Kristina Marusic

healthcare sustainability
Credit: Kristina Marusic for Environmental Health News

Reimagining healthcare to reduce pollution, tackle climate change and center justice

“We need to understand who is harmed by an economy that’s based on fossil fuels and toxic chemicals.”

PITTSBURGH — Hospitals save lives — but they’re also complex ecosystems that generate toxic waste, rely on fossil fuels and instigate health problems due to harmful emissions.

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Visiting health care professionals take “environmental justice tour” of Pittsburgh
Credit: Kristina Marusic for Environmental Health News

Visiting health care professionals take “environmental justice tour” of Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH — A group of about 50 health care workers including doctors, nurses and public health officials from across the U.S. attended an “environmental justice walking tour” in Pittsburgh this morning.

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dick cheney
Credit: Gage Skidmore/flickr

How the “Halliburton Loophole” lets fracking companies pollute water with no oversight

Fracking companies used more than 282 million pounds of hazardous chemicals from 2014 to 2021 with no federal oversight, according to a new study.

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Here’s how candidates for Allegheny County Executive plan to tackle environmental injustice

PITTSBURGH — On Saturday, five of the seven candidates running for Allegheny County Executive participated in a community forum on environmental justice, discussing some of the most pressing issues facing residents, including air pollution and fracking.

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Child asthma
Erica Butler of the Pediatric Alliance administers an asthma screening to Montaziyah Evans at Clairton Elementary School in Clairton, PA. (Credit: Connor Mulvaney/EHN)

Air pollution exposure during pregnancy linked to reduced lung function in kids: Study

Exposure to air pollution from sources like traffic and heavy industry during pregnancy has been linked to reduced lung function in children in a new study.

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Who should be on Allegheny County’s new board of health?
Photo by Mingjun Liu on Unsplash

Who should be on Allegheny County’s new board of health?

PITTSBURGH — In the next year, Allegheny County, which ecompasses Pittsburgh, is expected to get an entirely new board of health.

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Ohio train derailment
Members of the Ohio National Guard prepare to assess and monitor public facilities for any hazards after the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. (Credit: The National Guard)

The EPA has disclosed additional, concerning chemicals released during the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio

PITTSBURGH — On Friday the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent a letter to Norfolk Southern Railway Co. that cites additional chemicals released during the company’s Feb. 3 train derailment in Ohio that were not previously known to the public.

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train derailment
Freight train cars derail near Station Square in Pittsburgh in 2018. Credit: daveynin/flickr

After the eighth catastrophic train derailment in the greater Pittsburgh area in five years, advocates demand better protections

PITTSBURGH — On Friday, about 50 Norfolk Southern train cars derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, about an hour northwest of Pittsburgh, causing an explosion and subsequent fire that continued burning through Sunday night.

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From our Newsroom
East Palestine train derailment

Displaced and distraught: East Palestine remains at risk and without answers

EHN visited residents still picking up the pieces four months after a catastrophic train derailment dumped toxics in East Palestine, Ohio.

Crow Tribe Little Bighorn River

Opinion: Restoring our waters is restoring ourselves

Using water quality research to bring healing and sovereignty to the Apsáalooke.

Crow Tribe Little Bighorn River

Opinión: Restaurar nuestras aguas es restaurarnos a nosotros mismos

Usar la investigación de la calidad del agua para sanar y dar soberanía a los Apsáalooke.

environmental journalism

EHN welcomes two summer interns to focus on plastic pollution and Spanish-speaking communities

Allison Guy, a longtime writer and communicator in the environmental nonprofit space, and Andy Damián-Correa, a student majoring in bilingual Spanish journalism at San Francisco State University, will join our team for summer.

Adrift: Communities on the front lines of pesticide exposure fight for change

Adrift: Communities on the front lines of pesticide exposure fight for change

Rural communities of color and farmworkers are disproportionately exposed to some of the most dangerous chemicals used in agriculture.

Fighting "A New War on Cancer"

Fighting "A New War on Cancer"

Environmental Health Sciences reporter Kristina Marusic's new book on cancer prevention is a story of hope and what we can do to prevent harmful exposures.