“The fish eat some organism that has it [PCBs], and then they’re eaten by a bigger thing, and that’s eaten by a bigger thing. So, the load of PCBs you get when you eat contaminated fish is much higher than you get when you breathe them over a whole lifetime.” — Keri Hornbuckle, University of Iowa Superfund Research Program
Category: Public health
Posted inPublic health
Lawmakers target chemical promoted online as ‘suicide kit’
“In every state we have laws that you can’t aid or assist in suicide. But a chemical that is more lethal than cyanide has become popular and convenient and cheap for people to use for suicide.” — Attorney Carrie Goldberg, who has brought three lawsuits against online retail giant Amazon.
Posted inEnvironment
South Coast towns spared from costly new septic rules
The regulations will require only homeowners on Cape Cod to upgrade their septic systems to nitrogen-filtering models, unless their town puts together a 20-year plan to reduce nitrogen in its watersheds.
Posted inAddiction crisis
A mother’s anguish: Two sons lost to drug overdoses
Dartmouth mom Tuesday Desrochers mourns her sons Maxwell, who died this month, and Caleb who died in 2017. “I just started screaming because there’s no way I could have lost two.”
Posted inPublic health
New Bedford food pantries feel crunch as pandemic SNAP benefits end
“I think this is a horrible time for this to happen. It should have been stretched out until our grocery prices went down.” — Kevin Frederic, supervisor at the Solanus Casey Food Pantry for Catholic Social Services
Posted inPublic health
The Light pauses COVID-19 weekly updates, historical stats remain
The Light will continue to monitor and report on COVID-19, but will pause weekly updates, including new cases in New Bedford, percentage of those vaccinated and average daily cases.
Posted inPublic health
Undocumented immigrants fall through the cracks with child lead poisoning
“Recent immigrants, especially undocumented immigrants, and refugees without economic means tend to settle in the same low-income communities and therefore are more likely to be at risk of lead exposure.” — Mass. Department of Public Health statement.
Posted inPublic health
All hands on deck as ‘triple-demic’ hits South Coast hard
Flu season off to an early, nasty start but RSV and Covid-19 still a concern. Southcoast Health, Community Health Center urge caution during holiday gatherings
Posted inPublic health
Council president Abreu urges action on New Bedford’s lead pipes, but it’s up to mayor
“If we can’t have a safe, healthy, well-functioning group of residents, then we are greatly failing our community for which we are elected to serve.” — New Bedford City Council President Ian Abreu
Posted inPublic health
Dangerous lead pipes carry drinking water to thousands of city homes … Is yours one of them?
New Bedford’s efforts to remove the pipes have lagged in recent years and the cost of replacement can fall on residents.