Category Archives: EPA

Panel Discussion on TSCA Reform

Posted on July 11, 2013 by caitlin

On July 10, the Environmental Law Institute (ELI) held a panel discussion on the bipartisan Chemical Safety Improvements Act (CSIA), introduced by Senators Lautenberg (D) and Vitter (R) in May.  The panel included perspectives from Richard Denison, the Senior Scientist … Continue reading →

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Our Bodies, Our Environment

Posted on June 19, 2013 by tbach

This new report from the EPA explores how the built environment affects the natural environment and human health.  It reviews hundred of studies published since 2001 (when EPA first did such a technical review) that track the interactions between land use, … Continue reading →

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Popular reaction to the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013

Posted on May 30, 2013 by tbach

I listened with interest today to On Point’s segment on this proposed bipartisan bill.  The segment was captioned “Toxic Chemicals:  A New Push to Get a Grip.”  Ken Cook of the Environmental Working Group was a featured guest (I mentioned his group’s … Continue reading →

Posted in breast cancer, carcinogens, chemical safety regulation, congress, dioxins, environmental health, environmental health law, EPA, EWG, lead, PCBs, precautionary principle, public health, risk assessment, synthetic chemicals, TSCA, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on Popular reaction to the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013

TSCA Redo Redux?

Posted on May 26, 2013 by tbach

The New York Times reported yesterday  that Senator Frank Lautenberg’s Sisyphean battle to improve federal regulation of chemicals used in U.S. manufacturing may succeed this time.  Lautenberg, a Democrat from New Jersey (who will retire this year), has offered bills … Continue reading →

Posted in BPA, carcinogens, chemical safety regulation, environmental health, environmental health law, EPA, EWG, NRDC, PCBs, public health, risk assessment, synthetic chemicals, TSCA, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on TSCA Redo Redux?

Acting in Haste: The BP Oil-Dispersant Spill

Posted on April 18, 2013 by abarnes

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, sending 4.9 million barrels of oil rushing into the Gulf of Mexico. As the days passed and crude continued to hemorrhage from the rig, the EPA gave BP the go-ahead … Continue reading →

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THE INLAND WATERS RULE: Can Numeric Water Quality Criteria Save Lake Erie?

Posted on April 14, 2013 by mkyle

In the 1960s, pollution in Lake Erie was so extensive that the lake was frequently declared “dead” in the media. In his original 1971 edition of The Lorax, Dr. Seuss referred to the lake’s degraded condition in describing the poor Humming-Fish and their … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, algal blooms, Clean Water Act, dead zones, environmental cleanup, environmental health, environmental law, EPA, Great Lakes, nonpoint source pollution, water quality standards | Comments Off on THE INLAND WATERS RULE: Can Numeric Water Quality Criteria Save Lake Erie?

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 →

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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?

New Study on BPA Suggests Links to Impaired Brain Development

Posted on March 3, 2013 by tbach

Researchers from Duke Medical School published a study last week (February 25, 2013) in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluding that bisphenol A (BPA), a chemical commonly used in plastics and resins, may suppress a gene critical … Continue reading →

Posted in BPA, environmental health, environmental health law, EPA, FDA, food contamination, NIEHS, precautionary principle, routes of exposure, synthetic chemicals, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on New Study on BPA Suggests Links to Impaired Brain Development