Environmental Health

"An activist’s controversial crusade against genetically modified crops."

"WASHINGTON -- For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency may require oil refineries to regularly measure the air quality at their perimeters. These fence line measurements will give surrounding communities – largely low-income communities of color – data on the level of pollution they are exposed to each day."

"Since the 2001 anthrax letter attacks that killed five people and raised the specter of bioterrorism in the United States, the number of high-level biosafety labs operated by governments, universities and others to study potentially lethal pathogens has been expanding rapidly. According to a 2013 report to Congress, the number of these labs grew by almost 10 percent, from 1,362 to 1,495, between 2008 and 2010 alone."

"U.S. EPA has denied a petition from environmentalists to name nearly 60 areas of the country out of compliance with the federal ozone standard."

"DuPont wants to clean up its former Pompton Lakes munitions plant — contaminated with a litany of elements that can cause cancer and other illnesses — using far weaker standards than the state usually requires, a strategy that echoes prior attempts by polluters to push for less extensive cleanups at other sites in North Jersey."

"More than 1,100 laboratory incidents involving bacteria, viruses and toxins that pose significant or bioterror risks to people and agriculture were reported to federal regulators during 2008 through 2012, government reports obtained by USA TODAY show."

"The explosion of new food additives coupled with an easing of oversight requirements is allowing manufacturers to avoid the scrutiny of the Food and Drug Administration, which is responsible for ensuring the safety of chemicals streaming into the food supply."

"In Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River, one of the longest in the northeast, male smallmouth bass are sprouting female egg cells in their testes. According to a United States Geological Survey report released in June, these intersex fish appear in water — both in this river and two others in the state — that has become saturated with estrogenic compounds, natural and artificial hormones in animal manure and, to a smaller degree, sewage."

"A federal magistrate has dismissed most of a lawsuit by environmental advocates challenging the government's approval of numerous pesticides, but said they can pursue claims that federal officials allowed 11 chemicals on the market without getting up-to-date information about hazards to endangered species."

"The Environmental Working Group said Thursday there are nine elementary schools in Iowa that are within 200 feet of a corn or soybean field, a concern the green group highlighted as regulators consider whether to approve a controversial new herbicide."