September 28th, 2010

America’s public health leaders have raised their voices against Congressional waffling over climate action, releasing a letter today signed by 120 top public health groups that urges Congress not to interfere with the EPA’s plans to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

The EPA’s mandate to regulate carbon emissions has been a lightning rod in Washington, with some in Congress saying the agency does not have the authority to set carbon guidelines and penalize violators. States, such as Texas, have sued over the issue, also trying to stop the EPA from regulating greenhouse gases.

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April 16th, 2010

It’s understood that health insurance companies profit from fast food — indirectly, via clogged arteries, rising blood sugar levels and the obesity that’s been linked repeatedly to high-fat, high-sugar content in the types of foods served in many drive-throughs.

Now comes news that the health insurance titans are profiting directly as well.

Scientific American reports that a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health that has found U.S. health and life insurers have invested $1.88 billion in the top five publicly traded food chains.

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February 18th, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

Whether or not cell phone radiation presents a human health risk remains one of those dangling public health questions. Some studies have suggested that longtime users of cell phones face an increased chance of developing brain or salivary gland cancers. But many others have found no link, prompting some public health groups to give cell phone a clean bill.

Motorola Droid at the high end of the radiation scale at 1.49 SAR when held at the ear

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October 1st, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Squint and you can’t see them. Try a standard microscope. They’re still not there.

And yet, they’re everywhere. Nanoparticles are in hundreds, if not thousands, of consumer products, from sunscreen to child car seats to sports socks.

So the EPA has decided to take a closer look at these eensy particles, to investigate their potential to harm humans and the environment.

Nanos, which are about 1/100,000 of the width of a human hair and have been aggregating in consumer goods faster than E coli at a feed lot, have raised concerns among environmentalists, public health officials and others. These guardians of the environment want to know more about how nanos act in water. air and soil, and also whether they can invade and damage human tissue.

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July 24th, 2009

By Melissa Segrest
Green Right Now

Diabetes is one of the most prevalent and deadly diseases in the U.S. — and its cause, or causes, is subject to debate.

Millions of dollars in research funding and many studies have linked both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes to a cornucopia of causes or triggers: genetics, obesity, viruses, lack of exercise, breastfeeding, excessive hygiene, climate, age, ethnicity, high blood pressure, immunizations, lack of vitamin D and more.

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May 14th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Veggie advocates want American omnivores to adopt a day without meat. Well, some of them want us to just give up meat totally, but I’m talking about the Meatless Monday campaign here, which argues that if we’d cut out the steaks and pork chops on just this one day, we’d reduce the saturated fat that we consume and make a big dent in the greenhouse gas emissions produced by the livestock industry.

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May 7th, 2009

From Green Right Now Reports

For decades, relief work in Africa has fought a deadly disease with an environmentally deadly chemical, spraying with DDT to quell malarial outbreaks, even though world health agencies know that DDT has a devastating effect on the environment, killing wildlife and contaminating water supplies.

Today, the UN Agencies announced they will try to move 40 countries in Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia, away from reliance on the persistent, toxic chemical by using other methods to fight mosquito-born malaria, which infects more than 250 million people a year, claiming 880,000 lives annually.

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