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    • Huge rise in birth defects in Falluja.
      Doctors in Iraq's war-ravaged enclave of Falluja are dealing with up to 15 times as many chronic deformities in infants and a spike in early life cancers that may be linked to toxic materials left over from the fighting.
    • China faces reckoning over lead production.
      Since late summer, there has been a spate of lead poisoning cases in Hunan, Henan, Yunnan and Shanxi provinces. More than 3,200 cases have been confirmed, most of them in children. Now, thousands of Chinese are trying to flee a landscape poisoned by decades of lead manufacturing.
    • 'Catastrophic' e-waste fuels global toxic dump.
      A "catastrophic accumulation" of millions of tonnes of "e-waste" from computers, cellphones and television sets is fuelling a global pile of hazardous waste, an international body warned Friday.
    • Earth, wind or fire.
      Britain's power is now relatively clean. Per head, Britons produce half the CO2 emissions of Australians. Could Australia achieve the same? Could we simply shut down coal-fired power generation and replace it with something else?
    • Boeing suit seeks to set aside higher standard.
      The Boeing Co. filed suit Friday to scuttle a state law requiring the highest cleanup standards at one of the nation's most polluted sites. It contends that only the federal government, not the state of California, has the authority to oversee cleanup at nuclear energy sites.
    • CO2 and carbon sinks.
      Carbon dioxide is the primary perpetrator of climate change, and most efforts to slow global warming go into preventing CO2 production and aiding CO2 absorption. But a new study suggests that the more CO2 we make, the more nature absorbs. So do we really need all those rainforests?
    • Big profit from nature protection.
      Money invested in protecting nature can bring huge financial returns, according to a major investigation into the costs and benefits of the natural world.
    • Brookfield natives expose bottled water industry.
      By 2030, two-thirds of the world's citizens will not have access to clean drinking water, according to the United Nations. Thirty-five states in the U.S. are experiencing drought now. One of the causes of the impending water crisis is something millions of Americans use every day -- bottled water.
    • Blizzard renews storm over China making snow.
      Heavy snowfall in northern China is testing the country's disaster preparedness and prompting fresh questions about Beijing's efforts to alter its weather. China's water supply relative to its 1.3 billion-person population is roughly a fourth the world's average, and the shortage is worse in the north.
    • Restoring China's disappearing wetlands.
      The Sanjiang Plain Wetlands, China's largest freshwater wetlands, are disappearing at a frightening speed after decades of agricultural conversion. Scientists link increased droughts, floods and sandstorms afflicting northern China in recent years to the shrinking wetlands.
    • Arab experts predict Mideast water wars.
      There is a widely held fear in the Middle East that global warming, dwindling water resources and burgeoning populations will trigger wars over water in the not-too-distant future.
    • Plastic roads offer greener way to travel in India.
      For two of India’s biggest problems, battered roads and overflowing landfills, Ahmed Khan has a single solution: streets made with recycled plastic.
    • Turtle tours, and turtles, are casualties of climate change in Costa Rica.
      Warmer temperatures and rising seas that scientists link to global warming have vastly diminished the turtle population that has dwelt in the Pacific for 150 million years.
    • Navy’s Vieques training may be tied to health risks.
      The federal agency that assesses health hazards at sites designated for Superfund environmental cleanups said it had reversed its conclusion that contamination posed no risks to residents in Puerto Rico.
    • GE: Magazine wrong, PCB cleanup working.
      General Electric Co. hit back at a Harper's Magazine article critical of its handling of the Hudson River dredging project, with a point-by-point disputation of the story.
    • Town that lost its water.
      Twenty years ago, Elmira discovered that industrial chemicals from the Uniroyal factory had poisoned the town’s water supply. A groundwater cleanup is planned to conclude in 2028 but now, halfway through the process, fresh debate has erupted over whether it is working.
    • Chicago canal to be poisoned to stop Asian carp.
      A $1.5 million project's goal is to temporarily kill a 6-mile stretch of river with poison so a new electric fish barrier can be briefly shut down for maintenance. It is a drastic attempt to keep Asian carp from invading Lake Michigan.
    • Obama's pesticide-pushing nominee.
      The administration has nominated a senior executive from the pesticide lobby—which slammed Michelle Obama's organic garden—to be chief agricultural negotiator for the office of the US Trade Representative. If confirmed, he will be responsible for negotiating international agreements governing the use of pesticides.
    • If EPA's Air chief loves a brawl, she's come to the right place .
      U.S. EPA air chief Gina McCarthy has a thick Boston accent, a shock of cropped white hair and a penchant for a good fight. As the nation's top air regulator she may be in the center of a political free-for-all over climate regulation and other air pollution policies.
    • Industry groups want to restart legal battle over smog standard.
      Industry groups and the state of Mississippi are asking a federal appeals court to move forward on legal proceedings over national smog limits, despite U.S. EPA's plans to reconsider the George W. Bush administration's controversial standard.
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Engineering Controls for Managing Vapor Intrusion to Indoor Air

Posted on Thursday, 29 May 2008 by mjavaherian

Following the thread of discussions on Brownfields and the recently published vapor intrusion assessment guidelines by ASTM, an overview of engineering controls for managing vapor intrusion to indoor air is outlined below. Implementation of engineering controls to mitigate vapor intrusion is accomplished within the fourth tier of the vapor intrusion assessment approach outlined by [...]

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Recreational water-related illnesses

Posted on Wednesday, 21 May 2008 by environmentalhealthtoday

With summer approaching, many families make plans to visit beaches and other recreational water areas. But, caution is also in order.
This is the fourth year that the United States is observing and stressing public awareness regarding recreational water illness prevention efforts. 19-25 May 2008 has been designated the National Recreational Water Illness Prevention Week. It’s [...]

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Vapor Intrusion Assessment in Support of Real Estate Transactions

Posted on Tuesday, 13 May 2008 by mjavaherian

As outlined in last week’s posting, Brownfields development has proven to be a practical solution to addressing environmentally impacted properties, many of which would otherwise remain a public health concern. In addition to improving environmental health, Brownfields projects have been associated with enhancing utilization, reducing negative perception of contaminated properties, and increasing local job opportunities.
Among [...]

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Bisphenol A: Issues of science and policy

Posted on Monday, 12 May 2008 by environmentalhealthtoday

Recently we have seen much discussion and controversy over Bisphenol A (BPA) as a plastics hardener. This hardener is used in many plastics including baby bottles. However, the variety of products is broad, and seems to be ever expanding. It has also been found in some dental sealants. Sorption into marine sediments potentially gives the [...]

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Brownfields – contaminated properties posing a real challenge

Posted on Tuesday, 6 May 2008 by mjavaherian

Hazardous substances and related contamination at real properties significantly affect redevelopment and reuse of such properties . Referred to as Brownfields, such properties often require corrective action, including engineered cleanup, in order to support redevelopment and reuse. Redevelopment of such sites not only enhances utilization and negative perception of otherwise unusable properties, but also improves [...]

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Coming soon…

Posted on Saturday, 3 May 2008 by environmentalhealthtoday

I’d like to welcome Mr. Mehrdad Javaherian to our discussions. Mr. Javaherian’s current research involves issues of indoor air quality, vapor intrusion, and green building practices. He holds a BS degree in civil (environmental) engineering from the California Polytechnic University and is currently working on advanced degrees. Further information about Mr. Javaherian can be [...]

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