Bootlegged Federal Report Spells Trouble for 8 States

The investigative group Center for Public Integrity this morning posted bootlegged portions of what appears to be a disturbing—and purportedly suppressed—government report about environmental contamination across the Great Lakes region. Six years in the making, the report assesses evidence of health-threatening contamination in 26 "areas of concern" covering parts of eight states, and it links contamination in many of those areas to high rates of infant mortality, other infant health problems, and adult malignancies, including breast, colon, and lung cancers. (read more)

U.S. and Vietnam take steps to contain Agent Orange contamination at old U.S. air base

HANOI, Vietnam: More than three decades after the Vietnam War, the United States and Vietnam have just completed temporary steps to contain dioxin contamination at a former U.S. air base in Danang. (read more)

Smog Can Make People Sick, Even Indoors

When the air is thick with pollution, "sick building" complaints become more common.

Smog caused by ground-level ozone isn't just an outdoor air problem. A new study shows that when the irritant's level rises outside, the number of people inside suffering from so-called "sick building syndrome" also increases. (read more)

People Were Killed by Three Mile Island and Other Nuclear Disasters

"One of the biggest lies ever told in American industrial history is that “no one died at Three Mile Island.”

In the frenzy to get public funding for still more nuclear reactors, some industry backers now say no one has ever been killed by the nuclear industry AT ALL.
(read more)

SICKNESS IN THE SOIL: Business joins lawsuit over neighborhood contamination

FORT LAUDERDALE – Gloria Royster says she probably would not have bought the Downbeat Club in the city’s Durrs section if she had known about the toxic pile of ash behind it.
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Toxic waste to be shipped by rail to West Texas

Tons of toxic waste dredged from the Hudson River in New York are about to be shipped by rail to a disposal and storage site in West Texas.
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Study confirms high levels of toxins downstream Alberta oilsands

High levels of cancer-causing toxins are being found in areas downstream of Fort McMurray’s oilsands, says a study commissioned by residents of Alberta’s oldest community.
Waters in Fort Chipewyan contain high levels of arsenic, the fish are contaminated with high levels of mercury and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons – another pollutant – are higher than they should be, said Kevin Timoney.


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Residents warned of mercury found in fish

After finding high levels of mercury in fish sampled in the Kittanning section of the Allegheny River, a University of Pittsburgh professor is advising adults against consuming fish caught there or five miles upstream and downstream more than once a month. (read more)

Lead found in some Croton Falls water tests but homeowners not told

CROTON FALLS - Tests last fall of water from homes in the Croton Falls Water District found levels of lead in violation of state health codes, but the town on Friday had yet to notify residents of the results as required by law. (read more)

Groups spread word on lead risk

Hazard persists in poorer areas

Fewer Boston children have been stricken with lead poisoning in recent years, but it remains a significant problem in many of the city's poorer neighborhoods, city health officials and activists said yesterday. (read more)

Health Officials Study Waste Pennsylvania Dump

(AP) McADOO, Pa. - More than 30 years ago, an abandoned mine in Pennsylvania coal country was turned into a dump for toxic waste. Lots of it.

When government officials finally shut down the site in 1979, they found nearly 7,000 storage drums, and dead birds and animals. Many of the drums were badly corroded and leaking dangerous chemicals. The Environmental Protection Agency called it the state’s worst environmental hazard, placed it on the Superfund list and began a cleanup.

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Heavy Metal Toxicity Chart with symptoms and cause.

Heavy metal toxicity can affect many body systems, and manifest a variety of symptoms. This toxic metal chart lays out the symptoms of heavy metal toxicity, and the heavy metals that cause them. System symptoms include Psychiatric Disturbances, Speech and Language Deficits, Cognitive Impairments, Sensory Abnormalities, Motor Disorders,Physiological Impairment, Brain and Central Nervous System, Peripheral Nervous System, Gastrointestinal Tract, Renal and Hepatic Impairment, Cardiovascular System, Respiratory System, Immune System, Reproductive System and Other Physical Disturbances.

PLEASE scroll down for the chart
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Lead-poisoning lawsuit set for December trial.

For years after being diagnosed with severe lead poisoning by the Mobile County Health Department, LaCourcha Lett's children remained in the Mobile Housing Board's Orange Grove community, living in an apartment where the contaminated paint peeled and flaked from the walls, according to health department documents.

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Asbestos claiming a new generation.

TO most people, the face of asbestos disease is male and worn with signs of a hard life labouring in construction or on a factory line.

But a new tide of victims - increasingly female and dubbed the "third wave"- has arrived, and its numbers are tipped to rocket.
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Toxic Releases Down From North American Industry Leaders,

Increasing From Other Facilities

The latest Taking Stock report from the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) reveals that a continued decline in releases of toxic chemicals to the environment--15 percent for the United States and Canada from 1998 to 2004--is being driven by a group of industrial facilities that are the largest generators of emissions.

(read more)