary sentries on one boundary of Dennis Von Arb’s field here. On a windy day this spring, his neighbor sprayed glyphosate on his fields, and some of the herbicide blew onto Mr. Von Arb’s conventionally grown corn, killing the first few rows."
"Brain-Eating Amoeba Rattles Nerves in La. Parish"
AP, 09/20/2013"NEW ORLEANS -- While officials try to pin down the source of a deadly amoeba found in the water supply of a suburban New Orleans community, bottled water sales in St. Bernard Parish have skyrocketed and some people worry about washing their faces in the shower."

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