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What A Week It Was: Apocadocuments from
View By Scenario:
Species Collapse:(1)
Plague/Virus:(3)
Climate Chaos:(8)
Resource Depletion: (4)
Biology Breach:(12)
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This Week's Top Ten Very Scary Tags:
contamination  ~ health impacts  ~ climate impacts  ~ toxic buildup  ~ anthropogenic change  ~ unintended consequences  ~ global warming  ~ invasive species  ~ antibiotic resistance  ~ efficiency increase  ~ ecosystem interrelationships  



ApocaDocuments (7) matching "contamination" from this week
[see full week] ~ [see all stories tagged "contamination"]
Sun, Apr 18, 2010
from Chicago Tribune:
Growing concern in the water
Despite growing health concerns about atrazine, an agricultural weedkiller sprayed on farm fields across the Midwest, most drinking water is tested for the chemical only four times a year -- so rarely that worrisome spikes of the chemical likely go undetected. High levels of the herbicide can linger in tap water during the growing season, according to more frequent tests in some agricultural communities. Spread heaviest on cornfields, atrazine is one of the most commonly detected contaminants in drinking water. Studies have found that exposure to small amounts of the chemical can turn male frogs into females and might be more harmful to humans than once thought. Manufacturers say their own research proves the chemical is safe. But alarmed by other studies, the Obama administration is conducting a broad review that could lead to tighter restrictions. It is also mulling changes in laws that require water utilities to test for atrazine just once a quarter or, in some cases, once a year. ...


Like I always say, trust the self-interested!

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Sat, Apr 17, 2010
from Science:
Mercury surprise: Rice can be risky
Ask toxicologists how best to avoid mercury poisoning and they'll almost certainly advise against eating too much of the wrong types of fish. (Never mind that there's considerable confusion about what the wrong types are.) But a new study out of China shows that for millions of people at risk of eating toxic amounts of mercury-laced food, fish isn't the problem. Rice is. And that's bad news because in their part of the world rice is the dietary staple... the researchers report that although mercury exposures for these communities varied dramatically, in every one of them -- rice accounted for 94 to 96 percent of the probable daily intake of methylmercury -- the most neurotoxic and readily absorbed form of mercury. ...


And here we thought rice was nice.

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Sat, Apr 17, 2010
from TIME:
Regulation of Toxic Chemicals Faces Tightening
But the [Toxic Substances Control Act] has remained stuck in the 1970s, an aging throwback that never gave Washington any real power to protect people from potentially toxic chemicals. It may finally be time to bring chemical regulation out of the polyester era. On April 15, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg introduced new legislation that would overhaul the regulatory system, requiring manufacturers to prove the safety of chemicals before they could be sold. That represents a much needed change from the current system, in which the burden of proof falls on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to show that a chemical is dangerous to human health or the environment before the agency can regulate it. "America's system for regulating industrial chemicals is broken," said Lautenberg in a statement. "My Safe Chemicals Act will breathe new life into a long dead statute by empowering the EPA to get tough on toxic chemicals." ...


But ignorance of risk is much more profitable! Think of the economy!

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Thu, Apr 15, 2010
from BBC:
China ship 'seriously damaged' Great Barrier Reef
The Australian authorities have said a Chinese bulk carrier which ran aground off Queensland has caused widespread damage to the famed Great Barrier Reef. The cleanup is likely to be the biggest operation ever undertaken there...The authorities are particularly worried about toxic paint that has been scraped off the hull - because it has immediately started killing off corals in the vicinity. ...


More reef grief.

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Wed, Apr 14, 2010
from Wall Street Journal:
Bushmeat Presents Latest Food Scare
Researchers testing bushmeat smuggled into the U.S. have found strains of a virus in the same family as HIV, according to preliminary findings to be released Wednesday... In 2008, the Wildlife Conservation Society, a nonprofit which runs many of New York City's zoos, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention joined forces to test illegally imported meat entering the New York City area from West Africa for dangerous diseases such as monkey pox, the virus that causes SARS and retroviruses such as HIV... Scientists found two strains of simian foamy virus, commonly found in nonhuman primates, from three species -- two mangabeys and a chimpanzee -- in bushmeat....Bushmeat, often cured or smoked, has entered the U.S. through the mail and in shipping containers. Smugglers also resort to packing smoked monkey or cane rat in personal suitcases. ...


Simian foamy virus is gonna be the name of my new band...

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Tue, Apr 13, 2010
from USA Today:
'Growing concern' over marketing tainted beef
Beef containing harmful pesticides, veterinary antibiotics and heavy metals is being sold to the public because federal agencies have failed to set limits for the contaminants or adequately test for them, a federal audit finds. A program set up to test beef for chemical residues "is not accomplishing its mission of monitoring the food supply for ... dangerous substances, which has resulted in meat with these substances being distributed in commerce," says the audit by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General. The health effects on people who eat such meat are a "growing concern," the audit adds. ...


A "growing concern" in more ways than one!

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Mon, Apr 12, 2010
from The Times of India:
Burnt e-waste raises health alarm for locals
The plastic scrap market in Mundka which caught fire early morning on Sunday was a big dumping ground for electronic waste items. Several tonnes of hazardous e-waste -- discarded television sets, computers, photocopying machines and inverter batteries -- were burnt in the fire, posing a serious health concern for people living in the vicinity. "Toxic metals like mercury, lead and cadmium -- which are present in electronic items -- are dangerous for health. Large scale burning of these materials can cause heavy damage to the lungs. It can precipitate respiratory problems like bronchitis and asthma," said Dr Bir Singh, head of the community medicine department of AIIMS. When e-waste burns in open air, said experts, highly toxic elements are emitted and these can cause respiratory problems and skin diseases not just among the workers but also residents who live close to the scrap yard. ...


We call that a good ol' fashioned conflagration.

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