May 7th, 2012

Autism now affects one in 88 kids, soaring in the last few decades, seemingly out of nowhere, to become a major health issue.
Research shows that genetics plays a role in autism, but many scientists believe that environmental factors are as important in triggering the disorder.

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January 14th, 2011

Dr. Sarah Janssen, NRDC scientist

January is National Birth Defects Prevention month and while we have made great strides in raising awareness about the importance of folate and prenatal vitamins in early pregnancy, there are a number of birth defects which continue to rise which have been suspected of being caused by exposure to environmental chemicals.

A new study published today confirms that pregnant women carry multiple chemicals in their bodies that can be passed onto their fetus, putting them at risk for birth defects and health problems later in life. The study was conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco and was published in the scientific journal, Environmental Health Perspectives.

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September 3rd, 2010

Like eel? Tuna? Catfish?
You might want to find some new entrees. The Food and Water Watch’s Smart Seafood Guide for 2010, published this week, warns that many such popular fish and seafood are simply not safe to eat, while others are not ethical to eat. Some marine food sources present both health and ethical problems.

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February 10th, 2010

(This article was first posted on Jan. 25, 2010, by the Natural Resources Defense Council on its Simple Steps website. It is a Q & A with NRDC Senior Attorney Daniel Rosenberg exploring why the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition, of which the NRDC is a member, wants tighter controls on toxic substances.)

By Paul McRandle

Q: Quickly, what is TSCA and why does it need to be reformed?

Daniel Rosenberg: TSCA is an environmental law first enacted in 1976 and never updated since, that was intended to regulate the safety of industrial chemicals—that is most chemicals that find their way into the stream of commerce. It is generally regarded to be the greatest failure of all the major environmental laws passed in the early 1970s. This is because there were 62,000 chemicals in use when it was enacted and all of those chemicals were grandfathered in, meaning they didn’t have to be tested or required to meet a safety standard. On top of that, the law makes it extremely difficult for EPA to take action even when they know a chemical is unsafe, like asbestos. The way the law is written, the burden is on the agency to prove a chemical is unsafe rather than the companies who make chemicals having to prove they are safe.

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