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The Science and Democracy Connections of Chemical Safety, Trade Agreements...
Leading the Center for Science and Democracy at UCS gives me a great opportunity to look for connections between events that sometimes may seem separate. Over the past few months I have watched with...
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Alabama Scientists Drive 900 Miles to Fill Information Gaps in West Virginia...
In the early morning hours of January 16th, environmental engineering assistant professor Andrew Whelton and his research team left their University of South Alabama laboratory and drove 873 miles...
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Fracking, Chemicals, and Our Health: EPA Considers a Hydraulic Fracturing...
What’s in the water? What are the chemicals being used? Will they harm me? Or my family? Or my animals? What kind of impacts will my environment experience? These questions have been asked by countless...
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Chemical Accidents: Speak Up for Our Right to Know What is Happening in Our...
In this rich and powerful democracy that is the United States, the statistics on chemical accidents are more than shocking—they should be a wake-up call. There have been around 30,000 documented...
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Lead Poisoning: A Modern Plague among Children
I am an advocate for bringing more public attention to the critical issue of childhood lead poisoning. It is the number one environmental health threat to children. Lead present in paint, dust, and...
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New Report Illuminates the American Chemistry Council’s Efforts to Undermine...
I always assumed that if chemicals were in use, they were safe. As a child, I’d play in the grass despite pesticide warning signs and never thought about my water bottle’s material. If there was...
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Why Community-Based Research Matters to Science and People
When and how does research serve people? When and how does community-based participatory research improve the “rigor, relevance and reach” of science itself? Today we are witnessing an increase in...
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Community-based Participatory Science is Changing the Way Research...
When I started working in environmental health the general rule was “the dose makes the poison.” But then new breakthroughs in endocrine disrupting chemicals turned that theory on its ear, showing how...
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Shockingly, Americans Don’t Want Chemical Disasters
Today, a new public poll was released showing Americans’ widespread support for chemical safety reform. The headline might not seem so remarkable but the data show an impressive level of support across...
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Manufactured Chemicals Are Scary: How Much Do You Know?
There are more than 80,000 chemicals currently in production in the United States. At my desk as I write this, there are chemicals in the chair I am sitting in, the carpets on the floor, the cleaners...
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A Good Chemical Safety Law Depends on Us
It has been three years since the Senate first considered a bipartisan effort to reform the very flawed Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). Last year, both the House and Senate approved bills to...
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Avoiding Chemical Disasters, Managing Risks: EPA Addresses Chemical Safety
In response to the 2013 West, Texas disaster that killed 15 people, injured 200 more, and impacted thousands in the community, President Barack Obama asked the federal government to modernize its...
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A Free Ride: How Special Interests Are Undermining Chemical Facility Safety
I’ve talked about the importance of a clean budget with no riders on this blog before, and my colleagues certainly have discussed this issue at length in the past. As I noted in April (emphasis added):...
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As Arkema Plant Burns, Six Things We Know About Petrochemical Risks in the...
The Arkema chemical facility in Crosby, Texas. Google Maps image.As Harvey continues to wreak havoc in the Southeast, one issue is starting to emerge as a growing threat to public health and safety:...
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Post-Harvey, the Arkema Disaster Reveals Chemical Safety Risks Were Preventable
Halloween is right around the corner, but the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been a perpetual nightmare to public safety since Administrator Scott Pruitt arrived, sending long-awaited...
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Would Chemical Safety Measures Under Dourson Protect Military Families?...
Update (December 14, 2017): Michael Dourson has withdrawn his nomination to head the EPA’s division of chemical safety. Read the statement from UCS President Ken Kimmell, Dourson’s Withdrawal a Victory...
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Court To Decide Fate Of EPA’s Chemical Disaster Rule
Photo: US Department of EnergyUnion of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging a 20-month delay EPA Administrator Pruitt put on standards designed to prevent accidents at...
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New Report: One Year In, EPA Chemical Rule Delay Allows Chemical Disasters to...
A chemical plant disaster in Michigan in 2010. Photo: Dragonflylady/CC BY 2.0 (Flickr).While news this week suggests that EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is a walking ethics disaster, he’s long been...
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Five Things You Should Know About EPA’s Proposed Giant Step Backward on the...
Members of the Kentucky National Guard receive a brief on extracting the mock injured and wounded during the early stages of their external evalutation at Muscatatuck Urban Training Center in...
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Contents Under Pressure: Speak Out Against EPA Proposed Chemical Facility...
The Chevron Richmond refinery fire, August 6, 2012. Photo: Greg Kunit/CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 (Flickr)Over the last year, we have written extensively on the actions that Scott Pruitt’s Environmental Protection...
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