toxins
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Is your shampoo making you fat?
More research suggests that the toxic chemicals present in our everyday lives play a role in the obesity epidemic.
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Dirty blonde: Ask Umbra on composting dyed hair
Is dyed hair toxic for compost bins? Ask Umbra breaks down the question.
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Mercury? Arsenic? We’ll deal with those problems later, says EPA
Does this story sound familiar? A court orders the EPA to take action under the Clean Air Act. The EPA comes out with a set of rules. Business interests complain. The EPA relents, delaying and then relaxing rules that have compliance deadlines years down the line. That's about the tack the EPA has taken on […]
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Nixing pollutants could save $76.6 billion in health care costs
Between medical costs and lost productivity for parents, environmental illnesses in children cost $76.6 billion annually, says a new study in Health Affairs. That’s the cost of all illnesses that are correlated with exposure to pollutants and toxins. (Some of the associations are better-documented than others, but many — like lead poisoning, which costs $50.9 […]
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House GOP may actually be trying to poison us
Photo: Lance RobotsonAll right, now we’re starting to get suspicious. The GOP isn’t just trying to decimate the EPA’s ability to protect our air and water from toxins — they’re also defunding poison control centers. What the … is this a Dorothy Sayers novel? Are the Republican reps fabricating a will and then bumping us […]
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Time to end the insane practice of lacing chicken feed with arsenic
As a jaded observer of the meat industry, even I’m flummoxed by this fact: It’s standard practice on factory chicken farms to dose those unfortunate birds with arsenic. The idea is that it makes them grow faster — fast growth being the supreme goal of factory animal farming — and helps control a common intestinal […]
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Ask Umbra on parabens in processed foods and personal lubricant
A reader gets hot and bothered looking for a paraben-free lube. Ask Umbra explores the perils of parabens and the everyday products they're in!
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Ask Umbra addresses environmental links to breast cancer
Breast Cancer Awareness Month may be over now, but that doesn't keep a reader from worrying that he's a boob for not knowing more about the connection between breast cancer and environmental factors. Ask Umbra gets a lot of useful information off her chest about what chemicals to avoid and how to take a stand for toxic chemicals reform. Read this and your cup of knowledge shall run over.
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Urbivore’s Dilemma, Week 17: The many uses of baking soda
They say you shouldn't s%&t where you eat, but have you ever considered brushing with what you eat? This week, the Urbivore finds herself on a trip with only an apple and baking soda.