How a Health Crisis Created a Town Full of Environmentalists
For decades, chemical companies used Toms River as their private dumping ground for their toxic waste. Then the town's residents started asking questions.
Health
Pittsburgh Struggles to Fix Its Lead Problem
Like a lot of other cities, Pittsburgh has to deal with its antiquated lead water lines. The state says so. But how?
Teens Earn and Learn While Educating Their Neighbors About Lead Exposure
For some teenagers in Pittsburgh, a summer job means helping their community solve its problems with lead.
How a Philadelphia Doctor Changed the Way We Think About Lead Poisoning
Prior to the 1950s, doctors thought lead poisoning was mostly a risk for industrial workers. Then, a doctor's hunch to test kids for lead revealed the issue was far more widespread than anyone had imagined.
New Database Shows Pollutants in Most Public Water Systems
The database allows users to search by zip code or their local water utility name– aggregating information from nearly 50,000 public water systems.
Tiny Particles of Pollution Increase the Risk of Premature Death in Older Americans
Long-term exposure to certain kinds of air pollution increases the risk of premature death in Americans over 65 years old. And that finding holds true even at levels of air pollution below national standards.
On Health Effects, Blame the Trucks, Not the Fracking?
Scientists have linked fracking with health issues for people who live near gas wells. Many wonder whether the fracking process itself is to blame. But one researcher thinks the problem might have nothing to do with fracking, but rather something we see so often, we hardly ever notice it.
Children Who Live Near Polluters Have Twice The Risk For Asthma
According to a new study, about 35 percent of kids who live near sources of pollution in Allegheny County have asthma. The national asthma rate is about 8 percent. The pollution, and the asthma it causes, have far-reaching consequences in a child’s life.
Can a Town Prove That Its Health Problems Are Caused by Pollution?
Clairton sits in the shadow of US Steel's massive Clairton Coke Works. There's a growing concern among residents that the plant's emissions are causing asthma and cancer. But can a town prove that pollution is causing its health problems?
CMU Scientists Help Clairton Residents Find Out What’s In Their Air
A research team at Carnegie Mellon is one year into a three-year project to help people in the Pittsburgh region learn more about pollutants they’re exposed to through the air. It’s funded through the EPA’s Air Pollution Monitoring for Communities program, and it was one of only six projects funded throughout the country.
