Review: Diagnosis: Mercury, Money, Politics & Poison

January 15, 2009–Written by Jane Hightower; reviewed by Jennifer Weeks.

Review: Poisoned Profits: The Toxic Assault on Our Children

January 15, 2009–Written by Alice and Philip Shabecoff; reviewed by Kathleen Regan.

Bush OMB Claims Public Health Endangerment As Secret

January 14, 2009–The White House Office of Management and Budget has denied a FOIA request by the online newsletter Greenwire to release EPA's public health "endangerment finding" on climate change.

Gulf War Illness: It's Real, Afflicts About 200K Vets, Says Panel

November 26, 2008–As the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan drag on, new light has been shed on the environmental health impacts of the 1991 Gulf War. On Nov. 17, 2008, the Congressionally-mandated Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses released a major report which concluded that from 175,000 to 210,000 of the nearly 700,000 U.S. veterans of the first Gulf War suffer from Gulf War illness.

Science Survey: A Question of Science in EPA Air Regulation Decisions

November 15, 2008–Scientists advising the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution issues are criticizing EPA higher-ups for ignoring their scientific counsel. Specifically, they are accusing the Bush Administration of excising science from the process the agency uses to determine how clean the air we breathe should be. The Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee (CASAC) challenges EPA administrator Stephen L. Johnson.

Some States Win, Some Lose with Compact Fluorescent Lightbulbs

October 15, 2008–Compact fluorescent lighting reduces energy use, but what's the trade-off in mercury exposure via broken bulbs and disposal? Now a team of Yale scientists has estimated where there will be a net increase or decrease in mercury emissions.

Many Contaminants Infiltrate Caves

October 1, 2008–Along with the usual spooky and spine-tingling sights we have come to expect in caves, another scary inhabitant is turning up — contaminants such as PCBs, pesticides, dioxins, gasoline, fertilizers, sewage, and caffeine. These pollutants, which are leaching into caves from the surface and groundwater, can pose a threat to the delicate underground environments that are prized by many, and that provide benefits to people, plants, and animals on the surface. The presence of these contaminants underground also serves as a blunt reminder of how pervasive pollutants are.

TOOLBOX: Online Sources for Researching Medical Literature

September 24, 2008–A useful roundup of links and leads for reporters researching the published literature on medical and some environmental health topics is available online at LLRX.com.

Labor Dept. Uses OMB To Aid Secret OSHA Midnight Deregulation

August 13, 2008–The Bush White House is rushing through — secretly — a midnight regulation that would hobble the next administration's efforts to regulate workplace environmental risks.

New Science Clarifies NO2 Health Effects

July 23, 2008–EPA reviews its health-based standard for NO2 as an air pollutant, and has issued a science assessment of health effects.