Citing health concerns, New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin says its time for city residents living in toxic trailers distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to move to safer housing. Nearly 5,700 trailers remain in New Orleans, most on the private property of residents who lost their homes to Katrina.

Late last year, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said there was an urgent need to get residents out of FEMA trailers because they emitted dangerously high levels of toxic formaldehyde fumes. But the lack of affordable housing in New Orleans, coupled with a slow rebuilding process has deterred many people from leaving the toxic FEMA trailers.

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Although a recent study confirms that a dramatic decline in mercury releases from products in the U.S. between 1990 and 2005, mercury remains a dangerously significant source of environmental contamination, contributing nearly one-third of total mercury emissions to the air in the U.S.

Mercury release into the environment has long been a serious problem.  Mercury can harm a developing fetus if the mother is exposed to high levels and also accumulates in fish populations.  Because a variety of popular products release mercury throughout their lifecycles–often in ways that are difficult to measure—there are significant uncertainties concerning the impact of mercury release into the environment. (more…)

DuPont just announced that it discovered chemical residues from a Teflon ingredient—PFOA—in the groundwater near its Chambers Works plant.  PFOA was confirmed in nine wells around the plant in Deepwater, New Jersey with concentrations as high as 35 times the alert level established last year by New Jersey regulators.  DuPont plant manager Bland Dickey said DuPont is committed to minimizing PFOA releases and ultimately eliminating its use.  Although DuPont claims there is no evidence of health threats from PFOA, a federal advisory panel recommended classifying PFOA as a probable carcinogen.

PFOA—or perfluorooctanoic acid, sometimes called C8—is a synthetic chemical used to make fluoropolymers.  The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) began investigating PFOA because it is very enduring in the environment and is being found not only in the environment, but also in the blood of the general U.S. population; PFOA causes developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals.    Also, perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, have shown up in wildlife, drinking water supplies, and human blood and, recently, a team of researchers—including Kathleen Arcaro of the University of Massachusetts Amherst—recently found PFCs in samples of human milk from nursing mothers in Massachusetts.  PFCs are believed to be carcinogenic and PFOAs are just one of the group of chemicals known as PFCs. (more…)

LASIK—laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis—surgery involves using a laser to cut a small flap in the eye’s cornea to allow for reshaping of the corneal tissue with another laser to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and, sometimes, astigmatism.  LASIK was approved a decade ago and an estimated six million Americans have undergone LASIK surgery with hundreds of thousands of Americans undergoing LASIK yearly.  The surgery permanently reshapes the cornea, there are no guarantees of 20/20 vision, and the long-term safety of LASIK remains unknown.

Recent testimony before an advisory panel to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is revealing that in as many as five percent of all cases, LASIK can be not only be ineffective, LASIK can lead to side effects that include severe dry eye, eye pain, blurred vision, and an inability to drive at night.  To date, the FDA has received 140 letters of complaints and “The FDA has called this a quality-of-life issue, because patients are complaining that their vision isn’t sharp, they have poor night vision, some have glare or halos, some complain that their eyes are dry,” said Dr. Robert Cykiert, associate professor of ophthalmology at New York University Langone Medical Center.  FDA advisers recommended the agency clarify warnings regarding LASIK, including:  Photographs to clearly show what people with side effects see, such as glares and light bursts; information indicating how often patients suffer side effects, such as dry eye; and clear information outlining the conditions under which someone should be disqualified from LASIK, such as large pupils or severe nearsightedness. (more…)

Those chemicals which have long been used to make cookware nonstick and fabrics stain-resistant are not only spreading around the world, but they are showing up in some surprising and disturbing places. Perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, have shown up in wildlife, drinking water supplies, and human blood; however, a team of researchers—including Kathleen Arcaro of the University of Massachusetts Amherst—found PFCs in samples of human milk from nursing mothers in Massachusetts.  PFCs are believed to be carcinogenic.

“Perfluorinated compounds, or PFCs, are found in human blood around the world, including the blood of newborns, but this is the first study in the United States to document their occurrence in human milk,” says Arcaro, a professor in the department of veterinary and animal sciences and a member of the environmental sciences program. “While nursing does not expose infants to a dose that exceeds recommended limits, breast milk should be considered as an additional source of PFCs when determining a child’s total exposure.”  The breast milk was collected as part of a larger, ongoing study Arcaro is conducting that is examining the link between environmental exposures and breast cancer.   (more…)

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) just proposed a stricter health standard for airborne lead, saying that current allowable concentrations do not adequately protect public health, especially children.  The lead health standard has not been changed since its initial requirement was enacted 30 years ago.  Since then, lead pollution dropped substantially, largely because lead was banned in gasoline; however, lead emissions remain an air quality problem, largely stemming from industrial sources, according to the EPA.

“Our air isn’t lead-free yet, so our efforts must continue,” said EPA Deputy Administrator Marcus Peacock.  The EPA proposal will reduce allowable airborne lead concentrations by up to 93% from current standards and is expected to be finalized mid-September.  According to Peacock, lead emissions in the air declined 98% since the first standard was imposed in 1978. Peacock added that approximately 1,300 tons of lead is still released yearly and research confirms even low levels of exposure to children is damaging. (more…)

A unusually high incidence of bronchiolitis obliterans among workers at microwave popcorn factories is likely the result of their exposure to diacetyl, a new study says.  The study, conducted by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, (NIOSH) concluded that diacetyl, a chemical that gives microwave popcorn its butter flavor, needs further study so that workers in the flavorings and snack industry are no longer at risk of the fatal disease, also known as Popcorn Workers Lung.

Popcorn Workers Lung is a potentially life threatening ailment, for which the only cure is a lung transplant. The disease was thought to be limited to people working in the flavorings industry. But last July, Dr. Cecile Rhodes informed the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) that one of her patients had contracted the disease. The patient had been consuming several bags of butter-flavored microwave popcorn on a daily basis for at least 15 years. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this is the first report of Popcorn Workers Lung in a consumer.  That victim has since filed a lawsuit against the company that produced the microwave popcorn he favored. (more…)

Last month, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) began reviewing possible risks linked to lead with artificial turf currently installed in schools, parks, and stadiums nationwide.  The artificial turf industry denied its products are dangerous.  But, health officials closed down two fields in New Jersey after detecting what they found to be unexpectedly high levels of lead in the synthetic turf, raising concerns that athletes could swallow or inhale fibers or dust from the playing surface.

In recent years, dozens of fields have been installed across Long Island and the New York state environmental agency is initiating a study to assess the environmental impact of ground-up tires used in modern synthetic turf fields.  Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officials became involved when state lawmakers raised concerns about potentially toxic and carcinogenic components—arsenic, cadmium, lead, zinc—in the rubber crumbs cushioning the fields and if these chemicals leach into groundwater or vaporize into inhalable gases.  “We don’t know what the environmental implications are for the long term,” said Assemblyman Steve Englebright (Democrat-Setauket), who sponsored a bill calling for a six-month moratorium on the turf pending a comprehensive study. (more…)

Senate Democrats just introduced a bill to ban bispherol A—BPA—the ubiquitous estrogen-imitating chemical found in plastics from all products made for infants and young.  The bill would direct the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to study BPA risks to children and adults.  “There have been enough warning signs about the dangers of this chemical that we cannot sit idly by and continue to allow vulnerable children and infants to be exposed,” said Senator Charles E. Schumer (Democrat-New York).  Schumer’s bill was co-sponsored by senators Hillary Rodham Clinton (NY), Richard J. Durbin (Illinois), Dianne Feinstein (California), John F. Kerry (Massachusetts), and Robert Menendez (New Jersey).

Schumer wants CDC involvement because of conflicting scientific studies.  A growing body of new studies link BPA to prostate and breast cancers, diabetes, behavioral disorders, and reproductive problems in laboratory animals.  The chemical industry and agencies that regulate the use of BPA—the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—defend BPA and deem it safe.  Over 100 studies performed by government scientists and university laboratories found health concerns associated with BPA; industry-funded studies say it is safe.  The House Energy and Commerce Committee is investigating the FDA’s handling of BPA. (more…)

The woman who first raised the alarm about the toxic trailers distributed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to Hurricane Katrina victims is the subject of a USAToday profile.  Becky Gillette, an unpaid volunteer with the Sierra Club in Mississippi, took it upon herself to test a handful of FEMA trailers in 2006, after hearing health complaints from some residents.

Thousands of people in Mississippi and Louisiana were given FEMA trailers as temporary housing following hurricanes Katrina and Rita. But by 2006 FEMA was getting reports from field workers along the Gulf Coast that residents of FEMA trailers where getting sick from the air in the toxic trailers. The first suspect was formaldehyde, which is used in the manufacture of the trailers. Despite the reports, e-mails uncovered last summer during a congressional investigation into the trailers showed that FEMA lawyers told the agency to drag its feet on air quality testing. FEMA’s Office of General Council also advised the agency not to test the trailers because doing so “would imply FEMA’s ownership of the issue”. (more…)