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I’ve always been fascinated by crow intelligence and at the same time amazed how few people recognize this intelligence especially since, according to some cognitive research, theirs exceeds that of dogs. This video lecture from a writer Joshua Klein, who has been involved with an amateur study of corvid behavior, highlights this.
Of course [...]
More Web Sightings hereBisphenol A or BPA is an important industrial chemical used in the manufacture of polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. The plastics industry maintains that BPA is completely safe. But academic and government researchers say the chemical needs to undergo a new risk assessment.
...Read MorePercholorethylene, commonly known as perc, is used by about 80 percent of U.S. dry cleaners to remove stains and clean clothes.
When first introduced to dry cleaners in the 1930s, little was known about its health effects, and it was considered something of a miracle chemical because it could be aggressive on stains, but was not [...]
...Read MoreThe principle of maximum diversity operates both at the physical and at the mental level. It says that the laws of nature and the initial conditions are such as to make the universe as interesting as possible. As a result, life is possible but not too easy. Always when things are dull, something [...]
TCE testing has just mushroomed across the state as the DEC revisits hazardous waste sites looking for toxic soil gas. Here’s an example from today’s Press & Sun-Bulletin, TCE hunt expands in city:
BINGHAMTON —The long, slow search for hazardous chemicals under a neighborhood on the north side of Binghamton literally broke new ground this [...]
From Sunday’s Post-Standard, Tim Knauss reports on the rising mercury levels in sediments analyzed in Glacial Lake at Clark Reservation State Park in Jamesville.
Glacier Lake at Clark Reservation State Park, in Jamesville, is an ideal barometer for measuring mercury that falls out of the atmosphere, according to Charles T. Driscoll Jr., a mercury [...]
In an effort to push the Federal government to adopt more stringent mercury emission standards, New York is entering a regional pact with six New England States.
From MSNBC/AP
The state Department of Environmental Conservation has issued a draft plan intended to cut smokestack mercury emissions to the point that all New York fish are safe to [...]
EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data is now available for 2005 (and previous years as always). The website includes links to the data, and a link to TRI Explorer, EPA’s electronic tool for data analysis.
Links:
EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Site
2005 TRI Public Data Release
Use the TRI Explorer to find out who’s been releasing toxins [...]
From the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin:
ENDICOTT —When health officials found that a polluted area in the village had a disproportionately high rate of premature births and certain cancers, it raised more questions than answers. Was pollution making people sick? Were factors other than pollution—such as smoking or occupational exposure—responsible? Were women living in the area [...]
The Rochester D&C has a series of articles and interactive sites on vapor intrusion in the region.
One of the latest public health concerns involves a new problem at old locations: toxic vapors that could rise from long-known dump sites.
In recent years, environmental and health officials in New York and around the nation have [...]
Speaking of pesticides, here’s some science news from ES&T Online. A paper published in Pharmacogenetics and Genomics (2006, 16, 183–190) finds that the exposure risk from organophosphates to infants and small children may be significantly higher than previously thought. More here.
From the Press & Sun-Bulletin, this article – Turf wars pit environmentalists against lawn-care businesses – touches on the debate about the use of pesticides for lawn care. The commercial lawn-care industry claims that the proper use of these chemicals is safe and involves minimal risk, but not surprisingly environmental and health care advocates [...]
A Jan. 18 chemical spill at the Huron campus was reported promptly to state officials, but village officials and residents knew nothing about it until an anonymous tip from within the company months later.
The information gap, which came to light Friday, outraged many residents and advocates already living in a plume of pollution that seeped [...]
Containing “traces of mercury, cadmium, fire retardant and up to five pounds of lead”, computers are one of the “biggest sources of hazardous waste in the country”. The New York Times reports on the various ways different companies are approaching this waste disposal problem:
With the rate of obsolescence accelerating – most organizations now consider [...]
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