Environmental Health

"16,000 preterm births a year are linked to fine particulate pollution, costing the US $4.33 billion annually".

"A previously unreleased U.S. Environmental Protection Agency email shows the agency’s Midwest whistle-blower pleaded with superiors to protect Flint residents from lead contamination and railed against their failure to do so."

"All schools in New Jersey would have to immediately test drinking water for lead contamination under a bill state lawmakers proposed on Monday, weeks after elevated lead levels in Newark schools prompted officials to shut off sinks and drinking fountains."

"The chemical industry may be finding success influencing federal and state governments but must do more to win the hearts of the American public, a leader for a new nonprofit group linked to a controversial political consultant said last week."

"Dozens of groups are pressing Ottawa to join more than 50 countries in banning asbestos, a move the Liberal Party supported while in opposition."

"Facing a storm of criticism over its plan to show a documentary about the widely debunked link between vaccines and autism, the Tribeca Film Festival on Saturday pulled the film from its schedule next month."

"Congress took off from Washington Wednesday afternoon without voting to appropriate any of the $1.9 billion the Obama administration has asked for to fight Zika and leaving top health officials feeling a little desperate."

"FLINT, Mich. — A task force appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder issued a hard-hitting report on the Flint drinking water public health crisis, slamming the catastrophe as a story of "government failure, intransigence, unpreparedness, delay, inaction and environmental injustice."

"The Labor Department is preparing to issue controversial silica protections for workers. After years of delay, the Labor Department could finalize the silica rules as early as this week, after they were quietly approved by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday."

"As scientists struggle to understand the threat posed by Zika virus, there's another viral infection that's a known danger in pregnancy and that harms 100,000 babies a year, even though it has been preventable with a vaccine since 1969. The disease is rubella, or German measles."