Health

Chemical Safety: Right-To-Know? No — Not Exactly

The system for informing Americans about the threats to their health and safety posed by chemical plants is seriously broken, a Reuters investigation revealed August 10, 2013. Facilities often misidentify chemicals or their location, or fail to report the existence of the substances. But there are tools to help reporters.

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NIOSH Withholding Locations Where Fracking Sand Threatens Workers

Studies by the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health show silica used in hydraulic fracturing of tight oil and gas formations can endanger workers. But a FOIA request seeking to know the sites where workers had been endangered has met with no response, independent journalist and SEJ member Elizabeth Grossman reports. 

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June 26, 2013

Covering Population and the Environment

As the planet grows more crowded, the connections between environment, health and human rights grow more complex every day. Ahead of World Population Day (July 11), a diverse group of speakers will illustrate how those connections affect the real world – and how those connections can provide a broader context for your own coverage in this one-hour webinar. Free registration required.

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Judge Rejects Industry Suit To Omit Styrenes from Carcinogens Report

Styrene (used to make plastic packaging) was listed in June 2011 as "reasonably anticipated" to be cancer-causing in the biennial federal Report on Carcinogens. Industry not only challenged, but also mounted a political campaign, persuading a powerful House Appropriations subcommittee chairman to withhold spending for the report until NTP reconsidered the styrene listing.

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UK Measles Outbreaks Flourish After Discredited Autism Research

"LONDON — More than a decade ago, British parents refused to give measles shots to at least a million children because of now discredited research that linked the vaccine to autism. Now, health officials are scrambling to catch up and stop a growing epidemic of the contagious disease."

Source: AP, 05/21/2013

Voluntary Fracking Disclosure Database Gets 'F' from Harvard Study

We told you so. But now a Harvard study also says it: the FracFocus registry designed and operated by the drilling industry (and its close friends) fails to meet the public's right to accountability and complete disclosure of chemicals pumped into underground formations that may impact people's drinking-water wells.

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White House OMB Secretly Weakened Food Safety Rule

It may come as little surprise that an unknown number of Americans could die as a result of White House weakening of food safety rules mandated by Congress. The Office of Management and Budget has been secretly weakening environmental health and safety at industry request for years. The surprise is that we found out.

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