pollutants news stories on Newser

Chesapeake 'Dead Zone' Could Be Largest Ever

Evann Gastaldo — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 08:08:44 CDT

High nutrient pollution levels have caused the Chesapeake Bay's underwater "dead zone" to expand unusually quickly this year: It covers a third of the bay and will likely become the bay's largest-ever area of oxygen-starved water. The dead zone, which sucks oxygen from deep waters and kills any marine life...

Climate Change Could Cause Cancer, UN Warns

Evann Gastaldo — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 07:22:32 CST

Climate change is doing more than just harming our environment—it could also be harming you, scientists say. Toxic chemicals that have been linked to cancer, tumors, heart disease, and infertility are being released into the air and water via melting glaciers, reports the Daily Mail , pointing to a new...

Utilities Poison Water to Meet EPA Air Regs

Harry Kimball — Sat, 02 May 2009 16:14:00 CDT

A federal law that keeps utilities from poisoning the air is causing toxic metals to infiltrate US waterways, the Washington Post reports. As the Environmental Protection Agency debates possible solutions with lawmakers, utility companies are storing pollutants like mercury and selenium in sludge ponds that eventually leak into lakes and...

EPA's CO2 Ruling May Have Huge Impact

John Johnson — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:58:12 CDT

The EPA's decision today to declare carbon dioxide and five other greenhouse gases dangerous pollutants could have enormous consequences for US businesses, writes Andy Stone in Forbes . The big winner: green technology. The ruling could eventually give the EPA unprecedented regulatory control over everything from power plants to oil refineries...

Suds-Smugglers Thwart Eco-Friendly Law

Rob Quinn — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 06:13:48 CDT

Spokane, Washington's pioneering ban on high-phosphorus dishwasher detergents has led some residents to pioneer detergent-smuggling, reports the AP. People complaining that the eco-friendly detergents don't get their dishes as clean as the old kind regularly cross over into Idaho to stock up. Retailers near the border say their detergent sales...

Car Batteries Killing Off African Town

Katherine Thompson — Sun, 04 Jan 2009 12:32:00 CST

A mystery illness that plagued a Senegalese town and sparked fears of AIDS, polio, and curses came down to an odd source: car batteries, the AP reports. After 18 deaths and pleas for an investigation, a World Health Organization probe blamed lead for poisoning the village, a center for battery...

Polluting Pentagon Rebuffs EPA Orders

Matt Cantor — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 08:00:00 CDT

The Pentagon is holding out on an Environmental Protection Agency order to clean up pollutants from three military bases where chemicals have become an "imminent and substantial" threat to the public health and environment, the Washington Post reports. The Defense Department also won’t sign contracts to clean up 12 other...

Polluted Fish Swamp Great Lakes

Dustin Lushing — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 16:23:41 CDT

Industrial chemicals contaminate many species of fish that populate the Great Lakes, making them too hazardous for safe human consumption, says a Canadian conservation group. "The lakes continue to be polluted to such an extent that human health is threatened," says a report released yesterday that lists industrial pollutants such...