This week, EWG released an analysis that shows at least two-thirds of the 389 Department of Defense sites in the U.S. where the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS have been detected in groundwater are contaminated with levels above new federal health guidelines.
In an effort to reduce stress on its electricity grid, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, or ERCOT, is effectively paying energy-intensive cryptocurrency mining sites to pause operations, as record temperatures put the state’s fragile electricity grid at risk of major blackouts.
“This situation facing the residents of Texas should be a wakeup call for anyone who lives in a state where energy-sapping industrial bitcoin mining operations are located,” said EWG Senior Energy Policy Advisor Grant Smith. “The threat of blackouts and loss of electricity during extreme weather events can turn deadly fast.”
EWG applauded a bill introduced this week by Sen. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) that would create a new independent federal agency focused on food safety, including inspections, outbreak response and research.
Here’s some news you can use going into the weekend.
Cleaning products
NPR: Start cleaning your home more sustainably with these tips: Life Kit
Moram will often look up unfamiliar ingredients with the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization that specializes in researching toxins and pollutants and advocating for corporate accountability.
EWG VERIFIED™: Cosmetics
New York Times: 'French Girl Beauty' Has a New Offering
Still, it took two years to refine formulas. Ms. Doré and Ms. Yeston wanted to have their line verified by the Environmental Working Group, whose trademarked EWG VERIFIED stamp indicates that a product meets its standards and is free of certain ingredients and chemicals.
Glyphosate
CBS News: Weed-killing chemical found in majority of U.S. urine samples
"Glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the country, yet until now we had very little data on exposure," Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at the Environmental Working Group, said Monday in a statement.
The Hill: Herbicide chemical linked to cancer found in majority of urine samples in CDC study
Alexis Temkin, a toxicologist at EWG, said that “glyphosate is the most widely used herbicide in the country, yet until now we had very little data on exposure.”
PFAS in drinking water
“Yet here we are, 20-plus years later and we still don’t know for sure where these chemicals are being used and where they are being released,” said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization that has studied PFAS and advocated for federal regulations since the early 2000s.