Renewed Calls to Ban Glyphosate After Toxic Herbicide Found in 80% of US Urine Samples

Brett Wilkins | Common Dreams

"Environmental and public health advocates renewed calls to ban glyphosate after a recently published U.S. report revealed the cancer-linked herbicide—which is the active ingredient in Bayer's popular Roundup weedkiller—was found in the urine of more than 80% of study participants. Of the 2,310 urine samples taken from children and adults for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1,885 contained detectable amounts of glyphosate. [...] According to The Guardian: 'Both the amount and prevalence of glyphosate found in human urine has been rising steadily since the 1990s when Monsanto Co. introduced genetically engineered crops designed to be sprayed directly with Roundup, according to research published in 2017 by University of California San Diego School of Medicine researchers... Residues of glyphosate have been documented in an array of popular foods made with crops sprayed with glyphosate, including baby food. The primary route of exposure for children is through the diet.' Last month, the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to review its assessment that glyphosate likely poses "no unreasonable risk" to human health or the environment." Read More

Connecticut weatherization program will tackle mold, asbestos, other barriers

Lisa Prevost | Energy News Network

"A new Connecticut program is expected to help cut energy bills and improve living conditions for low-income residents throughout the state. The Statewide Weatherization Barrier Remediation Program, overseen by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, will pay for the cleanup of mold, asbestos and other health and safety barriers that can prevent homeowners from pursuing weatherization projects. [...] The new program is expected to cover the cost of remediating hazardous conditions for up to 1,000 income-eligible households over the next three years. The program will draw from a utility-maintained list of some 20,000 homes that have been deferred from participation in the state’s energy efficiency programs due to barriers. After remediation, the households will receive energy efficiency improvements through either the state-managed or utility-managed weatherization programs. Those programs provide home energy audits to customers at little to no cost, while also making improvements like sealing air leaks and installing low-flow showerheads. The state’s utilities acknowledge that 25% to 30% of low-income customers cannot take advantage of these ratepayer-funded programs because of health and safety barriers in their homes. Those hazards must be cleaned up before contractors can, for example, do a blower-door test to check for air leaks or seal up all the air leaks. But remediation can be very expensive. [...] The new program will be funded with $6.65 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding. Another $1.1 million will come from the state’s annual allotment of federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, or LIHEAP, funds. While that funding has primarily gone toward home energy bill assistance, federal rules do allow for 15% to 25% to be allocated for weatherization, including remediation. The energy department anticipates another $4.4 million in LIHEAP funds will be approved for the remediation program over the next two years, spokesperson Will Healey said." Read More

Getting Hygge With It at the Green River Festival

UMass Amherst

"Residents of western Massachusetts have long marked the start of summer by the opening of the Green River Festival. Now in its 35th year, the three-day music festival held in Greenfield, Massachusetts draws a large crowd hungry for food, fun and dancing. [...] This year, thanks to students and professors in UMass Amherst’s Building and Construction Technology Program, as well as the collaborative efforts of the UMass  Department of Architecture, the Five College Architectural Studies program, and East Branch Studio, festival-goers were able to rock out at the HyggeHaus, a modular, 350 square foot, high-performance, net zero, low carbon accessory dwelling unit that served both as an auxiliary stage and as a model of sustainable living addressing both equity and the national housing shortage." Read More

Dog Vomit Slime Mold

Mary Holland | Naturally Curious

"Slime molds were once considered fungi, but no longer – neither are they plants, animals or bacteria. Biologists define them as organisms that can live freely as single cells (when food is abundant), but can also aggregate together to form multicellular reproductive structures (when food is scarce). During the part of their life cycle referred to as plasmodium, some slime molds look like gelatinous slime that slowly flows over the ground or substrate consuming fungi and bacteria. When they reach their reproductive stage, they release spores light enough to be dispersed by the wind. Dog Vomit Slime Mold (Fuligo septica), also known as Scrambled Egg Slime, is harmless to people, pets and plants. In fact, it is actually edible. In some parts of Mexico people scramble it like eggs (and call it 'caca de luna')." Read More

EPA sets wildlife protections on 3 pesticides

Marc Heller | Greenwire

"EPA has set new restrictions on the use of three commonly used pesticides, including the highly controversial chemical chlorpyrifos. In adopting new conservation measures to be required on labels, the environmental agency allows the continued use of chlorpyrifos, malathion and diazinon in various settings. The final decision follows a final biological opinion from the Fish and Wildlife Service that found potential threats to endangered species that could be addressed through additional restrictions.'These measures will not only protect listed species but will reduce potential exposure and ecological effects in these areas whenever malathion, chlorpyrifos and diazinon are used,' the agency said in a news release yesterday. EPA takes about 18 months to approve amended labels from product registrants, the agency said. Farmers and others have used the chemicals — from a class called organophosphates — for a variety of insect pests on various crops. EPA ended the use of chlorpyrifos, linked to brain damage in children, on food crops in February, although it’s still allowed for other uses like mosquito control. All the pesticides are highly toxic to mammals, fish and aquatic invertebrates, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries. EPA consulted both agencies on the biological opinion as required by federal law. Among the new limits, diazinon can no longer be applied from the air, and chlorpyrifos can’t be applied over wide areas for the control of ants, for instance. Other conservation measures are aimed at keeping pesticides out of water, and reducing the overall load of the chemicals at any time. Without additional limitations, NOAA Fisheries said, the chemicals would pose dangers to species and their habitats." Read More

Methane much more sensitive to global heating than previouslyy thought – study 

Kate Ravilious | The Guardian

"Methane is four times more sensitive to global warming than previously thought, a new study shows. The result helps to explain the rapid growth in methane in recent years and suggests that, if left unchecked, methane related warming will escalate in the decades to come. The growth of this greenhouse gas – which over a 20 year timespan is more than 80 times as potent than carbon dioxide – had been slowing since the turn of the millennium but since 2007 has undergone a rapid rise, with measurements from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration recording it passing 1,900 parts a billion last year, nearly triple pre-industrial levels. 'What has been particularly puzzling has been the fact that methane emissions have been increasing at even greater rates in the last two years, despite the global pandemic, when anthropogenic sources were assumed to be less significant,' said Simon Redfern, an earth scientist at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. About 40% of methane emissions come from natural sources such as wetlands, while 60% come from anthropogenic sources such as cattle farming, fossil fuel extraction and landfill sites. Possible explanations for the rise in methane emissions range from expanding exploration of oil and natural gas, rising emissions from agriculture and landfill, and rising natural emissions as tropical wetlands warm and Arctic tundra melts. But another explanation could be a slowdown of the chemical reaction that removes methane from the atmosphere. The predominant way in which methane is 'mopped up' is via reaction with hydroxyl radicals (OH) in the atmosphere." Read More