Fred Pearce: Solving the Ozone Problem→

Yale360:

“Did the Montreal Protocol fix the ozone hole? It seemed so. With chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other ozone-eating chemicals banned, many scientists said it was only a matter of time before the ozone layer recharged, and the annual hole over Antarctica healed for good.

But 30 years on, some atmospheric chemists are not so sure. The healing is proving painfully slow. And new discoveries about chemicals not covered by the protocol are raising fears that full recovery could be postponed into the 22nd century – or possibly even prevented altogether.

In mid-September, the United Nations is celebrating the protocol’s 30th anniversary. It will declare that “we are all ozone heroes.” But are we patting ourselves on the back a bit too soon?

The ozone layer is a long-standing natural feature of the stratosphere, the part of the atmosphere that begins about six miles above the earth. The ozone layer filters out dangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun that can cause skin cancer and damage many life forms. It may have been essential for the development of life on Earth.”

Kirsti Marohn: Surveying Fish in Streams for Water Health→

MPR:

“Chad Anderson and John Sandberg slosh through a muddy stream in hip waders, pausing occasionally to duck under overgrown branches or swat a mosquito.

Sandberg carries a long pole with a metal ring on the end. He moves it through the water, sending out an electrical current that temporarily stuns the fish. Anderson comes behind him with a net, scooping them up. “We want to capture every single species, every fish,” Anderson said. “The little species are sometimes just as important as the big ones...”

This slow and sometimes painstaking work is part of the MPCA’s effort to document and monitor all 80 of Minnesota’s major watersheds. The work has produced a wealth of data about the health of Minnesota’s rivers, lakes and streams.”

Steven Verburg: Farm Pollution Exacerbated by Zebra Mussels→

Wisconsin State Journal:

“An explosion of the zebra mussel population in Lake Mendota this year could mean more foul-smelling shoreline slime and repeats of the major fish kill and vast bloom of toxic bacteria that hit Madison’s lakes already this summer, experts say.

Farm pollution is the main driver of this month’s surprisingly severe water quality woes, but the invasive mollusks now covering much of Lake Mendota’s bottom aren’t going to help matters.

“We’ve been shocked to see how many there are,” said Jake Vander Zanden, UW-Madison’s top expert on zebra mussels.

Zebra mussels change a lake by filtering food from water, which makes water clearer so that additional sunlight reaches the bottom. The sunlight, along with nutrients mussels excrete on the bottom, spur plant growth and the potential for more dead vegetation washing up and decomposing in smelly piles on shores, Vander Zanden said.

This year divers are finding a typical zebra mussel by-product — bottom-clinging mats of algae that look like green cotton candy — all over Lake Mendota, he said.”

Ron Meador: Recreational Shooter Blood Pb Levels→

MinnPost:

“Wherever you stand on the question of whether it’s guns that kill people or people who kill people, you might be impressed by new findings about shooting ranges as a source of serious lead poisoning among their enthusiasts.

In occupational health and workplace safety circles it has long been recognized that police officers, soldiers and others who train intensively with firearms are exposed to lots of lead dust and fumes as they make holes in targets. Same for their trainers. There are workplace rules intended to limit that exposure and to monitor blood-lead levels for dangerous conditions...

Half the studies found BLLs above 20µg, and 17 found them above 30 µg, at which point “prompt medical evaluation” is recommended. Fifteen found readings in excess of 40 µg.

The three dozen studies included both professional and recreational facilities worldwide and the new analysis did not attempt to distinguish them by BLL results. Rather, it makes the sensible and perhaps even obvious point that the health risks in both venues ought to be of equal concern and receive equal attention.”

Erica Cirino: Our Medicated Surface Waters→

Ars Technica:

“The United States of America is a highly medicated country: almost seven in 10 Americans take prescription drugs. That translates to 4.4 billion prescriptions and nearly $310 billion spent on medication in 2015. Painkillers, cholesterol-lowering medications, and antidepressants top the list of drugs most commonly prescribed by doctors.

Americans aren’t just putting these drugs into their bodies; they’re also putting more drugs into the environment. A growing body of research suggests all types of drugs, from illegal drugs to antibiotics to hormones, enter the environment through sewage and cesspool systems across the country. And while pharmaceutical drugs—when used as prescribed—are capable of curing disease and alleviating symptoms in people, they can wreak havoc on nature.

There, they persist for long periods without breaking down. Hormones in medications like birth control cause changes such as intersex development in fish and amphibians. Antidepressants have been found in the brain tissue of fish downstream from wastewater treatment plants. Research on the presence of illegal drugs in water bodies has revealed some interesting trends: drug concentrations are highest on weekends and skyrocket after social events, such as music festivals, where large quantities of drugs are often consumed.”

Scott Johnson: Lakes Soaking up Road Salt→

Ars Technica:

“Road salt became common in the 1940s, and the amount used has increased over time. The US puts down around 18 million tons of salt each year. Roadsides along highways obviously get dosed with more than their fair share of salt, but salt also runs off (sometimes via storm drains) into streams and lakes where it can accumulate. That makes road salt a common target in local efforts to protect bodies of water. Although this has sometimes been studied on the local scale, there hasn’t been much big-picture analysis. A new study led by the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Hilary Dugan works to fill in that gap by estimating how widespread salt contamination is in North America.

The researchers used data from 371 lakes that covered at least four hectares and had chloride measurements going back at least 10 years. That’s not a purely random sampling, but it’s the best way to find trends. Most are in the US Midwest and Northeast, with a handful from southern Canada and some spread over the rest of the US. One-third of the 371 lakes showed a significant upward trend in salt concentration.”

Todd Reubold: The Biggest Sources of Nutrient Pollution in Cities→

University of Minnesota:

“New research from the University of Minnesota points to lawn fertilizers and pet waste as the dominant sources of nitrogen and phosphorus pollutants in seven sub-watersheds of the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

The study — published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences — is the first to compare the urban watershed budgets of nitrogen and phosphorus. And the results can be applied to urban watersheds around the world impaired by excess nutrients.

The research team — led by Sarah Hobbie, Distinguished McKnight University Professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior and an Institute on the Environment Fellow — discovered households are the main sources of nutrient pollutants in the Twin Cities urban watershed. Household nitrogen fertilizer use in particular is more than 10 times greater than commercial fertilizer use by golf courses, college campuses and other non-residential locations, and pet waste is the leading source of phosphorus to these watersheds.”

Dennis Anderson: Minnesota Buffer Law→

Star Tribune:

“While Republicans in the Legislature again take aim at the state’s new stream-and-ditch buffer law, John Mages rests easy.

Mages, a past president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association, farms 850 acres of good soil in Stearns County, planting corn and soybeans in spring and harvesting the crops in fall. To save topsoil and reduce overhead costs, he practices minimum tillage. And if the weather cooperates, his yields are superb: The past two years he’s averaged more than 200 bushels an acre of corn, without irrigating.

But one day last week, as Mages showed a visitor around his well-kept operation, the issue wasn’t crops but buffers. In all, he has about 30 acres of grasslands bordering waterways that either abut his croplands or run through them.”

Rae Ellen Bichell: We're All Dumber Due to Lead Pollution→

NPR:

“Exposure to lead as a child can affect an adult decades later, according to a study out Tuesday that suggests a link between early childhood lead exposure and a dip in a person’s later cognitive ability and socioeconomic status.

Lead in the United States can come from lots of sources: old, peeling paint; contaminated soil; or water that’s passed through lead pipes. Before policies were enacted to get rid of lead in gasoline, it could even come from particles in the fumes that leave car tailpipes.

And when lead gets into a human body, it can mess with brain development, decades of research has shown. “It’s toxic to many parts of the body, but in particular in can accumulate in the bloodstream and pass through the blood brain barrier to reach the brain,” says the study’s first author, Aaron Reuben, a graduate student in clinical psychology at Duke University...

Reuben says, children who experienced higher lead exposures “saw their intellectual abilities decline from their baseline starting point” as time wore on. He adds, “people who saw that decline also experienced downward social mobility.” The children who’d had high lead exposure — defined at the time as more than 10 micrograms per deciliter of blood — were more likely than the other kids to go on to have jobs that required slightly less education and brought in a little less income compared to their parents’ jobs.

In Reuben’s study, every 5 microgram increase in lead concentration in the blood at age 11 corresponded to a drop in IQ of 1.6 points at age 38 — primarily because of a drop in scores on perceptual reasoning and working memory. (Today the health standards for lead are stricter; 5 micrograms per deciliter is considered high exposure, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and no amount of lead is considered safe.)

The dips in IQ and in socioeconomic status were mild. But, Reuben says, “even small changes in IQ had some significant influence on the course that people’s lives took.””

You would have been a genius, instead you are mediocre. You can thank some greedy corporate executives who at the time railed against government regulations.

Jame Walsh: Working on Century-Old Storm Sewers →

Star Tribune:

““When we started this project, we saw a large section lit up and we thought: ‘Wow, this is a perfect opportunity to take some nice photographs and video of the tunnel and show the community what happens beneath the ground,’ ” said Anna Eleria, division manager with the watershed district. “A lot of our work happens underground or in structures that are not evident to the general public. This was a chance to show the importance.”

The video offers a glimpse into a 6-mile underground tunnel system that travels from Como Lake in St. Paul and Lake McCarrons in Roseville and eventually carries stormwater to the Mississippi River. It carries 3.9 billion gallons of rainwater and snow melt from neighborhoods in St. Paul, Roseville, Falcon Heights and Maplewood to the Mississippi River.”

Eleanor Klibanoff: Lead Ammo and Fishing Tackle Poisons→

NPR:

“On the day before President Trump’s inauguration, the outgoing Obama administration passed a last-minute directive, banning the use of lead ammunition and fishing sinkers on federal land.

Recently, the deteriorating health of a bald eagle showed the effects of lead poisoning. Obama’s regulation is intended to protect wildlife from exactly that. But hunters are hoping Trump will soon overturn it.”

In Minnesota, it is estimated that 100 to 200 loons die of ingesting lead-based fishing tackle.

Dave Orrick: Walleye Decline with Global Warming →

Pioneer Press:

“Natural walleye lakes could be a rarity in Wisconsin by mid-century, thanks to climate change, a new study warns. And the largemouth bass shall inherit the warmer waters — and flourish, the government-funded study further predicts.

By as soon as 2040, a mere 4 percent of Wisconsin lakes might be able to support naturally sustained walleye populations — a 60 percent reduction from today — while the number of lakes conducive to high-abundance largemouth bass populations could rise to 89 percent, up from 60 percent today, according to the study, co-authored by researchers from state and federal agencies...

The bass-walleye transformation isn’t new. For 30 years, researchers have watched traditional walleye lakes become bass-dominated lakes, often to the chagrin of anglers and cabin owners. The root cause is not known for certain, but it correlates with lakes getting warmer as summers have grown hotter and winters have become shorter and less severe, said Gretchen Hansen, the study’s lead author. The warming climate is a likely culprit because biologists have long established that in similar lakes, walleyes dominate in cooler waters and largemouth bass in warmer waters.”

Catherine Saint Louis: Colgate Total Toothpaste Has Triclosan→

New York Times

“Colgate Total is the only toothpaste in the United States that contains triclosan. For some critics, the decision to take triclosan out of topical products but leave it in an oral product is a bit of a head-scratcher.

“We put soap on our hands, and a small amount gets into our body,” said Rolf Halden, a director for environmental security at the Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University, who has tracked triclosan for years. But through the gums, “chemicals get rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream.””

Beth Mole: FDA Bans Antibacterial Soaps→

Arstechnica:

“In a final ruling announced Friday, the Food and Drug Administration is pulling from the market a wide range of antimicrobial soaps after manufacturers failed to show that the soaps are both safe and more effective than plain soap. The federal flushing applies to any hand soap or antiseptic wash product that has one or more of 19 specific chemicals in them, including the common triclosan (found in antibacterial hand soap) and triclocarbon (found in bar soaps). Manufacturers will have one year to either reformulate their products or pull them from the market entirely.

As Ars has reported previously, scientists have found that triclosan and other antimicrobial soaps have little benefit to consumers and may actually pose risks. These include bolstering antibiotic resistant microbes, giving opportunistic pathogens a leg up, and disrupting microbiomes. In its final ruling, issued Friday, the FDA seemed to agree. “Consumers may think antibacterial washes are more effective at preventing the spread of germs, but we have no scientific evidence that they are any better than plain soap and water,” Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), said in a statement. “In fact, some data suggests that antibacterial ingredients may do more harm than good over the long-term.””

Steve Carpenter: Stay Focused on Phosphorus→

Center for Limnology:

“These severe blooms amplify the urgency behind a statement issued today by Canadian and American scientists, myself included, for governments around the world to focus on a proven solution — that is, we must control phosphorus to decrease the intensity and frequency of harmful algal blooms. A mid-October algae (or phytoplankton) bloom shows up on the Lake Mendota shoreline. A mid-October algae (or phytoplankton) bloom shows up on the Lake Mendota shorelines...

Phosphorus inputs to lakes and reservoirs, which come from agricultural and urban runoff, are the main driver of blooms, and that phosphorus reduction is the key to improving water quality. Some government agencies, however, have lost sight of this basic fact of lake management.”

Schindler et al. 2016

Linda Poon: Climate Change Migrations→

CityLab:

“Nearly 3,000 species of animals in the Western Hemisphere alone will have to find new habitats with more preferable climate conditions by the end of this century, according to a stunning new map by cartographer Dan Majka for the Nature Conservancy.

Called Migrations in Motion, the map outlines how species will move from their current habitats to their new ones while avoiding major manmade and natural barriers. Pink lines indicate the movement of mammals, while the blue and yellow lines represent the migration of birds and amphibians, respectively.”

Governor Dayton Moves to Protect Bees

PAN:

“This morning at the State Fair, Governor Mark Dayton and Commissioner of Agriculture Dave Frederickson announced Minnesota’s comprehensive new plans to limit the use of bee-harming pesticides across the state. Today’s decision concludes a nearly 3-year review of the impact of neonicotinoid insecticides on pollinators, conducted by the Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA). The executive order announced today makes Minnesota a national leader in pollinator protection — and the first state to tackle neonicotinoid use in farm fields and on public lands.

“Today, Minnesota set the strongest rules in the nation to protect pollinators from pesticides,” said Lex Horan of Pesticide Action Network. “The plan will help ensure that bee-harming pesticides won’t be used unnecessarily, and it lays the groundwork for reducing the use of neonicotinoid seed coatings. This decision is rooted in the resounding scientific evidence that neonicotinoids are harmful to pollinators. It’s past time for state and federal decisionmakers to take action to restrict the use of bee-harming pesticides, and today Minnesota did just that.””

— http://www.panna.org/press-release/new-rules-minnesota-leads-country-protecting-pollinators-pesticides

MPR: Gunderson & Dunbar

“Seeking to reverse a decline in bees and other pollinators, Gov. Mark Dayton issued an executive order Friday that limits the use of nicotine-based pesticides.

The governor’s move won praise from environmentalists, but farm groups said it could hurt farmers financially.

Nicotine-based insecticides known as neonicotinoids are effective against a variety of pests, so they’re widely used, but a growing body of research shows the insecticides harm bees.

After a two-year review of 300 scientific studies, the state Agriculture Department decided restrictions were necessary, said Agriculture Commissioner Dave Frederickson.

”Some of these are bold recommendations that have not been considered by any other state across the nation,” Frederickson said at a Minnesota State Fair news conference.”

— http://www.mprnews.org/story/2016/08/26/dayton-orders-steps-protect-bees-pollinators

We now await the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's review of the neonicotinoids, which is anticipated to be completed by 2018.  

The Governor's Executive Order

Minnesota Department of Agriculture - Neonicotinoid Review

Jessica Pupova: Small amounts of Lead matter→

NPR:

“Lead problems with the water in Flint, Mich., have prompted people across the country to ask whether they or their families have been exposed to the toxic metal in their drinking water, too. When it comes to assessing the risk, it’s important to look in the right places.

Even when municipal water systems’ lead levels are considered perfectly fine by federal standards, the metal can leach into tap water from lead plumbing....

When there is a problem with lead in drinking water, service lines are the most likely culprit. Service lines are like tiny straws that carry water from a utility’s water main, usually running below the street, to each building. In older cities, many of them in the Midwest and Northeast, these service lines can be made of pure lead.

Dr. Bruce Lanphear has spent decades researching low-level lead exposure, and his work is often cited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He says that while blood lead levels have been reduced drastically in recent decades, even levels as low as 5 micrograms per deciliter can lower IQs and increase the risk of attention and behavioral problems in children. For adults, lead exposure can cause kidney problems and high blood pressure.

Because it would be unethical to expose people to a known toxin, clear data are lacking on exactly how much lead a person must be exposed to before it shows up in the blood or triggers health and behavioral problems. Public health officials say that removing all lead from a person’s environment is the best course of action.”

Andy McGlashen: Uninformed or the Serious Misinformed Use Lead Ammo→

ENSIA:

“Lead poisoning causes brain damage and, in humans, is thought to be linked with lower IQ, poor school performance and violent behavior. Even the ancient Romans knew lead could cause cognitive damage and death.

“Indeed, we know more about the toxicity of lead than we do about almost any other contaminant,” says Myra Finkelstein, an environmental toxicologist at the University of California, Santa Cruz who studies lead’s effects on wildlife.

Finkelstein was among 30 scientists who signed a 2013 consensus statement citing “the overwhelming scientific evidence of the toxic effects of lead on human and wildlife health” and calling for “reducing and eventually eliminating the introduction of lead into the environment from lead-based ammunition.””

Les Neuhaus: Farmers Pollute Lake Okeechobee, People Tired of Inaction→

New York Times:

“Mark Perry, executive director of the Florida Oceanographic Society, based in Stuart, said the state’s inability to close a deal to purchase thousands of acres of land south of Lake Okeechobee — to create a natural runoff from the lake into the Florida Everglades, where the diverse ecosystem could naturally filter toxins from the north — has been to blame for the problems being experienced by communities west and east of the lake like Stuart.

But the area south of the lake has been controlled by sugar farmers for decades, and environmentalists like Mr. Perry say state legislators in Tallahassee kowtow to agricultural lobbyists who fund their re-election campaigns.

“The flow used to go south to the Everglades, and now this is a man-made, criminal disaster,” Mr. Perry said. “They, as in the state and federal government, say they can’t send the water south, but they can. This is an absolute atrocity that they are allowed to continue this in the name of agriculture. This is the worst I’ve ever seen it.”

The 2016 sugar harvest was the longest on record because of rain delays, making it also one of the most profitable on record, resulting in 2.15 million tons of sugar. Under Mr. Scott, the board of the South Florida Water Management District failed in 2015 to carry out a plan to buy roughly 47,000 acres of land from U.S. Sugar south of Lake Okeechobee that would have acted as a reservoir for the lake’s runoff.”

And then the state politicians have the gall to blame environmental agencies or the President of the United States.