In The News

Results from the widest ranging European survey of human toxic contamination show that 76 persistent, bio-accumulative, and toxic industrial chemicals were present in the blood of those tested. Read more at:
European parliamentarians contaminated by 76 chemicals

How people are exposed to the chemicals -- called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs -- has been something of a mystery. The new study, released today, provides an important clue to help unravel it. Read more at: seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/172946_pbde12.html

Lead in drinking water has been known to be a serious health issue for particularly children for some time. In Washington D.C. a recent controversy has arisen over the contribution that lead in pipes contribute to high levels of heavy metals in the City's drinking water. Read more at:
http://slate.msn.com/id/2100777/

At the national level, there has been considerable recent debate over strategies to reduce mercury emissions from coal-fired generating plants. These plants are one of the largest sources of mercury pollution in the US. A three-week demonstration project at Xcel Energy's Arapahoe Generating Station in Denver, Colorado will test the effectiveness of two sorbent materials at reducing mercury through baghouse systems. Sorbents, such as activated carbon and amended silicates, will be injected into flue gas to remove emissions before they leave a power plant's stack. Industry is looking for reliable and cost-effective technologies to control mercury emissions. Read more at:
http://www.livepowernews.com/stories04/0520/003.htm

Best known by its initials, DDT, or dichloro-diphenyl-trichloromethylmethane, was once hailed as a miracle pesticide used against malaria-spreading mosquitoes. Most western countries banned DDT in the 1970s. Recently, under the U.N.'s 2001 Stockholm Convention on persistent organic pollutants (POPs) which was ratified by 50 states, DDT has been outlawed as one of a "Dirty Dozen" industrial chemicals. This PBT can suppress the immune system and is infamous for threatening bird populations by thinning their eggshells. However, a few countries, including South Africa and Ethiopia, will continue to use DDT. Read more at:
http://www.enn.com/news/2004-05-18/s_23972.asp