Monthly Archives: March 2013

Creating the Crave

Posted on March 28, 2013 by smooney

The Trinity of Addiction and its Environmental Health impacts A recent article in the New York Times Magazine spoke mainly to the public health problem of processed food and obesity, but also contained an undercurrent about environmental health and how … Continue reading →

Posted in environmental health, FDA, Food processing industry, public health law, Uncategorized, WHO | Comments Off on Creating the Crave

Dead in the Water

Posted on March 27, 2013 by Alex English

Thanks to laws such as the Clean Water Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act, tremendous progress has occurred in the past forty years: the Cuyahoga River no longer catches fire, Boston Harbor is generally free of fecal matter, and municipal water … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, agriculture and human health, algal blooms, Clean Water Act, climate change and health, cyanobacteria, dead zones, drinking water, environmental health, NIH, nonpoint source pollution, phosphorus, public health, routes of exposure, Safe Drinking Water Act, vulnerable populations, water quality standards | Comments Off on Dead in the Water

Are “Neonics” Killing Honey Bees?

Posted on March 26, 2013 by tbach

A story featured on NPR tonight led off with “[e]nvironmentalists and beekeepers are calling on the government to ban some of the country’s most widely used insect-killing chemicals.”  These pesticides, called neonicotinoids or neonics, for short, coat the seeds of many … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, environmental health, EPA, pesticides, routes of exposure, synthetic chemicals | Comments Off on Are “Neonics” Killing Honey Bees?

New Research Shows Findings of a Greater Incidence of Advanced Breast Cancer in Younger Women

Posted on March 19, 2013 by dchangala

Breast cancer is the most common cancer amongst women and is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women between the ages of 35 to 54 years old. While breast cancer can also occur in younger woman, it very uncommon—only 1.8% … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, breast cancer, environmental health law, public health | Comments Off on New Research Shows Findings of a Greater Incidence of Advanced Breast Cancer in Younger Women

Indirect Potable Reuse: The Solution to Future Water Shortages

Posted on March 16, 2013 by molive

           Climate change poses an immediate and severe threat to freshwater sources. By mid-century, annual average river runoff and water availability are projected to decrease by ten to thirty percent over some dry regions at mid-latitudes, … Continue reading →

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Enviro Health Writ Large and Young

Posted on March 16, 2013 by tbach

Links between human health and environmental degradation were the main themes of a week-long conference organized by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in mid-February.  The 2013 TUNZA (a Kiswahili word meaning ‘to treat with care or affection’) International Youth … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change and health, drinking water, environmental health, indoor air pollution, intergenerational equity, international law, precautionary principle, Rio +20, UNEP | Comments Off on Enviro Health Writ Large and Young

What’s Good For Animals Is Good For Us

Posted on March 10, 2013 by msinnott

Over the past few months, eight people in Cambodia have died from a strain of avian flu, H5N1. Six of those people were children. Meanwhile, in Mexico, over 1 million chickens infected with a different strain of the bird flu, … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, agriculture and human health, animal welfare, Bird Flu, Disease mutation, environmental health, environmental health law, public health, Uncategorized, Vegetarian/Vegan | Comments Off on What’s Good For Animals Is Good For Us

New Disease Cluster Legislation Introduced in the Senate

Posted on March 5, 2013 by Emily Dupraz

  Identifying disease clusters is one way environmental health advocates have been able to link the causation of cancer to releases of toxic chemicals in the environment. According to the National Cancer Institute, a disease cluster is “the occurrence of a … Continue reading →

Posted in environmental health, environmental health law, EPA, precautionary principle, public health, public health law, Uncategorized | Comments Off on New Disease Cluster Legislation Introduced in the Senate

What’s Next for the Great Lakes?

Posted on March 4, 2013 by mkyle

Harmful Algae Blooms Threaten Lake Erie The World’s Largest Source of Freshwater The Great Lakes contain the world’s largest supply of freshwater. In fact, according to NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory (GLERL), the Great Lakes contain 18% of the world’s supply … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, agriculture and human health, algal blooms, Clean Water Act, climate change and health, dead zones, drinking water, environmental health, environmental health law, EPA, Great Lakes, nonpoint source pollution, phosphorus, pollution control standards, public health, public health law, routes of exposure, water quality standards | Comments Off on What’s Next for the Great Lakes?

Antibiotics and Agriculture

Posted on March 3, 2013 by caitlin

FDA Draft Guidance #213 proposes voluntary guidelines to reduce the use of antibiotics in farm animals raised for food.  It specifically recommends that drug companies remove indications (instructions) for using antibiotics for growth promotion.  Manufacturers have 3 months to notify … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, CAFO's, FDA, food contamination, public health, risk assessment, risk management, routes of exposure, supplements | Comments Off on Antibiotics and Agriculture