Tag: airborne

Epa to Ease Regs for Livestock Farms?

  • Hallway family farm in NY. (Photo by Keith Weller, courtesy of the USDA)

A federal plan to exempt livestock farms from
reporting on air pollution has environmental groups upset.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

A federal plan to exempt livestock farms from
reporting on air pollution has environmental groups upset.
Chuck Quirmbach reports:

More farms are getting bigger. With the larger numbers of cows, chickens and
other animals, come sizable amounts of gasses such as ammonia and hydrogen
sulfide.

The EPA wants to change an emergency response law to exempt farms from
reporting large airborne emissions connected to animal waste.

Barry Breen is a Deputy Administrator with the EPA. He says the regular release
of animal gases is not the kind of thing that should trigger a rapid response from
his agency.

“Even if one of our folks showed up, we wouldn’t quite know what to do. It’s not any
different today than it was yesterday or last week or any other time.”

Breen says the EPA or states could take clean up action, if need be, under other
rules. But environmental groups say the current reporting requirement is very
helpful to neighbors and communities that want to know what’s in the air at
nearby farms.

For The Environment Report, I’m Chuck Quirmbach.

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Flu Virus Flourishes in Cold

Researchers have known for a long time that cold weather brings the flu season. But they
haven’t known exactly why. Now, they think they know why cold weather affects how
flu is spread. Mark Brush has more:

Transcript

Researchers have known for a long time that cold weather brings the flu season. But they
haven’t known exactly why. Now, they think they know why cold weather affects how
flu is spread. Mark Brush has more:


The researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine found that once the flu virus is
airborne, it hangs around longer in cold air and low humidity. The virus doesn’t survive
as well in higher temperatures and higher humidity.


They tested guinea pigs infected with the flu virus – and found that the animals are more
contagious when they’re in a colder environment. They believe that’s because their bodies
don’t get rid of the virus as fast in cold temperatures.


Peter Palese is one of the authors of the report published in the Public Library of Science:


“So that makes sense when your grandmother told you ‘don’t go out when it’s cold, and
stay warm and you might get the flu,’ she was probably right.”


Palese says other research doesn’t support the use of vitamins to prevent the flu. He says
the best way to keep from getting it is to get a flu shot.


For the Environment Report, I’m Mark Brush.

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Epa to Change Airborne Lead Standard?

At the urging of some scientists, the US government is looking at tightening lead exposure limits. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:

Transcript

At the urging of some scientists, the US government is looking at tightening lead
exposure limits. The GLRC’s Chuck Quirmbach reports:


More medical researchers are reporting evidence that lead is harmful
to people at much lower levels than the current health standard. In fact,
some say, there’s no level at which lead is harmless. Cliff Davidson is a professor of
engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. He’s helping advise the EPA on whether
to recommend changes in the airborne lead standard. Davidson says some
of the lead is in topsoil and came from leaded gasoline which was banned long ago:


“…And every time there’s a strong wind, that soil becomes
airborne and a certain amount of that which contains lead is inhaled
by people.”


Davidson says children playing in playgrounds near highways may also take the lead in
through their mouth. The new EPA recommendations may not come until at least next
year.


For the GLRC, I’m Chuck Quirmbach

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Judge Rules Epa Must Revise Lead Standards

A federal judge in Missouri says the EPA’s standards for lead pollution are out of date. And he’s given the agency about two months to figure out how much lead is too much. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Sepic
reports:

Transcript

A federal judge in Missouri says the EPA’s standards for lead pollution are out of date, and he’s given the agency about two months to figure out how much lead is too much. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Matt Sepic reports:


Under federal law, the EPA is supposed to review lead standards every five years, but Judge Richard Webber said the agency “blatantly disregarded Congress’ mandate.”


Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon filed the suit on behalf of a couple from Herculaneum, Missouri, who claim their son was poisoned by a nearby lead smelter. Nixon says the EPA last changed its airborne lead rules fifteen years ago.


“EPA sets what’s allowable as far as lead in the air. We think science has moved forward over the years to show that is very dangerous both for young kids in older housing as well as around smelters and lead operations.”


An EPA spokeswoman says the agency did not ignore the issue, but instead of updating emissions standards, regulators decided instead to focus on specific sources of lead pollution.


For the GLRC, I’m Matt Sepic.

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