November 3rd, 2011

Another wonderful video production from our project California Watch.

californiawatch:

Living in industry’s shadow: After years of illnesses, family looks for answers

The Martin family lives 10 minutes from downtown Los Angeles, in a neat yellow house in a city called Maywood.

Starting a few blocks from their home, nearly 2,000 factories churn out Southern California’s hot dogs, pesticides, patio furniture and other products. Trucks rumble off the I-710 freeway into sprawling freight rail yards. Odors of rotting animal carcasses waft through the family’s windows on hot summer nights.

The Martins also have endured years of illness.

The USC Annenberg Dennis A. Hunt Fund for Health Journalism and California Watch commissioned tests to measure the family’s exposure levels to dangerous metals and industrial byproducts.

Reblogged from California Watch
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July 26th, 2011

Climate change could release toxins trapped in arctic ice

Despite a global decrease in the production of certain toxic chemicals, we may be in for an onslaught.

That’s because rising global temperatures are causing the release of persistent organic pollutants, such as DDT and PCBs, which have been locked in arctic ice for more than half a century.

Although the chemicals were created to provide societal benefits, such as killing mosquitoes and protecting crops, it didn’t take long for scientists to see they were having devastating effects on the environment.

Studies have shown many of these chemicals can cause cancer, birth defects and other health problems. And they don’t just wash away. Persistent organic pollutants, as the class of chemicals is known, stick around for decades before finally breaking down. Read more.

Photo: U.S. Geological Survey/Flickr

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