Environmental Health

"Artificial turf carpets athletic fields, playgrounds, and residential lawns across the US, offering a low-maintenance alternative to natural grass that always looks lush and doesn’t require heavy watering. But while this popular synthetic material is marketed as eco-friendly, it has also long attracted controversy – for decades, environmental and health advocates have expressed concern about the chemical byproducts of the turf’s plastic fibers."

"A rare but deadly disease spread by mosquitoes has one town in Massachusetts closing its parks and fields each evening. Four other towns are urging people to avoid going outdoors at night."

"Extreme heat killed more Americans in 2023 than any other year over nearly a quarter century of records, according to research published Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Association."

"When the news crew showed up outside a waste-handling business that’s failed three fire safety inspections and has yet to gain state approval to store plastic, workers quickly closed a gate displaying a “no trespassing” sign."

"The son of West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice was hailed as a hero five years ago when his family’s company purchased a troubled coke plant in North Birmingham that had polluted three historically Black neighborhoods. Now, a judge says the Justices’ Bluestone Coke is on a “superhighway to contempt.”"

"The supply of drinking water for parts of Long Island is under threat, according to a new federal report."

"As heat waves become more frequent and intense, researchers and activists say the lack of precise data is leading to needless fatalities."

"The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana ruled on Wednesday that the Environmental Protection Agency is barred from using the federal civil rights law to prevent Louisiana from granting permits for numerous polluting facilities in minority and low-income communities."

"As global temperatures rise due to climate change, mosquito season has lengthened across much of the contiguous United States, a development that scientists warn could heighten the risk of outbreaks of diseases such as dengue and malaria, and the spread of West Nile and Zika viruses."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that breathing in formaldehyde, a chemical that’s used in building materials and hair straighteners, can cause cancer."