US court indicts vaccines withy mercury for autism

finally, Hannah Poling got justice. A federal court in the us recently asked authorities to compensate the Georgia girl who became autistic after getting vaccine shots in 2002. She was 18 months old then. Many hope the ruling will also influence nearly 5,000 similar cases at the National Vaccine Injury Compensation Program in the country.

In court

On mercury emissions: The US Environmental Protection Agency has violated the Clean Air Act by adopting a cap-and-trade rule that allowed oil and coal-fired plants to purchase credits to cover excessive emissions rather than installing pollution controls, a federal appeals court said. The lawsuit was filed by 18 US states and several environmental groups. They had argued that exempting power plants from strict limits on mercury emissions by allowing a cap-and-trade opportunity would result in mercury contamination around many power plants.

Japanese council members protest serving of dolphin meat in schools

Two council members from the whaling town of Taiji, Japan, have come out publicly against the feeding of dolphin meat contaminated with mercury to children in school lunch programmes. It is the first time Japanese elected officials have criticised whaling and consumption of cetacean meat, and issued warnings of a potential public health disaster as the country attempts to boost domestic consumption.

Bytes

non-stick gum: New easy-to-remove chewing gum is ready. Initial experiments show that the gum degrades naturally in water. The new gum adds a special polymer to modify its formulation, which alters the interfacial properties of the discarded gum cuds, making them less adhesive. The new gum is result of polymer research at England's University of Bristol. Revolymer, a company associated with the university, will commercially launch the product next year.

Caution over cleanup of Nura river

As the cleanup of the decade-old mercury pollution in Nura river started in Kazakhstan, environmentalists emphasised the need for extreme caution. Mercury had been discharged in the river over many years by a Karbid acetaldehyde plant in Temirtau town, until it closed down in 1997. It contaminated a large area of the riverbed and the floodplain.

Fluorescent lamps energy efficient but with glitches

If households in Delhi replace four ordinary bulbs with four compact fluorescent lamps (cfls), their annual savings would be around Rs 273 crore. Startling figure. The highly energy inefficient incandescent light bulb is on its way out. Replacing it is the new-generation and more energy-efficient cfl (see box Energy efficient).

India and US renew environment agreement

on april 2, 2007, India and the us renewed an agreement to collaborate on environmental efforts in India over the next five years. The Union ministry of environment and forests (moef) and the us Environment Protection Agency (epa) signed a memorandum of understanding to this effect in New Delhi.

Coal-based power plants pollute most

The total installed capacity of the power sector in India is around 128,000 mw. Thermal power plants--using coal, gas or oil--together account for more than 65.6 per cent of the total power capacity in the country

Nine US states sue EPA over mercury emissions

nine states in the us, along with several environmental groups, have sued the United States Environmental Protection Agency (epa) for adopting a rule that refuses to regulate mercury and other pollutants from cement plants.

Forest fires aid in the spread of mercury in soil

forest fires hasten mercury accumulation in the soil and catchments, say researchers of Michigan University. According to them, forest foliage are huge mercury traps. When burnt, the mercury accumulates in the soil. Since it has been predicted that global warming will lead to an increase in forest fires, this could heighten mercury accumulation significantly, the scientists hypothesise.