Environment

As we pass through the season of toy recalls into the heyday season of Christmas consumerism, few of the presidential candidates on either side of the aisle have yet to seriously focus on an issue that would send a powerful signal of commitment to protecting Americans. The question of ensuring American's security from the hazards to their health contained in hundreds of consumer products hangs like a ripe fruit for any candidate willing to pick it. Who is out there protecting Americans from these hidden hazards? The answer: practically nobody.

Mark Schapiro talks to Terry Gross on NPR's Fresh Air Monday, November 26, about his book Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everday Products and What's at Stake for American Power. Listen to Schapiro discuss how and why the U.S. is become a dumping ground for toxic products banned elsewhere in the world, and the response of U.S. industry and the government to the tightening of environmental protections in the European Union.

This week The Economist featured Mark Schapiro's Exposed, calling it "a gripping new book." The article, "Brussels Rules OK," points out:

After the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, oil companies assured America accidents like that would never happen again.

But another accident did happen. On October 13, 2004, roughly 1,000 gallons of crude oil spilled into the Puget Sound estuary, near Tacoma, Washington. The spill blackened the beaches and waters, threatening aquatic plants, seabirds and fish. Unlike the Exxon Valdez spill, it was not clear who caused the spill and nobody claimed responsibility for the accident.

Vanja Petrovic interviews investigative journalist Mark Schapiro for AlterNet.org about his new book, Exposed,and why companies that manufacture hazard-free products for the European Union often produce toxin-filled versions of the same items for America and developing countries.

Congratulations to CIR correspondents Marina Walker Guevara and Sara Shipley Hiles for receiving the In-Depth Reporting Award from the InterAmerican Press Association.

When she wasn't analyzing air samples, HOUSTON CHRONICLE reporter Dina Cappiello was investigating another environmental crisis: the Dead Zone. It's a giant swath of ocean in the Gulf of Mexico where oxygen drops so low that it is unable to support some marine life. The Dead Zone forms each summer due to the fertilizer and wastewater runoff that makes its way to the Gulf via North America's rivers.

Go behind the scenes with HOUSTON CHRONICLE reporter Dina Cappiello as she reveals how she uncovered dangerously high levels of industrial air pollutants in Texas neighborhoods.

EXPOSÉ's "The Scientific Method" premieres on PBS tonight. Check local listings.

>> Tour Houston and the sites of her reporting with Dina as your guide.

In the recent EXPOSÉ, reporter Dina Cappiello reveals how she found shockingly high levels of toxic air pollutants in neighborhoods around Houston and Southeast Texas. According to the American Lung Association, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Bakersfield, and Birmingham also rank among the cities with the most air pollution.

In a city built on oil and industry money, Houstonians have a name for the odor that emanates from its numerous industrial facilities: “the smell of money.” But for some residents, it also marks a dangerous public health threat: high levels of toxic air pollutants that have been linked to cancer, kidney and liver damage, as well as respiratory illnesses. In one neighborhood, levels of the carcinogen benzene were so high that one scientist said living there would be like "sitting in traffic 24-7."