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Classrooms Dismissed
Some California classrooms may be contaminated, and not with the cooties. According to a new state study, portable classrooms are more likely than their conventional counterparts to contain dangerous levels of toxic chemicals. Half of the portable classrooms studied exceeded air-quality guidelines for eight-hour indoor exposure to formaldehyde, and one-hour exposure levels were 10 times […]
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Illegal gold mining in Ghana shafts locals’ health and the environment
At I Trust My Legs, an illegal mining camp along a gray stream in the West African nation of Ghana, trespassers have bored vertical shafts deep into the ground. On a recent morning, Maxwell Adzoka strapped a lamp to his head, pressed his bare back and shoeless feet against the slick clay walls of one […]
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More Than a Year of Living Dangerously
Indonesian citizens, particularly children, are suffering from a rise in industrial pollution that has accompanied the nation’s rapid economic growth, according to a World Bank report released today. More than 6 million vehicles were added to Indonesia’s streets between 1995 and 2000, and many of them use leaded gasoline. Lead in the environment puts an […]
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Soll Sussman, Texas Sustainable Energy Network
Soll Sussman works in the energy division of the Texas General Land Office, where he helped organize the Texas Sustainable Energy Network. Also a writer, he formerly worked for the Associated Press as bureau chief in Canada and correspondent in Washington, Mexico City, and Central America. Monday, 23 Jun 2003 AUSTIN, Texas This should be […]
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Mikey Doesn’t Like It
Michael Meacher, who earlier this month was pushed out of his job as Britain’s environment minister, this weekend accused Prime Minister Tony Blair’s administration of systematically disregarding evidence that genetically modified (GM) foods could pose threats to human health or the environment. Meacher’s charge comes as the British government is preparing to release two reports […]
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Beauty and the Beasts
India’s tigers may be threatened by, of all things, rising demand for cosmetics. The growing market for talcum powder — widely used in lipsticks, eye shadows, deodorants, and other such products — is leading to the destruction of tiger habitat by illegal mining operations that sell talc to international cosmetics companies, including Revlon, Johnson & […]
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Air Heads
California’s San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control Board unanimously approved a plan yesterday intended to improve some of the worst air quality in the nation — but critics say the plan makes too many concessions to industry to be effective. Enviros, doctors, and residents who have suffered from respiratory ailments allege that efforts to reduce […]
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Two Turntables and a Megapode
This week was for the birds — in a good way: Two previously endangered species seem to be enjoying a rebound. The population of the once desperately rare Polynesian Megapode has doubled and the bird could soon be removed from the list of critically endangered species maintained by the World Conservation Union. The species is […]
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Pesticide or Spermicide?
Frogs and men, beware: Pesticides are your enemy. Men exposed to pesticides commonly used on crops are far more likely to have defective sperm and low sperm counts than men who are not exposed, according to a study published yesterday in Environmental Health Perspectives. The study is the first to show a link between environmental […]
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Give a Hoot, Eh?
The amount of dangerous industrial contaminants seeping into Canada’s environment has risen 20 percent since 1995, according to a report by three environmental organizations that compiled data from industrial polluters. The biggest increase came in discharges into lakes and rivers, which rose 37 percent, while air and land pollution each rose 9 percent. The increase […]
