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.
"Utah Study Points To Arsenic in Backyard Chickens"
Salt Lake Tribune, 07/06/2010"The use of roxarsone and other arsenic-based additives in poultry and swine feed is at the center of a national controversy."
"Feds Not Handling Women’s Uranium Claims"
Grand Junction Sentinel, 07/06/2010"Women who worked in the Grand Junction offices of the former Atomic Energy Commission have been diagnosed with diseases that would be compensable under the radiation exposure compensation law and related legislation, except for the fact they were employed by the federal government."
"Researchers Ask Canada To Ban Asbestos"
Reuters, 07/02/2010"An international group of researchers is renewing its call for a global ban on the mining and use of asbestos, a known cause of cancer they say is unsafe in any form."
"Health of Exxon Valdez Cleanup Workers Was Never Studied"
McClatchy, 06/30/2010"You'd think that more than 20 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill, scientists would know what, if any, long-term health dangers face the thousands of workers needed to clean up the Gulf of Mexico spill. You'd be wrong."
"Dengue Re-emerges in U.S., Spurring Race for Vaccine"
Greenwire, 06/29/2010"For the first time in more than 65 years, dengue has returned the continental United States, according to an advisory the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued in late May. While a few cases were reported earlier, they were primarily in Americans who had caught the virus abroad or at the Texas-Mexico border."
"Cellphone Industry Attacks San Francisco's Ruling on Radiation"
Wash Post, 06/29/2010San Francisco is requiring retailers to inform customers of how much electromagnetic radiation cell phones emit. The cell phone industry is attacking San Francisco in retaliation.
Health Data Gaps, Suspicions About BP Worry U.S. Panelists at Hearing
Bloomberg, 06/23/2010"There are 'large gaps' in data now being gathered on the health of the 34,000 workers cleaning up the largest oil spill in U.S. history and growing concern that BP Plc will fail to publicize problems if they arise." Those concerns came up at an Institute of Medicine hearing Tuesday.
NIEHS Director Urges Study of Flame Retardant Threat to Pregnant Women
EHN, 06/22/2010"The director of the national institute that oversees environmental health research said Monday that a new study raises many important questions about how flame retardants in common household items may pose a threat to the health of pregnant women and their infants."
"Chemical Security Advocates See New Opening to Rework Bush-Era Rules"
Greenwire, 06/17/2010Petrochemical companies like BP won a key battle in achieving unpoliced self-regulation early in the Bush administration -- when they got friends in Congress and the White House to shut EPA out of chemical safety and security oversight. As public health advocates point to possible disasters more lethal than the Gulf spill, there may be an opportunity to reverse the federal government's decisions not to protect the public from petrochemical disasters.
Quebec Revives One of Canada's Last Remaining Asbestos Mines
Canadian Press, 06/15/2010"The Quebec government is breathing new life into Canada's dying asbestos industry. The province is close to backing a loan of $58 million to reopen a mine in the town of Asbestos, a cash injection that could keep it operating for the next 25 years."
Ingredients of Dispersants Used on Gulf Spill Are Secrets No More
NYTimes, 06/10/2010"U.S. EPA has quietly released a full list of ingredients in the two controversial dispersants BP PLC is using to combat the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, following weeks of complaints from members of Congress and public health advocates that the dispersant manufacturer had kept its complete formula a secret from the public."
"Special Report: Toxic America"
CNN, 06/03/2010Tonight CNN completes its two-day special report, "Toxic America," detailing some of the ways Americans are exposed to toxic chemicals, their effects, and what can be done to reduce human exposure.
Fracking Fluid Disclosure Takes an Industry Hit in House Committee
Greenwire, 05/27/2010"Colorado Democrat Diana DeGette withdrew a proposed amendment today from House water legislation that would have expanded regulation of a controversial oil and gas production technique some say has contributed to groundwater pollution."
"Toxic Substances Agency Draws Fire"
NYTimes, 05/21/2010"The federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry has been under tough Congressional scrutiny over the last two years for what critics assert are flawed evaluations of health risks at the nation’s worst contaminated sites. Now the Government Accountability Office has issued a report detailing some problems with the agency’s internal policies and inconsistent monitoring by its management."
"CDC Misled District Residents About Lead Levels in Water, House Probe Finds"
Wash Post, 05/20/2010"The nation's premier public health agency knowingly used flawed data to claim that high lead levels in the District [of Columbia]'s drinking water did not pose a health risk to the public, a congressional investigation has found. And, investigators determined, the agency has not publicized more thorough internal research showing that the problem harmed children across the city and continues to endanger thousands of D.C. residents."

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