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| Above the fold. News aggregated by www.EnvironmentalHealthNews.org | Read today's editorials |
| Daily links to top stories in the news about environmental health. New rules would cut silica dust exposure. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration proposed long-awaited rules on Friday to limit crystalline silica, a move it said would prevent nearly 700 deaths a year by reducing exposure to these very small particles that can cause lung cancer and other diseases. New York Times [Registration Required] EPA orders air pollution controls for fracked gas wells. Air pollution from thousands of natural gas wells that are "fracked" every year will be reduced under regulations that the Environmental Protection Agency issued on Wednesday. It’s the first time the EPA has required air pollution controls at hydraulically fractured, or fracked, wells. McClatchy Newspapers Fight over proposed federal fracking rules flares up. A voluminous file of public comments shows how high the stakes are for President Barack Obama's Interior Department as it prepares to decide the fate of proposed rules for hydraulic fracturing on federal lands. Wall Street Journal [Subscription Required] Obama position on fracking leaves both sides grumbling. President Barack Obama’s embrace of fracking is earning wrath from environmentalists but little love from the oil and gas industry. McClatchy Newspapers Fracking foes use national spotlight. President Barack Obama stopped at New York's Binghamton University on the second leg of his tour to promote a college affordability plan on Friday, but the demonstrators who lined the president's motorcade route had something else on their minds: hydrofracking in the Southern Tier. Albany Times Union, New York. Nicaragua’s new canal threatens biggest source of water. The canal to be built across Nicaragua threatens the largest source of freshwater in Central America, environmentalists warn. Tierramerica, Latin America. Burning issues in air pollution. Hidden beneath a recent debate on an air pollution study are questions on the limits of scientific research in China. Air pollution has become a major public health issue in the country, but barriers to research continue to overshadow information on its negative impacts. Beijing Caixin, China. Public opposition defuses nuclear plans in China. China's Longwan Industrial Park project, which was to be situated in the Pearl River Delta region, was planned as a facility for uranium conversion, enrichment and the manufacture of nuclear fuel equipment. However, following opposition by residents, the local government announced that the project had been canceled. China Daily Despite Fukushima, IAEA sees global progress on nuclear safety. Japan may be suffering persistent problems with its wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant, but the U.N. atomic agency says "considerable progress" has been made globally in the past year to strengthen reactor safety. Reuters Thai officials play down effects of oil spill. Two rescue operations were set in motion last month when a burst pipeline sent tons of crude oil gushing into the sea near this idyllic resort island. One was cleaning up the spill. The other was defending the image of Thailand’s tourism, crucial to the country’s increasingly fragile economy. New York Times [Registration Required] Drinking arsenic-laced water is like smoking for decades, study finds. Drinking water contaminated with unsafe levels of arsenic harms the lungs as much as decades of smoking, a new study has found. Arsenic is a notoriously poisonous element that occurs naturally in the Earth's rocks, water and soil. Industrial activity can also concentrate arsenic in certain places. Popular Science Nuclear operator raises alarm on crisis. The operator of Japan’s tsunami-hit nuclear power plant sounded the alarm on the gravity of the deepening crisis of containment at the coastal site on Friday, saying that there are more than 200,000 tons of radioactive water in makeshift tanks vulnerable to leaks, with no reliable way to check on them or anywhere to transfer the water. New York Times [Registration Required] Northeast Passage: Russia moves to boost Arctic shipping. Global warming has led to the rapid melting of Arctic sea ice. And this year has seen a record number of ships pass through the Northeast Passage in the Arctic Ocean. Russian President Vladimir Putin is doing all he can to make the route even more attractive. Der Spiegel Most of Manila left underwater as record storms sweep parts of Asia. A state of disaster was declared in parts of the northern Philippines earlier this week as a monsoon and typhoon brought incessant rain in the region for three days, triggering mass evacuations and affecting more than 1 million people. ClimateWire Climate change becoming health priority. After years on the back burner, climate change is finding its way to the forefront of the public health agenda, including here in Ohio, where advocates say the health effects of global warming can no longer be ignored. Lancaster Eagle-Gazette, Ohio. California smoke keeps Reno kids inside 150 miles away. Thick smoke from a massive wildfire at Yosemite National Park more than 150 miles away kept Reno school children indoors Friday as the air quality index approached the rare "very unhealthy" zone and county health officials expanded pollution warnings into the weekend. Associated Press Stopped cold: Mercedes sales blocked in France. Authorities in France have sparked controversy with a drastic action: blocking the registration— effectively shutting down sales — of some popular new Mercedes-Benz cars. The French environment ministry ordered the ban in response to the German carmaker’s defiance of a European Union regulation on the refrigerants permitted in automotive air-conditioning systems. New York Times [Registration Required] Maywood Chemical Co. Superfund site to get $17 million cleanup. The federal government plans to remove the equivalent of 450 rail cars worth of contaminated soil from five sections of New Jersey's Maywood Chemical Co. Superfund site in a $17-million cleanup proposal announced Friday. Bergen County Record, New Jersey. Will fluoride make history in Sheridan again? Nearly 60 years ago, fluoride was removed from the Sheridan, WY, water supply after a vote. Now, after a the City Council received a petition from more than 230 health and dental professionals, it's been added back and once again there are calls to remove it. Sheridan Press, Wyoming. Los Angeles, conservationists reach agreement to repair Mono Lake damage. Ending decades of bitter disputes over fragile Mono Lake, Los Angeles and conservationists on Friday announced an agreement to heal the environmental damage caused by diverting the lake's eastern Sierra tributary streams into the city's World War II-era aqueduct. Los Angeles Times [Registration Required] More news from today Shortcuts to stories from today about The good news, Avian flu, Climate, Children's health, Air pollution, Cancer, Reproductive disorders, Endocrine disruption, Birth defects, Learning and developmental disabilities, Immune disorders, Environmental justice, Superfund, Water treatment/sewage, Food safety, Integrity of science, Green chemistry. You can also read last weekend's news. 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