EHN Originals

Pipelines have become a regular item in the news cycle in recent years. Last week, the Canadian Government backed away from future investment in the Trans Mountain 2 pipeline, potentially dooming Canada’s dreams of riding tar sands oil to petrostate status. Multiple lawsuits and relentless protests by First Nations tribes are credited with stalling the…

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It is hard to think about the environment when lives are being torn asunder by war. I woke up this morning yearning for peace, mourning loss, and hoping for better collective wisdom to guide us through this insanity. At the top of my inbox this morning was a note from Katelyn Jetelina, a University of…

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Former Agents of Change fellow Cielo Sharkus speaks with her mentor Dr. Johanna vanderSpek about her career and the role she’s played in helping women of color pursue science. VanderSpek, a retired professor of BU medical school, and department head of the Worcester public school’s biotechnology program, has worked both in public and private education…

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Ghost towns, submerged land, and polluted paradises dot the American landscape. Here are some of the most infamous, heartbreaking sites. Ghost Towns Centralia, Pennsylvania: Founded in the mid-19th century atop a rich seam of high-energy anthracite coal, Centralia prospered for a century. By the 1950’s, strip mining had produced an enormous amount of waste. In…

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Everyday levels of a pregnant woman’s exposure to mixtures of endocrine-disrupting chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA), phthalates, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), put their child at an increased risk of delayed language development, according to new research. Because hormones regulate much of human development, endocrine-disrupting chemicals—which disrupt hormone activity—can create developmental problems. In the…

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After careful evaluation of the latest science, European officials have proposed lowering the safe daily dose of bisphenol-A, or BPA, by a factor of 100,000. The same agency had already dropped their recommended exposure limit in 2015, down 12-fold from where they set it in 2006. “It’s almost like the limbo stick: How low can…

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We all have the power to cause change, even if we don’t recognize it. But sometimes it’s hard to see. Social media inundates us with the visceral impacts of climate change. From the global mega-fires in California that destroyed entire communities, to the devastating flooding in Europe and China this summer, it seems like climate…

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A wide-ranging, ongoing investigation of PFAS in everyday products has uncovered evidence of the toxics in our clothes, food, and makeup—including in many so-called “green” and “organic” brands. While many are aware of PFAS pollution in water, the testing finds that we’re also exposed by the things we wear or eat. The testing highlights the…

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If you happened to be strolling by the Adidas outlet store near the company’s German headquarters on a sunny May day in 2014, you would have seen a soccer match of sorts on the concrete outside. But there was something odd about this game. In place of cleats, the players had red paint on their…

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PFAS are a group of manmade chemicals used in a vast number of consumer and industrial products. They’re often referred to as “forever chemicals,” because most don’t break down. Use this guide to understand PFAS and how to limit your exposure. What does PFAS stand for? PFAS stands for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which contain a…

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