Environmental News Network

Water in Africa â€“ Business turns on the tap
Business is stepping in where governments fail to provide clean water in Africa, with Coca-Cola, SABMiller and major platinum miners leading the way. A world running short of water is presenting a new category of risk to businesses that few have begun to appreciate. That was the warning from campaigner WWF and noted research body the Pacific Institute, at the World Water Forum in Istanbul in late March. >> Read the Full Article
U.S. EPA announces Palos Verdes Shelf proposed environmental protection plan
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will host public meetings and accept public comments on its proposed Preferred Alternative plan that addresses the risks to human health and the environment at the Palos Verdes Shelf, located near Los Angeles, Calif. The Palos Verdes Shelf site is a large area of DDT- and PCB-contaminated sediment located in the ocean off the coast of the Palos Verdes peninsula south of Los Angeles. The offshore site stretches from Point Fermin in the southeast to Redondo Canyon in the northwest, a distance of about 9 miles. The EPAâ€™s Preferred Alternative plan is an interim remedy that proposes institutional controls, monitored natural recovery and a containment cap. Construction is expected to take 3 years and cost an estimated $36,000,000. >> Read the Full Article
Hormone experts worried about plastics, chemicals
Hormone experts said on Wednesday they are becoming worried by a chemical called bisphenol A, which some politicians say they want taken out of products and which consumers are increasingly shunning. >> Read the Full Article
Bird Flu Survives in Landfills
After an outbreak of the bird flu, most carcasses end up in landfills. There, according to a new study, the virus can survive for up to two years. >> Read the Full Article
EPA Joins Team Investigating Salinas Explosion
Emergency responders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, California Department of Fish and Game, Monterey County, and the Salinas Fire Department are working together to cleanup, investigate and assess environmental hazards that resulted from a May 29th explosion at a large warehouse in a Salinas, California industrial park. >> Read the Full Article
Pesticide may add low levels of melamine to Baby Formula
Infant formulas purchased from stores in Canada show widespread tainting with traces of melamine, a toxic constituent of plastics and other materials. In China, the fraudulent use of melamine as a protein replacement in infant formulas resulted in the poisoning of more than 1,200 babies last year, six of whom died. Canadaâ€™s widespread contamination, however, appears unintentional and to stem from a very different source. >> Read the Full Article
Analysis Finds Elevated Risk From Soot Particles in the Air
A new appraisal of existing studies documenting the links between tiny soot particles and premature death from cardiovascular ailments shows that mortality rates among people exposed to the particles are twice as high as previously thought. >> Read the Full Article
Environmental pollution increases the risk of liver disease
A new study is the first to show that there is a previously unrecognized role for environmental pollution in liver disease in the general U.S. adult population. This work builds upon the groups' previous research demonstrating liver disease in highly-exposed chemical workers. >> Read the Full Article
Climate Change on Business Agenda in Denmark
Businesses leaders met in Denmark on Sunday to try to unite behind a call for long-term climate policies on oil, power and technology ahead of a U.N. conference in December that aims to replace the Kyoto Protocol. Many companies want new rules to help plan investment and capitalize on green technology. Some shareholders also want more climate-friendly business, but companies reliant on fossil fuels may lose out from measures to boost low-carbon alternatives. >> Read the Full Article
Sweeteners Linger in Groundwater
Some sweeteners are particularly widespread in the environment, according to a new study, making them ideal markers for following pollution from treatment plants and other sources into the environment. >> Read the Full Article