Calls grow for infant formula recall

Disclosure that tests have detected traces of contamination in several major brands of infant formula generated concern and confusion Wednesday, with a national consumer group and the Illinois attorney general demanding an FDA recall. Associated Press. 27 November 2008.
Project brings unusual merger of union bosses and environmentalists. Environmental activists and union bosses have historically disagreed on key issues -- drilling in fragile environments, logging ancient forests -- pitting jobs against the environment. But times are changing. Los Angeles Times, California. 27 November 2008. [Registration Required]
Poorest areas also most polluted, report shows. Many of Toronto's poorest residents live near industries that spew the highest levels of toxic chemicals and pollutants into the air, a groundbreaking report has found. Toronto Star, Ontario, Canada. 27 November 2008.
Botany clean-up may take a century. The explosives and mining company Orica has admitted its clean-up of highly toxic chemicals at Botany Bay Australia will take more than 100 years rather than the decades it had promised. Blayney Chronicle, Australia. 27 November 2008.
France finally agrees to pay damages to nuclear test victims. The soldiers and civilians who worked on France's notorious nuclear tests in the Sahara desert and south Pacific often wore only shorts and T-shirts to protect them from atomic explosions, and were dangerously close to mushroom clouds. London Guardian, United Kingdom. 27 November 2008.
Cleaning up one of the world's most polluted places. In the 1980s, Shanxi became the nation's energy powerhouse - driving China's phenomenal growth but polluting the region's air, water, and soil and poisoning the lungs of miners and residents. Now the government is trying to get it off the country's environmental blacklist Living On Earth. 27 November 2008.
Brazil troops to quell looting after landslides. Brazil sent hundreds of state and federal police officers on Wednesday to quell looting by homeless and hungry landslide victims facing the threat of disease after heavy flooding that authorities say killed more than 100 people and displaced 54,000. Reuters. 27 November 2008.
Water scarcity in the Sahel. The Niger, West Africa's great waterway, is a lifeline for an estimated 110 million people who rely on its annual floods. But there are signs that growing human exploitation and an increasingly volatile climate are putting its future as a sustainable resource under serious threat. London Guardian, United Kingdom. 27 November 2008.
Car industry: Charging up the future. A new generation of lithium-ion batteries, coupled with rising oil prices and the need to address climate change, has sparked a global race to electrify transportation. And the shift is a story of a shared vision: developing the technology that would entice all drivers to plug in rather than fill up. Nature. 27 November 2008.
Blueprint for EPA science. The science program at EPA currently faces tight budgets and is saddled with what many see as restrictive policies. An opportunity is now seen for new directions and priorities with the transition to the Obama administration. Chemical & Engineering News. 27 November 2008.
PCB removal nearly complete for 1.5-mile section of Kalamazoo River. Within a few weeks, the first significant cleanup of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from the Kalamazoo River since it was declared a federal Superfund site in 1990 will be completed. Kalamazoo Gazette, Michigan. 27 November 2008.
Ash landfills continue to stir debate. Two local landfills may be leaking more toxic substances to Saginaw Bay than earlier reported by state regulators. But DEQ officials are declining continued calls to discuss the matter in public. Bay City Times, Michigan. 27 November 2008.
Canal boat living: Rise of the eco river gipsy. Growing numbers of people are opting to live on narrowboats, which brings a simpler, more natural way of life. Currently, there are around 15,000 "liveaboards" – a community the size of a small town. The humble narrowboat could also help green shipping. London Daily Telegraph, United Kingdom. 27 November 2008.
Nigeria bans teething drug after 25 children die. Teething formula tainted with a toxic thickening agent has killed 25 children in Nigeria, prompting regulators to yank it from shelves and shut down its manufacturer, officials said Wednesday. Associated Press. 27 November 2008.
Don't panic, it's organic: nature knows best. A new dietary trend is spreading across China's tabletops. Mix rising concerns about food safety, health and the environment, throw in a dash of increasing income, and you get the recipe for China's growing hunger for organic fare. China Daily. 27 November 2008.
Changing turkeys' diets prevents foodborne ills. Thanksgiving turkeys — and other poultry — are less likely to be contaminated with bacteria that can cause food poisoning if the birds chowed on natural feed ingredients, scientists have found. MSNBC. 27 November 2008.
Study ties chicken trucks to bacteria. Poultry carriers apparently trail an airborne plume of potentially harmful bacteria, according to a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers. The results suggest that motorists and those who live along roads traveled by chicken trucks may be exposed to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Baltimore Sun, Maryland. 27 November 2008.
Secondhand toys shouldn't mean sacrificing safety. Consumer safety advocates warn that buyers should be cautious when considering buying secondhand toys because they might have been recalled or banned for dangerous defects or toxic materials. Charleston Post and Courier, South Carolina. 27 November 2008.
Troubled waters: Striped bass moms pass on harmful pollutants to babies. The striped bass population in San Francisco Bay has been plummeting since the 1970s and now scientists know why: fish moms are passing down damaging pollutants in the water to their young. Scientific American. 27 November 2008.
WA researchers close to cancer breakthrough. A drug used to treat skin cancer is providing new hope for patients suffering from the deadly asbestos-related cancer mesothelioma, WA researchers say. Perth Now, Australia. 27 November 2008.
Investigation: Do corn tortillas cause cancer? The News 4 Trouble Shooters reported earlier this year that your tax dollars were being used to study whether certain foods, like corn tortillas and peanut butter, are causing liver cancer on the south side. San Antonio WOAI, Texas. 27 November 2008.
Jump in diabetes threatens lifespans. The girth of New South Wales residents continues to expand to levels that prompted the Acting Chief Health Officer, Kerry Chant, to warn that US predictions of a drop in lifespan of two to five years by mid-century will occur here. Sydney Morning Herald, Australia. 27 November 2008. [Registration Required]
Inhaler use seen raising illness risk. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are urging doctors to use caution when prescribing steroid inhalers to treat a common - and sometimes fatal - lung disease after a study found they increased the risk of pneumonia in some patients by 34 percent. Baltimore Sun, Maryland. 27 November 2008.
US beef back on shelves of SKorean supermarkets. South Korea's supermarket chains resumed selling U.S. beef Thursday, nearly five months after the government lifted an import ban imposed over fears of mad cow disease. Associated Press. 27 November 2008.
The (tuna) tragedy of the commons. There was new evidence early this week that the world has not yet absorbed just how deeply humans have depleted our “exhausted oceans.” New York Times. 27 November 2008. [Registration Required]
Texas gets $1.3 billion federal grant for help with Ike. The Bush administration on Wednesday handed the reliably Republican state of Texas a departing Thanksgiving gift by allocating $1.3 billion in emergency community development assistance to the state's counties recovering from Hurricane Ike. Houston Chronicle, Texas. 27 November 2008.
Feds to cover Ike cleanup costs for 6 months. The federal government on Wednesday agreed to pay for Hurricane Ike cleanup costs in Texas for an additional six months, rejecting Gov. Rick Perry's request for money for 16 months. Houston Chronicle, Texas. 27 November 2008.
FEMA trailer children sickened. A review of medical records released this week by the Children's Health Fund, a New York City non-profit, has renewed concerns about the health of children who lived in the formaldehyde-contaminated trailers that the Federal Emergency Management Agency provided to Hurricane Katrina victims. ProPublica. 27 November 2008.
Katrina kids: sickest ever. Even before the storm, they were some of the country's neediest kids. Now, the children of Katrina who stayed longest in ramshackle government trailer parks in Baton Rouge are "the sickest I have ever seen in the U.S.," says Irwin Redlener, president of the Children's Health Fund. Newsweek. 27 November 2008.
Chaos, looting in Brazil after floods. Survivors of massive floods in southern Brazil have turned to looting, while rescue crews grappled with the chaotic aftermath of what President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva called "the worst environmental catastrophe we've ever seen." Agence France-Presse. 27 November