Higher Levels of SARS-CoV-2 Virus Detected in Some Wastewater Sites
In 2020, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with local health departments and launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) to track SARS-CoV-2 virus levels in wastewater around the country. The goal was to help health officials quickly implement policies to mitigate the spread of the virus.1 The CDC recently confirmed […]
Pollution from Face Mask Litter Up 9,000 Percent
A study that conducted by the University of Portsmouth and published in the journal Nature Sustainability found that facemask litter has increased by 9,000 percent in the first seven months of the pandemic, from March 2020 to October 2020.1 2 The findings show that facemasks are creating plastic pollution, which could last hundred of years […]
Water Fluoridation Challenged in U.S. Federal Court Case
A long-standing and polarizing debate over community water fluoridation was brought to the U.S. District Court last year when several organizations including Food & Water Watch, Inc. filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to remove fluoride from tap water under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).1 The court case, which began in […]
Bayer Pressures Mexico to Lift Ban on Glyphosate
In June 2020, agricultural and pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG was ordered to pay more than $10 billion in punitive and compensatory damages to U.S. plaintiffs over claims that the company’s glyphosate-containing herbicide known as Roundup caused cancer, specifically non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.1 The World Health Organization (WHO) classified glyphosate as a “probable carcinogen” in 20152 and many individuals, […]
Dangers of Methanol-Containing Hand Sanitizers
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health officials have maintained that people can use hand sanitizers as an alternative for hand washing to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infections. However, the widespread use of commercial disinfectant products is leading to another problem,1 and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now warning consumers and health […]
Study Shows Link Between Fine Particle Air Pollution and COVID-19 Mortality
A new nationwide study conducted by researchers at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health is the first to show a statistical link between long-term exposure to pollution and COVID-19 death rates.1 The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, shows that coronavirus patients living in areas that had high levels of air pollution […]