Environmental Issues

Toxic flame retardant accumulates in dolphins

HBCD, hexabromocyclododecane, is a much-used flame retardant in insulating foam and furniture upholstery. A team led by Dutch researcher Jan Boon from the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (Royal NIOZ) has discovered that one isomer of the toxic substance HBCD accumulates in dolphins and porpoises.

14 April 2005: Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research

Researchers unlock mysteries of toxic metals in the largest contaminated site in United States

Copper mining in Butte and Anaconda, Montana, starting in 1860's, poisoned the air, the land, and the water; well over 100 years later, contaminants are still found as far as 300 miles down the Clark Fork River, whose headwaters are in that area.

02 November 2004: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Do lead bullets continue to be a hazard after they land?

There were 20 million metric tons of lead bullets fired in the United States in the 20th century. Is that lead having an environmental impact?

01 November 2004: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Los Alamos flips the mercury 'off' switch

With new technology, mercury can be practically erased from the typical laboratory setting, reducing and even eliminating the environmental and health hazards, according to researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

24 March 2003: DOE/Los Alamos National Laboratory