Risk Assessment

Feb 8, 2016

Top 400 Taxpayers See Tax Rates Rise, But There’s More to the Story

As Americans were gathering party supplies to greet the New Year, the Internal Revenue Service released their annual report of cumulative tax data reported on the 400 tax r...

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Feb 4, 2016

Chlorine Bleach Plants Needlessly Endanger 63 Million Americans

Chlorine bleach plants across the U.S. put millions of Americans in danger of a chlorine gas release, a substance so toxic it has been used as a chemical weapon. Greenpeace’s new repo...

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Jan 25, 2016

U.S. Industrial Facilities Reported Fewer Toxic Releases in 2014

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) data for 2014 is now available. The good news: total toxic releases by reporting facilities decreased by nearly six percent from 2013 levels. Howe...

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Jan 22, 2016

Methane Causes Climate Change. Here's How the President Plans to Cut Emissions by 40-45 Percent.

UPDATE (Jan. 22, 2016): Today, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released its proposed rule to reduce methane emissions...

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more news

FDA Calls BPA Risky, but Puts off Regulation

Jan 19, 2010 by Matthew Madia

On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration made its long-awaited announcement on the safety of bisphenol-A, a chemical ingredient in hard plastics, food can liners, and other common products. The verdict? “[R]ecent studies provide reason for some concern about the potential effects of BPA on the brain, behavior, and prostate gland of fetuses, infants and children. FDA also recognizes substantial uncertainties with respect to the overall interpretation of these studies and their potential implications for human health effects of BPA exposure.”

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In Drinking Water, What’s Legal Can Be Poisonous

Dec 17, 2009 by Matthew Madia

In another of The New York Times’ startling articles on the state of U.S. waters, Charles Duhigg reports on the myriad chemicals polluting drinking water supplies and regulators’ inability to manage them.

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FDA Delays Decision on Chemical in Plastics

Dec 1, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) missed a self-imposed deadline to make a determination about the safety of bisphenol-A (BPA), a chemical ingredient in hard plastics, food can liners, and other common products. Studies have linked BPA exposure to heart disease, developmental disorders, and other health problems.

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OMB Responds to Criticism over Endocrine Program

Nov 19, 2009 by Matthew Madia

White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Peter Orszag said Monday that OMB did not improperly interfere in an EPA program meant to test the hormone-disrupting effects of chemicals. Orszag said that EPA has complete control over the program.

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Plastics Chemical Poses Sexual Health Risks to Exposed Workers

Nov 12, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Researchers spent years studying the effects of bisphenol-A (BPA) exposure on factory workers in China, and the news isn't good. The key findings of the study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, are more or less summed up in two passages.

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EPA Begins Asking for Data on Chemicals’ Endocrine Effects

Oct 30, 2009 by Matthew Madia

This week, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency began sending out test orders under its Endocrine Disruptor Screening Program (EDSP). EPA is asking chemical manufacturers to screen certain chemicals to determine whether they are endocrine disruptors – a term used to categorize any compound capable of causing certain reproductive and developmental abnormalities.

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OMB Role in EPA Chemical Program Questioned

The White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has repeatedly inserted itself in the development of a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) program designed to study the effects of chemicals on human and animal endocrine systems.

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EPA Releases OMB Comments on Chemical Studies

Oct 15, 2009 by Matthew Madia

As promised, the Environmental Protection Agency is releasing White House comments on EPA assessments of potentially toxic chemicals. Yesterday, EPA released the first batch of comments on four ongoing risk assessments.

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Top Ten Risky Foods under FDA’s Watch

Oct 6, 2009 by Matthew Madia

Yesterday, I blogged about a New York Times article that details the myriad flaws in the USDA’s regulation of ground beef. Today, a new report by the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) spotlights the Food and Drug Administration’s struggles to ensure the safety of non-meat products.

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Labor Quashes Bush-Era Risk Assessment Proposal

Aug 31, 2009 by Matthew Madia

The Department of Labor (DOL) today officially announced that it will not go forward with a controversial proposal that would have made it more difficult for the government to write new worker protection rules.

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