Children do not need to be made fire retardant

A new study by the Environmental Working Group found that toddlers and preschoolers typically have 3 times as much toxic flame retardants in their blood as their mothers. In total, they found 11 different flame retardants in the children, and 86 percent of the time the chemicals were present at higher levels in the children than their mother.

Why is it a bad idea to have flame retardants in kids' bloodstreams? Flame retardants, or PBDEs, are widely used in in furniture foams, industrial textiles, and consumer electronics. PBDEs have been found in human breast milk, wildlife, and in food. In 1998, Swedish scientists discovered that PBDEs may pose significant risks to human and environmental health. As a result, the European Union and the states of California, Hawaii, Maine, New York and Washington took action to reduce, or ban, the use of PBDEs.

The good news is that the Michigan Legislature is currently discussing legislation to ban deca-BDE, a type of toxic flame retardant that shouldn't be used anymore. I just took action to get deca-BDE banned in Michigan, and if you live in Michigan, you should take a second to take action as well: http://www.mnceh.org/take.deca.php

Watch as our planet melts

One of my professors today showed us this handy tool for tracking the most up-to-date satellite images of Arctic ice and comparing it to any day in the last 30 years. The results are truly horrifying. See for yourself: http://igloo.atmos.uiuc.edu/cgi-bin/test/print.sh

Not the fireflies also!

As someone who grew up on the east coast spending hours as a kid chasing around fireflies, its always been weird when I find someone who has never seen them before. It seems like that might become more and more common, however, as experts are reporting that firefly populations are dropping significantly. In fact, populations are down as much as 70%.

Possible causes include urban sprawl, industrial pollution, and artificial lights. It doesn't say it in the article, but I'm going to guess that global climate change isn't helping these little guys.

Fireflies seem to be just the most recent in a long list of species that are in declines, from honeybees to bats to amphibian populations, it seems like more and more species are in serious trouble.

Take Action to Get Toxic Flame Retardants Banned in MI

The Michigan Legislature is currently discussing legislation to ban deca-BDE, a type of toxic flame retardant that shouldn't be used anymore. Deca-BDE is part of a class of chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE). They are widely used as flame retardants in furniture foams, industrial textiles, and consumer electronics. Deca-BDE is the most widely used form of PBDE, and is found in mattresses, televisions, computers, and residential upholstered furniture.

PBDEs have been found in human breast milk, wildlife, and in food. In 1998, Swedish scientists discovered that PBDEs may pose significant risks to human and environmental health. As a result, the European Union and the states of California, Hawaii, Maine, New York and Washington took action to reduce, or ban, the use of PBDEs.

I just took action to get deca-BDE banned in Michigan, and if you live in Michigan, you should take a second to take action as well: http://www.mnceh.org/take.deca.php

Massive Oil Expansion Slated For Amazon: Could the Amazonian Chernobyl Get Even Worse?

Earlier this week, I was stunned to learn about the "Amazonian Chernobyl." Now, it seems like Ecuador might be just the tip of the iceberg.

According to the Guardian, huge amounts of land in the Amazon are about to be opened up for gas exploration, including in some biodiversity hotspots. The land earmarked by oil companies for exploration spans the size of Texas. Texas!!!

Matt Finer of Save America's Forests, a US-based environmental group, said, "When you look at where the oil and gas blocks are, they overlap perfectly on top of the peak biodiversity spots, almost as if by design, and this is in one of the most, if not the most, biodiverse place on Earth."

The good (well, not good, but not as bad) news is that right now most of that land is in the exploration phase- which is problematic because it means companies are going to be cutting into the forest for their tests, but its not as devastating as full on oil drilling. Once the exploration turns to development is when there are going to be real problems. Not only ecologically, but also in terms of the indigenous people who live on these lands. "The way that oil development is being pursued in the western Amazon is a gross violation of the rights of the indigenous peoples of the region," explains Brain Keane of Land is Life.

Read more from The Guardian if you are interested to learn more.

More on the Amazonian Chernobyl

Great animated video about Chevron's toxic legacy in Ecuador:

Why haven't I heard about the Amazonian Chernobyl until now?

File this under things we should have heard about a long time ago. Apparently, U.S. oil giant Chevron has dumped over 17 million tons of oil waste in Ecuador, in an area with multiple indigenous tribes and thousands of rare species of plants and animals. The contamination is so bad that it is being referred to as the "Amazonian Chernobyl."

The toxic pollution has devastated the wildlife, poisoned the land and water, and sickened the people of Ecuador. 30,000 Ecuadorians have sued Chevron, and in typical form, they are denying responsibility.

Read all about it in the London Daily Telegraph and on Amazon Watch's excellent website, Chevron Toxico.

Have other people heard of this before now? Anyone else feel compelled to boycott Chevron?

I'm pretty sure water isn't supposed to be flammable

This lady in Canada can light her water on fire. Holy crap! Not surprisingly, there is an oil and gas company operating in her neighborhood that is trying to claim that the gas in the water is natural. As much as I hate bottled water, lets hope for her sake that she's been drinking it.

Read all about it in Treehugger.

Bad News To Start the Work Week: Dude Looks Like a Lady

Researchers in Florida have found that in heavily farmed areas, 40% of male toads have abnormalities that make them more like female toads. These reproductive abnormalities are likely to reduce the reproductive success of the toads.

With amphibians on the decline worldwide--there are thousands of species that are threatened or endangered--these ladydude toads are kind of a big deal. Pretty soon, folk singers around the world will be forced to sing "Where have all the cane toads gone?"

Specifically, the researchers found that the number of abnormalities and frequency of male toads with female traits ("intersex" toads) increased with amount of agriculture. Testosterone concentrations were altered and secondary sexual traits were either feminized or demasculinized in the intersex toads.

The authors conclude that: "These reproductive abnormalities could certainly contribute to amphibian population declines occurring in areas exposed to agricultural contaminants."

Anyone who is familiar with the work of Tyrone Hayes of UC Berkeley shouldn't be surprised by this new study. For years, Dr. Hayes has been publishing research showing that the most commonly used herbicide in the US, atrazine, feminizes frogs and turns them into hermaphrodites. Just this past year, Dr. Hayes gave a talk at Michigan that scared the bejesus out of all of us in attendance. Be sure to check out his homepage at: http://www.atrazinelovers.com/

Source: "Agriculture Alters Gonadal Form and Function in the toad Bufo marinus" Environmental Health Perspectives, July 2008 In-Press.

Brief Love-Hate Relationship with EPA Reverts Back to Hate-Hate

Oh, EPA. On the same day that I praised you for doing something good, like banning a toxic pesticide, you have to go and screw it all up. The Washington Post reported yesterday that EPA instructed its staff members not to talk to reporters, congressional investigators, and even EPA's own enforcement officers. This is only the latest in a long history of EPA trying to suppress its staff members from speaking out against the agency.

Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, a great government watchdog group, made the discovery through an EPA email they got a hold of. Senator Boxer (D-CA), head of the Senate environment committee and part-time superhero, said on Monday that EPA administrator Stephen Johnson had turned "the EPA into a secretive, dangerous ally of polluters, instead of a leader in the effort to protect the health and safety of the American people." Oh, Snap! Take that, EPA.

Bacteria Makes Scary Things Scarier

Surfactants are chemicals that are used in the production of detergents, pesticides, and plastics. According to the Environmental Working Group, surfactants are highly toxic to aquatic organisms, and suspected endocrine disruptors. Endocrine disrupting chemicals are chemicals that mimic or inhibit natural hormones. Endocrine disruptors have been linked to reproductive disorders, alterations in neurodevelopment, cancer, immune suppression and other negative health effects in humans and in wildlife.

Think thats scary? Researchers from Europe have just found that when bacteria and microbes break these surfactants down, they degrade into a chemical known as nonylphenol. Numerous studies have shown that this breakdown product is toxic and endocrine-disrupting. Because it mimics the natural hormone estrogen, organisms treat this chemical as if it was estrogen. In fact, at levels as low as 50−100 parts per billion (ppb), nonylphenol is capable of feminizing male fish.

Nonylphenol and nonyphenol ethoxylates, the surfactants that break down to nonylphenol, have been banned in the European Union because of their hazardous nature to human and environmental safety. Current regulations in the U.S., however, don't take into account the complexity of breakdown products, despite the fact that many common chemicals break down into more toxic substances.

Source: Environ. Sci. Technol., 2008, 10.1021/es800577a