Air Contaminants Databases Ease Healthy Homes Planning (Medical News Today) Air pollution sources are everywhere in the home, from the bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen, to the woodburning stove in the family room, the newly painted hallway, and even the carpet in the living room. [click link for full article] [News Source]

Florez takes on ag. In his latest campaign, he's raised the ire of agribusiness as he seeks to impose tough state rules to ensure safe leafy greens production in the wake of last year's multistate E. coli outbreak linked to Salinas-area spinach. [News Source]

Officials checking link between Whatcom County creek and cancer. Federal and state officials are tracing potential connections between six cases of asbestos-related cancer and a Whatcom County, Wash., creek that floods yearly. [News Source]

Air Contaminants Databases Ease Healthy Homes Planning (Science Daily) Air pollution sources are everywhere in the home, from the bacon and eggs frying in the kitchen, to the woodburning stove in the family room, the newly painted hallway, and even the carpet in the living room. To help estimate the seriousness of these and other indoor pollutant sources as well as to devise ways to reduce possible health impacts, NIST has developed searchable databases of relevant ... [News Source]

Global warming. With 127 miles of coastline and millions of coastal residents, low-lying New Jersey is extremely vulnerable to the sea-level rise predicted from melting glaciers and Arctic ice. [News Source]

New gear checks for mercury pollution. Louisiana environmental regulators have begun using a special recreational vehicle equipped with monitors to look for mercury, volatile organic compounds and other components of air pollution. [News Source]

Second nature. Recently appointed by Gov. Chet Culver as the new director of the Department of Natural Resources, Rich Leopold's thirst for environmental knowledge proved fortuitous. [News Source]

Newton County residents fight asphalt plant near Oxford. Opponents fear the new plant would pollute the air, add truck traffic to an already dangerous intersection nearby and cause more teeth-rattling explosions from the rock quarry. [News Source]

UCSC study finds poor bear brunt of pollution. Manuel Pastor co-authored a new study that found two-thirds of Bay Area residents who live within a mile of an Environmental Protection Agency toxic release facility are minorities. Nearly two-thirds of those who live more than 2.5 miles from such facilities are white, according to the study. [News Source]

Concern over area plants is in the air. Within a few months, a roof tile plant in Fort Worth, Texas could get state permission to release about 1.5 tons of concrete dust and 12.8 tons of fumes annually from the site. [News Source]

Farm bill worries counties. The bill would affect Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. Critics say the bill would endanger human health and the environment near these operations by relaxing the regulations against CAFOs. [News Source]