Joseph DeSimone, founder and chairman
of Micell Technologies, explains the
cleaning process that clothes undergo in his Hanger’s store in
Morrisville, NC.
Consumers may not realize it, but the simple act of dropping off clothes at the cleaners could end up harming the environment. For decades, dry cleaners have used a toxic solvent to clean clothes. Now there are many contaminated former dry cleaning sites across the country. But a solution to the dry cleaning problem may now be available. A new chain of cleaners is touting a “greener” system that uses a non-toxic everyday substance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Patty Murray has more:
A herbicide is being found lingering in grass clippings and causing compost to damage gardens. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports:
Canada’s environment minister is recommending that road salt be classified as a toxic substance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly has details:
Transcript
Canada’s environment minister is recommending that road salt be classified as a toxic substance. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Karen Kelly reports.
Approximately 5 million tons of road salt are used in Canada each winter.
And much of those salts eventually find their way into bodies of water.
The Canadian government recently completed a 5-year study of the environmental effects of road salts.
The scientists found water near some major highways contained as much salt as ocean water. And they concluded freshwater plants; fish and other organisms are being harmed. Canadian environment minister David Anderson has recommended road salt be added to Canada’s list of toxic substances.
But the government is not proposing a ban on salt. Officials are studying ways to reduce its use and improve snow removal techniques to minimize the amount of salt escaping into waterways. The public has 60 days to comment on the plan. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Karen Kelly.
Researchers from five universities will study the effects pollutants have had on children in immigrant communities. The study is the main focus of a new children’s environmental health center. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Rogers has more:
Transcript
Researchers from five universities will study the effects two pollutants have had on children in immigrant communities. The
study is the main focus of a new children’s environmental health center. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tom Rogers reports.
Experts have long worried about PCB and mercury levels in fish caught in the Fox River, around Appleton and Green Bay, Wisconsin. The fish is a staple for Laotian and Hmong refugees in the area.
University of Illinois veterinary biologist Susan Schantz will head up a new project that will go beyond studying the health effects.
“We will also be working with the families to try to reduce exposure to the contaminants, be using educational tools to inform them about where it’s safe to fish, what types of fish are safe to eat, and even how they can prepare the fish when they’re cooking it to reduce their exposure to the chemicals in the fish.”
The Friends Environmental Health Center is one of four new children’s health research centers to be funded by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Researchers are finding ways to use plants to clean up contaminated
sites. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Lester Graham reports on a
project to use genetically altered trees to pull certain kinds of
pollution from the ground:
Joseph DeSimone, founder and chairman of Micell Technologies, explains the cleaning process that clothes undergo in his Hanger’s store in Morrisville, NC.