EWG
Twitter
science
Environmentalists cite “political indifference;” call for Senate to confirm EPA enforcement chief
A coalition of 55 environmental groups is urging the U.S. Senate to confirm President Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the enforcement office within the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), citing a need for stronger agency actions to protect vulnerable communities from illegal pollution.
Biden nominated former Department of Justice (DOJ) environmental crimes division head David Uhlmann to take the top EPA enforcement spot in June 2021 and then renominated him in January, but Republican opposition has stalled the move.
Monsanto on trial again – Missouri Roundup case begins
Nearly four years after the first-ever trial over allegations that exposure to Roundup herbicide causes cancer a new trial was underway on Tuesday, pitting a 34-year-old man suffering from non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) against Monsanto owner Bayer AG.
Allan Shelton, a lifelong resident of Kansas City, Mo., was diagnosed with NHL in May 2016, a little more than a year after international cancer scientists affiliated with the World Health Organization classified the active ingredient in Roundup, a chemical called glyphosate, as a probable human carcinogen.
Guest column: Cryptocurrency technology transition needed to avoid accelerating environmental crisis
By Tony Guo and Julian Picard of Project Earth
One of the hottest debates in environmental circles today is the debate over cryptocurrencies, and whether or not these digitized/virtual currencies are the high-tech wave of the future, or an accelerator of environmental crisis. The answer so far, it appears, is both.
Signs of a silent poisoning- Pesticide contamination in Nebraska threatens a community
MEAD, Nebraska- For a visitor to this rural part of eastern Nebraska, the crisp air, blue skies and stretch of seemingly endless farm fields appear as unspoiled landscape. For the people who live here, however, there is no denying that they are immersed in an environmental catastrophe researchers fear may impact the area for generations to come.
The signs of a silent poisoning are everywhere: A farmhouse has been abandoned by its owners after their young children experienced health problems; a pond once filled with fish and frogs is now barren of all life; university researchers are collecting blood and urine from residents to analyze them for contaminants; and a local family now drinks water only from plastic bottles because tests show chemical contamination of their drinking well.
It has been just over a year since state regulators stepped in to close down the AltEn LLC ethanol plant on the outskirts of Mead, Nebraska that was found to be the source of massive quantities of toxic, pesticide-laced waste. The waste spilled and spread throughout the area, including into waterways that provide drinking water for people and wildlife.
Interview: Lawyer Rob Bilott on PFAS “worldwide public health threat” and his letter to President Biden
Last month, an Ohio court certified a class action lawsuit brought by lawyer Rob Bilott that would cover seven million people – and at some point potentially everyone living in the United States – who have been exposed to certain hazardous chemicals known as Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances or PFAS. The chemicals have been linked to cancer, birth defects, kidney disease and a range of other human health problems. They are dubbed “forever chemicals” because they do not naturally break down, persisting indefinitely in the environment. Two types of PFAS – PFOA and PFOS – have been found to be so harmful that they are being phased out of use. In addition to 3M, the class action lawsuit names ten other companies that produce PFAS, which are used to make cookware, food packaging, water-resistant fabrics, firefighting foam and other products. The Biden administration last year pledged to undertake a massive PFAS mitigation strategy at a cost of more than $10 billion.
You have spent 20 some years now focused on exposing the danger of a class of chemicals we call PFAS, using litigation to try to hold companies involved in spreading PFAS accountable, and pressuring regulators to step up and do more to protect the public. You’ve written a book, “Exposure,” been featured in the NY Times as “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” and your legal battle has been made into a Hollywood movie called “Dark Waters,” as well as a documentary. Why are you so passionate about this issue?
Guest column: A call for coming together: Pesticide concerns need to be addressed
By Judy Wu-Smart
It has been approximately five years since I began finding total losses of the honey bee colonies located on a University research and extension center near Mead, Nebraska, where I keep bees and work as a scientist studying pesticides and bee decline. And it’s been more than two years since I began to suspect something terribly wrong was happening around the university research station.
Guest column: What are pesticides doing to pregnancies? We’re trying to find out.
As we collectively pass what many consider to be two-year anniversary of COVID emergence, the field of clinical research has never been more visible in our day-to-day lives. Published studies on viral mechanisms, promising treatments, and vaccine development, among other COVID-related topics, have dominated media reports since early 2020.
Unfortunately, the laser-like focus on the story of COVID has left other research areas in the shadows, fighting for time, attention, and funding.
Former Monsanto CEO could have to testify at upcoming Roundup trial
Former Monsanto CEO Hugh Grant lost his appeal to escape testifying at an upcoming trial over claims that the company’s Roundup herbicide causes cancer.
The Missouri Court of Appeals Western District on Friday denied Grant’s petition that sought to quash a subpoena compelling Grant to testify in person in the case of Allan Shelton v Monsanto. The trial of the civil suit is set to begin May 2 in Kansas City, Missouri.
California regulators changing language on glyphosate and cancer risk
The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) is proposing changes to its messaging to consumers regarding the cancer risk associated with products made with the weed killing chemical glyphosate.
The language shift is subtle, but is significant for multiple reasons, including the potential for it to impact Monsanto’s efforts to appeal trial losses to the U.S. Supreme Court.