As electronic devices are becoming faster, smaller and cheaper, many consumers are opting to scrap their old, outdated computers and televisions for the latest technologies. But as a recent report shows, as people throw out these products, a new legacy of waste is piling up. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Transcript
As electronic devices are becoming faster, smaller and cheaper, many consumers are opting to
scrap their old, outdated computers and televisions for the latest technologies. But as a recent
report shows, as people throw out these products, a new legacy of waste is piling up. The Great
Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Electronic waste – or e-waste – is what ends up in landfills when people throw away electronic
devices such as computer monitors and television sets. The report by the Silicon Valley Toxics
Coalition tracked the amount of e-waste that ends up in landfills. Researchers found there’s more
e-waste than waste from beverage containers and disposable diapers. Electronic products can
threaten human health because they contain toxic heavy metals.
Sheila Davis headed up the Coalition’s report:
“People are starting to sit up and take notice and especially when you start having large volumes
of the material. So many states are taking notice. For example, California, Massachusetts,
Minnesota and Maine have all banned these products from landfills, e-waste from landfills.”
Yet Davis says many people in other states end up pitching their used electronics because many
recycling programs are often inconvenient and expensive.
But for now, Davis suggests people contact their local governments for more information on
where to take their used electronics.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
The Bush administration has proposed a funding increase for a nationwide program to reduce pollution from diesel school buses. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Transcript
The Bush administration has proposed a funding increase for a nationwide
program to reduce pollution from diesel school buses. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
The Environmental Protection Agency launched a program last year to cut
emissions from diesel school buses. Five million dollars was divided among
a handful of school districts nationwide. The money was used to replace or
retrofit diesel school buses with pollution control devices and to provide
cleaner burning diesel fuels. Now, the Bush administration has proposed
that an additional 65-million dollars be added to the program next year.
Tom Skinner is EPA’s Region 5 Administrator.
“The reason for the big jump is that we’ve seen the kind of success, the
kind of results that can be created by the program, and what we’ve found is
it’s tremendously effective. We started with a relatively small pilot
program with limited funding, and now is really when we’re going to kick it off, and
expand it dramatically and really reach across the country.”
Skinner says EPA hopes to replace or retrofit all diesel school bus engines
by 2010.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
The U.S. Department of Energy is facing attacks on two fronts in federal courts over the disposal of spent nuclear fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Transcript
The U.S. Department of Energy is facing attacks on two fronts in federal courts over the disposal
of spent nuclear fuel. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Dozens of nuclear power companies are suing the federal government for nearly 50-billion
dollars. The power companies allege the Department Of Energy violated a contract with them.
The companies have been paying the government to develop a nuclear waste storage site at Yucca
Mountain in Nevada. Under the contract, starting in 1998, the Department of Energy was
supposed to dispose of this spent nuclear fuel from the plants. But that hasn’t happened, so the
utilities want millions of dollars each for damages to cover the costs of storing the waste on-site.
Craig Nesbit is Director of Communications for Exelon Nuclear.
“What’s at stake is simply the costs of building the facilities to store it. The Department of
Energy’s problem is that it doesn’t have anywhere to put it right now. That’s what Yucca
Mountain is for, and Yucca Mountain has not been fully developed.”
But the federal government’s plan to store the nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain has been blocked
by the state of Nevada in courts. The cases are expected to last up to several years.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
School buses might be considered one of the safest ways for kids to get to school, but research suggests the sooty diesel exhaust is also putting their health at risk. The Environmental Protection Agency is trying several demonstration projects to clean up school buses in some schools nationwide. Parents are also becoming part of a nationwide campaign to get buses to stop idling. (Photo by Erika Johnson)
In the last few years, researchers have discovered links between the exhaust fumes from diesel buses and rising asthma rates in children. Scientists and environmentalists have called on the government to crack down on diesel emissions from school buses. But as parents learn about the risk to their kids, they’re not waiting around for the government. They’re doing something right now to help reduce their kids’ exposure to the exhaust fumes. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
Transcript
In the last few years, researchers have discovered links between the exhaust fumes from diesel
buses and rising asthma rates in children. Scientists and environmentalists have called on the
government to crack down on diesel emissions from school buses. But as parents learn about the
risk to their kids, they’re not waiting around for the government. They’re doing something right
now to help reduce their kids’ exposure to the exhaust fumes. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Erika Johnson reports:
(sound of diesel school buses idling)
At the end of the school day, buses sit, often idling their engines, waiting for the dismissal bell
and the kids to get on. Not every school district uses diesel school buses, but many do.
And when their engines are left running, they constantly spew out a sooty diesel exhaust that’s
hard to avoid.
(sound of kids)
“It’s an unnatural smell, kind of like plastic…”
“Smells like a car…”
“…Plastic and gas.”
“It smells like gasoline…”
“…But it stinks…”
Kids don’t like the smell of the exhaust, and parents are finding that the diesel fumes are doing
more than just creating a nasty stench – it’s putting their kids’ health at risk.
Sally Cole-Misch says for a long time, she never thought much about it. The yellow buses were
just a part of the daily routine:
“Well, you know, you never think that when you take your child and put them on the bus and
wave goodbye, you think, oh, they’re safe, no problem. And I started noticing the buses at the
schools, how they did idle, and started thinking, this is important, this is something really we need
to be focusing on.”
Cole-Misch was concerned about her kid’s exposure to the exhaust fumes. But rather than simply
taking her kids off the school bus, she decided she wanted to do something for all of the children
in her community. So, she and other concerned parents began meeting with a local
environmental group. They came to the conclusion that the best way to get rid of the diesel
fumes was for bus drivers to turn off their engines while waiting for the kids. As part of their
anti-idling campaign, they’re pushing their school district in Bloomfield, Michigan, to have bus
engines turned off until the buses are loaded up and ready to leave for their routes. During cold
weather, bus drivers can keep warm inside the schools, and then heat up the buses as soon as the
kids get on.
Cole-Misch says as parents learn about the issue, they’re getting involved in the anti-idling
campaign:
“I think this is the type of issue that the solution is so easy, in that in most school districts all you
have to do is give the parents the information, and I think it’s something that they can easily act
on.”
And the Eastern Michigan Environmental Action Counsel, also known as EMEAC, is doing just
that. The group is providing information to parents and is promoting the idea to local school
board officials.
Libby Harris is Staff Attorney for EMEAC. She says getting the parents involved has made their
campaign successful:
“Without the parents there, the school officials are going to respond that it’s a good idea, but they
are faced with a tremendous number of requests for programs. Having the parents there is a
direct statement. ‘This is a health issue, I’m concerned about it, and I really want you to take this
seriously and to take steps.'”
Concern over the health effects of diesel exhaust stems from the rising asthma rates reported
among children. The Centers for Disease Control estimate that nearly 5 million children
nationwide have the disease. Although no one knows exactly what causes asthma, scientists say
many of its triggers are found in the air we breathe. Recent air toxics studies have shown that
particulate matter, the soot released from diesel trucks and buses, is a leading air pollutant.
Dr. Thomas Robbins is a Professor at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health:
“It is quite possible that a substantial fraction of the total diesel exposure, even total particulate
exposure, a child is going to experience during the day could be associated with school buses, and
so it’s potentially quite an important problem.”
And the government is also doing something about this growing public health problem, and has
tried several demonstration projects. EPA’s Clean School Bus U.S.A. Program is supporting
sixteen school districts nationwide with a small grant to participate in projects, such as using
cleaner diesel fuels, and retrofitting school buses with pollution control devices. The ultimate
goal is that these projects will become models for states to follow:
Jeff Holmstead is head of EPA’s National Air Pollution Control Program. Holmstead says all
diesel engines are to be replaced or retrofitted by the year 2010. But he says even with the stricter
standards, it’ll take some time to replace the older buses with cleaner ones:
“One of the reasons for this program is because diesel engines have such a long lifetime, it will
take many years, probably out to 2020 and 2030 for the newer engines to replace the existing
fleet. And that will take a little time and we’re just trying to expedite that process, and make it
happen as quickly as we can.”
But the problem now is that there isn’t enough funding to support programs like this in schools
nationwide. That’s why many schools and environmental groups, such as EMEAC, have turned
to anti-idling campaigns. They’re working with what they do have – and that’s the support of
their local community – until they have the funding for larger scale programs. Anti-idling
campaigns are becoming a growing trend in schools nationwide, and some states such as
Minnesota and Connecticut already have anti-idling laws in place.
Libby Harris of EMEAC says the energy behind their campaign starts with the local community:
“Once EPA announced its Clean School Bus U.S.A. Program, we saw that the momentum was
there, that by working with other organizations and inviting parents and members of PTO’s and
school officials, we had a good chance of making a difference and reducing the exposure that kids
have to school bus exhaust. And to reduce the amount of idling is something that can be done
without any cost.”
Not only realizing that school bus diesel exhaust is putting their kids health at risk, but that they
can do something even without any funding at all, more parents such as Cole-Misch have decided
not to wait around for diesel engine phase-outs or government programs. Instead, they’re pushing
their school districts to start doing something right now about the diesel fumes their kids are
breathing. And they feel progress starts when the buses are turned off.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
Lead is a toxic metal that has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurological impairment, even at low exposures. But a new study suggests that when high levels of another metal are present in the environment, it might reduce the amount of lead absorbed into the bloodstream. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:
Transcript
Lead is a toxic metal that has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, and
neurological impairment, even at low exposures. But a new study suggests that when
high levels of another metal is present in the environment, it might reduce the amount of
lead absorbed into the bloodstream. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson
has more:
The study published in the journal Nature compared lead levels for children living near
industrial and non-industrial sites. Researchers found that children exposed to high levels
of environmental zinc from a nearby smelter absorbed less lead.
Curtis Noonan is an epidemiologist with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease
Registry. He co-authored the study.
“But I think it’s important to note also that in our study, high levels of environmental
zinc, while they may have altered the strength of the association between environmental
lead and blood lead, environmental zinc did not ultimately protect children from lead
exposure.”
Noonan says that because children are more susceptible to lead poisoning than adults,
parents should be aware of the risks of lead in the home, even when environmental zinc is
high.
Noonan says that future research should also take into account dietary exposures to zinc,
as well as a person’s overall nutritional status.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
A recent study shows a possible link between breast cancer and a toxic chemical we’re exposed to every day. And people living in some Great Lakes states might face higher exposure to this chemical. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:
Transcript
A recent study shows a possible link between breast cancer and a toxic chemical
we’re exposed to everyday. And
people living in some Great Lakes states might face higher exposure to this
chemical. The Great Lakes Radio
Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:
Cadmium is a toxic metal present in trace amounts in the air, water, soil, and in
most foods. It is also found in
batteries and cigarettes, and is released by some industries.
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois are at the top of the list for overall cadmium exposures.
Recent findings published in Nature Medicine suggest that even low levels of cadmium
in lab rats caused changes
in their sexual development. Cadmium mimics estrogen, the female hormone that
regulates the reproductive
systems of men and women.
Steve Safe is a Toxicologist at Texas A & M University.
“Women have high doses of estrogen. They have much higher rates of breast cancer
than men. And estrogen has
been clearly linked to breast cancer. What we don’t know is, ‘Can cadmium
contribute to that? Does low dose
cadmium have any effect on humans at all?'”
Safe says more research is needed before any clear links can be made to human health.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
When abandoned wells aren’t sealed properly, they can pollute the water below. A number of states across the region are working to solve the problem. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:
Transcript
When abandoned wells aren’t sealed properly, they can pollute the water below. And in some of
these wells, children and animals have gotten trapped. A number of states across the region are
working to solve the problem. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Erika Johnson has more:
All states across the region have certain regulations for plugging abandoned wells. But not all
states have specialized programs to address the problem.
Programs to cap abandoned wells have existed in Minnesota and Wisconsin for decades. Now,
other states are developing their own programs.
Officials in Michigan face a particular challenge because more of these wells exist there than in
any other state in the country – close to 2-million by some estimates.
Jim McEwan is with the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. He says surface
pollutants can be channeled down into unplugged wells:
“The contaminants can gain access by penetrating the corroded well casing because many of them
have been in the ground for 70 to 100 years, or so, and then going right down, like a drain, into
the lower drinking water aquifers.”
So far, Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin each plug about 10-to-20-thousand wells per year.
It generally takes several hours and costs a few hundred dollars to seal each well. And
homeowners have to pay for the sealing of any unused wells on their property. But some states
do offer financial assistance.
For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Erika Johnson.
