ApocaDocuments (8) for the "Biology Breach" scenario from this week
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Sat, Apr 4, 2009
from ProPublica:
CDC Study Finds Rocket Fuel Chemical in Baby Formula
Perchlorate, a hazardous chemical in rocket fuel, has been found at potentially dangerous levels in powdered infant formula, according to a study [1] by a group of Centers for Disease Control scientists. The study, published last month by The Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, has intensified the years-long debate about whether or how the federal government should regulate perchlorate in the nation’s drinking water.
According to the CDC, perchlorate exposure can damage the thyroid, which can hinder brain development among infants. For nearly a decade, Democratic members of Congress, the Department of Defense, the White House and the Environmental Protection Agency have been fighting about how much perchlorate in water is too much. ...
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That'll put hair on those babies' chests!
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Sat, Apr 4, 2009
from Scientific American:
Are some chemicals more dangerous at low doses?
There are some 82,000 chemicals used commercially in the U.S., but only a fraction have been tested to make sure they're safe and just five are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), according to congressional investigators. But a government scientist says there's no guarantee testing actually rules out health risks anyway.
The basic premise of safety testing for chemicals is that anything can kill you in high enough doses (even too much water too fast can be lethal). The goal is to find safe levels that cause no harm. But new research suggests that some chemicals may be more dangerous than previously believed at low levels when acting in concert with other chemicals. ...
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Is it just me... or is it time to find a new, pristine planet!
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Fri, Apr 3, 2009
from Environmental Science and Technology:
In the mix: equine estrogens used in HRT
Equine estrogens, presumably derived from human hormone replacement therapy (HRT) medications, are pervasive in effluents from sewage treatment works (STW) in the U.K., according to a comprehensive study published in ES&T (DOI 10.1021/es803135q). The study demonstrates, both in vitro and in vivo, that these compounds can have substantial effects on the reproductive systems of fish.
In most HRT regimens, women ingest estrogens derived from the urine of pregnant mares. The researchers routinely detected one of these equine estrogens, equilenin (Eqn), and a metabolite, 17β-dihydroequilenin (17β-Eqn), in STW discharge from multiple facilities, says lead author Charles Tyler of the University of Exeter (U.K.).
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Maybe this is how seahorses are created.
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Fri, Apr 3, 2009
from UN IRIN:
BANGLADESH: Air pollution choking Dhaka
Thousands of people in Bangladesh's capital, Dhaka, are dying prematurely because of air pollution, say health experts. An estimated 15,000 premature deaths, as well as several million cases of pulmonary, respiratory and neurological illness are attributed to poor air quality in Dhaka, according to the Air Quality Management Project (AQMP), funded by the government and the World Bank.
The World Health Organization (WHO) says vehicular air pollution is a major cause of respiratory distress http://www.whoban.org/sust_dev_mental_env.html] in urban Bangladesh. "If pregnant mothers come across excessive pollution, it may cause premature death of their children," said Soofia Khatun, a professor of paediatrics at the Institute of Maternal and Child Health. ...
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DHAKA.... The word sounds like someone choking.
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Fri, Apr 3, 2009
from The Nation:
Tennessee's Dirty Data
The Tennessee Valley Authority manipulated science methods to downplay water contamination caused by a massive coal ash disaster, according to independent technical experts and critics of the federally funded electrical company. The TVA is the largest public provider of electricity in the nation, providing power to 670,000 homes and burning through some 14,000 tons of coal per day. On December 22 the authority made headlines when one of its retention ponds collapsed, letting loose an avalanche of coal ash--the toxic residue left over when coal is burned. More than 5 million cubic yards of ashy mud pushed its way through a neighborhood and into Tennessee's Emory River, knocked houses off foundations and blanketed river water with plumes of gray scum that flowed downstream.
New evidence indicates that in the wake of the disaster, the TVA may have intentionally collected water samples from clean spots in the Emory River, a major supplier of drinking water for nearby cities and a popular site for recreational activities such as swimming and fishing. Third-party tests have found high levels of toxins in the river water and in private wells, while the TVA has assured residents that tap water, well water and river water are safe. ...
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Isn't it just soooo human nature to want to cover up mistakes.
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Wed, Apr 1, 2009
from NOAA, via EurekAlert:
NOAA report calls flame retardants concern to US coastal ecosystems
NOAA scientists, in a first-of-its-kind report issued today, state that Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs), chemicals commonly used in commercial goods as flame retardants since the 1970s, are found in all United States coastal waters and the Great Lakes, with elevated levels near urban and industrial centers.... "This is a wake-up call for Americans concerned about the health of our coastal waters and their personal health," said John H. Dunnigan, NOAA assistant administrator of the National Ocean Service. "Scientific evidence strongly documents that these contaminants impact the food web and action is needed to reduce the threats posed to aquatic resources and human health." ...
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Hey scientists: I don't want my coastal waters burning.
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Wed, Apr 1, 2009
from Helsingen Sanomat:
Russian burial ground for toxic waste seen as an environmental time bomb
Toxic waste from St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region have been taken to Krasnyi bor since 1969. About 1.5 million tonnes of chemicals, oil, and heavy metals have been buried in dozens of pits in an area of 70 hectares. Some of the waste is incinerated. Russia does not have a single modern facility for processing problem waste. Furthermore, in St. Petersburg, poisons are often left out in the open, or are disposed of in illegal dumping areas.
According to Dmitri Artamonov, the director of Greenpeace in St. Petersburg, not all pits have been covered up, and more waste is being transported to the area. Some of the pits have been sealed with clay. "Poisons evaporate into the air from liquid waste. In the rain, the pits can overflow, which means that all the makings of a disaster are ready", Artamonov says. ...
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Maybe it's time for central planning? Wait, that's what started the problem....
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Tue, Mar 31, 2009
from Popular Science:
Rust in the Food Supply
Food-borne illness frequently grabs headlines: tomatoes, peanut butter and, most recently, pistachios have all made people sick from salmonella and caused headaches for grocers across the United States.
Now, another food illness of sorts is popping up on the international radar screen -- only this one makes the food itself ill. Well, one of the plants that turns into much of our food, in any case. Scientists from 40 countries on six continents are fighting a virulent form of an old wheat disease that some fear could threaten 90 percent of the world's wheat crop. They aim to fight the fungus on the genetic level, hoping to prevent it from spreading to North America by replacing much of the world's wheat varieties with tougher plants.
At a conference in Mexico earlier this month, scientists confirmed that a newly emerged wheat rust strain known as Ug99 is now in most of eastern Africa and is marching toward South Asia, a region that produces 19 percent of the world's wheat. The wind-borne fungus has already devastated farms in Kenya, where some farmers have reported losses up to 80 percent. ...
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And as we know... rust never sleeps.
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