Deirdre Kennedy

The World

Sierra Club: Tangling Itself in the Immigration Debate

A faction in the nation’s oldest environmental group, Sierra Club, argues that to protect the environment the US should keep its numbers down by limiting immigration, saying most of America’s population growth comes from immigrants and their children. Others say that immigration pressures reflect the world’s population problem. And since many immigrants today are Hispanics, […]

The World

Lead Series; The Silent Epidemic: Workplace Contact

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Lead Series; The Silent Epidemic: – Part Two (of 3)

The World

Lead Series; The Silent Epidemic: – Part One

The World

BICYCLES ON THE STREETS OF SAN FRANCISCO

The World

LEAD SERIES; THE SILENT EPIDEMIC: – FINAL PART, # FOUR ; LEAD HAZARD DETECTION AND PREVENTION

It’s been twenty years since lead was removed from household paint and gasoline, but millions of children in America are still living with dangerous levels of lead in their blood. Public health officials say it doesn’t have to be that way because lead poisoning is one of the most preventable of childhood illnesses. In the […]

The World

LEAD SERIES; THE SILENT EPIDEMIC: – PART THREE IN THE WORKPLACE

Most adults’ exposure to lead isn’t enough to endanger their health. But, thousands of people work in close contact with dangerous lead fumes and dust; sometimes without even knowing it. State and federal rules require employers to protect their workers from toxic materials, still, some industries continue to operate with little or no safety precautions […]

The World

The Silent Epidemic – Part Two

Most often the way people get acute lead poisoning these days is through exposure to old paint in dwellings. The stereotype is of a poor child eating a paint chip in a dilapidated home. But plenty of cases come from lead dust particles too small to notice. While children living in low-income homes run a […]

The World

The Silent Epidemic – Part One

Even tiny amounts of lead can have devastating effects on the brains of young children, and there is evidence that millions of American children have been poisoned. While there are no obvious physical symptoms of low-level lead poisoning, research shows these youngsters have much higher rates of learning disabilities, are far more likely to drop […]

The World

Redwood Threat

For several years a pathogen distantly related to the Irish potato blight has been killing off California’s oak trees. Now researchers have found the microbe infecting California Redwood and Douglas fir. Deirdre Kennedy reports.