The U.S. Department of Education is repealing a Bush-era policy that some critics argue was a way to avoid complying with federal law in providing equal opportunities for female athletes. Under the move, schools and colleges must now provide stronger evidence that they offer equal opportunities for athletic participation under the federal Title IX gender [...]
Filed in News Blurbs
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Also tagged Arne Duncan, Athletics, Civil Rights, Discrimination, Education, Funding, Gender, Gender Equity Law, Law, Obesity, Schools, Sports, Title IX, Universities, Women
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Health insurance companies in the U.S., Canada and Europe hold nearly $1.9 billion in fast-food company stock, according to a new study from researchers at Harvard Medical School and the department of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance. In the study, published this week in the American Journal of Public Health researchers examined major insurance companies’ stock [...]
Bacterial cells actually outnumber human cells in the body: From an outside perspective, people are not so much individual organisms as symbiotic human-bacteria collectives. Disturbances to internal bacteria have been linked to asthma, cancer and many autoimmune diseases. Gut flora have also been linked to obesity. In 2006, researchers led by Washington University microbiologist Jeffrey [...]
Friday, February 26, 2010
The American Academy of Environmental Medicine (AAEM) today released its position paper on Genetically Modified foods stating that “GM foods pose a serious health risk” and calling for a moratorium on GM foods. Citing several animal studies, the AAEM concludes “there is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects” and [...]
Filed in Green Living, News Blurbs
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Also tagged AAEM, Allergy, Canola, Corn, Cottonseed, Environment, Genetics, GM Food, GMO, Immune System, Medicine, Moratorium, Physicians, Science, Soy, Toxicology
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It’s the “catch-22″ that has plagued medical marijuana advocates and patients for decades. Lawmakers and health regulators demand clinical studies on the safety and efficacy of medical cannabis, but the federal agency in charge of such research bars these investigations from ever taking place. But it took until now for the federal government to finally [...]
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The coal ash industry manipulated reports and publications about the dangers of coal combustion waste, reports Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). The group stated that the Environmental Protection Agency allowed the multibillon-dollar coal ash industry to have virtually unfettered access to the EPA during the Bush administration and now under President Obama. As a [...]
Joliet is pushing the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency to more than double the concentration of cancer-causing radium it’s allowed to dump onto farmland in the south suburbs, expanding the potential for deadly radon gas in these increasingly urban communities. Radium is a naturally occurring radioactive element abundant in deep-water wells in northern Illinois and throughout [...]
Filed in Green Living, News Blurbs
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Also tagged Agriculture, Cancer, Chicago, Drinking Water, Environment, EPA, Illinois, Joliet, Land, Radiation, Radium, Radon, Water
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Thursday, January 21, 2010
A common household chemical found in everything from sofas and carpets to pots and pans has been linked to an increased risk of thyroid disease, in the first major study carried out on its effect upon health. The substance, used to make nonstick cookware, stain-resistant furnishings and greaseproof wrappers, is believed to get into the [...]
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
You, too, could perform this experiment on yourself—go to the supermarket and buy Atlantic salmon. Then eat it. Congratulations! You just exposed yourself to Persistant Organic Pollutants! Now, you can argue that people don’t eat just crude fish oil for months at a time—but POPs bioaccumulate in all sorts of foods. And it’s very interesting [...]
Filed in Green Living, News Blurbs
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Also tagged Bioaccumulation, Diabetes, Disease, Food, Genetics, Metabolism, Obesity, Parkinson's Disease, Persistent Organic Pollutants, Pesticides
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Tuesday, January 12, 2010
The N.J. Legislature on Monday approved a bill that would make the state the 14th to allow chronically ill patients access to marijuana for medical reasons. Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine supports the legislation and could sign it before leaving office next week, making it law. The bill allows patients with ailments such as cancer, AIDS [...]
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
According to this New York Times story, atrazine causes the feminization of frogs at 0.1 parts per billion and “may be associated with birth defects, low birth weights, and menstrual problems” in women at extremely low doses, at or below the current EPA guidelines (3 parts per billion). Earlier this year I was contacted by [...]
Filed in Green Living, News Blurbs
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Also tagged Agriculture, Aromatase, Atrazine, Cancer, Environment, EPA, Feminization, Herbicides, Letrozole, Syngenta, Tumors, Water Pollution
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Thursday, December 17, 2009
Most people’s routines include a commute to their workplace each weekday, yet many are now choosing to forgo the drive for a chance to work from home or an alternate location closer to home. Telecommuting, or working remotely from a place other than an employer’s primary office, is a reality for many Americans [source: Gordon]. [...]
Filed in Green Living, News Blurbs
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Also tagged Employers, Employment, Green Alternatives, Green Jobs, Green Living, Human Resources, Jobs, Stress, Technology, Telecommuting, Teleworking
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Friday, November 27, 2009
One goal of the Clean Water Act of 1972 was to upgrade the nation’s sewer systems, many of them built more than a century ago, to handle growing populations and increasing runoff of rainwater and waste. During the 1970s and 1980s, Congress distributed more than $60 billion to cities to make sure that what goes [...]
Thursday, November 12, 2009
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/7528069[/vimeo] Author and activist Michael Pollan is a passionate advocate for sustainable food. In this compelling talk, he explores how our industrial food system keeps us overly dependent on fossil fuels, destroys our environment, and makes us sick. Breaking this cycle requires changing our relationship to food – and eating more meals together.
The fight to end hunger is being hurt by environmentalists who insist that genetically modified crops cannot be used in Africa, Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of software giant Microsoft, said on Thursday. Gates said GMO crops, fertilizer and chemicals are important tools — although not the only tools — to help small farms in [...]
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