Numerous prior posts have followed the growing understanding of what factors drive the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. It pretty much comes down to nutrient runoff into the Mississippi River and its tributaries (e.g., sewage, feedlots, agricultural fertilizers... Read More
Traditionally, when one considers exposure to methylmercury, adverse impacts upon the brain and kidneys are foremost in any risk assessment. See, for example, http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=113&tid=24 . Given the state of the evidence... Read More
For those of us acquainted with researchers examining VOC exposure to individuals from scented consumer products (for example, at U.C. Berkeley and at U.C. Medical Center in San Francisco), it comes as no surprise that there is a bouquet of VOC's... Read More
Prior posts have noted the numerous studies that support the view that emissions from a variety of sources, including automobiles, trucks, and power plants, have an adverse impact on the health of those exposed to such emissions. It is also fairly certain... Read More
A prior post noted the association between PDBE flame retardants and time to pregnancy. Because PDBE's are persistent and bioaccumulative, they have become ubiquitous in the environment. Animal studies have indicated that prenatal PBDE exposure... Read More
Several prior posts have noted the greenhouse impact of methane (aka natural gas); it has many times the warming effect as carbon dioxide (CO2), which seems to be the focus of so much discussion about global warming. The posts have focused on the numerous... Read More
Although extreme heat events have become more common in large U.S. cities, a recent study indicates that sprawling cities experience more than double the rate of extreme heat events in the summer compared with more compact urban areas. Researchers... Read More
The Endangered Species Act ("ESA") is becoming a popular tool used by public interest groups to stop projects that they view as adverse to environmental quality. However, a recent attempt to use the ESA against a mining project failed when the... Read More
Prior posts have noted and described a number of human diseases that had their origin in animals. Now it appears that some diseases can be transmitted from humans to gorillas. Ecotourism has been seen as a boon for countries with "interesting"... Read More
PBDE's are used as flame retardants in furniture, carpeting, textiles, electronics, and plastics. Commercial mixtures of PBDE's contain a variety of congeners [see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congeners]. Data collected by the Centers for Disease... Read More
As noted in prior posts, Aspen trees in the West have been dying. There appears to be no single cause. However, drought in the 1990's and early 2000's probably made the trees more susceptible to cankers, fungi, and other maladies. The result is... Read More