EHN Originals

This story was originally published in The New Lede, a journalism project of the Environmental Working Group, and is republished here with permission. Jackie Medcalf was a teenager when she moved with her family to a small farm near the San Jacinto River in Harris County, Texas. It felt like a good life, playing in…

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PITTSBURGH — Environmental justice advocates gathered last week to celebrate progress and chart a path to the future while focusing on healing, self care and mental health. May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and the Environmental Justice Summit highlighted the need for self-care and connection among researchers and advocates working to advance justice. Exposure to…

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HOUSTON — The number of U.S. oil refineries exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for benzene in 2023 was cut in half compared to 2020, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project. In 2023 just six refineries were above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s average annual “action level,” compared to…

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Women are two to four times more likely to develop any of 100-plus chronic auto-immune diseases than men. This could include Alzheimer’s disease, which some researchers are starting to link to the immune system, the sixth leading medical cause of U.S. deaths. Women comprise two-thirds of diagnosed Alzheimer’s patients and often develop worse symptoms of…

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Thirteen popular olive oils recently tested have detectable levels of phthalates, according to a new report from Mamavation. Partnering with EHN.org, the environmental wellness blog and community had 13 olive oils tested by a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-certified lab and found levels of phthalates ranging from 655 parts per billion to 6,092 ppb. Nine of…

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More than 30 years after its closure, the acrid smell of diesel still lingers in parts of a former freight rail yard on the banks of the Los Angeles River. Pieces from old trains are scattered across the sprawling site, in soil so laden with contaminants that researchers have seen it spontaneously catch on fire…

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PITTSBURGH — On a windy, rainy afternoon in early April, bundled-up protesters gathered in front of U.S. Steel’s corporate headquarters downtown ahead of a shareholder vote on the sale of the company to Japanese-owned Nippon Steel. They held signs bearing messages like, “Will your grandkids forgive you?” and “If they don’t give you a seat…

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BAYTOWN, TX — Mientras ExxonMobil avanza en la reautorización del permiso de operación federal para su enorme complejo petroquímico en el área de Houston, los residentes siguen frustrados con la brecha de accesibilidad y divulgación en español por parte del estado y la compañía. Sobre la mesa está la aplicación del permiso de ExxonMobil para…

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BAYTOWN, TX — As Exxon Mobil moves forward with federal re-permitting for its massive petrochemical complex in the Houston area, residents remain frustrated with the lack of accessibility and Spanish-language outreach from the state and company. At issue is Exxon Mobil’s application for its Baytown Olefins Plant permit, which must be approved by the the…

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Aalayna Green joins the Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcast to discuss how race and gender intersect with conservation and how we can move toward more justice-oriented relationships with the natural world. Green, a current Agents of Change fellow and Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Natural Resources and the Environment at Cornell University,…

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