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Bio Related Events |
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OTTAWA - The federal government has officially listed
microbeads as a
toxic substance, giving it the ability to ban the plastic beads used
in cleansers. An
online notice published says the tiny plastic beads commonly found
in facial and body scrubs is now listed as a toxic substance under the
Environmental Protection Act, which gives the government the option to
control their use or institute an outright ban.
(CP)
Disaster you've never heard about LOS ANGELES - The US government deliberately hid 'the worst nuclear disaster in US history,' according to experts and an in-depth investigation by NBC4 Southern California. (zerohedge) MORE: Disaster cover-up North American Aviation Sodium Reactor Experiment
Researchers have found heavy metals leaking from unlined coal ash
ponds near 21 power plants in 5 US states: Tennessee, Kentucky,
Georgia, Virginia, and North Carolina.
High levels of heavy metals, including arsenic and selenium,
were found in surface waters or groundwater at all of the sites
tested. (Duke University)
Environment watchdog spring report
OTTAWA - A new report by the federal environmental watchdog says
Health Canada isn't doing enough to protect Canadians from hazardous
chemicals in household and cosmetic products.
(CBC) REPORT:
2016 Spring Reports of the Commissioner of the Environment and
Sustainable Development
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
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
H5N1
H1N1 in lungs of child who died
NB woman dies, H1N1 strain
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)
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
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 |
MONTREAL - Myriam Ducre-Lemay, 20, had recently met the boy when she went to his house to spend the night after a party in 2012, her mother said. After the boyfriend ate a peanut butter sandwich for a late-night snack, he returned to the bedroom and gave Myriam the fatal kiss, the mother, Micheline Ducre, told the Journal De Quebec. (Daily Mail) MORE: Coroner's report prompts allergies concerns
WASHINGTON - Everyday items like non-stick cookware, children's toys,
cosmetics, pizza boxes, and cellphones release toxic chemicals into
the air that settle into the dust inside your home, a revelation that
new research is linking to a host of serious health problems.
(CTV) REPORT:
Potentially harmful chemicals widespread in household dust
MISSISSIPPI MILLS - Officials have confirmed the National Fire
Laboratory is the source of chemicals that contaminated the drinking
water. (CBC)
More than half the world's population is infected with the form of the herpes virus that causes cold sores, according to new numbers from the WHO. The study, published in the journal PLoS ONE, reports that 3.7B people under age 50 carry herpes simplex virus Type 1 (HSV-1). (CTV)
CHANGZHOU - The opening of the new 153-acre campus of the Changzhou Foreign Languages School last fall was supposed to mark a bright new era for the institution's 2,500 seventh-through-12th-graders. An expose aired on state-run China Central Television found nearly 500 students had developed illnesses - including cancer - and quoted experts saying their ailments were likely linked to toxins in the soil and water, including chloroform and benzene. (LA Times)
KHARKIV - More than 20 Ukrainian soldiers have died and over 200 soldiers are hospitalized in a short period of time because of new and deadly virus, which is immune to all medicines. Donetsk People's Republic intelligence has reported that California Flu is leaked from the same place where research of this virus has been carried out. (DNI news)
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
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.
(SunMedia)
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
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
New research has found that more than 5.5M people die prematurely each year due to household and outdoor air pollution. (CTV) PREVIOUS: Air pollution deadly 7M deaths linked to air pollution |
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Residents not told about bad air VICTORIA - The BC NDP went on the attack in Question Period 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) |
Get phthalates out 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. MORE: Children win claim EU's discarded computers are poisoning Africa's kids |
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GENEVA - Declaring that the Zika virus is 'spreading explosively,' the chief of the WHO announced that it will hold an emergency meeting of independent experts to decide if the virus outbreak should be declared an international health emergency. (CBC) |
Few cases brought back to Canada What makes a public health emergency Case of sexually transmitted Zika virus Virus to spread across Americas |
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West Africa's ongoing Ebola outbreak reached its catastrophic scale because of the failure of a variety of international agencies and the lack of global health rapid response capacity, a new report by MSF says. (CP) |
2014 West Africa Ebola outbreak Canadian vaccine seems to work Vaccine trial proves successful |
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Ebola 'could
lead to failed states'
2nd care worker tests positive
Screening 'mostly a waste of time' |
2014 Time 'Person of the Year' Sierra Leone banning Christmas 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. (SunMedia) |
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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Unreported sources of pollution The unreported sources of toxic sulfur dioxide emissions are clusters of coal-burning power plants, smelters and oil and gas operations in the Middle East, Mexico and Russia that were found in an analysis of satellite data from 2005-2014. Satellite finds unreported toxic air pollution
WHO global urban ambient air pollution Common chemicals when combined Pollution in area with cancer spikes |
10M people at risk from pollution The world's most polluted places Canadian health measures 2007-09 BPA present in 91% of Canadians Chemicals pollute Ontario's leaders Cancer cases 'to hit 300,000 annually India's tea bosses on polluted water |
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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) |
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: Hanjin Cobalt-60 |
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DHAKA - An estimated 20M people in Bangladesh are still being poisoned by arsenic-tainted water - a number that has remained unchanged from 10 years ago despite years of action to dig new wells at safer depths, according to a new report released by Human Rights Watch. (AP) |
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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 |
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) |
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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) |
Just passing through 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. PREVIOUS: 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 |
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The level of mercury found in the umbilical cords of babies in Grassy Narrows First Nation was high enough to affect their brain development. Between 1978 and 1994 Health Canada tested the umbilical cord blood of 139 infants in Grassy Narrows. (Toronto Star) |
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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: AbitibiBowater Resolute Forest Products |
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) |
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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: 85,000 radioactive baby teeth |
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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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. |
OTTAWA - Tailings ponds from oilsands production are leaking and contaminating AB groundwater. (PostMedia) PREVIOUS: Canadian oil sands |
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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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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 Vancouver moves to ban bottled water |
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CHICAGO - At least 33 cities across 17 US states have used water testing 'cheats' that potentially conceal dangerous levels of lead, a Guardian investigation launched in the wake of the toxic water crisis in Flint, Michigan, has found. (Guardian UK) |
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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) |
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1st case in North America confirmed VANCOUVER - North America's first human case of the H7N9 virus has been confirmed in BC. A couple in their 50s from BC's lower mainland recently returned from a trip to China and began developing symptoms of a flu-like illness within a day or two of each other. (CTV)
Husband
confirmed as 2nd bird flu case |
Bird flu spreads to far western China Fox Series: Bird Flu: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 China in national bird flu alert Bird Flu drug rendered useless Supermarkets braced for turkey recall
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HANDFORD SITE - The Hanford Site in Washington State began operating in 1943 as part of the Manhattan Project to produce plutonium for the nation's nuclear weapons program. Most of the $19B has gone to contractors to treat the hazardous and increasingly volatile material, but 'to date, no waste has been treated (.pdf),' according to a recent GAO report. (Daily Caller) |
Underground nuclear tanks leaking Study: No radiation level safe Sick DOE workers' claims languish Hanford water cleanup not working |
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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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