About one tenth of China's farmland is polluted with heavy metals, with whole villages being poisoned. All too frequently, local governments have reacted by ignoring the problems and even denying treatment (HRW report).
posted by jeffburdges on Nov 9, 2011 - 37 comments

Toxic Waters: A series about the worsening pollution in American waters and regulators' response.
posted by homunculus on Sep 14, 2009 - 26 comments

Bisphenol A: this extremely common chemical leaches out of food packaging and plastics, and was long considered safe. But a number of recent studies link it to developmental problems and cancer in lab animals in doses far lower than the current regulatory limit. Canada and the United States both review the scientific data available in the coming months, but critics already worry the process will be corrupted by industry. Industry, of course, insists that BPA is safe.
posted by mek on Apr 7, 2007 - 32 comments

Showering could cause brain damage.
posted by Tlogmer on Jul 8, 2005 - 37 comments

Toxic House
"This is a site about the hazards of indoor pollution, largely created by the synthetic and organic chemicals that are a part of our daily lives. It might sound like a place you want to stay away from, but really it’s a place intended to help you make informed decisions about the places and spaces in which you live."
posted by theRegent on Oct 22, 2002 - 13 comments

Power Company Buys Entire Village American Electric Power is buying the Gallia County village of Cheshire, Ohio for $20 million after years of complaints from residents about pollution from AEP's massive Gen. James M. Gavin power plant, located along the Ohio River on the edge of the village.
Two months ago federal health experts reported that blue sulfuric clouds from the Gavin plant endangered the village last summer, particularly residents suffering from asthma. I'm not sure what to think about such an odd plan.
"I think the town just had enough of the company's experimentation," said Dale Heydlauff, AEP's senior vice president for environmental affairs. Note: Registration required to read full story .
posted by Blake on Apr 16, 2002 - 3 comments

"a huge victory for breathers" of course industry "experts" beg to differ: "EPA tends to overstate health concerns," said Dan Riedinger, a spokesman for the Edison Electric Institute.
posted by specialk420 on Mar 27, 2002 - 2 comments

Pollution Linked to Birth Defects in Recent Study. There is no better example of "terrorism" than maiming children simply to further bloat the wallets of the rich. Of course, our fearless right-wing leaders are right on top of the problem.
posted by fold_and_mutilate on Dec 29, 2001 - 32 comments