Category: Public health
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The water is contaminated. But California bottled water program isn’t helping this town
A failed 50-year-old well in late May meant boiling water for Earlimart residents. But even as the boil order was recently lifted, many are fearful of contaminated tap water, relying on bottled water for the indefinite future. The cost of buying cases of bottled water for cooking and drinking is adding up for residents of…
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Why limiting PFAS in drinking water is a challenge in the US
Andrea Amico (center) joined with Michelle Dalton (left) and Alayna Davis to form a community group seeking tests of those who drank PFAS-polluted water, including their children, at a redeveloped Air Force base. Credit: AP The EPA faces legal and other hurdles as it attempts to regulate PFOA and PFOS An article in the local…
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Study finds pharmaceuticals, other chemicals in remote Minnesota lakes
Photo: A remote lake in Cook County, Minn. A three-year study by the University of Minnesota, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and the Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa found pharmaceuticals and other chemicals in 28 lakes in northeastern Minnesota, including some with little or no human development. Courtesy Grand Portage Band of Lake…
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Costa Rica Decrees a Law that Designates Water as a Basic Human Right
WATER IS AN ESSENTIAL NATURAL RESOURCE FOR ALL LIVING BEINGS In the framework of the World Environment Day, the President of Costa Rica, Carlos Alvarado, signed a law that guarantees access to water as a basic human right. In addition to being an essential and inalienable natural resource for humanity. The Costa Rican leader stated:…
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Government is Scaling Back Water Quality Protections. Surfers are Picking up the Slack.
Photo: A surfer rides a wave against the industrial backdrop of Lake Michigan. (Credit: Mike Killion/Courtesy of Surfrider) Decades ago, California surfers decided to fight coastal pollution. Today, their massive network of citizen scientists is monitoring water quality in places the government doesn’t. In 1984, a small group of California surfers were fed up with…
