Environmental News Network

Study Links Air Pollution To Premature Births
University of California, Los Angeles - A new study shows that women who live in regions with high carbon monoxide or fine-particle levels â€” pollution caused mainly by vehicle traffic â€” were approximately 10 to 25 percent more likely to have a pre-term baby than women who lived in less polluted areas. This was especially true for women who breathed polluted air during the first trimester or during the last months and weeks of pregnancy. >> Read the Full Article
ALERT: USDA Says 'Raw' Foods Can Be Pasteurized With Suspected Carcinogen
WASHINGTON - Under pressure from industrial agriculture lobbyists, the USDA has quietly approved a new regulation that will effectively end distribution of raw almonds, while putting many family farmers out of business. The regulation is scheduled to go into effect in just a few short days on September 1st, unless thousands of consumers take action now. >> Read the Full Article
Toxic Grounds
Groundwater beneath the Rosedale Highway refinery is saturated with toxic chemicals leaked or spilled on the property over the last 20 years, some of it pooling dangerously close to two public drinking supplies including the Kern River. >> Read the Full Article
Morning-After Pill Sales Jump As U.S. Access Eases
WASHINGTON - Sales of the Plan B "morning-after pill" nearly doubled in the past year, exceeding expectations after the U.S. government allowed adults to buy the emergency contraceptive without a prescription. A three-year battle ended last August when the Food and Drug Administration decided that women and men 18 and older could buy the Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc product without a doctor's order if they showed proof of age at a pharmacy. >> Read the Full Article
FEMA Moves Hurricane Victims Out of Trailers over Health Complaints
About 1,000 Louisiana families have asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to move them out of government-issued trailers and mobile homes over concerns that the shelters are contaminated, FEMA officials said Thursday. >> Read the Full Article
Shaken By Product Safety Woes, China Declares "War"
China has launched a four-month "war" on tainted food, drugs and exports, state media reported on Friday, as beleaguered officials embraced time-tested campaign tactics to clean up the country's battered image. >> Read the Full Article
FDA Proposes New Sunscreen Rules, Cancer Warning
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Sunscreen labels should spell out precisely how well they protect against sun damage and manufacturers should conduct new tests for a subtler type of ultraviolet radiation that can cause cancer, U.S. regulators said on Thursday. >> Read the Full Article
U.S. Panel Sets Sept 19 Hearing On Lead-Tainted Toys
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. congressional committee has demanded information from Mattel Inc, Target Corp and 17 other companies that recalled lead-tainted children's products made in China this year, the panel said on Thursday. The U.S. House subcommittee on commerce, trade and consumer protection will also hold a September 19 hearing on how to protect U.S. children from toys, jewelry and other imported products with lead paint. >> Read the Full Article
"Eat Well" Tour Finds Americans Hungry For, And Serving Sustainable Food
Sustainable Table Founder and Director Diane Hatz set off on her 38-day Eat Well Guided Tour of America earlier this month from California to New York, she suspected she'd be meeting far more interesting people than recent media caricatures of America have suggested. But Hatz reports that she and her fellow travelers on the bio-fueled bus have been surprised that "nearly everyone we've met" seems to share the deeper hunger that inspired the trip: "for food that satisfies our palates and helps sustain our environment, all while helping us to re-connect with community." >> Read the Full Article
New Study: Viagra Boosts Feel-Good "Love" Hormone
WASHINGTON - Impotence drugs such as Viagra may do more than help men physically have sex -- they may also boost levels of a hormone linked with feelings of love, U.S. researchers reported on Thursday. Viagra, known generically as sildenafil, raised levels of the hormone oxytocin in rats, the team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison said in a report published in the Journal of Physiology. >> Read the Full Article