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New study finds concerning link between artificial turf and potential health threats to athletes: ‘It just boggles my mind’

by The Cool Down | March 31, 2024
New research shows that athletes who play on artificial turf are more likely to be covered in high levels of toxic chemicals used in the making of the turf. Kyla Bennett, a study co-author with the Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, told the Guardian: “In 2024, the ...

Ceremonial eagle kill at Valles Caldera authorized by parks service prompts lawsuit

by Santa Fe New Mexican | March 30, 2024
An eagle was sacrificed last year as part of a Jemez Pueblo ceremony at Valles Caldera National Preserve, drawing criticism and a federal lawsuit that accuses federal officials of being too secretive about an event with potential ecological impacts. Public Employees for Environmental ...

PFAS Is an Almost Impossible Problem to Tackle—and It’s Probably in Your Food

by Inside Climate News | March 30, 2024
If you’ve seen the movie “Dark Waters,” you may remember the story of Virginia farmer Wilbur Tennant, whose cows mysteriously lost weight, developed tumors and died. His farm was just downstream from a landfill where Teflon manufacturer DuPont illegally dumped thousands of tons of ...

Thurston faces uphill battle defending its sewage sludge ban: Will state heed town’s warning of PFAS risk?

by FingerLakes1.com | March 30, 2024
Legal precedent is not on the side of the Town of Thurston as it prepares to defend its law banning the spread of sewage sludge on fields in a bid to protect public health. Earlier this month, a non-profit environmental group filed notice of intent to sue the EPA within 60 days for its ...

US appeals court kills ban on plastic containers contaminated with PFAS

by The Guardian | March 30, 2024
A federal appeals court in the US has killed a ban on plastic containers contaminated with highly toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” found to leach at alarming levels into food, cosmetics, household cleaners, pesticides and other products across the economy. “The court did not dispute ...

Sewage Sludge Danger

by Living On Earth | March 29, 2024
Millions of acres of cropland in the U.S. may be contaminated from PFAS-tainted sewage sludge spread on fields as fertilizer. These “forever chemicals” are taken up by plants and then consumed by livestock and people, making them sick. Kyla Bennett of Public Employees for Environmental ...

Advocates call on Moore, Ferguson and Jones to support an end to incineration subsidy

by Baltimore Brew | March 29, 2024
To community groups and climate-focused organizations, Maryland’s policy on trash incineration is a glaring environmental injustice. To the companies that own and operate incinerators, it’s a windfall. New Hampshire-based WIN Waste Innovations, which operates the South Baltimore ...

Synthetic Turf Fields, Forever Chemicals and the Safer Alternative: Organic Grass

by Beyond Pesticides | March 27, 2024
A preliminary experiment conducted by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) reveals concerning levels of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on the skin of soccer players and coaches after playing on artificial turf fields. The Washington Post reported on ...

EPA overstepped its authority in PFAS order: Appeals court

by CoastalReview.org | March 27, 2024
A federal appeals court has ruled that the Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its statutory authority when it ordered a Texas-based company to stop creating long-lasting toxic chemicals while manufacturing plastic containers. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or ...

Inhance can continue to fluorinate plastic containers

by Chemical & Engineering News | March 27, 2024
The US Environmental Protection Agency overstepped its authority when it ordered Texas-based Inhance Technologies to stop making per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as by-products of the firm’s fluorination process, a federal appeals court ruled March 21. The decision allows ...

Debate about safety of synthetic turf and ‘forever chemicals’ raises concerns for some

by ABC News | March 27, 2024
The grass may be greener if it’s made of synthetic turf, but some communities are raising concerns about “forever chemicals” that may be found in many of the faux fields. “Think about the wisdom of putting down acres of plastic in the year 2024… and then ...

EPA to scrutinize ‘forever chemicals’ in wastewater, sewage

by E&E News | March 26, 2024
EPA is collecting data on “forever chemicals” in wastewater that eventually make their way to rivers and streams across the nation, a move that could inform future limits on the substances. While the data collection is a welcome step, EPA should have begun gathering the information “ ...

National Park Service Sued Over Eagle Killing At Valles Caldera National Preserve

by National Parks Traveler | March 25, 2024
The National Park Service has been sued over Director Chuck Sams’ decision to allow the Jemez Pueblo to kill an eagle in Valles Caldera National Preserve by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is asking to see the decision documents Sams relied on to authorize ...

5th Circuit curbs EPA authority under chemical safety law

by E&E News | March 22, 2024
EPA used the wrong process when it ordered a plastics company, Inhance, to stop unintentionally creating “forever chemicals,” the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in a Thursday opinion. It’s a major blow to environmental and health advocates like Kyla Bennett, ...

Study links ‘forever chemicals’ to synthetic turf playing fields

by NBC 7 San Diego | March 21, 2024
If you have a child that plays football or soccer, chances are that they’ve probably played on synthetic turf. A recent study with the Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility (PEER) — an independent watchdog group — took a closer look at what’s actually in ...

Ban turf fields in Philadelphia parks

by Philadelphia Inquirer | March 21, 2024
It’s never a good sign when a former Environmental Protection Agency official says the city was “bamboozled.” But that was how Kyla Bennett reacted when she learned Philadelphia officials were told that an artificial turf playing surface — the centerpiece of a $7.5 million ...

Earlier Springs Have Cascading Effects on Animals, Plants and Pastimes

by Inside Climate News | March 19, 2024
At a crowded town square in western Pennsylvania on Feb. 2, the world’s most famous groundhog—Punxsutawney Phil—did not cast a shadow, which legends say indicated that spring should arrive early this year. Meanwhile, recent research suggests that athletes playing on artificial turf ...

Watchdog questions BLM’s attempts at ‘culture change’

by E&E News | March 18, 2024
A watchdog group released a report Monday highly critical of the Bureau of Land Management and its attempts to improve its culture over the past three years. Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, or PEER, released the results of a 2023 federal survey that it says was never ...

Playing on Artificial Turf Could Cover Athletes in PFAS, Study Says

by EcoWatch | March 18, 2024
A new study warns that athletes playing sports on artificial turf could become covered in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, present in the turf. Researchers from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) conducted a small-scale study of young athletes, as well as ...

Climate advocates hope to clean up Maryland’s renewable energy by taking out the trash

by Baltimore Sun | March 16, 2024
Maryland law subsidizes burning trash to create energy as renewable, placing it on par with wind and solar, despite the carbon emissions and air pollution it releases. The WIN Waste incinerator in Baltimore has been categorized as Baltimore’s biggest single source of air pollution. WIN ...
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