Articles by Grist staff

Koop Has the Vinyl Word

Millions of dollars worth of vinyl toys pulled from store shelves at the behest of Greenpeace and other groups pose no medical threats, according to a panel of leading physicians and scientists chaired by C. Everett Koop, former U.S. surgeon general. A report by the panel found no scientific evidence that two plastic softeners known […]

Panda-monium

In a bid to save the endangered giant panda, Chinese scientists have successfully cloned an embryo and will try to implant it in a host animal’s uterus. The researchers had initially thought they would need three to five years to be successful in their effort, but they now believe they can produce a cloned panda […]

Ouch, That Mega-Hurts

As more Americans move to get rid of old personal computers, the nation may face a significant environmental problem. PCs contain traces of toxic chemicals such as mercury, and one survey found that old computer monitors are one of the largest sources of lead in landfills. A report released this month by the National Safety […]

Russians Play Roulette with Pollution

Many Russian towns, heavily polluted by decades of emissions from filthy factories, are facing a devil’s choice between keeping factories running and thus endangering residents’ health or shutting them down and impoverishing residents. In the southern town of Karabash, where a 90-year-old copper-smelting plant long spewed pollution, two-thirds of the children in the town suffer […]