Consumer

"The supply of drinking water for parts of Long Island is under threat, according to a new federal report."

"Twenty-four brain samples collected in early 2024 measured on average about 0.5% plastic by weight"

"A growing body of scientific evidence shows that microplastics are accumulating in critical human organs, including the brain, leading researchers to call for more urgent actions to rein in plastic pollution.

Studies have detected tiny shards and specks of plastics in human lungs, placentas, reproductive organs, livers, kidneys, knee and elbow joints, blood vessels and bone marrow.

"Recycled plastic can be more toxic than virgin plastic, yet the federal approval process to use it in food packaging is lax and leaving consumers at risk, researchers say."

"Eighty years ago, the United States and Mexico worked out an arrangement to share water from the two major rivers that run through both countries: the Rio Grande and the Colorado. The treaty was created when water wasn't as scarce as it is now."

"Mississippi’s state health department did not adequately enforce the Safe Drinking Water Act in Jackson, contributing to the 2022 crisis that left 150,000 residents without drinking water, according to a report released Tuesday by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Inspector General (OIG)."

"Companies whose futures depend on plastic production are trying to persuade the federal government to allow them to put the label “recyclable” on plastic shopping bags and other items virtually guaranteed to end up in landfills and incinerators."

"New York and Wisconsin are the first to launch their long-awaited Inflation Reduction Act programs meant to deploy everything from heat pumps to insulation."

"Hurricane Debby left billions of dollars of damage in its wake as it moved across the southeastern U.S. last week — losses made all the more devastating because so many of them may have been uninsured."

"The United States, one of the world's biggest plastic makers, will support a global treaty calling for a reduction in how much new plastic is produced each year in a major policy shift, a source close to U.S. negotiators told Reuters on Wednesday."

"The blue crabs crossed the Atlantic as stowaways, and with no natural predators they’re overtaking Italy’s marine ecosystem."