global warming ~ climate impacts ~ contamination ~ health impacts ~ efficiency increase ~ alternative energy ~ smart policy ~ airborne pollutants ~ stupid humans ~ anthropogenic change ~ deniers ApocaDocuments (5) matching "contamination" from this week[see full week] ~ [see all stories tagged "contamination"]
Sun, Mar 14, 2010from Chicago Tribune: Saving face
We turn to cosmetics to look our very best, but sometimes all that lathering, slathering, powdering and painting can do more harm than good. * Certain ingredients in personal care products can cause redness, itching, swelling, acne and other reactions in people who are sensitive to them. Preservatives, fragrances and dyes are common culprits. *Some people are allergic to specific ingredients, but more commonly the problem is irritation, which can happen to anyone. Either way, it's wise to keep an eye on the ingredients you're smearing on your skin. "The bottom line is that if you get a rash, you just have to stop using that product, and when you go to the store to buy another lotion, compare the ingredients and make sure they're not exactly the same," said Dr. Ella L. Toombs, a Washington, D.C.-based dermatologist... ...
And if your face falls off, you can always get a mask.
Fri, Mar 12, 2010from Associated Press: Feds recall more children jewelry in cadmium probe
Federal safety regulators recalled a line of Christmas-themed bracelets Thursday, expanding their effort to purge children's jewelry boxes and store shelves of items containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium.
The chain-link bracelets were sold at dollar-type stores between 2006 and March 2009 and feature characters from the classic holiday movie, including Rudolph... ...
Turns out Rudolph shoulda been been left out of the reindeer games, after all.
Fri, Mar 12, 2010from Chicago Tribune: Exelon to pay $1 million to settle suits over leaks at power plants
Exelon agreed Thursday to pay more than $1 million to settle lawsuits filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan after the company allowed radioactive tritium to leak outside three of its nuclear power plants...
"It is imperative that Illinois' nuclear power plants are operated in a manner that does not endanger public health or the environment," Madigan said in a statement.
Tritium, the radioactive form of hydrogen, is found naturally in groundwater but is also one of the byproducts of nuclear energy production. Exposure can increase the risk of cancer, though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers it one of the least dangerous radioactive substances, in part because it leaves the body quickly. ...
Just a little EXtra EXposure from EXelon.
Tue, Mar 9, 2010from AP, via PhysOrg.com: GE: Limit PCB contamination during Hudson dredging
General Electric Co. on Monday proposed a halting further dredging of the Hudson River if PCBs churned up by the work spread too much pollution downriver during the second phase of an ongoing cleanup. GE made the proposal as the company and the federal Environmental Protection Agency were set to release separate reports assessing the dredging in 2009 of PCB "hot spots" north of Albany. The EPA had yet to release its report Monday afternoon, but the agency has been much more upbeat in its assessments of the dredging than GE, which is paying for the cleanup.... Crews working the river last summer found contamination of the river bed was deeper than expected and the work took longer.
"(T)o send more PCBs downriver than would happen without dredging eliminates the benefits of the remedy identified by EPA," the GE report said.... PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are considered probable carcinogens. GE plants in Fort Edward and neighboring Hudson Falls discharged wastewater containing PCBs for decades before the lubricant and coolant was banned in 1977. ...
PCBs -- our favorite "forever" toxin.
global warming ~ climate impacts ~ contamination ~ health impacts ~ efficiency increase ~ alternative energy ~ smart policy ~ airborne pollutants ~ stupid humans ~ anthropogenic change ~ deniers ApocaDocuments (5) matching "contamination" from this week[see full week] ~ [see all stories tagged "contamination"]
Sun, Mar 14, 2010from Chicago Tribune: Saving face
We turn to cosmetics to look our very best, but sometimes all that lathering, slathering, powdering and painting can do more harm than good. * Certain ingredients in personal care products can cause redness, itching, swelling, acne and other reactions in people who are sensitive to them. Preservatives, fragrances and dyes are common culprits. *Some people are allergic to specific ingredients, but more commonly the problem is irritation, which can happen to anyone. Either way, it's wise to keep an eye on the ingredients you're smearing on your skin. "The bottom line is that if you get a rash, you just have to stop using that product, and when you go to the store to buy another lotion, compare the ingredients and make sure they're not exactly the same," said Dr. Ella L. Toombs, a Washington, D.C.-based dermatologist... ...
And if your face falls off, you can always get a mask.
Fri, Mar 12, 2010from Associated Press: Feds recall more children jewelry in cadmium probe
Federal safety regulators recalled a line of Christmas-themed bracelets Thursday, expanding their effort to purge children's jewelry boxes and store shelves of items containing high levels of the toxic metal cadmium.
The chain-link bracelets were sold at dollar-type stores between 2006 and March 2009 and feature characters from the classic holiday movie, including Rudolph... ...
Turns out Rudolph shoulda been been left out of the reindeer games, after all.
Fri, Mar 12, 2010from Chicago Tribune: Exelon to pay $1 million to settle suits over leaks at power plants
Exelon agreed Thursday to
 pay more than $1 million to settle lawsuits filed by Attorney General Lisa Madigan after the company allowed radioactive tritium to leak outside three of its nuclear power plants...
"It is imperative that Illinois' nuclear power plants are operated in a manner that does not endanger public health or the environment," Madigan said in a statement.
Tritium, the radioactive form of hydrogen, is found naturally in groundwater but is also one of the byproducts of nuclear energy production. Exposure can increase the risk of cancer, though the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers it one of the least dangerous radioactive substances, in part because it leaves the body quickly. ...
Just a little EXtra EXposure from EXelon.
Tue, Mar 9, 2010from AP, via PhysOrg.com: GE: Limit PCB contamination during Hudson dredging
General Electric Co. on Monday proposed a halting further dredging of the Hudson River if PCBs churned up by the work spread too much pollution downriver during the second phase of an ongoing cleanup. GE made the proposal as the company and the federal Environmental Protection Agency were set to release separate reports assessing the dredging in 2009 of PCB "hot spots" north of Albany. The EPA had yet to release its report Monday afternoon, but the agency has been much more upbeat in its assessments of the dredging than GE, which is paying for the cleanup.... Crews working the river last summer found contamination of the river bed was deeper than expected and the work took longer.
"(T)o send more PCBs downriver than would happen without dredging eliminates the benefits of the remedy identified by EPA," the GE report said.... PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, are considered probable carcinogens. GE plants in Fort Edward and neighboring Hudson Falls discharged wastewater containing PCBs for decades before the lubricant and coolant was banned in 1977. ...
PCBs -- our favorite "forever" toxin.