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The concerns raised by environmental health scholars are similar to those raised by researchers looking at pesticides. Most people would be surprised, however, to learn there is a shocking lack of rigorous testing and regulation of chemicals in the United States. One would expect our food supply to be well regulated, but in far too many cases the three federal government agencies that bear responsibility for some aspect of food safety have not been exercising adequate oversight. These agencies are the FDA, the USDA (US Department of Agriculture), and the EPA.
A large number of studies have demonstrated the health challenges you face when you sit for long hours each day. Inactivity promotes the development of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and obesity, to name just a few chronic conditions associated with being sedentary. Unfortunately, a highly technological society does not, by its very nature, encourage a great deal of activity.
On 10 August this year, a California jury ruled that Roundup, the world’s most widely used herbicide, caused the terminal cancer of Dewayne Johnson, who was formerly a groundskeeper of a school near San Francisco. The jury directed Monsanto, the agricultural biotechnology corporation that owns Roundup, to pay Johnson $289 million—Rs 2116 crore—in punitive and compensatory damages.
Using satellite data, the Health Effects Institute found that 95 percent of the world is breathing polluted air. Their statistics are based on outdoor sources of pollution, including transportation vehicles, industrial activity and coal power plants. Although these numbers are considerable, they are likely conservative and do not account for small particulate pollution in your home.
Almost two decades into the twenty-first century, the state of children’s health in the U.S. could scarcely be more distressing. With many seemingly disparate health trends converging, over half of all children have at least one chronic condition. Obesity and autism are two of the conditions that have witnessed the most dramatic increases.
After months of intense public pressure from progressive lawmakers like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and company employees who shared their harrowing stories of low pay, long hours, and brutal warehouse conditions, Amazon announced on Tuesday that it is raising its minimum wage to $15 an hour for all of its US workers by next month.
The year is 1992. John Gotti is going to prison, Whitney Houston and Dolly Parton are feuding, Sinead O’Connor is ripping up a photo of the pope on Saturday Night Live, and everyone is just finding out that cotton is the fabric of their lives.
Oregon is considered by many to be among the most environmentally friendly states in the U.S. But as many residents found out upon moving to the seemingly untouched forests of Lincoln County, aerial pesticide spraying is a major problem. It’s illegal to spray pesticides by air in national forests (and has been since 1984).
According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), air temperatures there are increasing at an “unprecedented rate” — twice as fast as they are around the rest of the globe. NOAA’s 2017 Arctic Report Card states unequivocally that the Arctic “shows no sign of returning to reliably frozen region of recent past decades.”
Dietary fats can be tricky business, as they're not all the same. While some are necessary for optimal health, others need to be balanced and some need to be avoided altogether, and understanding which is which is quite crucial, considering how important fats are for optimal health.
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