Toxins

Florida’s toxic breach was decades in the making | Florida | The Guardian

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‘No community should suffer this’: Florida’s toxic breach was decades in the making | Florida | The Guardian

This toxic industry has plagued the state for decades. Central Florida is the phosphate capital of the world; the state produces 80% of the phosphate mined in the US, as well 25% of the phosphate used around the world. An estimated 1bn tons of phosphogypsum is housed in about two dozen stacks that dot the Florida landscape, some looming as high as 200ft, each with its own pond of acidic wastewater on top. And every year, about 30m more tons are added to them.

EPA investigates toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in pesticides | TheHill

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EPA investigates toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in pesticides | TheHill

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is investigating the presence of toxic chemicals in pesticides, which may be coming from their plastic containers, it said on Friday.?

The agency said in a statement that its testing showed that the chemicals, belonging to a family of substances called PFAS, were "most likely formed" by a reaction while fluorine was being put into the containers, and then "leached into the pesticide product."

The agency said it was still early in its investigation, and that it will use "all available regulatory and non-regulatory tools to determine the scope of this emerging issue."?

Inauguration Day: Live Updates : NPR

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Biden Moves To Reexamine Toxic Pesticide : Inauguration Day: Live Updates : NPR

President Biden's initial wave of planned executive actions includes an order to reexamine one controversial, but widely used, pesticide called chlorpyrifos. The Trump administration had stepped in to keep the chemical on the market after Obama-era officials tried to ban it.

It's just one in a long list of science-related Trump administration actions that the incoming Biden team will now revisit. In a statement, Biden promised to take a close look at all policies "that were harmful to public health, damaging to the environment, unsupported by the best available science, or otherwise not in the national interest."

Farmers use chlorpyrifos to control insects on a wide variety of crops, including corn, apples, and vegetables. It is among the most toxic pesticides. Workers exposed to it can experience dizziness, headaches, and nausea. Most indoor uses of the pesticide were halted in 2001.

Fifty years after

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DDT and Silent Spring: Fifty years after

The impact of T on human health received worldwide attention from the general public, political and scientific communities, with the publication of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring.1 In Silent Spring, Carson described a series of harmful effects on the environment and wildlife resulting from the use of T and other similar compounds. ifty years later the book and the issues raised remain controversial. T, which had been effectively used to eradicate malaria carrying mosquitoes, continues to be a major public health problem and effective treatment and prevention efforts are still necessary.

The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of

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The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of

Lead interferes with the body’s battalion of antioxidants, damaging NA and killing neurons. Neurotransmitters, the chemical paperboys of the brain, stop delivering messages and start murdering nerve cells. Lead inhibits the brain’s development by stonewalling the process of synapse pruning, heightening the risk of learning disabilities. It also weakens the blood-brain barrier, a protective liner in your skull that blocks microscopic villains from infiltrating the brain, the result of which can lower IQs and even cause death. Lead poisoning is rarely caught in time. The heavy metal debilitates the mind so slowly that any impairment usually goes unnoticed until it’s too late.

Poisoning from pure tetraethyl lead, however, works differently. It moves quickly. Just a few teaspoons directly applied to the skin can kill. After soaking the dermis, it leaches into the brain, and, within weeks, causes symptoms similar to rabies: hallucinations, tremors, disorientation, and death. It’s not a miracle motor drug. It’s concentrated poison.