Environmental Engineering & Toxicology

Public health advocates cheered when the Environmental Protection Agency approved a stricter standard for arsenic in drinking water in 2001. Arsenic, a naturally occurring element in the earth’s crust, contaminates water supplies when it migrates from rocks into groundwater. Chronic exposure to arsenic in drinking water can cause serious skin and digestive problems and has been linked to several types of cancer.

Natural ecosystems provide essential services for our communities. Forests and wetlands, for example, filter the water we drink, protect neighborhoods from floods and droughts, and shade aquatic habitat for fish populations.

In what researchers are calling a first, a new analysis suggests that the greater a woman's exposure to a type of common chemical compound called PFCs, the greater her risk for developing osteoarthritis. Researchers did not find a similar risk among men regarding these chemicals, which are now found in everything from nonstick cookware to take-out containers and carpeting. Osteoarthritis, the most common type of arthritis, causes pain and stiffness and involves degeneration of the cartilage in the joints.

The University of California, Berkeley, got a $4 million grant for three years' work on electric power grid monitoring. UC Berkeley's California Institute for Energy and Environment, or CIEE, will oversee the research, working with Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the UC Center for Information Research. Alexandra von Meier is co-director of electric grid research at CIEE and will lead the project. Read more

Until recently, Sue Chiang, 42, had never heard of Firemaster 550. Five years ago, she grew worried that her old, dusty couch would cause allergies, so she sold it. She and her husband bought a burgundy microfiber sofa at J.C. Penney and plunked it in the living room of the Oakland house they moved into in 2008. The couple's two kids, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, watch TV on it and build forts with the cushions. When they go to bed, Chiang and her husband sit on it and work on their laptops.

We are all just a little bit plastic. Traces of bisphenol A or BPA, a chemical used in plastics production, are widely detected in our bodies and environment. Is this chemical, and its presence in the human body, safe? What is meant by safety? Who defines it, and according to what information? Is It Safe? narrates how the meaning of the safety of industrial chemicals has been historically produced by breakthroughs in environmental health research, which in turn trigger contests among trade associations, lawyers, politicians, and citizen activists to set new regulatory standards.

Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) announced today that the Institute has endorsed a technical-scientific cooperation agreement on the issue of mercury with México’s major federal environmental agency, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). The agreement allows the Maine wildlife research group to conduct scientific research in México in full cooperation with that country’s federal government.

Amy Clipp gave a webinar for us that offered ideas for bridging the gap between science and policy, with a particular focus on helping scientists apply their work in complex, political environments. Her stories are based on lessons learned advising the State of Louisiana on its 2012 Coastal Master Plan.