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ANTANANARIVO
- An outbreak of the
Plague
has killed 40 people out of 119 confirmed cases in Madagascar since
late August and there is a risk of the disease spreading rapidly in
the capital.
(Reuters)
SILIGURI - The death toll from Encephalitis outbreak in north Bengal has climbed to 102 while the disease has spread its tentacles to Assam as well taking 43 lives there. (Indian Express) MORE: Outbreak
OTTAWA - The federal government has
underestimated the cost of cleaning up contaminated sites under its
jurisdiction by at least $2B, according to an estimate by the
parliamentary budget officer.
(CBC) REPORT:
Federal contaminated sites cost
.pdf
VANCOUVER - Federal officials say avian
influenza has been detected in a 9th
poultry barn in BC's Fraser Valley.
(Globe & Mail) PREVIOUS:
5th farm
Countries ban Canadian poultry
The WHO says it is confident that the bird
flu virus will not spread in Canada after an Alberta nurse who had
recently travelled to China died of the virus. (CTV)
PREVIOUS:
H5N1 death
Family statement
H5N1
H1N1 in lungs of child who died
NB woman dies, H1N1 strain
WASHINGTON - The FDA says there is no evidence that antibacterial chemicals used in liquid soaps and washes help prevent the spread of germs. (AP) Ruling
E-waste - all those discarded electrical or electronic devices, from cell phones and TVs to tablets and computers. (Toronto Star) MORE: Toxic 'e-waste' dumped in poor nations StEP World e-waste map
A list of 10 filthy sites, from Russia to Indonesia to Ghana, has been amassed by the global environmental group The Blacksmith Institute - which says 200M people are endangered daily in the top 10 places alone. (Daily Mail) REPORT: Top toxic sites 2013 .pdf 10 most toxic places World's worst polluted places
TORONTO - A report by Environmental Defence suggests babies are exposed to chemicals in the womb because pollutants are so pervasive in the environment and products. (CP) REPORT: Pre-polluted |
Plain old bad luck plays a major role in determining who gets cancer and who does not, according to researchers who found that two-thirds of cancer incidence of various types can be blamed on random mutations and not heredity or risky habits like smoking. (CBC) REPORT: Crunching the numbers
TORONTO - A Health Canada study has found no
evidence to support a link between exposure to wind-turbine noise and
health effects reported by people living near the towering structures.
(CP)
The World Health Organization has declared polio a 'public health emergency of international concern,' marking only the second time the UN agency has given such a designation after the H1N1 flu pandemic in 2009. (Toronto Star)
OTTAWA - Dr. Klaus Nielsen was arrested in
October 2012 with 17 vials of potentially lethal brucella bacteria
placed on ice in a kid's lunch bag and stowed in his suitcase as he
prepared to leave Ottawa.
(QMI)
The WHO's International Agency for Research on Cancer said cancer was growing "at an alarming pace" worldwide and new strategies were needed to curb the sometimes fatal and often costly disease. (Reuters) REPORT: WHO: World cancer report 2014 World Cancer Day 2014 Focus on global spread of cancer Cancer 'tidal wave' on horizon
GENEVA - 7M people died as a result of air pollution in 2012, the World Health Organization estimates. (BBC) REPORT: 7M deaths linked to air pollution
Canada's mercury-waste facilities are either patchwork or non-existent as millions of light bulbs containing the highly toxic chemical are set to flood the marketplace. So-called compact fluorescent lamps, or CFLs, will also enter the waste stream as they break or burn out, many destined for landfills where their harmful mercury can get into the water. (CP)
QUEBEC - The average IQ of children whose tap water was in the upper 20% of manganese concentration was 6 points below children whose water contained little or no manganese, the researchers found. (CBC) |
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Residents not told about bad air VICTORIA - The BC NDP went on the attack in Question Period Thursday wanting to know why the Liberal government has remained silent for 18 months after learning about dangerously high pollution levels in Prince George. In some areas, concentrations of formaldehyde were 20 times higher than what is considered safe in BC. (CTV) |
OTTAWA - Conceding a decade-old voluntary ban on hormone-disrupting chemicals in children's toys hasn't worked, Health Canada announced new regulations requiring toy companies to get phthalates out of soft vinyl toys. (CanWest) MORE: 'Rubber ducky' BPA gets attention Children win claim EU's discarded computers are poisoning Africa's kids |
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KONO DISTRICT - Ebola has killed 6,346 people in West Africa, with more than 17,800 infected. (BBC)
2014 Time
'Person of the Year' Sierra Leone banning Christmas |
2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak |
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Ebola 'could
lead to failed states'
2nd care worker tests positive
Screening 'mostly a waste of time' |
Liberia's chief medical officer
Liberia finds
'missing patients' Liberia creates 'plague villages' |
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Ebola victim dies in Saudi Arabia Ethics of using experimental drugs |
8 bodies found in village latrine Crowd attacks treatment centre |
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WINNIPEG - A Winnipeg couple are living in a government-owned house that exposes them to potentially deadly radon gas at levels exceeding the government's own guidelines. (CBC) |
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Measles, all but wiped out by 2002, has begun resurfacing in Canada this year. The BC outbreak involves a church group in Chilliwack that doesn't believe in vaccinations. (QMI) |
Confirmed in Edmonton |
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Canada's dying asbestos industry was dealt another blow with Minister Christian Paradis announcing that the federal government will no longer oppose global rules that restrict use and shipment of the substance. (CBC) |
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BUCHANS - Every resident in the small central Newfoundland community of Buchans has been told they should get a blood test to find out if they've been poisoned by lead. (CBC) |
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EDMONTON - Other pollutants, including some known to cause cancer, also measured well above normal. And cancer rates linked to those chemicals were found to be higher in communities closest to the so-called Industrial Heartland. (CP) Air quality in the heartland of AB Pollution in area with cancer spikes Air pollution leading cause of cancer deaths .pdf National illness cost of air pollution Cancer prevalence in the population Polluting firms can be forced to pay |
Alberta embarks on toxin testing Study links bad air to early deaths 10M people at risk from pollution The world's most polluted places Dirty air in arenas could pose risk Cancer hotspots linked to industry Cancer linked to industrial activity Canadian health measures 2007-09 BPA present in 91% of Canadians Contaminants found in Canadians Study finds pollutants in samples Chemicals pollute Ontario's leaders |
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Teck treated the Columbia River as a free waste disposal system for decades, said a Washington state judge who has ruled the Canadian company is liable for the cost of cleaning up the contamination of the river south of the border. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Century of slag |
MONTREAL - The Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) has sounded the alarm, ordering that a shipping container be removed from the Port of Montreal after its contents tested positive for radioactivity. (CBC) MORE: CNSC issued an order Hanjin Cobalt-60 |
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CALGARY - High levels of toxic pollutants in Alberta's Athabasca River system are linked to oilsands mining, researchers have found. (CBC) |
OTTAWA - Tailings ponds from oilsands production are leaking and contaminating AB groundwater. (PostMedia) PREVIOUS: Canadian oil sands |
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Cosmetics contain heavy metals Many of the makeup products that Canadian women apply every day contain a number of toxic heavy metals - and some contain arsenic and lead levels that exceed Health Canada recommended limits. (CTV) REPORT: Lead in lipstick FDA lipsticks and lead |
A probe conducted by Marketplace tested the effectiveness of chemical retardants in upholstered furniture and also examined their potential health risks. Environmental and health researchers are also concerned that some of the chemicals are linked to a wide range of health problems. (CBC) |
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The substance is coal tar sealant, a waste product of steel manufacturing that is used to protect pavement and asphalt against cracking and water damage, and to impart a nice dark sheen. It is applied most heavily east of the Rockies but is used in all 50 states. (Investigate West) |
As part of a three-part series, Exposed: On the Job, CBC News looked at what carcinogens are present in Canadian workplaces and how Canadian regulations stand up. (CBC) MORE: North's limits weakest in Canada Fewer Canadians dying from cancer |
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The study, led by University of Toronto professor Dr. Andrew Lim and published in the November edition of Annals of Neurology, emerged from research into seniors’ sleep-wake cycles. (Toronto Star) |
SEPT-ILES - Twenty doctors have quit their practice in a remote Quebec town because of plans to build a uranium mine. (CP) PREVIOUS: Government sitting on report Thetford Mines |
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SEATTLE - A federal jury cquitted WR Grace & Co. and three of its former officials of charges that they knowingly exposed residents of Libby, Mont., to asbestos poisoning associated with a mining operation and conspired to hide it. In Libby, where an estimated 1,200 residents have died or developed cancer or lung disease, the judgment dashed hopes that someone would be held accountable for decades of suffering. (LA Times) |
MONTREAL - About 50 trucks will be required to move the uranium, thought to be the last stocks of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program, to a processing facility operated by Cameco Corp. in Blind River, Ont. The 550 tonnes of concentrated natural uranium, also known as yellowcake, was purchased in a US brokered deal reported to be worth tens of millions of dollars. (Gazette) PREVIOUS: Stockpile arrives in Montreal 2004 report: No WMD stockpiles in Iraq |
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Radioactivity leaked unchecked KASHIWAZAKI - The nuclear power station at Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant pumped radioactive particles into the air for nearly 3 days after Monday’s massive Niigata earthquake. |
Radiation leak at Russian plant Environmentalists criticize storage |
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WASHINGTON - No fish can escape mercury pollution. The toxic substance was found in every fish sampled, a finding that underscores how widespread mercury pollution has become. (AP) REPORT: Mercury in stream ecosystems |
OTTAWA - The SCC says a bankrupt company doesn't have to pay to clean up the environmental mess it left in Newfoundland and Labrador. (CBC) PREVIOUS: Toxic environment AbitibiBowater Resolute Forest Products |
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SHANNON - Residents of Shannon, outside Quebec City, are seeking more than $200M in damages for health problems they say were caused by water tainted with an industrial solvent used on the military base in the 1950s. (CBC) |
VANCOUVER - The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is expected to begin euthanizing as many as 60,000 birds on a BC turkey farm as early as Monday, over fears of an H5 avian influenza outbreak. (CTV) PREVIOUS: Avian flu in BC Farms quarantined |
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VANCOUVER - With medical advances, Canadians can now learn whether they carry the genetic risk for devastating diseases. But that knowledge could come at a price, suggests a study that looked at the growth of "genetic discrimination." (CTV) World's first GM babies born |
Cities not getting true air quality TORONTO - The federal and provincial governments are lulling Ontario residents into a false sense of security about the level of pollution they're breathing in on city streets. |
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VANCOUVER - Edward Ilnicki, doing business as Valley Demolition and Design and Repair, is charged with failing to comply with handling, storage and management requirements for hazardous wastes under the Environmental Management Act and Hazardous Waste Regulations. (Vancouver Sun) |
PORT HOPE - New tests that show radiation contamination in a few Port Hope residents should compel the federal government to put the town under a health microscope, local advocates say. (Toronto Star) MORE: Self-funded study says residents contaminated 85,000 radioactive baby teeth |
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Saudi Arabia says 282 people are now confirmed to have been killed by the Mers virus, almost 100 more than initially thought. (BBC) |
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Cat parasite affects everything The parasite, toxoplasma gondii, has been transmitted indirectly from cats to roughly half the people on the planet, and it has been shown to affect human personalities in different ways. (ABC) Invasion of the brain snatchers |
Trip to outer space makes nasty bacteria nastier Space flight can increase the virulence of disease-causing microbes such as Salmonella typhimurium, the main bacterial culprit in food poisoning, say U.S. researchers. (CBC) |
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Almost 900 Canadian military personnel were exposed to radiation from nuclear weapons tests during the Cold War as well as two serious reactor accidents in Chalk River during the 1950s, according to a report produced for Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor. (Ottawa Citizen) |
First genome transplant turns one species into another ROCKVILLE, Maryland - Scientists have converted an organism into an entirely different species by performing the world's first genome transplant, a breakthrough that paves the way for the creation of synthetic forms of life. (Guardian Unlimited) Craig Venter Science |
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Effects of nanomaterials unknown OTTAWA - Not enough is known about the potential health and environmental hazards of nanomaterials - used in everything from sunscreens and drugs to car exhaust systems - and the Canadian government should review existing criteria for assessing and approving new products that contain them, says a panel of scientific experts. (CTV) |
Herbicide test pose disease threat CFB GAGETOWN - Only individuals who had direct contact with herbicides at CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick are at risk of contracting a number of diseases associated with exposure, including various cancers, Parkinson's disease and Type 2 diabetes, according to a study. (CanWest) PREVIOUS: Report on say health risk minimal |
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Slacking over sewage oversight TORONTO - Billions of litres of untreated sewage are gushing into Ontario's waterways due to aging infrastructure and poor provincial oversight, says a report by environmental group Ecojustice. The report, "Flushing out the truth," compiles the amount of sewage dumped into lakes and rivers by various Ontario municipalities in 2006 and 2007. (CP) |
Illness followed sludge on the fields Family files suit over sewage lagoon More raw sewage in local water |
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Lead exposed kids prone to violence in adult years Young children exposed to high levels of lead 25 years ago were more likely as adults to have smaller- than-normal brain structures that regulate impulses and to commit violent crimes, studies found. (Bloomberg) |
Association of lead concentrations with criminal arrests Decreased brain volume in adults with childhood lead exposure |
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TORONTO - Nurses, people who contracted SARS and their families cannot sue the Ontario government over the deadly 2003 outbreak that claimed 44 lives, Ontario's top court ruled. (CP) |
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Sample of killer flu virus found GENEVA - All samples of the killer influenza virus sent outside the United States have been destroyed except for one in Lebanon, the UN health agency said. (AP) |
Labs told to destroy flu strain College of American Pathologists (CAP) |
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China warns against unsafe, maverick research into bird flu BEIJING - China has warned maverick scientists against conducting "unsafe" research into bird flu, ordering them to seek explicit approval from the authorities first. (China News) WHO reports Tamiflu-resistant flu Bird flu cull hit by 'corruption' |
Mystery swirls around bird flu timeline China grapples with fresh bird flu Bird flu mutated in family cluster China had bird flu case years earlier Bird flu spreads to far western China Fox Series: Bird Flu: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 China says it will stop misuse China in national bird flu alert Bird Flu drug rendered useless Supermarkets braced for turkey recall |
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Cooling tower source of legionnaires' outbreak TORONTO - The source of the legionnaires disease outbreak that killed 20 residents of a Toronto nursing home has been traced to a cooling tower that was on the roof of the home. (CTV) |
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HANFORD - Covering the ground with a durable plastic or asphalt barrier is one option possible to stop the spread of radioactive waste leaking from Hanford’s underground tanks, said Jane Hedges, manager of the Department of Ecology’s nuclear waste program. (Tri-City Herald) |
Study: No radiation level safe Sick DOE workers' claims languish Hanford water cleanup not working |
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Marburg virus death toll hits 180 of 205 reported cases The World Health Organization is investigating an outbreak of Marburg hemorrhagic fever in northwestern Angola. (CNN) |
Congo's Ebola town is sealed off Marburg fever death toll tops 300 |
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