Category Archives: vulnerable populations

Remembrance of Things Past: London, 1952

This week the United Kingdom has experienced a toxic smog that has caused 1.6 million people to suffer an  asthma attack.  A survey by Asthma UK conducted yesterday found 30% of the country’s  5.4 million asthmatics had suffered an asthma attack as … Continue reading

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Public Health and Environmental Protection

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

Senator Frank Lautenberg, environmental public health advocate

Senator Lautenberg, who has figured so prominently in this blog for the past week, died this morning.  He was 89.  A five-term senator from New Jersey, he came to public service after a career in business, at the end of … Continue reading

Posted in carcinogens, chemical safety regulation, congress, environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, government, precautionary principle, public health, public health law, synthetic chemicals, TSCA, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on Senator Frank Lautenberg, environmental public health advocate

Popular reaction to the Chemical Safety Improvement Act of 2013

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?

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?

A Dam Shame – Reservoirs and Elevated Mercury Levels

One of the oldest forms of “renewable” energy comes from hydropower. From ancient grain mills to tanneries to hydroelectric generation, humanity has long harnessed the power of flowing water. Unfortunately, increased use of water power has corresponded with increased environmental impacts. Tanneries, … Continue reading

Posted in drinking water, environmental health, fish consumption advisories, food contamination, mercury, public health, Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA), risk communication, routes of exposure, vulnerable populations | Tagged | Comments Off on A Dam Shame – Reservoirs and Elevated Mercury Levels

The Rehberg Amendment’s $214,775 Price Tag

Black lung is a disease that afflicts coal miners. It is both incurable and irreversible in later stages.  It is caused by inhalation of excessive amounts of coal mine dust.  According to the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety … Continue reading

Posted in environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, environmental law, Fine Air Particulates, pollution control standards, public health, public health law, risk assessment, risk management, Uncategorized, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on The Rehberg Amendment’s $214,775 Price Tag

Dead in the Water

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

New Study on BPA Suggests Links to Impaired Brain Development

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

Legislation Proposes Moratorium on Mountaintop Removal Permits Until Health Consequences Are Invesitgated

     On Wednesday, February 13th, Congressman John Yarmuth (KY-3) and Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (NY-25) introduced the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act (H.R. 526) in the U.S. House of Representatives.  The legislation would place a moratorium on all new mountaintop … Continue reading

Posted in Clean Air Act, Clean Water Act, environmental cleanup, environmental health, environmental health law, environmental justice, EPA, Fine Air Particulates, fish consumption advisories, pollution control standards, public health, public health law, Uncategorized, vulnerable populations | Comments Off on Legislation Proposes Moratorium on Mountaintop Removal Permits Until Health Consequences Are Invesitgated