The new record for getting raw data reported by industry to the general public: 28 days. Nearly 95 percent of reporting companies filed their reports electronically.
The WatchDog attended EPA's annual training conference for government workers on the Toxics Release Inventory, Nov. 1-3, 2010. See a preview of the showcased offerings, which have extra emphasis on environmental justice and EPA data tools ranging far beyond TRI.
"Two chemical manufacturers are seeking an exemption from new rules in Wyoming that require public disclosure of the chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing, a controversial natural gas drilling process suspected of polluting groundwater."
"Bisphenol A readily passes through skin, French scientists report. Best known as an estrogen-mimicking constituent of some plastics and resins, BPA is also found in a large share of cash register receipt paper in the United States and Europe, a trio of studies recently indicated. One of the three also showed that the powdery coating easily rubs off onto the hands."
"High levels of manganese and copper pollution in urban areas are linked to increased risk of Parkinson's disease, according to an analysis of 35,000 Parkinson's patients by scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis."
"An embattled first nations community situated in the heart of Ontario's Chemical Valley will announce a landmark lawsuit Monday morning targeting the province's role in long-standing health problems throughout the town and neighbouring city of Sarnia."
"Some of the world's biggest food companies are removing the chemical Bisphenol A from packaging, amid growing concern it is causing a wide range of human illnesses including heart disease and breast cancer." Among them: Nestlé, Heinz and General Mills.
"For the first time, a study in humans suggests that a controversial, estrogen-like chemical in plastic may be related to conditions that reduce men's fertility."
"People living near a steel factory or another source of high manganese emissions are at higher risk of developing Parkinson's disease, suggests a new study."
"Pregnant women living in Texas neighborhoods with higher air levels of benzene – a pollutant often released from oil refineries and traffic exhaust – are more likely to have babies with neural tube defects. Women living in the areas with the highest benzene levels had a two times greater risk for their children to be born with spina bifida."
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