After lawsuit, EPA finally takes action on cancer-causing gas
Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced its new proposed standards to reduce exposure to ethylene oxide (EtO) — a colorless gas linked to cancer for those who work with it or live near facilities that use the chemical. The agency says its new rule can cut EtO by 80%.
Prism
, who reported on a lawsuit against the EPA last year, recently spoke with a representative who is involved with the nonprofit environmental law group, Earthjustice, that sued the agency for failing to update its risk assessment and alert affected residents about exposure to the gas. The group’s representative says they think the lawsuit played a role in the EPA taking swift action.
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California stockpiles abortion pills as Texas court decision threatens access nationwide
California has taken steps to protect access to abortion medication, reports
Black Voice News
. The state's governor announced this week that his administration has obtained an emergency stockpile of misoprostol pills, which is one of the drugs used to end a pregnancy. So far, roughly 250,000 pills have been delivered to the state and more are being negotiated for purchase, according to the governor's office. But future access to abortion medication across the country remains bleak as a recent Texas federal court decision prevents the U.S. Federal Drug Administration from approving mifepristone, which is used in combination with misoprostol.
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Alaska Native communities are suing over endangered food sources
Two Alaska Native organizations representing more than 100 tribal communities are suing the National Marine Fisheries Service over its groundfish catch limits in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands. The federal government's limitations threaten the food pathways of these communities who have harvested salmon in the area for thousands of years. “Families haven’t been able to fish for salmon for years, essentially at all, on the Yukon [River] and the Kuskowkim [River],” the Association of Village Council Presidents General Counsel Joy Anderson told Native News Online. “That’s what is prompting the lawsuit, but near-total collapse is what we’re experiencing right now.”
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Meet the Game Changers
Highlighting the innovators transforming health outcomes in our communities
Cousins Extasy and Michael James own Good Grades, New York City's first female-owned cannabis dispensary. This month,
Epicenter-NYC
covered their dispensary's pop-up launch