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Study Faults Limited U.S. Safety Reviews
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that there is only "limited assurance" from the government that new chemicals on the market are safe and harmless to the environment. About 700 are added each year. The GAO recommends that Congress strengthen the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act, saying that the Environmental Protection Agency needs more authority to require more test data from chemical manufacturers, and should share that data publicly.
The EPA has to demonstrate a chemical poses an "unreasonable risk" at the moment before it can restrict or ban it, but under a new legislative proposal that would change to requiring "a reasonable certainty of no harm" exists before allowing a new chemical onto the market.
House keeps MTBE protection in energy bill
The U.S. House of Representatives' version of the Energy bill has kept a provision to protect manufactures of methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE) from the costs of cleaning up the many water supplies it has contaminated in all 50 states. The Senate and House bills are now being reconciled in committee.
Canada firm eyes clean up of abandoned mines
A small Canadian company believes it has a water treatment method for polluted waste water from mines that pays for itself. It tackles heavy metals, using hydrogen sulfide and producing metal sulfides which can be sold and clean water. The metals include copper, nickel, lead, cadmium and zinc.
Harvard Looks Into Prof's Cancer Research
Harvard University and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences are to review research into fluoride exposure and osteosarcoma, a rare form of bone cancer because of a conflict of interest and an apparent discrepancy between the reports of the researcher and his doctoral student.
Scientists Raise Alarm About Ocean Health
Scientists are warning that the record number of dead seabirds found on West Coast beaches are a symptom of rising ocean temperatures and dwindling plankton populations. The higher coastal temperatures may be because of the failure of the northerly winds that bring cold water to the surface. The algae and shrimplike krill that are normally boosted by this "updwelling" have failed, meaning less food for everything else up the food chain including salmon, sea birds and mammals. There have been fewer juvenile salmon off the coasts of Oregon, Washington and British Columbia this summer, and fewer birds breeding successfully in California, amongst other anomalies.
Climate only partly to blame for Africa food woes
Some parts of Africa are producing record crops, whilst others are starving, and it is not all down to the weather which is increasingly dry. Some farmers are using new improved seed types, including genetically modified ones. Other farmers only know small scale subsistence farming and are more vulnerable to the climate or to pests such as locusts. Others have been decimated by AIDS or war or land mines. Once in a downward spiral, farmers cannot afford the tools or even the seed that they need. Even if they produce the crops, they cannot always get it to market, particularly if there has been war.
Hurricane Emily bashes southeast Caribbean islands, Hurricane Emily delays some Venezuela oil tankers,
Hurricane Emily Tears Through Grenada
Hurricane Emily passed north of Venezuela's northeastern coast, temporarily trapping oil tankers in the Jose oil port. The hurricane damaged roofs and crops and created widespread flooding in Grenada, which was still recovering from hurricane Ivan last year. There was also flooding in Trinidad and Tobago and two houses collapsed.
Giant SAfrican crater added to World Heritage list
2 billion years ago a 10 km (6 miles) diameter meteorite smashed into what is now called the Vredefort Dome, South Africa, forming the world's oldest and biggest meteorite impact site, which has now been added to the United Nations' list of protected heritage sites.
Vietnam bird flu toll hits 40, more infected
Another Vietnamese has died of bird flu and three more have definitely been infected and 13 more are suspected cases. There have been no new recent outbreaks in poultry.
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