Monthly Archives: December 2013

Scrutinizing food labels – less is more?

Posted on December 18, 2013 by tbach

As enviro health activists seek improved or additional labels on everything from food to baby toys, we’ve witnessed pushback by manufacturers and retailers in state legislatures, as well as at the polls.  The recent successful attempts at GMO labeling via … Continue reading →

Posted in environmental health law, food contamination, food labeling, Food processing industry, GMO, label laws, precautionary principle, risk management, uncertainty | Comments Off on Scrutinizing food labels – less is more?

And the Green Chemistry Challenge Award goes to . . .

Posted on December 13, 2013 by tbach

The envelope has been opened, and although the acceptance speeches were short and the t.v. coverage light, today’s Environmental Health News puts the spotlight on the winners of the 2013 Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards: For Greener Synthetic Pathways Life Technologies … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, environmental health, EPA, green chemistry, PCBs, synthetic chemicals | Comments Off on And the Green Chemistry Challenge Award goes to . . .

New FDA guidance on antibiotic (antimicrobial) use in cows, pigs, and chickens

Posted on December 12, 2013 by tbach

Human antibiotic resistance has been on the radar for several years, but did you know that antibiotic-resistant infections kill 23,000 people in the U.S. and make another 2 million sick each year?  Some of this resistance has come from medical … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, agriculture and human health, animal welfare, antibiotics in livestock, antimicrobials, bioaccumulation, environmental health, FDA, food contamination, Food processing industry, public health, public health law | Comments Off on New FDA guidance on antibiotic (antimicrobial) use in cows, pigs, and chickens

New reports from IoM on Agent Orange and Biofuels

Posted on December 11, 2013 by tbach

As I’ve written before, the Institute of Medicine produces plentiful publications connecting the environment to human health. Two new reports that came out at the end of 2013 are cases in point, one providing limited new data in an ongoing debate … Continue reading →

Posted in Agent Orange, agriculture, agriculture and human health, biofuels, climate change and health, global warming, Institute of Medicine | Comments Off on New reports from IoM on Agent Orange and Biofuels

Emerging Science of Epigenetics Teleconference Sponsored by CHE-AK

Posted on December 3, 2013 by tbach

The Emerging Science of Epigenetics: How environmental exposures today may affect our future generations Our guest blogger and VLS alum Maricarmen Cruz-Guilloty Environmental Health and Justice Coordinator, Alaska Community Action on Toxics, invites you to this teleconference on Wednesday, December … Continue reading →

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OSHA Spends 9 Years on a Proposed Rule to Modify a 40-Year Old Limit on Silica Dust

Posted on December 3, 2013 by caitlin

RegBlog recently posted an update on the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed rule to update worker safety standards for silica. This would be the first time OSHA has amended the rule, previously discussed on this blog, which was finalized … Continue reading →

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