A doctor told a House committee Thursday that reducing pollution in “hot spot” communities such as Mossville, Louisiana, was one reason Congress should overhaul the law governing toxic chemicals.

Dr. Mark Mitchell, who has served on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Environmental Justice Advisory Council, sited Mossville and West Louisville, Kentucky, as communities surrounded by chemical plants, including plastic manufacturers…(Read Full Article)

When other toy retailers and manufacturers were feeling a backlash against their made-in-China products in late 2007, Randy Hertzler was riding high. He imports and sells only European-made toys, which, like those made in the U.S., were all the rage when recalls of toys with lead paint dominated the news.

The tide has turned against Hertzler, however. He can’t afford to do the testing that larger chains can to meet the sweeping child-safety law enacted in response to the recalls. And the companies he buys from have stopped selling him about a quarter of the products they used to, because of costs…(Read Full Article)

Six months ago, the word “cadmium” probably didn’t mean much to most people. These days, though, cadmium is quickly becoming a household name.

The heavy metal was recently responsible for two massive recalls, one involving “Shrek” drinking glasses sold at McDonald’s, the other “Hannah Montana” children’s jewelry. Both were made with a potentially dangerous amount of cadmium.

Cadmium is used to make batteries, dyes, glasses and ceramics. Products containing cadmium are not harmful to touch but can be harmful if they are put in the mouth or swallowed, which can result in poisoning. Because children often put things in their mouths, they are considered an at-risk group…(Read Full Article)

American forces in Afghanistan, who already face roadside bombs and insurgent attacks, may be dealing with an environmental enemy as well — toxic sand that can damage their brains, according to a recent Navy study.

In a presentation at a neurotoxicology conference in Portland, Ore., earlier this month, Palur G. Gunasekar, a senior scientist with the Navy Environmental Health Effects Laboratory, said that dust kicked up in sandstorms contains manganese and other metals. “The sand is a risk factor for inducing neurotoxicity,” Gunasekar said. Compounds that are neurotoxic are those that damage the nervous system or the brain…(Read Full Article)

Utilizing human lung and blood vessel cells, researchers have created a device mounted on a microchip that mimics a living, breathing human lung. About the size of a rubber eraser, the device was developed by a team from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, Harvard Medical School and Children’s Hospital Boston. Because it’s translucent, researchers can watch the processes taking place inside of it – kind of difficult to do with an actual lung. It will be used for testing the respiratory effects of environmental toxins, aerosolized therapeutics and new drugs. Using conventional models, such tests can cost over US$2 million…(Read Full Article)

If you’re eating non-organic celery today, you may be ingesting 67 pesticides with it, according to a new report from the Environmental Working Group.

The group, a nonprofit focused on public health, scoured nearly 100,000 produce pesticide reports from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to determine what fruits and vegetables we eat have the highest, and lowest, amounts of chemical residue…(Read Full Article)

A new Consumer Reports investigation including tests of 15 protein drinks by an outside lab, reveals some of the drinks may pose health problems over time.

The problems can be serious especially at a consumption level of three or more servings a day — due to the potential to consume harmful heavy metals and excessive protein…(Read Full Article)

Children exposed to higher levels of a type of pesticide found in trace amounts on commercially grown fruit and vegetables are more likely to have attention deficit hyperactivity disorder than children with less exposure, a nationwide study suggests.

Researchers measured the levels of pesticide byproducts in the urine of 1,139 children from across the United States. Children with above-average levels of one common byproduct had roughly twice the odds of getting a diagnosis of ADHD, according to the study, which appears in the journal Pediatrics…(Read Full Article)

Environmental carcinogens are responsible for a far greater number of cancers than previously believed — a fact that suggests eradicating these environmental threats should be a priority for President Obama — according to the report of a presidential advisory panel.

“The Panel was particularly concerned to find that the true burden of environmentally induced cancer has been grossly underestimated,” wrote the authors of the report, “Reducing Environmental Cancer Risk: What We Can Do Now.” (Read Full Article)