Homes contribute to 50 percent more water pollution than previously believed

October 10th, 2009 LONDON - Scientists have uncovered the structure of an unusual enzyme which can be used to reverse the contamination of land caused by RDX explosive. The discovery, by scientists from the York University Structural Biology Lab and the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products, will support the development of plants that can help tackle pollution from RDX.

September 16th, 2009 EPA limits pollution from medical incineratorsWASHINGTON — About 50 medical waste incinerators nationwide will have to reduce their air pollution under new regulations announced Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA said that the new rules, which require better monitoring and tighten emissions limits, will reduce toxic pollution from the burning of medical waste by 390,000 pounds annually and likely result in no new incinerators being built.

September 15th, 2009 EPA to place limits on power plant water pollutionWASHINGTON — For the first time in nearly 30 years, the Environmental Protection Agency plans to limit the quantity of toxic metals that coal-fired power plants release into waterways. The agency said Tuesday that equipment required to reduce pollution in the air has increased harmful contaminants in water discharged by power plants, particularly heavy metals such as selenium, cadmium, mercury and lead.

September 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists, using space-based lasers on a NASA satellite have created the most comprehensive inventory of lakes that actively drain or fill under Antarctica's ice, which has revealed a continental plumbing system that is more dynamic than previously thought. "Even though Antarctica's ice sheet looks static, the more we watch it, the more we see there is activity going on there all the time," said Benjamin Smith of the University of Washington in Seattle, who led the study.

August 16th, 2009 WASHINGTON - New research shows that air pollution in eastern China has reduced the amount of light rainfall over the past 50 years and decreased by 23 percent the number of days of light rain in the eastern half of the country. Atmospheric scientist Yun Qian at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory led the research.

July 28th, 2009 LONDON - A new survey has indicated that two thirds of all species of freshwater crab maybe at risk of going extinct, with one in six species particularly vulnerable. According to a report by BBC News, the study, which is the first global assessment of the extinction risk for any group of freshwater invertebrates, makes freshwater crabs among the most threatened of all groups of animals assessed so far.

July 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new study, scientists at University of California Irvine (UCI) have discovered a previously unknown chemical reaction that could account for up to 40 parts per billion of ozone. This reaction is not included in computer models used to predict air pollution levels and the effectiveness of ozone control strategies that can cost billions of dollars.

July 9th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has suggested that rising levels of smokestack emissions from oceangoing ships will cause an estimated 87,000 deaths worldwide each year by 2012, which is almost one-third higher than previously believed data. The study said that government action to reduce sulfur emissions from shipping fuel (the source of air pollution linked to an increased risk of illness and death) could reduce that toll.

July 1st, 2009 EPA proposes regulations to cut ship pollutionWASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher rules to reduce air pollution from large oceangoing ships, including oil tankers and cargo vessels. The agency announced Wednesdays it is beginning work on a regulation that would cut harmful chemicals releases from smokestacks of ships within 200 miles of the U.S.

June 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers, in a recent article in the journal PLoS Medicine Editorial, have argued that despite recent international objections, access to clean water should be recognized as a human right. At the March 2009 United Nations (UN) meetings, coinciding with the World Water Forum, Canada, Russia, and the United States refused to support a declaration that would recognize water as a basic human right.

June 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Researchers from the University of Alberta (U of A) in Canada have found a dramatically higher delivery of mercury from the Mackenzie River Delta to the Arctic Ocean than determined in previous studies. Researcher Jennifer Graydon analyzed water in the Mackenzie River as it flowed north into the Beaufort Sea.

June 16th, 2009 Washington, June 16 (ANI): A scientist of Indian origin has designed a tool that takes into consideration all feasible solutions for decreasing non-point source pollution for the amount of money available. The scientist in question is Indrajeet Chaubey, an associate professor of agricultural and biological engineering, Purdue University.

May 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Swiss researchers have found that the artificial sweetener acesulfame passes through our body into wastewater, survives treatment and accumulates in groundwater, which may help track the source of water pollution. "Groundwater can be polluted by several sources, and it's sometimes not clear where that pollution comes from," researcher Dr Ignaz Buerge, an environmental chemist at the Swiss Federal Research Station in Schloss, told Discovery News.

May 4th, 2009 Pending home sales up 3.2 percent in MarchWASHINGTON — There was another ray of hope Monday for the distressed housing market: the National Association of Realtors said the volume of signed contracts to buy previously occupied homes rose for the second month in a row. Homebuyers taking advantage of bargain prices, low interest rates and a tax credit for first-time buyers pushed the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales up by 3.2 percent to 84.6 in March.

April 24th, 2009 March new home sales down 0.6 pctWASHINGTON — After a staggering 74 percent decline from the peak in July 2005, new U.S. home sales appear to be bottoming out.