Federal estimate shows traffic deaths up 9 percent in first half of 2012. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration put the six-month total at 16,290, up from 14,950 in the same period of 2011. NHTSA called the finding “the largest such increase during the first half of the year” since the agency began collecting the data this way in 1975. Experts speculated that the increase stemmed from more people being on the road because of an improved economy and mild winter weather. The decline that had occurred in the previous six years, bringing 2011′s total to the lowest level since 1949, was attributed to such factors as safer vehicles, graduated driver licensing laws for teenage drivers and increased use of seat belts. The New York Times, The Washington Post
Humanitarian crisis grows in northern Nigeria due to lead from illegal gold mines. More than 400 children have died from lead poisoning, and many more have been stunted for life. The organization Doctors Without Borders is calling it one of the worst episodes of lead poisoning in recent years. The problem came to light in 2010, when children in some villages started dying. Medical professionals were baffled at first, but the source of the lead was determined to be illegal gold mines, which have spread as the price of gold has risen in recent years. Gold is mingled with lead in the region, and miners use primitive methods to process the raw ore, putting large amounts of lead-laden dust into the air. NPR
Meningitis blamed on tainted steroid kills four, sickens at least 26 others. An expert said many more cases of the rare form of the disease, already reported in five states, are likely to be reported around the country. The patients are thought to have been infected by a steroid drug used in spinal injections to treat back pain that was contaminated with a fungus. Officials said all of the infected patients so far had been treated with a brand of the drug, methylprednisolone acetate, produced by the New England Compounding Center in Framingham, Mass. Federal and state officials say they have yet to pinpoint the precise cause of the problem with the drug, which may have been shipped to 23 states. The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal
Analysis finds cellphones contain fewer toxins. In its assessment, the Michigan-based Ecology Center concluded that the Motorola Citrus, Apple iPhone 4S and LE Remarq were the least toxic cellphones in its review of 36 models brought onto the market in the past five years. Still, the nonprofit said every phone examined contained at least one hazardous chemical such as lead, bromine, chlorine, mercury or cadmium. Apple’s popular new iPhone 5 tested high for mercury and chlorine, although it was far less toxic than the company’s original model. “The takeaway is that mobile phones are chemically intensive, and full of chemical hazards, but they’ve been getting a lot better,” said Ecology Center’s research director. Agence France-Presse, Wired
Ohio manufacturer accused of failing to protect workers from carcinogen. The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration accused Cleveland Tank & Supply, which makes fuel tanks, of 19 violations. The charges include failing to assess workers’ exposure to hexavalent chromium and to ensure that exposures are below permissible limits. OSHA’s news release said the chromium – commonly found in dyes, paints, plastic and coating materials – can irritate airways, nasal passages, skin and eyes. But federal authorities also say hexavalent chromium, also known as chromium 6, causes lung cancer in humans when inhaled. OSHA proposed fines of $72,800. OSHA
Compiled by Stuart Silverstein
