Public health

Levels of Benzene Found in Tonawanda's Air as High as 75 Times the Amount Allowed in NYS, Posing a Real and Present Threat to Residents' Health

October 14, 2009 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer demanded owner and CEO of the Tonawanda Coke Corporation meet with community groups and listen – in person – to their complaints about the pollution coming from the Tonawanda facility and to explore potential solutions.

In a letter to Schumer, Crane wrote that the type of allegations being made against the Tonawanda coke plant “cannot be sustained when viewed in the clear light of supportable facts, science and analysis,” and blamed the elevated benzene levels on automobile traffic.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, today applauded a study that shows that people who live in “healthy neighborhoods,” or neighborhoods with safe sidewalks, parks, public transportation and access to fresh fruits and vegetables, are 38 percent less likely to develop diabetes than people who live in less healthy neighborhoods. Diabetes is estimated to account for over $116 billion in medical costs in the U.S. each year.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement in response to the release of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that shows mercury control technologies at coal-fired power plants are achieving substantial emissions reductions at low costs.

Sen. Carper has carefully monitored mercury pollution issues as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, and he requested this GAO report to examine costs and reductions achieved by power plant mercury control technologies.

Sen. Carper said:    » read more »

Washington, Oct 8 - Congressman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) yesterday voted to pass legislation that will enhance food safety, boost rural economies, protect Americans against price fluctuations for necessities, and help feed struggling families. The Agriculture Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2010 passed the U.S. House of Representatives by a vote of 263 to 162. The bill provides funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Farm Credit Administration (FCA).    » read more »

Persistent, Growing Disparities Underscore Need for National Reform

New York, NY, October 8, 2009— The cost and quality of health care, as well as access to care and health outcomes, continue to vary widely among states, according to the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System's second state scorecard report released today.    » read more »

Warns of Continuing Food Safety Issues

October 7, 2009 -- Congresswoman Louise M. Slaughter (D-NY), chair of the House Rules Committee, today spoke on the House floor to encourage members to support her legislation ending the overuse of antibiotics for livestock. Slaughter’s also warned that American farmers risk losing access to overseas markets unless we can reassure other countries that our agriculture products are safe.

Below is a copy of her remarks, delivered on the House floor this morning during the debate on the Agriculture Appropriations conference report:    » read more »

Bill Would Establish National Plan to Address Growing Asthma Epidemic

October 7, 2009 -- WASHINGTON, DC – Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Carolyn McCarthy (D-NY-4) today introduced The Family Asthma Act of 2009, a bill that would help prevent future generations of Americans from getting asthma by establishing a national strategic plan to fight the nation’s asthma epidemic. The legislation would increase funding for asthma monitoring and initiate studies of environmental factors that impact asthma attacks.    » read more »

October 6, 2009 -- Restrictions on fast-food chain restaurants in South Los Angeles are not addressing the main differences between neighborhood food environments and are unlikely to improve the diet of residents or reduce obesity, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

Researchers from RAND Health found that the South Los Angeles region has no more fast-food chain establishments on a per capita basis than other parts of the city, but rather many more small food stores and other food outlets.

Those outlets are more likely to be the source of high-calorie snacks and soda consumed substantially more often by residents of South Los Angeles as compared to other parts of the city, according to the study published online by the journal Health Affairs.    » read more »

Petition Seeks Greater Attention to Environmental Justice Considerations in Review of Mining Permits

October 5, 2009 -- Washington, D.C.: Today a coalition of Appalachian residents and community organizations submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) citing the need for the agency to address the environmental justice tragedy of mountaintop removal mining in Appalachia. The petition urges EPA to incorporate environmental justice considerations into its review of pending applications for mountaintop removal coal mining permits, among other actions.    » read more »

Announces California Received First Shipment of H1N1 Vaccine

10/05/2009 -- California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today issued Executive Order S-22-09 (EO) to support and facilitate California’s aggressive approach to addressing the spread of the H1N1 flu virus also known as the swine flu.

The Governor’s EO ensures the state has the flexibility to respond to a potential flu crisis by renewing the ability for departments to cut through contracting red tape to obtain goods and services to fight the spread of the H1N1 virus. With the EO, the state will be able to acquire services faster such as medical staff for state facilities and transportation of H1N1 vaccine and goods such as hand sanitizer and paper masks.    » read more »

October 2, 2009 -- Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the White House Office for Faith-based and Neighborhood Partnerships began distributing a new flu-response guide for community and faith-based organizations this week in an effort to reach out and educate Americans about the dangers of the new H1N1 and seasonal flu, and to reach populations who may not have access to this public health information in other ways.

The document, entitled H1N1 Flu: A Guide for Community and Faith-Based Organizations, provides information about 2009 H1N1 flu and current response activities that are relevant to communities.    » read more »

October 05, 2009 -- "The story we learned about over the weekend is unacceptable and tragic. We all know we can and should do more to protect the safety of the American people and the story in this weekend's paper will continue to spur our efforts to reduce the incidence of E. coli O157:H7. Over the last eight months since President Obama took office, USDA has been aggressive in its efforts to improve food safety, and has been an active partner in establishing and contributing to President Obama's Food Safety Working Group.    » read more »

If you have a cold, or the flu, antibiotics won't work for you

Pharmacists around the nation are joining the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to educate consumers about the appropriate use of antibiotics during this influenza season. Antibiotics are intended to treat bacterial infections, not viruses like the flu. The CDC is observing the second annual Get Smart About Antibiotics Week October 5-11, 2009.

The Get Smart: Know When Antibiotics Work program reaches parents, pharmacists and health care providers through print advertisements, fact sheets, brochures, posters, radio and print public service announcements, podcasts, and mainstream media interviews.    » read more »

Number of poor air quality days declines from 76 to three statewide

October 02, 2009 -- RICHMOND – Virginia Governor Timothy M. Kaine today announced significant improvements in Virginia's air quality during the past decade. Between 1999 and 2009, the Commonwealth saw a 96 percent decrease in the number of days that exceeded the national air quality standard for ground-level ozone at monitoring stations statewide, with summer 2009 standing out as the best year on record.    » read more »

Sept. 29, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- Plumes of harmful air pollutants can be transported across oceans and continents -- from Asia to the United States and from the United States to Europe -- and have a negative impact on air quality far from their original sources, says a new report by the National Research Council.

Although degraded air quality is nearly always dominated by local emissions, the influence of non-domestic pollution sources may grow as emissions from developing countries increase and become relatively more important as a result of tightening environmental protection standards in industrialized countries.    » read more »