2012

Despite decades of scientific evidence and bans in California and other countries, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced this week (Nov. 27) that it will allow the continued use of a neurotoxic pesticide in shampoos and lotions used predominantly on children.

Environmental groups including the Ecology Center welcomed Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder’s pledge that “we must make sure our energy choices always recognize our responsibility to protect Michigan’s environment.”

The couch where Berkley (Mich.) mother Lisa Turner cuddles with her kids?

She was recently surprised to find out that the couch contained toxic flame retardants.

Tests of 36 different cell phones, including the recently released iPhone 5 and Samsung’s Galaxy S III, found that each of them contained at least one of these hazardous chemicals: lead, bromine, chlorine, mercury and cadmium.

Local drivers will get a chance to kick the tires of the automotive future in Saline and Ann Arbor on Sunday Sept. 23 at local events being held in conjunction with the celebration of National Plug-In Day.

Tracey Easthope, environmental health director at the Ecology Center, is among the national leaders calling on manufacturers to make sure the interior furnishings they supply to hospitals are free of halogenated flame retardants (HFRs) when there are safer alternatives.

In some states around the country, legislators have responded to the declining revenues from gas taxes by calling for a special tax on electric vehicles, an approach that the Ecology Center’s Charles Griffith describes as “shortsighted.”

Today a group of Michigan moms joined hundreds of people from across the country to demand action on toxic chemicals. The group rallied in support of Senator Frank Lautenberg’s (D-NJ) Safe Chemicals Act, a bill to overhaul the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the antiquated law governing industrial chemicals.

The Ecology Center’s 2012 annual meeting, this Thursday, May 24, will feature a presentation about the ballot initiative calling for Michigan to adopt a renewable energy standard of 25 percent by 2025.

Representatives of more than 40 leading national and global companies will be meeting in Ann Arbor from May 9-11 to discuss how they can do more to reduce exposure to toxics and other chemical hazards among both their workers and their consumers.