Canary’s Cry for Saturday, January 3

A patron at Sheraton’s Four Point hotel in San Francisco discovers a disturbing environmental hazard inside the building.

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, Dec. 31

Bloomberg.com reports that a “Coal Ash Spill Leads to Arsenic Warnings for Tennessee Wells” :

Water samples near a billion-gallon spill of coal ash in eastern Tennessee have found levels of arsenic and other heavy metals higher than drinking-water standards, prompting a warning against using private wells in the area.

Samples taken at the site of the spill in Harriman, 35 miles southwest of Knoxville, “slightly exceed” the standards for some metals, according to a statement from the Tennessee Valley Authority, owner of the coal power plant where the Dec. 22 accident occurred. Results from well-water and air tests won’t be known until later this week, the utility said.

The spill at the utility’s Harriman Fossil Plant deluged more than 300 acres of rural Roane County, destroying three homes and damaging 42 other properties. In nearby Kingston, that raised fears of fouled water and air, while 13 families wait to see if their homes can be salvaged, said Carolyn Brewer, finance director for the city of 5,300.

“Some of them are staying with families; some are working with real estate agents, leasing homes, buying homes,” Brewer said in a telephone interview today. “There’s two or three that will just never be able to get back in their homes. They’re just destroyed.”

The sludge-like spill, a mixture of water and residue from burned coal, escaped from a 40-acre holding pond after a retaining wall burst last week. After repeatedly saying the spilled material isn’t toxic, the TVA cautioned residents in its latest statement against touching or stirring up the material.

Leslie at The Oko Box Blog says the same coal ash spill, which happened “just around the bend” from where she lives, is polluting the air in her neighborhood to the point of making her “nauseous, lethargic, and seizure prone.” Take care, Leslie!

On the same topic, the New York Times reports “At Plant in Coal Ash Spill, Toxic Deposits by the Ton.” NYT says, “The spill has reignited a debate over whether coal ash should be regulated as a hazardous waste. In 2000, the E.P.A. backed away from its recommendation to do so in the face of industry opposition, promising instead to issue national guidelines for proper ash disposal, though it never did.”

In other disturbing news, Utne Reader reports about the consequences from marketing chemical-laden cosmetics to younger and younger consumers. In “Not So Pretty in Pink: Marketing Toxic Makeup to Young Girls,” Utne notes, “This rush to cosmetic beauty also represents increased exposure to toxic chemicals. Scientists now suspect that chemicals found in many of the cosmetics for which young girls clamor contribute to a disturbing trend. Girls in the United States, especially African American girls, are entering puberty earlier than their grandmothers did. Half of all American girls now show signs of breast development by age 10—one to two years earlier than 40 years ago—and a significant number show signs as early as 8 or 9.” Take a look at the article to find out why.

Thanks, Leslie and Linda!

Canary’s Cry for Saturday, Dec. 27

A new Cal State Long Beach study finds high levels of DDT and PCB in seals and sea lions that died between 1994 and 2006, suggesting possible danger for humans.

The Los Angeles Times reports Old Chemicals Found Years Later in Marine Mammals. The new study found DDT, a once widely used agricultural pesticide now banned in the United States, in slightly lower concentrations in sea lions than was found in studies of marine mammals conducted in the early 1970s, according to the report published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin. Adult male sea lions and seals had the highest concentrations because they had the highest fat content. But the chemicals were also present in pups, who absorbed them from their mothers’ milk.

The Philadelphis Inquirer reports that fumes from a chemical used to deice planes got into the passenger cabin of an Alaska Airlines jet yesterday at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, irritating the eyes of people on board, officials said. Paramedics treated 26 people, and seven, including all five crew members, decided to go to a hospital, an airline spokeswoman said.

Chicago News reports that a South Side meat-packing plant containing hazardous chemicals burned for approximately three hours on Christmas Day before more than 160 firefighters extinguished the blaze.

The Ithaca Journal reports on more protest against the decision by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to allow retailers to sell toys in inventory that may contain a potentially harmful chemical. Continued sale of toys with phthalates - a class of chemical compound used as a softener for plastics that seeps out of toys when chewed - is possible because of a safety commission ruling that Congress’ Consumer Product Safety Act pertains only to newly manufactured or imported toys containing phthalates. In a press release, [Assemblywoman Barbara] Lifton said animal toxicity data shows that phthalates could be harmful to infants or children. Toys that are already in stock can still be sold because of pressure applied from toy and chemical companies such as ExxonMobil, she said. The Consumer Product Safety Act became law in August.

Photo by Tom Clifton

Canary’s Cry for Monday, Dec. 8

USA Today has put out an in-depth Special Report on Toxic Air and America’s Schools.

USA Today used an EPA model to track the path of industrial pollution and mapped the locations of almost 128,000 schools to determine the level of toxic chemicals outside. The potential problems that emerged were widespread, insidious and largely unaddressed.

Click here for USA Today Video by Garrett Hubbard, Steve Elfers, Denny Gainer, and Rhyne Piggott: USA TODAY examines the impact of industrial pollution outside the nation’s schools and explores how toxic chemicals shuttered one elementary school in Addyston, Ohio, three years ago. This video is Part One. Part Two is due out shortly. Click here for USA Today full report and supporting stories.

In other news, The New York Times reports that “A Problem Rises to the Surface in Greenpoint.” Residents of Greenpoint, Brooklyn, have toxic gases “rising into their homes from below, the legacy of dry-cleaning plants, foundries and other manufacturers that once operated in this hub, which has long been home to immigrants and, more recently, artists and young professionals. Such vapor intrusion — chemicals from contaminated soil and groundwater that become airborne, entering buildings through pores and cracks — has become a growing public health concern around the country in recent years. Contaminants that spread from industrial activity, or that were mistakenly believed to have been contained or eliminated in environmental cleanups, have been discovered wafting into basements.”

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, Dec. 3

CNNMoney.com reports that one in three toys tested is toxic with chemicals such as lead, flame retardants and arsenic, according to a report issued Wednesday by an environmental group. Researchers for the Michigan-based Ecology Center tested more than 1,500 popular toys for lead, cadmium, arsenic, PVC and other harmful chemicals. They said they found that one-third of the toys contain “medium” or “high” levels of chemicals of concern. “Our hope is that by empowering consumers with this information, manufacturers and lawmakers will feel the pressure to start phasing out the most harmful substances immediately, and to change the nation’s laws to protect children from highly toxic chemicals,” said Ecology Center’s Jeff Gearhart, who led the research.

Related: From U.S. PIRG, the federation of state Public Interest Research Groups, which stands up to powerful special interests on behalf of the American public and their health and well-being:

Trouble in Toyland: The 23rd annual survey of toy safety

The recall of 45 million toys and other children’s products in 2007 and continued recalls in 2008 reminded Americans that no government agency tests toys before they are put on the shelves. Specifically, the wave of recalls focused attention on the fact that the agency charged with protecting Americans from unsafe products—the Consumer Product Safety Commission—is a little agency with a very big job to do.

Congress responded by passing the first major overhaul of the CPSC since it was established during the Nixon administration, when it passed the landmark Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) in August 2008. In addition to expanding the agency’s budget, Congress gave the CPSC more tools to hold corporate wrongdoers accountable and speed recalls, moved toward banning toxic lead and phthalates except in trace amounts and greatly improved import surveillance.

While the new law strengthens the CPSC and contains tough new protections against toxic chemicals like lead and phthalates, these protections have not yet gone into effect. As parents and other toygivers venture into crowded malls this holiday season, they should remain vigilant about often hidden hazards posed by toys on store shelves.

The 2008 “Trouble in Toyland” report is the 23rd annual Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) survey of toy safety. This report provides safety guidelines for parents when purchasing toys for small children and provides examples of toys currently on store shelves that may pose potential safety hazards. We visited numerous toy stores and other retailers to find potentially dangerous toys and identify trends in toy safety. This year, we focused specifically on toys that contain lead and phthalates in our research.

We also produced a shopping guide, which you can download here.

And for the adults: The New York Times reported last week that Bush Aides Rush To Enact A Rule Obama Opposes on worker safety. NYT says the Labor Department is racing to complete a new rule, strenuously opposed by President-elect Barack Obama, that would make it much harder for the government to regulate toxic substances and hazardous chemicals to which workers are exposed on the job. The rule, which has strong support from business groups, says that in assessing the risk from a particular substance, federal agencies should gather and analyze “industry-by-industry evidence” of employees’ exposure to it during their working lives. The proposal would, in many cases, add a step to the lengthy process of developing standards to protect workers’ health. Public health officials and labor unions said the rule would delay needed protections for workers, resulting in additional deaths and illnesses.

Thanks, Missy and Linda!

Canary’s Cry for Sunday Nov. 23

The Chicago Tribune says artificial Christmas trees contain toxic chemicals:

CONS:

Gigantic carbon footprint. Artificial trees are usually made from petroleum and shipped from China; the pole and branches are primarily made of steel while the needles are made with polyvinyl chloride (PVC), also known as vinyl, or polyethylene (PE).

PVC is not biodegradable and can’t be recycled; if incinerated, the PVC in the trees emits dioxins and other carcinogens. The manufacture of PVC also creates dioxins.

Phthalates are used to manufacture PVC plastic. Phthalates are a chemical that have been shown to have hormone-like effects. Congress recently passed a bill banning phthalates in children’s toys.

No natural scent. Some people solve this by using aerosol sprays or pine-scented air fresheners, but the fumes from most products contain dozens of chemicals, including several classified as toxic or hazardous, according to a University of Washington study.

ScienceDaily reports that “Low concentrations of pesticides can become toxic mixture for amphibians.” A study shows ten of the world’s most popular pesticides can decimate amphibian populations when mixed together even if the concentration of the individual chemicals are within limits considered safe, according to University of Pittsburgh research. Such “cocktails of contaminants” are frequently detected in nature, the paper notes, and the Pitt findings offer the first illustration of how a large mixture of pesticides can adversely affect the environment. Study author Rick Relyea, an associate professor of biological sciences in Pitt’s School of Arts and Sciences, exposed gray tree frog and leopard frog tadpoles to small amounts of the 10 pesticides that are widely used throughout the world. Relyea selected five insecticides-carbaryl, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, endosulfan, and malathion-and five herbicides-acetochlor, atrazine, glyphosate, metolachlor, and 2,4-D. He administered the following doses: each of the pesticides alone, the insecticides combined, a mix of the five herbicides, or all 10 of the poisons. Relyea found that a mixture of all 10 chemicals killed 99 percent of leopard frog tadpoles as did the insecticide-only mixture.

The Missoulian reports, “Someone’s dumping cancer-causing chemicals in Helena’s sewers” :

HELENA - Someone is regularly dumping large amounts of a carcinogen hazardous to aquatic life into Helena’s sewers, and the chemical is killing nitrogen-eating bacteria at the city’s wastewater plant, causing the facility to discharge more than five times the permitted amount of ammonia into the ditch flowing to Prickly Pear Creek.

The discovery of chromium entering the sewage plant has prompted criminal investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Helena Police Department.

According to the EPA, “the metal chromium is used mainly for making steel and other alloys. Chromium compounds, in either the chromium (III) or chromium (VI) forms, are used for chrome plating, the manufacture of dyes and pigments, leather and wood preservation and treatment of cooling tower water. Smaller amounts are used in drilling muds, textiles, and toner for copying machines.”

City officials detailed the problem in a group interview Friday.

After weeks of mystery punctuated by serendipity, officials identified their problem Thursday, Helena Wastewater Superintendent Don Clark said, when they and investigators were at the plant and noticed a sudden spike in the acidity of the incoming waste, which also turned a bright shade of yellow-green.

A lab test identified high levels of the particularly harmful variation known as hexavalent chromium, ending the puzzlement of the entire city wastewater staff, three consultants and several government investigators, and shifting efforts toward the criminal investigation. The dumping breaks federal, state and local laws.

Photo by worobod.

Canary’s Cry for Thursday Nov. 20

Mail Online reports “Boy, 12, collapsed and died after using too much Lynx deoderant.” The boy collapsed after using “copious” amounts of deodorant in a cramped bathroom, an inquest heard. Daniel Hurley was overcome by solvents in the Lynx Vice spray and his heart began to beat irregularly, the hearing was told. His father Robert found him collapsed in the bath at the family home after spraying on too much of the deodorant. [Canary Note: Lynx is the same as Axe, the name is different in a few countries due to copyright. Axe deliberately markets to young boys, with imagery selling the scent as a chick magnet. Many high schools have banned the scent because it makes students sick in class.]

The Salt Lake Tribune says “Utah unveils new policies on keeping school kids indoor during recess.” With wintertime pollution starting to blanket the valley, the state is publicizing year-old guidelines for when children should stay indoors during recess. The changes, made last January by the Utah Department of Health and Utah Department of Environmental Quality but only publicized now, are both more conservative and more liberal. They will keep sensitive children, like those with asthma, indoors at lower levels of pollution than in the past. But they allow healthy children to play outside when pollution levels are much higher.

The Salt Lake Tribune also reports that “An environmental report on the burn pit at Balad Air Base in Iraq now is ‘classified’ as national security.”

Military officials insist there’s no problem.

But veterans’ advocates are calling for full transparency about the health risks faced by service members who have been stationed at the largest U.S. air base in Iraq, where one inspector called an open-air burn pit “the worst environmental site I have ever personally visited.”

But for the moment, that quote — found in a memo from a military environmental engineer from Utah — is all that is publicly known from a 2006 Environmental Health Site Assessment on the situation at Balad Air Base. That’s because the U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventative Medicine is refusing to make the document public, saying that the information it contains “would damage our national security.”

How could a health assessment damage national security? For veteran Paul Rieckhoff, the situation smells as bad as Iraq’s foul air.

WOAI.com has a story about “Mold and shoddy work keep Mirasol homeowner away.” A mother of three says she had to leave her home because of mold and shoddy work. Then she was forced to move her family from the hotel the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA) put them up in. Now, she finds out her home she’s still paying for is still not fixed. And some furniture in a storage unit is ruined. The family had lived in the home for years before they had to get out. Now they want the money they invested to buy the home back and to replace their ruined belongings.

Thank you, Linda, for Lynx story.

Canary’s Cry for Sunday, Nov. 16

In light of the recent fires in California, The New York Times says “In Fighting Wildfires, People Concerned About Chemicals.” The concern is about the fire retardant dropped from planes. “Yet while many residents praise — and even demand — the use of retardant to protect their homes and neighborhoods, the potent mix of chemicals in the most common type can leave scars of its own, hurting watersheds and the fish and other animals that live in them. Increasing concerns over retardant are prompting opposition to its use in certain situations and further stirring the debate in the West over how much is too much when it comes to fighting wildfires.”

DelawareOnline reports on “Study: Steel mill dust may be toxic.” A preliminary report measuring specific air pollutants near the Claymont Steel mill confirms what some residents have long suspected: Metallic soot that settles every day on cars, windows and porches might be hazardous to their health.

The Canton Rep says “Outdoor wood burners raise a stink.” Legislation that would severely restrict, essentially banning, outdoor wood-burning appliances is expected to get a vote at Monday night’s City Council meeting. Councilman James Griffin, D-3, introduced the legislation in an effort to help deal with what he considers a neighborhood nuisance — smoke coming from an outdoor wood-burning appliance at 336 Arlington Ave. NW. Griffin said he also wants to prevent more of the outdoor furnaces from cropping up throughout the city.

The New York Times has a report on “Exxon, making the case for oil.” Exxon has moved away from its extreme position debunking CO2 emissions as the cause of climate change and has stopped financing climate skeptics this year. One of Exxon’s ads says the company aims to provide energy “with dramatically lower CO2 emissions.” Yet even though the company acknowledges that climate change is a risk to the world, it dismisses most green alternatives and continues with hydrocarbons. The report says, “Ultimately, the biggest test for Exxon’s long-term business model is the fact that rising energy use — whether in the United States or in China — will eventually have to be reconciled with reducing carbon emissions and finding low-carbon energy sources.”

JS Online says “BPA leaches from ’safe’ products.”

Products marketed for infants or billed as “microwave safe” release toxic doses of the chemical bisphenol A when heated, an analysis by the Journal Sentinel has found.

The newspaper had the containers of 10 items tested in a lab - products that were heated in a microwave or conventional oven. Bisphenol A, or BPA [link added], was found to be leaching from all of them.

The amounts detected were at levels that scientists have found cause neurological and developmental damage in laboratory animals. The problems include genital defects, behavioral changes and abnormal development of mammary glands. The changes to the mammary glands were identical to those observed in women at higher risk for breast cancer.

The newspaper’s test results raise new questions about the chemical and the safety of an entire inventory of plastic products labeled as “microwave safe.” BPA is a key ingredient in common household plastics, including baby bottles and storage containers. It has been found in 93% of Americans tested.

For the Exxon and BPA stories: Thanks, Linda!

Photo by Kevitivity.

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, Nov. 12

Salon tackles the Bush Administration’s policy on environmental protection with “The EPA’s Stalin Era.” The highly critical essay by Rebecca Clarren says: As a coalition of more than 40 national and local environmental organizations put it in a letter to EPA administrators this past April: “EPA, under pressure from the Bush White House, has given the foxes the keys to the environmental protection henhouse.” (Thanks Eloise and Will!)

ABC News in Chicago finds problems at the post office. Those of us with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity know that mail is toxic, right? We get sick when we go into post offices and we dread having to sort through our own mail not knowing whether or not we’re going to get knocked on our butt by some toxic chemical embedded in the paper. Miss Molly, one of our flock over at I Learned Something Today, found yet another story about something that can kill you– this time it’s the air inside U.S. postal service hubs. From ABC News in Chicago, “Sorting Through a Sickness,” (click on link to see video):

Nationwide, hundreds of postal employees say they’re ill with what they call severe, mysterious, respiratory problems. Many of them are right here in the Chicago area.

Current and former postal workers blame paper dust inside the post offices. The last government studies on postal dust were ten years ago. The U.S.P.S says the science can’t verify their theory. That’s not acceptable for people who say they’re “sorting through a sickness.”

“I do believe that my life is going to be shortened,” says former postal employee Delphine Howard. She and other former US postal workers in the Chicago area say they’re all fighting chronic respiratory illness. Their medical records reflect their claims. They all say they’ve never smoked.

“I began to have breathing problems, asthma symptoms ,bronchitis,” said former employee Betty Booker.

Sandra Sutton echoed that, saying, “I turn asthmatic and it shuts my lungs down.”

More than 450 employees and former employees on a petition to occupational health officials and postal unions blame health concerns on paper dust fibers inside post offices. Several are fighting for health benefits.

[...]

Postal workers continue to fight for more studies.

As for people on the petition who have since passed away, some of their family members still blame the post office work environment and postal dust. Dr. Oliver says that would be a rare instance, but studies do show that postal dust does contain volatile organic compounds from ink jet printers, which can be harmful. [My emphasis added because to this VOC finding I say: D'oh.]

Health reports “Both Indoor and Outdoor Pollutants Linked to Heart Problems” :

Inhaling air pollution during your daily routine—both inside and outside your home—appears to cause a small rise in blood pressure and have an impact on blood vessel function, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans.

These short-term changes may help explain why long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to a greater risk of heart attack and death due to heart disease.

The researchers looked specifically at particulate matter, a type of air pollution that is smaller than 2.5 microns. (A human hair, by comparison, has a diameter of about 100 microns.) These tiny particles can be inhaled deep in the lungs and are more dangerous than larger particles, which tend to be trapped in the nose or upper airways and sneezed or coughed out of the body.

Canary’s Cry for Friday, Oct. 31

Oh the horror:

The Canary is screaming her head off about The Washington Post report on the Bush Administration making “A Last Push to Deregulate,” which will result in the easing of many environmental rules including clean air protection. The Post says, “Those and other regulations would help clear obstacles to some commercial ocean-fishing activities, ease controls on emissions of pollutants that contribute to global warming, relax drinking-water standards and lift a key restriction on mountaintop coal mining.”  The Post also says, “The burst of activity has made this a busy period for lobbyists who fear that industry views will hold less sway after the elections.”

ChicoER.com reports that school officials had to close two portable library buildings in Hamilton, California, due to mold growth. Officials didn’t know whether the library books will have to be cleaned or destroyed.

The Press Enterprise, in “Cement dust harmful, suit says,” reports on a lawsuit filed on behalf of 268 people who allege they’ve been harmed by hexavalent chromium emissions from the TXI Riverside Cement Co. plant just north of Riverside, California. Attorneys for the plaintiffs are working with Erin Brockovich-Ellis, the legal researcher made famous by the 2000 movie “Erin Brockovich.” The lawsuit filed by the Westlake Village firm of Masry & Vititoe claims the plaintiffs — people who lived or worked near the plant — have suffered from unspecified types of cancer, kidney and liver injuries, upper airway and skin irritations as well as emotional duress.

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, Oct. 29

The Washington Post reports that the FDA’s ruling on BPA was flawed (surprise, surprise). The Posts says, “The Food and Drug Administration ignored scientific evidence and used flawed methods when it determined that a chemical widely used in baby bottles and in the lining of cans is not harmful, a scientific advisory panel has found.” Basically, the FDA ignored the mounting scientific data showing bisphenol A (BPA) is a danger to health and instead relied on industry-funded studies that concluded it’s safe.

ExMaxHealth reports on “Bug Bombs Linked to Illness.”

State health officials have documented dozens of cases of illness or injury from exposure to bug bombs or insect foggers in Washington in the past three years. Many people don’t know that these products can be a health risk, especially if directions aren’t followed.

Between 2005 and 2007, the Washington Poison Center received 256 reports of people who had symptoms after bug bomb exposure. The Department of Health, which typically documents only the cases reported to the center that seek medical attention, attributed 47 illnesses and injuries associated with bug bombs in the same period.

Medical News Today reports that “Tobacco Abuse by US Troops in Iraq Twice National Average.”

The prevalence of tobacco use by US military deployed to Iraq is more than twice the national average. Researcher Michael A. Wilson of the United States Navy surveyed 408 Marines and sailors deployed in Iraq to assess the prevalence of tobacco abuse and usage patterns related to service. Overall, 260 (64 percent) of the Marines and sailors surveyed used some form of tobacco. Of those, 213 (52 percent) smoked cigarettes, 145 (36 percent) used smokeless tobacco (dip, chew), and 98 (24 percent) used both. For all tobacco abusers, 74 percent expressed a desire to quit using tobacco. Researchers conclude that the prevalence of tobacco abuse during deployment to Iraq is significantly higher than the national average of 29.6 percent reported in a 2006 national survey. The rate of usage also was higher than the 38.9 percent reported for troops returning from Iraq, based on a 2004 survey.

Science News says that “Farm Chemicals Can Indirectly Hammer Frogs.” “Atrazine, the second-most widely used agricultural pesticide in America, can pose a toxic double whammy to tadpoles. The weed killer not only increases the likelihood that massive concentrations of flatworms will thrive in the amphibians’ ponds, a new study reports, but also diminishes the ability of larval frogs to fight infection with these parasites.

Photo by The Facey Family

Canary’s Cry for Tuesday, Oct 28

Blacksmith Institute in collaboration with Green Cross Switzerland issued a Top Ten List of the world’s most dangerous pollution problems [Urban Air Quality at left]. The report names pollution as one of the leading contributing factors to death and disability in the world and highlights the disproportionate effects on the health of children.

The Top Ten list includes commonly discussed pollution problems like urban air pollution as well as more overlooked threats like car battery recycling. The problems included in the report have a significant impact on human health worldwide and result in death, persistent illness, and neurological impairment for millions of people, particularly children.  According to the report, many of these deaths and related illnesses could be avoided with affordable and effective interventions. “Our goal with the 2008 report is to increase awareness of the severe toll that pollution takes on human health and inspire the international community to act,” said Richard Fuller, founder of Blacksmith Institute. “Remediation is both possible and cost-effective.”

Army Times reported that “Burn pit at Balad raises health concerns.”

Troops say chemicals and medical waste burned at base are making them sick, but officials deny risk.

An open-air “burn pit” at the largest U.S. base in Iraq may have exposed tens of thousands of troops, contractors and Iraqis to cancer-causing dioxins, poisons such as arsenic and carbon monoxide, and hazardous medical waste, documentation gathered by Military Times shows.

The billowing black plume from the burn pit at 15-square-mile Joint Base Balad, the central logistics hub for U.S. forces in Iraq, wafts continually over living quarters and the base combat support hospital, sources say.

Reuters INDIA picked up the Reuters Washington story “Does mold make you sick?” Fungus expert Joan Bennett did not believe in toxic mold — the cause of “sick building syndrome” and many lawsuits — until her New Orleans home was flooded during Hurricane Katrina in 2005. When she got a whiff of the foul air that the black goo had created in her home, she decided to change her research focus and try to find out how and if the fungi that took over most of the flooded homes on the Gulf Coast might make people ill. “The overwhelming obnoxiousness of the odor and of the enveloping air made me start to believe in something that I had never believed in before — sick building syndrome,” Bennett, of Rutgers University in New Jersey, told a news conference.

Canary’s Cry for Tuesday, Oct 21

Telegraph.co.uk has an EXCELLENT article about a family with an autistic child who’s health was dramatically improved by detoxing their house into an eco-home. The first change they made was buying an organic wool mattress, which greatly improved their son’s sleep and inspired them to make other changes: they ripped out the carpet, bought organic sheets, removed fabrics with flame retardent. The article is full of tips on creating a healthy home.

AP picked up the story of Elizabeth Feudale-Bowes, the woman with Multiple Chemical Sensitivity in Pensylvania who’s neighbors complained about the porcelain “bubble” room she and her husband installed in their back yard. The Canary Report has been following this story here, here, and here. Neighbors complained that Feudale-Bowes did not follow building permit laws, and a judge agreed, ordering the couple to dismantle the safe room by the end of the month. Says Feudale-Bowes, “If I don’t live like this [in the safe structure], my pain level is so severe that I can’t function, I can’t live, I can’t survive. It’s excruciating.”

MailOnline reports a study showing a vaccination given to babies has been linked to asthma. Experts believe the diphtheria, tetanus and whooping cough jabs might provoke an immune system response which predisposes the body to the lung condition. But delaying the vaccines by two months from the recommended age dramatically reduces the risk, doctors found.

Canada’s Timmons Daily Press says not only is raw sewage flowing into the Ottawa River, so are toxic chemicals. In a memo sent to city councillors last week, deputy manager for infrastructure services Nancy Schepers stated that recent testing found at least 10 chemicals, some of them toxic, in the river that serves as the city’s main source of drinking water. At least one chemical, perfluorobutane sulfonate, can result in birth or developmental effects, affect the brain and nervous system, cause cancer and affect reproduction and fertility.

Canary’s Cry for Monday, Oct 20

Over the weekend:

The Marin Independent Journal reports that environmental scientist Sandra Steingraber, hailed by the Sierra Club as “the new Rachel Carson,” spoke Saturday at the 19th Bioneers Conference in San Rafael on the link between toxic chemicals in the environment and cancer. Marin has one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the state, and organizations such as Zero Breast Cancer are calling for accelerated exploration into its possible causes, including environmental factors. Steingraber’s book, “Living Downstream: An Ecologist Looks at Cancer and the Environment,” won the Jenifer Altman Foundation award for “the inspiring and poetic use of science to elucidate the causes of cancer.”

MCS America posts an excellent article on environmental hazards around the house published at SFGate.

SFGate also reports on regulators in the Bay Area Air Quality Management District clamping down on fireplace wood burning between November and February as a way to meet a new federal law limiting the amount of breathable, fine particles. The report points out that “During the winter months and under certain weather conditions, burning wood in households contributes up to one-third of the total fine particulate matter in the air on the worst Bay Area nights and threatens health, according to regulators.”

CBC News reports that toxic status is possible for bisphenol A in Canada. “It is concluded that bisphenol A be considered as a substance that may be entering the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that constitute or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health,” officials from Health Canada and Environment Canada wrote in Friday’s issue of Canada Gazette, the federal government’s official newsletter.

Canary’s Cry for Wednesday, Oct. 15

SFGate reports that “Some bottled water toxicity shown to exceed law.” The Environmental Working Group tested 10 brands of bottled water and found that Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Choice contained chemical levels that exceeded legal limits. The tests discovered an average of eight contaminants in each brand. Four brands besides Wal-Mart’s were contaminated with bacteria. The environmental group filed a notice of intent to sue Wal-Mart Tuesday, alleging that the mega-chain failed to warn the public of illegal concentrations of trihalomethanes, which are cancer-causing chemicals.

And the Environmental Working Group also popped up on German news today about a panel discussion in Boston (!). EWG tested newborn babies at the moment of birth and found 200 manmade chemicals, the result of lax laws that do not properly regulate toxic chemicals. EWG is seeking to pass the Kid-Safe Chemical Act to overhaul the current chemical regulatory laws and make products safer for children. The panel discussion focuses on the impact of those chemicals on children, the importance of consumer product ingredient disclosure, and the long overdue need for improved legislation.

InjuryBoard.com says the “FDA won’t regulate toxic chemicals in baby bottles, so attorneys general take direct action.” Attorneys general from New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut sent letters to 11 companies that manufacture baby bottles and formula containers, asking them to voluntarily stop using the chemical bisphenol A (BPA) to produce these products because of the chemical’s potential threat to infant health.

The Center for Public Integrity uncovers the “EPA’s hormonal ups and downs,” noting that it might be a first, but environmental advocates agree with the chemical industry for once, saying that the Environmental Protection Agency’s new Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program is flawed.

Photo by Muffet

Canary’s Cry for Monday, Oct. 13

WCSH6.com carries an AP release on Johns Hopkins scientists who report that high levels of a noxious gas from stoves can be added to the list of indoor pollutants that aggravate asthma symptoms of inner-city children, especially preschoolers.

The LA Times reports on how people in China also suffer from indoor air pollution because of stoves and smoking. The air inside lower-class homes is up to 10 times worse than the gloom outside, researchers say.

StarTribune.com in Minneapolis-St.Paul Minnesota reports on problems caused by people sitting around the back-yard fire pit: some neighbors are up in arms over the health risks from the smoke.

StarTribune.com also reports on biomonitoring to measure chemicals directly in people’s bodies: their blood, urine, hair and other body tissues and fluids. Studies are looking for arsenic in people in south Minneapolis and 3M chemicals in the east metro, another study will test mercury levels in newborns’ blood. A fourth test will check the urine of pregnant women for a group of seven compounds called phenols, found in a wide variety of items from plastics to personal care products.

Bloomberg.com carries a story on the mold problems in Galveston one month after Hurricane Ike.

SCTV news in Orange County, California, warns about unhealthful air quality caused by the wild fires.

Photo by Gypsy D

Canary’s Cry for Sunday, Oct. 12

A new feature on The Canary Report: Recent news worthy of a Canary’s Cry.

Here’s the alarm call for Sunday, Oct 12:

The Standard Speaker reports on “A body at war,” the story of a veteran of Desert Storm and Desert Shield who now suffers from multiple sclerosis or MS. My heart breaks when I hear stories about chemically injured veterans.

Local10.com finds “Mold Forces Hundreds of Students Out of Dorms” at Florida Memorial University. Gross out warning.

RedOrbit says South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported on Thursday: “South Korea is the Largest User of Farm Chemicals Among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Members.”

AP reports that “Mexican marijuana cartels sully US forests, parks.” Seems herbicides and pesticides are being used to grow pot in National Forests, resulting in horrendous damage.

In other forest news, Eonline blares the headline “Britney Sees the Forest for the Perfume.” The pop star’s new perfume Hidden Fantasy has the tagline “What do you have to hide?” and is being marketed as a “seductive scent that is all about expressing the many mysterious sides of a woman.” I have no idea what this has to do with forests, although the promo photo has her looking like a tree hugger, literally.

FT.com, out of the UK, reports in “Making scents of the male market” that more than 40 new men’s scents are being launched in the US market alone this year. Oh goodie, I can hardly wait.

Link to photo by emingus