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What’s New? Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) embarked on a critical Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) supplemental risk evaluation of 1,4-dioxane [PDF, 8.7MB]– a highly carcinogenic chemical that contaminates drinking water supplies across the country and is present in products, such as cleaning supplies and personal care products. This draft supplemental risk evaluation represents …

New Mexico communities know the stakes for climate change are high — hotter and drier conditions threaten public health, livelihoods, and cultural and recreational resources, as they lead to increased drought, extended and more extreme wildfire seasons, and extreme heat. Those impacts are projected to get much worse in the coming decades, without serious and …

By Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals, Klara Matouskova, PhD, Consultant, and Maricel Maffini, PhD, Consultant What Happened? In our new study, we evaluated Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) notices—a total of 403 between 2015-2020—that food manufacturers voluntarily submitted to FDA for review. Our goal was to determine whether industry was adhering to FDA’s Guidance on Best Practices for …

Enthusiasm for hydrogen as a climate-friendly fuel of the future is everywhere. Hundreds of hydrogen energy projects worth more than $500 billion have been announced, and The International Energy Agency says hydrogen demand could increase sixfold by 2050. Scientists, though, are confident that this leak-prone gas can warm the climate when …

What’s New? For the first time, FDA has provided guidance on how to evaluate whether metal cookware is prohibited due to lead leaching into food. As part of an investigation to find the source of elevated blood lead levels in some refugee children, the Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County, Washington [1] encountered high …

What’s New? EPA recently asked its Board of Scientific Counselors (BOSC), comprised of experts in the fields of toxicology and environmental chemistry, to make recommendations on implementing new approach methods (NAMs) for testing the safety of new chemicals. NAMs encompass a wide array of new evaluation strategies, including testing cell lines or invertebrates (rather than …

Seaweed is having a moment. I’ve been working on seaweed for 40 years, and I’ve never seen so many headlines about how seaweed can save the planet.  I can understand why. The need to save the planet is more pressing than ever. We must now dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and, at the same time,

Traditional aquaculture paired with modern science could make for environmentally friendly, sustainable fishing. 

Methane is kind of like carbon dioxide's pesky younger sibling. It's often overlooked, but it can still do a lot of damage in a short time. This article explains the impact of methane on the climate, sources of methane pollution, how to reduce methane pollution, and why cutting methane is the fastest way to slow climate change. 

Learn about the dangers of forever chemicals in drinking water, how to protect your family, and what steps the EPA is taking to ensure your safety. Stay informed and stay healthy with expert Tom Neltner.

Rapidly slashing the world's methane emissions could help save the Arctic's summer sea ice, slow climate change and protect countless animals that call sea ice home. 

Amanda Leland, Executive Director at Environmental Defense Fund, on why supporting farmers, fishers and food producers is critical to ensuring abundant food for a growing population in a warming world.

  By Ilissa Ocko and Steven Hamburg Hydrogen emissions from leakage, venting and purging leads to global warming, new research confirms. To take advantage of the potential benefits of switching from fossil fuel systems to hydrogen, we need to keep emissions at a minimum, and doing so will depend on the development of new instruments …

By Ari Pottens and Maureen Lackner New research confirms that cutting methane emissions from the oil and gas sector is one of the fastest and most affordable steps Canada can take to help address the climate crisis. According to the report by Dunsky Energy + Climate Advisors, Canada’s upstream oil and gas companies can eliminate …

Emissions analysis, which includes impacts of transformative federal investments, finds that leadership states are projected to fall short of their goals and must adopt strong policy to drive U.S. progress.

As regulators pursue accurate emissions inventories, the methane measurement industry is ready with a variety of available and cost-effective technologies capable of tracking methane pollution.

By Adam Peltz & Kate Roberts This week, the Department of the Interior announced nearly $660 million in grant funding to plug orphan wells across the U.S., adding to $560 million in initial funding from last summer. The news comes on the heels of new research led by researchers at McGill University and EDF experts …

An expedition of Cuban scientists departs July 10 to study Cuban coral reefs in one of the largest scientific efforts in Cuban waters to date.

By Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals Initiative, Environmental Defense Fund and Charlotte Brody, National Director, Healthy Babies Bright Futures Key Message The scientific consensus is that there is no known safe level of lead exposure, and that no environment or home is truly free of lead. With a few exceptions, we think it is …

Deep Dive: Read our Deep Dives blog for an in-depth analysis on the data that drove the 2023 allocation of federal funding for lead service line replacements. What’s New: EPA recently estimated there are 9.2 million lead service lines (LSLs) in the nation’s drinking water infrastructure based on information reported by states and water utilities. This …

New airborne instrument will track methane across North America ahead of 2024 satellite launch, providing first comprehensive tally of emissions from both large and small sources

Last week Governor Hobbs and the Arizona Department of Water Resources (ADWR) released a new analysis of groundwater in the Phoenix metro area. News broke around the country with headlines questioning the viability of future development in the region. But, what does this new analysis actually mean for Arizona? Let’s dive in.  What does this …

Maricel Maffini, consultant, and Tom Neltner, Senior Director, Safer Chemicals What Happened A recent peer-reviewed publication criticized FDA’s criteria for identifying adverse health effects associated with exposure to pathogens, chemicals, or allergens in foods. The authors gave two recent examples of the agency dismissing health concerns: a toxin created in spoiled fish that caused temporary,

A new study from EDF of satellite data shows smog intensifying in Northern India over the last 40 years. The links between meteorology, particulate emissions from both urban and rural areas suggests mitigation measures across the region could benefit communities.