toxic

16 Stories

Wealthy Town Fears a Common Building Practice Haunts Them

Wall Street Journal looks at how residents of NC's Mooresville worry over toxic coal ash, cancer rates

(Newser) - For residents of Mooresville, North Carolina, it's a matter of connecting the dots, and the Wall Street Journal lays them out. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, local builders bought tons of coal ash from Duke Energy and used it a cheap substitute for dirt. Last year, the EPA said...

Rolling Stone: Fallon Staffers Live in Fear of 'Bad Jimmy Days'

Article alleges a 'toxic' environment at 'Tonight Show'

(Newser) - Rolling Stone magazine is out with a lengthy report that alleges a "toxic" environment on the set of the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. It starts with the host himself, according to the report, which quotes 14 former staffers and two current ones to that effect. On what...

If You're Headed to the Beach in California, a Warning

Potentially aggressive sea lions are turning up after being sickened by toxic algae bloom

(Newser) - As Americans flock to the shores for the Fourth, a warning has been issued for Southern Californians: Watch out for potentially aggressive sea lions. Dr. Alissa Deming of the Pacific Marine Mammal Center tells NPR that the sea lions, as well as common dolphins, are washing ashore "unaware, dazed,...

NPS' Latest Warning Is a 'Toad-Ally Terrifying' One

Agency issues directive to visitors to not lick toxic Sonoran desert toads in the parks

(Newser) - It's the warning from the National Park Service we didn't know we needed: Stop licking the toads. It's one type of toad in particular—the Sonoran desert toad (also known as the Colorado river toad), which NPR describes as a creature that's about 7 inches long...

Awful-Smelling Foam Is Invading This City

Toxic foam from polluted river has become the bane of Mosquera, a suburb of Bogota, Colombia

(Newser) - Playing in foam is usually fun—think bubble baths when you were a kid. But in the streets of one suburb of Bogota, Colombia, residents flee toxic clouds of the stuff wafting over from a nearby polluted river, bringing an unpleasant odor and suspected to be the cause of a...

Current, Former Blue Origin Staff Pen Scathing Essay

Former comms chief says Jeff Bezos' company ignores safety concerns

(Newser) - "Blue Origin's culture sits on a foundation that ignores the plight of our planet, turns a blind eye to sexism, is not sufficiently attuned to safety concerns, and silences those who seek to correct wrongs." So claim 21 current and former employees of Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company...

With Nowhere to Land, Geese Descend, Die On Toxic Water

Their usual landing site, several others were mostly frozen

(Newser) - A "perfect storm" of a late migration and a snowstorm left thousands of snow geese dead in the toxic waters of an old mine pit in Montana last week, authorities say. A spokesman for the Montana Resources mine company says witnesses described the scene as "700 acres of...

How a Florida Tree Can Make You Go Blind

Best not to touch a machineel

(Newser) - Visiting Florida? South America? Keep an eye out for machineel trees, because as Sploid points out, while they look perfectly harmless, they can be deadly. It's a pretty impressive (and lethal) resume: Standing under one in the rain can cause blistering when the drops hit you, its sap can...

3 Extra Sodas Per Day Can Kill You

 3 Extra Sodas 
 Per Day Can 
 Kill You 
study says
Aug 17, 2013 1:20 PM CDT

3 Extra Sodas Per Day Can Kill You

Study shows that a "safe" diet is not so safe

(Newser) - A steady diet of sodas could hinder your ability to reproduce or even shorten your life, if lab mice are any indication. Researchers at the University of Utah gave mice a diet of 25% sugar—equivalent to three extra sodas per day in people—and found the males less likely...

Japanese MP Takes Dare to Drink Fukushima Water

Gulp designed to prove it's safe

(Newser) - Under pressure from journalists to prove that decontaminated water from the Fukushima area is safe, Japanese lawmaker Yasuhiro Sonoda downed a glass of water taken from puddles underneath the reactors themselves during a news conference today, his hands visibly shaking as he did so, the BBC reports. But he did...

McDonald's Recalls Toxic Shrek Glasses

Paint used in glasses contains cadmium

(Newser) - McDonald's has put out a recall on some 12 million Shrek: Forever After drinking glasses, after a gentle prodding from the Consumer Product Safety Commission. An anonymous tip to Rep. Jackie Speiers last week revealed that the paint on the glasses contains the toxic metal cadmium, a carcinogen that can...

Wal-Mart Yanks Toxin-Tainted Miley Cyrus Jewelry

AP investigation finds high levels of cadmium

(Newser) - Wal-Mart is yanking a line of Miley Cyrus bracelets and necklaces after an Associated Press investigation turned up dangerous levels of toxic cadmium in the jewelry. Long-term exposure to cadmium, a known carcinogen, can lead to bone softening and kidney failure, and hinder brain development in the young. It's only...

Test Finds Mercury in Every Fish

A quarter contaminated beyond EPA safety limit

(Newser) - Catch a fish in one of America's streams, and there's a good chance it will have at least trace amounts of mercury. The most comprehensive survey to date from the US Geological Survey tested more than 1,000 fish from nearly 300 streams around the nation—and found mercury in...

Aussies Croak Toxic Toads
 Aussies Croak 
 Toxic Toads 
Mar 29, 2009 8:45 AM CDT

Aussies Croak Toxic Toads

(Newser) - Aussies killed thousands of "toxic" cane toads today in an annual hunting festival to help reduce their ravenous numbers, reports the Sydney Morning Herald. The toads were introduced in 1935 from South American to eat pest beetles, but they now number in the millions and are driving out local...

Mattel Recalls 18M More Toys Made in China

9M sold in US; toys contain hazardous magnets, lead-tainted paint

(Newser) - Mattel today announced a second, much bigger recall of Chinese-made toys that may be hazardous: 18 million of them worldwide, and 9 million in the US. The recalled items  include play sets containing magnets that can be dangerous when swallowed and die-cast cars that contain lead paint. The play sets...

Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger
Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger
Jul 20, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

Feds Hid Toxic Trailer Danger

Refused to conduct tests even after a death

(Newser) - Some 120,000 Hurricane Katrina victims lived in emergency trailers for months, even though FEMA knew they were toxic, with formaldehyde levels 75 times the safety threshold, the Washington Post reports. Officials suppressed the the information and failed to order tests, emails show, because they didn't want to do anything...

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