India's road transport ministry on Monday approved a proposal to levy additional taxes on old vehicles that are unfit and pollute the environment, as the South Asian nation tries to improve the air quality in its major cities.
According to a new study, one in 15 lost pregnancies in South Asia is due to air pollution. The polluted air starts choking a baby even before birth, causing miscarriages and foetal deaths.
The Citizens Coal Council once again has called on the state Department of Environmental Protection to do a better job of protecting structures, springs and streams from subsidence damage caused by longwall mining.
Extinction Rebellion Scotland have called for Scots to take action on air pollution. The organisation have asked for the public to put pressure on MPs to support an amendment to the Environment Bill on January 26.
Michael Regan comes from a small city in North Carolina that illustrates the racial and economic disparities across America. Climate change is making them worse.
DuPont de Nemours Inc. and Chemours Co. agreed to a $4 billion settlement of a dispute over environmental liabilities shifted to Chemours after it was spun off in 2015.
SVOCs, a subgroup of volatile organic compounds with a higher molecular weight and boiling point temperature, are found in plastics, flooring, furniture, and more.
A newly released report issued by the Texas State Department of Health found the number of cases of leukemia in children was significantly higher in one census tract in particular, a stretch of land where state environmental records show a toxic plume is located beneath more than 100 homes.
The Zambian claimants, including more than 600 children, alleged toxic discharge from the Nchanga mine damaged land and waterways, and were seeking damages, remediation and the cessation of the alleged pollution.
As the COVID pandemic wears on, we are spending more time than ever working, studying, and playing at home. That is why it's more important than ever to rid our homes of potentially toxic products.
<p>You may spend time seeking out the safest consumer goods, apparel, and cosmetics, but have you considered the chemicals lurking on your walls?</p><p>We've all heard about the dangers of lead paint, and thankfully, interior paints that contain lead are no longer sold in the U.S. or most parts of the world. You may have even heard of VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and carefully chosen products with low levels of these hazards. But another chemical used in paint has become the focus for green scientists this year: a hormone-disrupting chemical class called APEs.</p><p>Alkylphenol ethoxylates, or APEs for short, are surfactants used in acrylic paints. Not only are they very toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms, they have also been shown to have endocrine-disrupting properties, meaning they can interfere with hormones in the human body. APEs break down into alkylphenols, which, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have "been detected in human breast milk, blood, and urine and [are] associated with reproductive and developmental effects in rodents."</p><p>Thankfully, awareness around APEs is growing. New data from the Healthy Building Network (HBN), a nonprofit organization that works to improve hazardous chemical transparency and product innovation, shows that safer paints are now available at various price points throughout the market. While some manufacturers are still using them, APEs are no longer the most commonly used surfactant in interior latex paints. HBN recently released <a href="https://healthybuilding.net/blog/558-by-popular-demand-a-list-of-safer-paints" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">a list of APE-free and low-VOC paints</a> along with its detailed <a href="https://homefree.healthybuilding.net/products/15-paints-by-type-hazard-spectrum" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">product guidance for paint selection</a>.</p><p>"With safer options readily available, there's no reason anyone should be using a paint containing APEs," said Teresa McGrath, HBN's chief research officer. "As consumers, we can use our buying power to push for safer products and to increase transparency around the chemicals in the products that surround us."</p><p>It's important to remember that a product's chemical footprint has implications at every stage of its life cycle – a fact that HBN builds into all of its product guidance. While a product may be relatively safe for home occupants, it can still have serious health implications for those who manufacture, handle, install, or remove it.</p><p>"Knowing that low-income and Black, Indigenous and people of color communities disproportionately bear the burden of industrial pollution, it's a matter of equity and public health that we consider the full effect of the product choices we make," said Gina Ciganik, HBN President and CEO. "While toxic chemical exposures continue to cost the U.S. billions of dollars and millions of IQ points, we have the opportunity to create change with our buying decisions." </p><p>For more product guidance from HBN, visit their <a href="https://healthybuilding.net/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">website</a><u>,</u> and check out the list of APE-free paints below.</p>
List of safer paints
<p>The paints listed below are ranked light green or higher on HBN's <a href="https://homefree.healthybuilding.net/products/15-paints-by-type-hazard-spectrum" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Paint Hazard Spectrum</a>, meaning they are best-in-class for interior latex paints. These paints are free of alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs), which can disrupt the hormone system, and are also low in volatile organic compound (VOC) content and low in VOC emissions. </p>
*These products had published Health Product Declaration or Declare labels disclosed to 100 parts per million with an alternative surfactant listed as of November 2020.
<p><em>This list is not an exhaustive list of all safer paints, and is not an endorsement or certification of the manufacturer or products listed. <em>These products were screened using manufacturer-supplied information and not independently tested or verified. We have selected only one or two examples from each manufacturer, focused on interior latex eggshell paint.</em></em></p>
<p><em>Laurie Mazur is the editor of the <a href="https://islandpress.org/urban-resilience-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Island Press Urban Resilience Project</a></em>, <em>which is supported by The Kresge Foundation and The JPB Foundation.</em></p><p><em>Banner photo credit: <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificairforces/8464885132/" title="Go to PACAF's photostream" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">PACAF/flickr</a></em><br></p>
PFAS discovered in an insecticide aerially sprayed in more than half of US states leached into the pesticide from plastic shipping containers, the US Environmental Protection Agency says.
