Ethylene Oxide/Sterigenics Updates

Articles Posted in Toxic Chemicals

Train-diesel-exhaust-300x169Just weeks after America witnessed a black plume of toxic murk billowing above East Palestine, the Surface Transportation Board inexplicably decided to increase the chance of an identical derailment horror, right here in the Chicago area. 

When the Board approved America’s first big railroad merger in 25 years, it ensured that there will be a 300-600% increase in freight train traffic each day in our communities. That means 11,000 more rail cars filled with toxic chemicals will lumber down the tracks through Chicago and its surrounding suburbs each year. We don’t know what those chemicals will be—carcinogenic? combustible? explosive?—and the towns along the rail lines that will be forced to respond to any derailment won’t know, either. 

 Board Chairman Martin Olberman defended his approval of this grotesquely-timed merger with vague assurances that transportation of dangerous chemicals by rail is safer than by truck. 

The greatest enduring threat to the residents of East Palestine is contaminated groundwater. Fast remediation — and not empty political assurances — can solve the problem. 

Aerial_view_Norfolk_Southern_freight_train_derailment_Feb_2023The director of Ohio’s Department of Health sought to assure East Palestine residents of their safety by remarking that the cancer-causing solvents from the derailment now in the town are no cause for concern, because these chemicals are already “a part of our everyday life.”

What a terribly callous, ignorant, thing for a health official to say. Just because there were some carcinogens in East Palestine before the train derailment does not excuse Norfolk Southern  dumping tens of thousands of pounds more of them onto the small town.  Plus—and the director should know this—where it comes to carcinogens, there is no such thing as a safe level.  That means that every bit dumped by Norfolk adds to the town’s danger.

Hair-relaxer-Photo-244x300Hair relaxers are the latest beauty products to come under fire because of their link to potentially dangerous health effects. New scientific evidence has emerged that suggests that the long-term use of hair relaxers is linked to increased rates of uterine cancer. More specifically, a groundbreaking new study from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has shown that women who use chemical hair straightening or relaxing products regularly are at a higher risk for developing uterine cancer than those who do not use these products. This study along with an earlier NIH study linking hair relaxer use to ovarian cancer are the reason women are filing hair relaxer lawsuits.

NIH Study Links Hair Relaxers to Uterine Cancer

 Uterine cancer is the 4th most common type of cancer in women, and Black women are twice as likely as white women to develop uterine cancer during their lifetime. The new study from the NIH may partly explain why. The study, published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute in October of 2022, found that women who used hair straightening products in the previous 12 months were more likely to be diagnosed with uterine cancer than women who had never used hair relaxers. And the risk increased with more frequent use. Women who used hair relaxers 4 times in the previous 12 months were more than twice as likely to develop uterine cancer.

Wichita-300x218I’ve been an environmental lawyer for more than 20 years, working for communities whose homes, air, and water have been polluted by industry’s careless disposal of dangerous chemicals.  I’ve seen government respond aggressively to protect its citizens under these circumstances, but more often not so aggressively.  I’ve even seen government pretend that the contamination is not as bad as it really is to justify not doing anything about it.

But I’ve never seen a state government so matter-of-factly abandon its citizens in need of protection as the State of Kansas did to the residents of more than 1,000 homes in the Historically Black neighborhoods that are located Northeast of downtown Wichita, including the Wichita Independent, Northeast Millair, and Northeast Highgate neighborhoods.

Kansas should be ashamed of itself.  It must immediately reverse course and do its duty to protect its citizens against dangerous chemical contamination.

training-ge36778761_1920-300x199We’re inching closer to that time of year when everyone starts making New Year’s resolutions to hit the gym more. If you’re one of those people, you should make an additional resolution to only buy sports bras and athletic shirts that don’t contain BPA, a dangerous hormone disruptor.

 Recent testing by the Center for Environmental Health (CEH) has discovered that 14 different brand-name companies are selling sports bras and athletic shirts that contain up to 22 times the safe limit of BPA (also known as bisphenol A). The brands affected include:

  • All in Motion (sports bras)

Camp-lejeune-service-members-graduate-college-300x221Update, July 2022: After being passed in the House and Senate, the Honoring Our PACT Act was expected to go to President Biden’s desk for his signature, but it is currently being blocked in the Senate by Mitch McConnell and the Republicans.

After years of denials by the government, Camp LeJeune veterans and their families–who were exposed to cancer-causing toxins on the military base–may be on the brink of getting their day in court.

In a long-overdue action, the House of Representatives recently passed H.R. 3967, the Honoring Our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act (Honoring Our PACT Act), a broad bipartisan bill that addresses the needs of veterans subjected to toxic exposure. Yesterday, on June 16, 2022, the Senate passed an amended version of the Act. Importantly for Camp LeJeune veterans, this bill includes the Camp LeJeune Justice Act of 2022.

hamburger-gb0d465128_1920-300x225It’s common knowledge that fast food isn’t the most nutritious dining option, but you should at least be able to expect that the hamburger or chicken nuggets you are devouring are nontoxic. That may not be the case, say researchers at George Washington University. A new study published in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology has revealed that most of the food items at popular fast-food restaurants are full of chemicals known as phthalates that have been linked to a host of health problems. This is the first study to measure phthalates directly in fast food and contributes to the scientific evidence linking fast food consumption to higher levels of phthalates.

What Chemicals Did the Researchers Find?

Researchers at George Washington University bought 64 popular menu options from Burger King, Chipotle, Domino’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell and tested them for 8 common phthalates and 3 replacement plasticizers. 10 of the 11 chemicals were present at high levels in nearly all of the samples. 81% of the samples contained DnBP and 70% contained DEHP; both phthalates have been linked to fertility and reproductive issues as well as increased risks of behavioral, learning, and attention disorders in children. 86% of the samples contained DEHT, a plasticizer that is being used as a replacement for phthalates. Overall, samples that contained meat had significantly higher levels of phthalates than vegetarian options; but phthalates were still present in both types of food.

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Incense is chic again.

You have only to see all the photos of burning incense and crystals on Instagram to know that young people are following this trend. Some companies are even marketing incense as being good for your health. And while it’s true that burning incense can make your house or office smell like a calming spa; is it really a good idea? Not necessarily according to researchers.

Recent studies published in the journal Nature have revealed some surprising health risks linked to burning incense indoors which may make you reconsider using incense to create a calming, patchouli-scented environment. Here are some of the harmful health effects linked to incense burning:

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The Collins Law Firm, P.C. has initiated a Class Action lawsuit against Chemtool Incorporated, seeking damages for the devastating explosion that took place at their Rockton, Illinois plant on June 14, 2021.

The explosion caused a massive chemical fire that produced a gigantic cloud of harmful smoke, ash, and debris, visible from a distance of 100 miles. Eighty-nine firefighting departments were deployed to assist in battling the inferno.

Following the fire, Winnebago County officials declared a state of emergency and imposed a mandatory evacuation order for all residents residing within a one-mile radius of the plant. The affected individuals were instructed not to return to their homes, even to retrieve essential items such as medication, communication devices, or personal belongings.

Tear-gas-242x300The images are everywhere on the news; protesters, exercising their Constitutionally protected right to free speech, fleeing from clouds of tear gas thrown by the police. What we have seen protesters enduring in recent months has been downright inhumane. Setting aside the fact that protesters are being abused by law enforcement for no justifiable reason, the “riot control agents”–often referred to as tear gas–that the police are using on protesters, have been banned from international warfare by the Geneva Protocol since 1925. So why on earth do we still allow tear gas to be used on citizens by the very people who are meant to protect them?

Our government’s casual use of tear gas against peaceful protesters suggests that these chemicals are not being used to control “riots”—they are often used when there clearly is no riot—but instead to punish and discourage Constitutionally protected dissent.

What is a Riot Control Agent?

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