Articles by Grist staff

Shipping to Gomorrah

Washington state went to court yesterday to try to prevent the federal government from continuing to ship radioactive waste to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation until the U.S. Department of Energy makes good on a commitment to clean up the site. The state claims that the DOE reneged on an agreement to clean up 78,000 barrels […]

Just Say No to Water?

Even those parts of the world lucky enough to have reliable access to drinking water might have cause to pause. Take New Jersey: According to two reports released yesterday, the state’s drinking-water supply contains hundreds of chemicals, from prescription medication and deodorant residues to flame retardants and fuel additives. The contaminants were present in tiny […]

Watery Grave

The environment, public health, and global political stability all stand to suffer from shrinking freshwater supplies around the world, according to a report released yesterday by the United Nations. In the most complete appraisal of global water resources to date, the U.N. found that the average per-person water supply will decline by one-third in 20 […]

New Formula for Infants

For the first time, the U.S. EPA’s proposed guidelines for assessing the dangers of pesticides and other carcinogens presume that such chemicals pose a higher risk to infants and children. The guidelines call on environmental regulators to assume that children who are two or younger be considered 10 times more susceptible to hazardous chemicals than […]