Environmental Health

"Sandra Edwards awoke on the morning of July 8 to the sounds of howling winds and gushing water. As she made her way from the bedroom to the living room, she stepped in a puddle. She turned on her phone’s flashlight and saw a hole in the roof, wooly insulation hanging off the ceiling and water pouring in. Hurricane Beryl had just made landfall in Houston."

"The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an advisory Thursday urging health-care workers treating patients hospitalized with the flu to perform an additional test for bird flu within 24 hours of admission."

"The toxic smoke from the fires, combined with disruption to the economy, health care system, and mental health may lead to thousands of deaths over the coming years."

"President-elect Trump’s pick for Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator, Lee Zeldin, appears poised to be able to carry out the significant level of climate and environmental deregulation Trump has indicated he plans to pursue after a Thursday hearing moved him toward his likely confirmation."

"Twelve Texas counties have recently exceeded federal air quality standards for particulate matter, commonly known as soot. But Texas environmental regulators are proposing that only four of them be required to take action to improve their air quality."

"While burning the pellets would reduce greenhouse gases from the university’s physical plant, it would increase harmful levels of nitrogen oxides, lead, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds."

"U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk."

"The District of Columbia on Friday filed a lawsuit against the federal government over pollution in the Anacostia River, arguing it has inflicted “catastrophic harm” on the mostly poor and minority communities living along the urban waterway."

"California has decided to abandon its groundbreaking regulations phasing out diesel trucks and requiring cleaner locomotives because the incoming Trump administration is unlikely to allow the state to implement them."

"Chemical residues from burned houses, cars, consumer products and fire retardants create toxic hazards for fire survivors."