health
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Reading tea leaves for the environment
Every month I get a kind of Reader’s Digest for people interested in the future. It’s called Future Survey, issued by the World Future Society. Each month it contains about 50 extended summaries of recent publications about the paths — economic, environmental, social — we seem to be following. The November 2000 issue, for example, […]
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Reality Bites
Linda Harrar is an independent filmmaker, based in Boston but usually traveling the world producing documentaries for NOVA and other PBS programs. Through the lens of the camera, she sees a lot. In the editing room she sees it over and over. It sinks in deep. So she had a strong reaction to the CBS […]
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The Chemical Bothers
Phthalates, a family of chemicals used in everything from plastics to beauty products, have been detected in humans at levels that some scientists believe are worrisome. Researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention tested urine samples from people around the U.S. and were surprised to find phthalates at much higher levels than other […]
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Born in the Sign of Cancer
Exposure to toxic chemicals in food, water, and air may be leading to a dramatic surge in childhood cancers, asthma, and sudden infant death syndrome in Canadian children, according to a report released earlier this week. For example, the report by the Canadian Institute of Child Health found that childhood cancers have increased by 25 […]
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The Smog Days of Summer
About 117 million Americans live in areas with smoggy air, according to a report released yesterday by the Clean Air Network, a coalition of environmental and public health groups. The report found that more than half of the nearly 600 counties in the U.S. that fully monitor air quality are above the legal limit for […]
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Third Time's the Charm?
Three stories have hit the news lately concerning three corporations that have done — or may have done — serious environmental harm. They are coping with the situation in very different ways. Taken together, the stories suggest an odd combination of hope and cynicism. There are signs of honesty, good will, real learning. But the […]
