Environmental News For The Week Ending 16 May 2019
This is a collection of interesting news articles about the environment and related topics published last week. This is usually a Tuesday evening regular post at
GEI (but can be posted at other times).
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Note: Because of the high volume of news regarding the coronavirus outbreak, that news has been published separately:
Covid seemed to drop out of the news this week; usually, I ll see virus stories on news sites most read or recent news lists; this week I had to go looking for them. Part of the reason was that the East Coast fuel pipeline shutdown dominated the headlines, but the underlying reason is that new cases in the US and globally are falling rapidly, even in India. And the news organizations are reluctant to cover a story that bleeds less this week than it did last week.
Doctors raise concerns about bone scans required for claims in the Flint water settlement
Doctors continue to voice their concerns about the use of a portable bone scanning device required for Flint, Michigan, residents to qualify for compensation in the $641.25 million Flint water crisis settlement. In order to qualify for more than $1,000 per household, residents must prove they have lead in their bodies by having their bones scanned by a device not made or approved for use in humans.
Lead is a dangerous neurotoxin, which cannot be removed from the body and has serious life-long implications for both children and adults. The portable bone scanner being used is a modified XRF fluorescence device that was originally manufactured to detect lead and other metals in scrap metal, walls, soil and other inanimate objects. The device is not manufactured to be used on humans, nor has it been approved by the FDA for use on humans.
Lead poisoned Flint, Michigan residents, health care professionals raise concerns about bone scan required for compensation
Health care professionals, including Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, are raising serious concerns that victims of the Flint, Michigan water crisis may be exposed to harmful radiation from bone scans required to qualify for compensation from the $641.25 million water settlement.
Residents must prove their bodies were damaged by lead-in-water poisoning by submitting themselves to x-rays. However, the portable devices being used on residents to detect lead have not been approved by the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use on humans.
Amber Stebbins (Facebook)
The state’s settlement provides home and business owners a maximum of only $1,000 per household. To qualify for higher compensation, residents must prove lead exposure by having their bones scanned. Lead dissipates in the blood in a matter of days, but it remains in the bones for years.
ethompson@lewistownsentinel.com
LEWISTOWN An incident that occurred Thursday morning prompted administrators at Mifflin County School District to be proactive in preventing student and staff injuries.
Chief Operations Officer Vance Varner described to the district’s board of directors, during its regular voting meeting, an incident that occurred on a school bus in which an elementary student was taken to the hospital after a fire extinguisher was accidentally engaged and emptied.
After emergency crews arrived on scene, they found the pin of the fire extinguisher had wiggled loose and that the extinguisher did not have a plastic retaining strap to hold the pin in place.