The Weekly Toxic Times

From the Michigan Network for Children's Environmental Health

News highlights from July 30 - August 12, 2008

A recap of the top stories on toxins in Michigan, National, and International news.

Letter from the editor: Toxic Times will be on hiatus for approximately one month. In the meantime, please check out the many news sources listed below to keep yourself up-to-date on current issues.

 

Michigan News

Dow's dioxins

Chemical & Engineering News, Monday, August 11, 2008

"Two rivers downstream of Dow Chemical's plant in Midland, Mich., are polluted with dioxins. Dow has cleanup work to be done. Everyone agrees on that. But not much else. This saga of pollution, politics, and struggle over cleanup has nationwide implications."
pubs.acs.org/cen/coverstory/86/8632cover.html

 

Tainted park soil removed from Dow site

Midland Daily News, Friday, August 8, 2008

"Plans to create a park where The Dow Chemical Co.'s 47 Building stood for more than 90 years were halted this year when contamination was found in the riverbank. About 15,000 cubic yards of debris and soil have been removed from the location, adjacent to Dow Diamond on the Tittabawassee River, because the riverbank was contaminated with dioxins and furans."
www.ourmidland.com/articles/2008/08/08/local_news/doc489c634ebd27a51481
0837.txt

National News

Congress stops playing games with toy safety

Los Angeles Times, California, Sunday, August 3, 2008

"After months of wrangling, congressional leaders finally came to terms last week on landmark legislation that represents the most sweeping overhaul of U.S. product-safety rules in decades."
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus3-2008aug03,1,2453565.column

 

Senate Sends Sweeping Product-Safety Bill On to Bush

Washington Post [Registration Required], Friday, August 1, 2008

"Historic legislation that would remove toxic chemicals from toys and put a more powerful and better-funded cop on the beat to police the safety of consumer goods is on the verge of becoming law."
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR20080801030
07.html

 

Despite additive ban, some parents voice worry

Washington Post [Registration Required], Saturday, August 2, 2008

"Questions about plastics are being asked by millions of parents who feel overwhelmed by conflicting information. For those discussing toy safety at neighborhood playgrounds and in the toy aisles of big-box stores, every plastic geegaw has grown suspect."
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/01/AR20080801031
44.html

 

Don't inhale that new car smell

CNN, Thursday, July 31, 2008

"Ah, that new car smell, that eau de car-logne; it does an ego good while it does a wallet bad. And now it turns out, it can do bad things to your health, too."
edition.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/07/31/aa.new.car.smell/?imw=Y&iref
=mpstoryemail

 

Calif. lawmakers weigh ban on chemical found in baby bottles, although danger is in dispute

Associated Press, Sunday, August 10, 2008

"Responding to growing consumer anxiety, California lawmakers are considering enacting what could be the first statewide restrictions on a chemical found in plastic baby bottles and infant formula cans."
www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/nation/ats-ap-bisphenol-banaug10,0,4397
098.story

 

Fire retardant discovered in wastewater plants that discharge into the bay

San Mateo County Times, California, Tuesday, August 12, 2008

"A new fire retardant product with unknown long-term impacts on health and the environment has been discovered in two wastewater treatment plants discharging into San Francisco Bay."
www.insidebayarea.com/oaklandtribune/localnews/ci_10170552

 

Lead may lurk in backyard gardens

Boston Globe, Massachusetts, Monday, August 11, 2008

"As backyard vegetable gardens undergo a renaissance, environmental officials and scientists are warning homeowners to be careful before planting: There might be lead in the soil."
www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/08/11/lead_may_lurk_in_backyard
_gardens/

 

Some food packaging contains chemical that may be potential carcinogen

Los Angeles Times, California, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

"The packaging of many products contains a chemical that the EPA considers potentially carcinogenic and wants businesses to voluntarily stop using by 2015."
www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-lazarus30-2008jul30,1,279380.column

 

Love Canal kids at 30: 'Ticking time bombs'

ABC News, Monday, August 11, 2008

"On the 30th anniversary of Love Canal, a preliminary New York State Dept. of Health study says women whose mothers were pregnant and exposed to the chemicals, have double the risk for reproductive problems as well as increased cancer rates."
abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=5553393&page=1

 

Prescriptions for health, the environmental kind

New York Times [Registration Required], Monday, August 11, 2008

"In a bright studio at New York University, Natalie Jeremijenko caters to those who want to know more about what they can do to clean up their personal environment."
www.nytimes.com/2008/08/12/health/12clin.html

 

Young pollution sleuths and community activists fight for healthier air

Newsweek, Saturday, August 2, 2008

"When Juan Hernandez moved to West Oakland from Bakersfield, Calif., one year ago, his asthma flared up."
www.newsweek.com/id/150500/output/print

 

Color it green

Baltimore Sun, Maryland, Sunday, August 3, 2008

"Paint. It's about the color. But it's also about chemicals, especially the VOCs, that give off that new paint smell and are considered hazardous to breathe and environmentally dangerous. Now, more high-quality, low- and no-VOC paints are available."
www.baltimoresun.com/business/realestate/bal-re.paint03aug03,0,6461920.story

 

Bid has little breathing room

Chicago Tribune, Illinois, Tuesday, August 10, 2008

"There are concerns that chronic air pollution could affect Chicago's push to host the 2016 Olympics. That has many scrambling to figure out ways to make the air cleaner."
www.chicagotribune.com/features/lifestyle/health/chi-olympics-enviro_bd10aug
10,0,7957780.story

International News

Athletes are concerned about Beijing's air -- and with reason

Sports Illustrated, Friday, August 8, 2008

"There is precious little research on the impact of particulate pollution, which causes visible smog, specifically on athletes. But what little exists suggests that athletes are right to be concerned."
sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/writers/david_epstein/08/08/
beijing.pollution2/?eref=sircrc

 

Living near freeway could harm pregnant women: study

Ottawa National Post, Ontario, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

"Women who live close to busy, pollution-spewing freeways are more likely than most to have a premature or low-birth-weight baby, concludes a new Canadian study."
www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=690782

 

Sleuthing for precursors to drinking-water treatment byproducts

Environmental Science & Technology, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

"A breakdown product of a pesticide widely used in Germany becomes a human carcinogen during ozonation in water-treatment processes, researchers find, raising issues for future toxicity testing."
pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/esthag/asap/html/es801944f.html

 

Burning joss sticks 'as deadly as traffic fumes or cigarette smoke'

London Guardian, England, Wednesday, July 30, 2008

"Worship is generally not a life-threatening pursuit. But devotees across Asia could be taking their life into their hands every time they go to a temple to pray, according to a study by a Thai doctor."
www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/30/health

---

View Archives

Articles were researched and compiled by Marci Baranski, MNCEH Intern.

Subscribe to Toxic Times