The Plastic Problem

If you're reading this, chances are you've been exposed to bisphenol A (BPA). A key ingredient in many modern plastics, the chemical compound has been used since the 1940s in everything from baby bottles to goggles to lining for food containers. In recent years, animal studies have demonstrated links between BPA and a host of ill health effects, including breast and prostate cancer. ......read more

The Toxic Irony Of Being Green

How's this for bitter irony? Most forms of the color green, the chosen emblem of environmentalism since the 1960s, are not only not ecologically responsible but potentially poisonous. Writing in the Design section of the New York Times, Alice Rosthorn says that because the color green is so difficult to create, manufacturers have to use toxic chemicals to stabilize it. That means that......read more

SHFT Sampler 9-2-10

Pier Pressure: From The World's Best Ever, British art prankster Banksy makes a sly comment on the BP oil spill with this “reconditioned dolphin ride with crude oil and a tuna net.” The Dirty Dozen: Mother Jones hips us to the 12 least sustainable seafoods from this year's Smart Seafood Guide, published by Food & Water Watch. The guide takes into account not only health......read more

NASA to Undertake Massive Pollution Cleanup

When it comes to its environmental effects on Earth, space exploration is a dirty business. NASA says it could take a century to clean up the chemical messes left behind by launching shuttles and rockets into space. The liftoffs have created plumes of carcinogenic chemicals in the sandy soils beneath Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral in Florida.  NASA said it will spend $96......read more

Toxic Beauty

Aerial photography of nature - and the destruction of nature - are earily and beutifully captured by Polish photographer Kacper Kowalski in his series Toxic Beauty.  The series placed second in the 57th annual World Press Photo Awards for 2014 in the category of Nature.  We see a lot of areal images, and Kowalski's eye for textures and colors are among the finest.   Views from the......read more

Want Safer and Cheaper Solar Panels? Just Add Salt

Solar power may be one of the cleanest energy sources, but one way of producing solar cells is actually quite toxic. A new study points to a safer and cheaper method, using an ingredient that is also used to make tofu. Researchers at the University of Liverpool discovered that a salt used to produce the fermented bean curd, as well as to de-ice roads, could be a new ingredient in making solar......read more

Water Tight

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced standards on a new set of toxic chemicals in drinking water, including perchlorate, a compound found in rocket fuel and fireworks that has already seeped into the drinking water supplies of 26 states.  The decision to control perchlorate and other chemicals in drinking water reverses a 2008 Bush administration ruling that deemed the......read more