Toxic Substances | InjuryBoard Los Angeles

Industry should not attempt to influence studies linking benzene exposure to cancer. The public should be protected from the petrochemical industries "junk science". A recent article published in the respected International Journal of Occupational and Environmental Health sheds light on the petrochemical industry's efforts to withhold data showing that employees working with benzene have an...

Tougher state standards for perchlorate in water urged. Is there a "safe" level of perchlorate?State health officials with the Department of Health Services have been urged to require water providers to clean up perchlorate contamination in drinking water. Perchlorate is a highly toxic component of rocket fuel and as a result of decade's of military and aerospace industry activities is now a...

Perchlorate found to cause thyroid damage. Further evidence of perchlorate dangers to humans. A recent study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia has found that low levels of perchlorate, previously considered safe, can cause thyroid disease in women. Perchlorate is a common ingredient in rocket fuel and is a widespread contaminate of groundwater...

Study finds IBM workers at increased risk of cancer. Cancer rate higher than national average for IBM workersA study of nearly 32,000 International Business Machines Corp. workers found a statistically significant increase in worker cancer death rates. The study looked at data collected by IBM on the causes of death of a large number of workers who died between 1969 and 2001. For years IBM...

Judge throws out environmental group's unfair competition challenge against alternative energy generators based on lack of standing Who owns California's natural environment: the air and water, the trees and wild animals? Nobody - at least according to a recent Alameda County Superior Court decision. Judge Bonnie Sabraw threw out a suit brought by the environmental group, Center for...

E. coli outbreak linked to cattle ranch. E. coli investigation continuous as search for source narrows. Health inspectors announced on Thursday that the same strain of E. coli bacteria that caused three deaths and sickened 200 nationally was located at a Salinas Valley cattle ranch less than a mile from spinach fields. The strain of pathogenic E. coli 0157:H7 was found in three cattle fecal...

Toxic exposures from Rocketdyne facility continue to cause concern. Radioactive release causes excess cancer deaths. A scientific panel released its long awaited report on Thursday, concluding that the 1959 nuclear reactor meltdown at the Rocketdyne facility was responsible for hundreds of excess cancer deaths. For almost fifty years, the Rocketdyne Santa Susana Field Lab conducted its nuclear...

Pesticides are designed to kill. The use of toxic pesticides is on the rise and so are the injuries to human health.Over the last year, pesticide exposure lawsuits have been on the rise. There are several reasons for this. First, U.S. pesticide use in the proceeding 30 years has increased by 50%. Pesticides are used almost everywhere: on farms, in homes, schools, office buildings, parks and on...

Our indoor air may not be as safe as we think. Many debilitating and life threatening diseases can be caused by exposure to indoor air pollution. The air we breathe in our homes, offices and schools can make us sick. Over the last few decades, our exposure to indoor air pollution has increased as a result of the construction of air tight buildings, the use of toxic substances in building...

Perchlorate is a toxic substance found in solid rocket fuel that has polluted many drinking wells in California and throughout the United States. California has suggested standards that are only exceeded by the State of Massachusetts.On Monday, the State of California intends to recommend standards that would limit the levels of perchlorate found in many of the State's drinking wells to 6 parts...

Last week officials with the city of San Clemente shut down the drinking water supply until tests could be performed to determine whether or not a tritium leak from the San Onofre nuclear power plant had contaminated the city's water supply. Preliminary findings conclude the presence of tritium in ground water below the power plant but have not been able to determine the extent of the leak into...

Shockingly there has been a finding of a tritium leak coming from the San Onofre nuclear power plant. The 450 Megawat plant has been controversial but this is the first direct finding of potential enviornmental damage caused from the plant. Officials are concerned that drinking water in the area has been affected by the tritium leak. Additional testing will be ongoing to determine what, if...

InjuryBoard's partner in Jefferson city, Missouri injury lawyer Steve Gorny, posts about a Tennessee woman who filed an asbestos lawsuit against a company for whom her husband did some contract work before he died of esophageal cancer last year. Carolyn Welch filed suit against ALCOA, seeking compensatory and punitive damages and claiming the company knew of cases of mesothelioma dating back to...