Toxic Substances

• European Parliament Approves Tough Chemical Law

  Paul Kiesel | December 18, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  EU law will limit use of toxic chemicals. U.S. chemical companies will have to comply with new EU law. The European Union passed an important law, this week, designed to protect workers and consumers from the dangers of exposure to toxic chemicals. The new law will control 30,000 toxic chemicals and will result in the ban of approximately 1,500 of the most hazardous substances. The legislation...

• Asbestos: A Deadly Danger

  Elaine Mandel | December 05, 2006 3:20 PM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  Many who were exposed to deadly asbestos fibers still don't know they were exposed. Throughout the twentieth century, hundreds of thousands of workers worked with and around deadly asbestos fibers. Most of them worked with insulation or in the shipping, construction, mining or railroad industries. Many of these workers inhaled the deadly asbestos fibers for years. Those fibers caused lung...

• Radiation Poisoning: Not Just a Risk for Russian Politicians

  Paul Kiesel | December 04, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  The invisible increasing threat of radiation exposure. Radiation exposure on the rise. The recent radiation poisoning of a Russian politician brings to light a serious threat to public health. Unsuspecting Americans are receiving elevated levels of radiation, not as a result of political intrigue- James Bond style but, due to the existence of radiation in workplaces, homes and communities. For...

• Consumer Attorneys Have Taken On Global Warming

  Paul Kiesel | November 27, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  Consumer Attorneys take on Global warming. The plaintiffs bar fights pollution.Once again consumer attorneys have stepped in where the government has failed to act. Consumer attorneys have long been the champions of the underdog against such goliaths as insurance companies, car manufacturers and global pharmaceutical companies. Now with the White House and Congress' failure to address the...

• Pesticide Use On the Rise In California

  Paul Kiesel | November 20, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  Harmful pesticides on the rise. Pesticides link to cancer, birth defects and neurological damage.This week the state released data showing that California farmers are using more pesticides than ever before. California growers applied 194 million pounds in 2005, up 14 million pounds from 2004. The rise in pesticide use is of great concern to health professionals and environmentalists because many...

• Petrochemical Industry Continues to Attempt to Suppress Link Between Benzine Exposure and Disease

  Paul Kiesel | November 12, 2006 12:14 PM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  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 Urged for Perchlorate in Drinking Water

  Helen Zukin | November 06, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  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...

• Mounting Evidence of Perchlorate Dangers

  Helen Zukin | October 30, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  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 for Cancer Death

  Helen Zukin | October 23, 2006 3:00 AM | 0 CommentsLos Angeles, CA

  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...

• Tilting At Windmills

  Michael Eyerly | October 20, 2006 7:30 PM | 1 CommentLos Angeles, CA

  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...