Category Archives: pesticides

New EPA report on health impacts of chlorpyrifos

Posted on January 11, 2015 by tbach

Environment Health News just published this article about this recent EPA study concluding that chlorpyrifos, an insecticide used on corn and other U.S. crops, poses health risks to workers and can also contaminate drinking water. Chlorpyrifos is one of the most commonly … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, drinking water, endocrine disruptors, EPA, insecticides, pesticides, Rachel Carson, synthetic chemicals | Comments Off on New EPA report on health impacts of chlorpyrifos

Mapping autism

Posted on March 15, 2014 by tbach

The conclusion of this recent Newsweek article, Geography of Autism, points to the uncertainty of studies seeking to link the disease with environmental exposures.  “It’s a working hypothesis,” says autism researcher Angelica Ronald at Birkbeck, University of London. This recent study sought to … Continue reading →

Posted in autism, environmental health, lead, pesticides | Comments Off on Mapping autism

Inert but potent

Posted on March 6, 2014 by tbach

Three environmental and public health groups represented by Earthjustice filed suit yesterday, asking the U.S. District Court in San Francisco to require the EPA to promulgate final rules requiring public disclosure of specific pesticide ingredients. The Center for Environmental Health, Beyond Pesticides, and Physicians for … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, carcinogens, chemical safety regulation, consumer pressure, environmental health, EPA, FIFRA, label laws, pesticides, PSR, public health, risk communication, synthetic chemicals | Comments Off on Inert but potent

Pesticide Residue Found on Nearly Half of All Produce Sold in Canada

Posted on January 12, 2014 by caitlin

Canada’s CBC News recently requested data from the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) under federal Access to Information Act, similar to the U.S.’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). According to the data, almost half of the fruits and vegetables sold … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, food contamination, pesticides | Comments Off on Pesticide Residue Found on Nearly Half of All Produce Sold in Canada

Losing “The Good Earth”

Posted on January 1, 2014 by tbach

China’s government acknowledged this week that 8 million acres of its farmland – a land mass about the size of Belgium — is too polluted for growing food.    In 2013, dangerous levels of cadmium were detected in rice grown in Henan, a … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture, agriculture and human health, air pollution, cadmium, carcinogens, China, environmental health, environmental health law, food contamination, lead, pesticides, pollution control standards, synthetic chemicals | Comments Off on Losing “The Good Earth”

Public Health and Environmental Protection

Posted on September 30, 2013 by tbach

While Caitlin attended the VLS symposium on Friday, I was at the University of Michigan Law School’s Environmental Law and Policy Program’s fall conference.  Co-sponsored by the school’s Environmental Law Society and the Michigan Journal of Environmental and Administrative Law, … Continue reading →

Posted in agriculture and human health, built environment, climate change and health, environmental cleanup, environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, EPA, Fine Air Particulates, lead, mercury, NRDC, pesticides, pollution control standards, precautionary principle, public health, risk assessment, risk management, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on Public Health and Environmental Protection

Posted on September 26, 2013 by caitlin

The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) issued a statement, to be followed by an article in the October issue of Obstetrics & Gynecologists, warning women about the risks that toxins pose to both pregnant women and fetuses. The … Continue reading →

Posted in BPA, chemical safety regulation, environmental health, pesticides | Comments Off on

GAO Reviews EPA’s use of Conditional Registration

Posted on September 17, 2013 by caitlin

Pursuant to the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EPA conducts toxicity assessments to determine whether or not to register chemical substances. In a recent report, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) addressed EPA’s longstanding struggle to obtain adequate scientific information on … Continue reading →

Posted in EPA, pesticides, TSCA | Comments Off on GAO Reviews EPA’s use of Conditional Registration

U.S. government agreed to clean up its “mess” in Vietnam

Posted on April 16, 2013 by KarenLee

On August 9, 2012, the United States initiated a project to “clean  up” herbicides including Agent Orange used in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. A large amount of toxic chemicals were used in Vietnam by the U.S. government to discover … Continue reading →

Posted in carcinogens, DDT, dioxins, environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, environmental law, pesticides, public health, public health law | Comments Off on U.S. government agreed to clean up its “mess” in Vietnam

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?