Danger of common chemical downplayed
In a second installment of "Chemical Fallout," Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporters Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger and Cary Spivak found that the chemical industry has funded much of the science claiming that the popular chemical bisphenol A is safe. The reporters built a database of 258 scientific studies spanning 20 years of research into the chemical and found that 80 percent of the research showed the chemical poses health risks to laboratory animals. Bisphenol A can be found in hard plastics — including baby bottles, dental sealants, PVC pipes and reusable water bottles.
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CDC bonuses favor management, not scientists
Alison Young of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution analyzed awards recieved by the employees of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to show that the most frequent large cash awards and performance bonuses are recieved not by scientists, but mostly budget analysts, accountants, computer experts and other administrative managers. "The 72 CDC employees who received five or more awards of at least $2,500 from 2000 through July 21, primarily work in non-science jobs. Some got $30,000, $50,000 and in one case more than $140,000 in cumulative bonus cash beyond their salaries." As the CDC faces morale problems and the loss of key scientific leaders, the distribution awards provides evidence, critics say, that the Atlanta-based agency is becoming more focused on management and bureaucracy and less on its public health mission.
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Food, tobacco giants share expertise
Patricia Callahan, Jeremy Manier and Delroy Alexander of the Chicago Tribune examined tobacco-lawsuit documents to show that America's largest foodmaker and its biggest cigarette company have pooled expertise in search of more alluring foods and cigarettes since the dawn of their corporate pairing two decades ago. "Documents show Northfield-based Kraft collaborated on flavor issues with some of the same Philip Morris brain researchers who probed what gives cigarettes their kick. None of those scientists was more controversial than Frank Gullotta, a former top Philip Morris researcher whose brain experiments suggested the company knew more than it claimed about cigarettes' addictive nature." The documents reveal Kraft and Philip Morris discussed investing jointly in brain scans to study how the brain processes tastes and smells. Food scientists even helped their tobacco counterparts make experimental cigarettes — working after-hours in a German coffee plant.
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Mercury in seafood at unsafe levels
Sam Roe and Michael Hawthorne of the Chicago Tribune published a three-part series on the presence of mercury in fish sold in supermarkets. “In one of the nation’s most comprehensive studies of mercury in commercial fish, testing by the newspaper showed that a variety of popular seafood was so tainted that federal regulators could confiscate the fish for violating food safety rules. The testing also showed that mercury is more pervasive in fish than what the government has told the public, making it difficult for consumers to avoid the problem, no matter where they shop.” In addition to conducting its own tests, the paper relied on documents and interviews for the series.
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Major cleanup planned in New Orleans
Randy Lee Loftis of The Dallas Morning News reviewed government test results to show that the Army Corps of Engineers is planning one of the biggest environmental clean ups ever attempted in New Orleans. According to the report, part of an extensive look at the rebuilding of New Orleans, the clean up would involve scraping miles of sediment laced with cancer-causing chemicals from New Orleans' hurricane-flooded neighborhoods. "The clean-up plans would also include crews using front-end loaders to scoop up contaminated sediment that Hurricane Katrina floods left in yards, playgrounds and other spots throughout the greater New Orleans area." Despite one widely publicized study that said the Katrina floodwater was no more polluted than typical urban floods, the examination of the EPA's tests of flood-deposited sediments reveals long-term health concerns if the contamination were to remain.
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Ford leaves behind toxic legacy in N.J.
"Toxic Legacy" is a five-part series by reporters at The Record exploring the environmental and health impacts of paint sludge and other industrial waste dumped a generation ago in watersheds and other environmentally sensitive areas by the Ford Motor Co. For 25 years, ending in 1980, the automaker operated a massive assembly plant in Bergen County that produced nearly 6 million vehicles and an ocean of industrial waste. Much of that waste remains where it was dumped, including a woodland watershed that's home to a low-income community whose members claim Native American ancestry. "The Record found that Ford repeatedly dumped in poor communities and failed to clean up its mess. "The tract was subjected to a Superfund cleanup, but the EPA repeatedly declared the site clean even though slabs of paint sludge and other waste was still readily apparent.
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Researchers sell secrets to Wall Street investors
Luke Timmerman and David Heath of The Seattle Times use sources and documents to investigate at least 26 claims that drug researchers leaked secrets to Wall Street. "In 24 of the 26 cases, the firms issued reports to select clients with detailed information obtained from doctors involved in confidential studies. The reports advised clients whether to buy or sell a drug stock." A sidebar on how this is done is included, as well as information on how the story was reported. The investigation has already sparked an SEC investigation.
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Calif. donors use 527 groups to bypass regulations
Ronald Campbell of The Orange County Register analyzed California campaign finance data to find that the top 100 donors gave more than $150 million to candidates and political committees in 2003 and 2004. Donors also helped put California in the stem-cell business. "Some 26 wealthy couples and individuals contributed more than half the campaign money for Proposition 73, the state's $3 billion bet on the biotechnology frontier." Individual donors got around campaign finance legislation by writing their checks to so-called 527 groups, which operate outside normal campaign-finance rules.
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Drug industry's influence drives doctors' diagnoses
Susan Kelleher and Duff Wilson interviewed more than 160 doctors, patients, medical analysts, regulatory officials and other experts for a Seattle Times series about the health care industry and the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. "Suddenly Sick" reveals that perviously healthy people go to the doctor only to be diagnosed with an illness because the definitions of disease have changed. Among the Times' findings: "Pharmaceutical firms have commandeered the process by which diseases are defined. ... Some diseases have been radically redefined without a strong basis in medical evidence. The drug industry has bolstered its position by marketing directly to the health-conscious consumer, leading younger and healthier people to consider themselves at risk and to start taking medications." The series includes a sidebar about sources used in the story. (Duff Wilson reported and wrote this story while working for The Seattle Times. He now reports for The New York Times.)
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Study finds high levels of pollutants in Calif. family
Douglas Fischer of Alameda Newspaper Group spent nine months investigating chemical pollutants in a family that "lives at one end of the consumer-chemicals spectrum — they eat organic, avoid common household cleaners and pesticides, don't have wall-to-wall carpets or large new appliances." The paper consulted a commercial research ethics board, responsible for protecting study participants' rights and well-being, and had scientists analyze hair, blood and urine samples. They tested the family's 20-month old boy and found high concentrations of flame retardants, "at concentrations higher than measured almost anywhere in the world for someone not handling the stuff for a living." The series includes information on how the series was done, an index of chemicals commonly found in the body, a virtual tour of the common household fridge and what chemical pollutants reside in common food items, and tips on how to reduce the intake of chemicals.
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Mercury levels in fish may mean more advisories
Mike Dunne of The (Baton Rouge, La.) Advocate uses state date on fish containing "action levels" of mercury to "show that about 19 lakes and streams in Louisiana may need advisories to warn pregnant women and children under 7 to limit their fish consumption." Last year the state offered to test residents who ate fish from Bayou Bartholomew or the Ouachita River. "Of the 77 people tested, 25 percent had blood levels of mercury greater than what might be considered "background" and were advised to limit their fish consumption. Seven percent, or about five of those tested, had elevated blood mercury levels and were advised to be evaluated by a physician."
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County practice of selling brains scrutinized
Chris Halsne of KIRO-Seattle uncovered, using the state's Open Records Act, an alarming trade arrangement between the county medical examiner's office and a medical research institute for human brain specimens. "In the past seven years, the medical examiner's office received more than $1 million for collecting brains of people with schizophrenia. In return for the money, county pathologists shipped at least 180 brains to a private research facility." The investigation also exposed a practice that only requires consent by phone to get the okay from family members for "brain-tissue donation." The story includes links to the text of the agreement between Stanley Institute and the King County medical examiner, charts detailing money paid by Stanley Institute and the medical examiner, and an e-mail from a county official explaining the county's position on the matter.
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Crime lab has recurring DNA errors
Ruth Teichroeb of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer finds that DNA contamination and errors at the Washington State Patrol crime lab are a recurring, and critical, problem. "Forensic scientists contaminated tests or made other mistakes while handling DNA evidence in at least 23 cases involving major crimes over the last three years, according to State Patrol and court records." Through public records and interviews, Teichroeb offers a glimpse into what can go wrong with DNA evidence. "Crime labs across the country are struggling with similar problems but documented evidence has been hard to come by." Another story says officials have "been slow to deal with misconduct by long-time employees."
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Flaws, violations could destroy Space Station and occupants
John Kelly and Todd Halvorson of Florida Today reviewed thousands of NASA safety documents to find that "NASA keeps flying crews on the International Space Station despite more than 800 known flaws and safety violations, some of which could destroy the outpost or kill its occupants." The errors are some of the same things that led to the 1986 Challenger accident and destruction of the Columbia in 2003.
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Data shows extent, causes of animal deaths in marine parks
Sally Kestin of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel spent nine months examining the marine park industry, using federal records that the government never analyzed, to find that "more than 3,850 sea lions, seals, dolphins and whales have died under human care, many of them young. Of nearly 3,000 whose ages could be determined, a quarter died before they reached 1, half by the age of 7." Many animals die from preventable causes such as contaminated water, accidents and stress-induced ulcers. "They've eaten key chains, sunglasses and rocks. They've died while being treated for common ear and teeth infections." The paper used records from the Marine Mammal Inventory Report, which the National Marine Fisheries Service has compiled since 1972 but never before released in electronic form, citing computer difficulties. "In October, the agency allowed the newspaper's database editor, John Maines, to come to its Maryland headquarters. It took Maines only three hours to download the data onto a computer disk. His work has allowed the Fisheries Service to begin analyzing its data for the first time and to share the information with anyone interested."
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IRE awards three medals
An astonishing story of brutal war crimes by The (Toledo, Ohio) Blade and a book on the American tax system by David Cay Johnston took top honors in the 2003 IRE Awards. In addition, the Freedom of Information Award went to a team from the (Sioux Falls, S.D.) Argus Leader for exposing a massive secret pardons program rife with questions and conflicts for the governor.
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Lax oversight found in zoo operations
In a two-part series, Karlyn Barker, James V. Grimaldi and D'Vera Cohn of The Washington Post found that "neglect, misdiagnosis or other mistakes have marked the deaths of 23 animals at the National Zoo in the past six years, and some veterinary records are incomplete or were changed after the fact." The paper found lax oversight of zoo operations! by federal authorities and by the zoo's own internal committee, which "rarely meets or conducts investigations, contrary to the zoo's own policy and federal regulations." The Post also placed pathology reports and internal meeting minutes on its Web site.
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Federal researchers also act as drug company consultants
David Willman of the Los Angeles Times reports that top-ranking officials of the National Institutes of Health have received "hundreds of consulting payments" from drug companies, often without public notice. "Such dual roles - federal research leader and drug company consultant - are increasingly common at the NIH, an agency once known for independent scientific inquiry on behalf of a single client: the public." A 1998 legal opinion allows the NIH to keep top officials' consulting income confidential, a practice that sets it apart from 34 othe! r federal agencies The Times surveyed.
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Denver's water supply dwindling
Lou Kilzer, Jerd Smith and Burt Hubbard of the Rocky Mountain News report that much of the well water for Denver, "once thought abundant enough for a century, could be out of reach in 10 to 20 years." Deborah Frazier writes that more than 80 percent of home owners in the affected areas were not told when buying their homes about the shrinking water supply. Another story reveals that officials and developers have ignored warning signs for 15 years. The last part of the series looks at possible solutions and obstacles.
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Cyber terrorists could exploit security lapses and wreak havoc
Ed Meyer of the Akron Beacon Journal reports on flaws in the computer system that controls the nation's electrical grid. It finds that the flaws leave it open to cyber terrorists. An expert quoted in the story says "security was not the highest priority" when the system was designed. He also told the paper that "A relatively small number of computer vendors devised the system, using training procedures that are virtually the same in the United States as in countries suspected of harboring terrorists."
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Non-native creatures threaten environment
Michael Hawthorne and Doug Haddix of The Columbus Dispatch have a lengthy series on the threat to the environment from foreign species of insects. The stories start with a beetle from China, the emerald ash borer, that has "killed more than 6 million trees" since journeying on cargo ships and other vessels. "People inadvertently have spread the destruction by moving infested trees, lumber or firewood to four counties in Ohio and one each in Maryland and Ontario. No matter how large or strong the trees, they have no defense." Other stories explain how U.S. regulations permit ships to dump "ballast water" in American ports, helping to spread foreign species.
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Iran's nuclear program advancing toward bomb-building
Iran is likely to become the world's next nuclear power and "in the late stages of developing the capacity to build a nuclear bomb," according to a three-month investigation by the Los Angeles Times. Douglas Frantz writes that "the country has been engaged in a pattern of clandestine activity that has concealed weapons work from international inspectors. Technology and scientists from Russia, China, North Korea and Pakistan have propelled Iran's nuclear program much closer to producing a bomb than Iraq ever was." Among the findings: "So many North Koreans are working on nuclear and missile projects in Iran that a resort on the Caspian coast is set aside for their exclusive use."
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Medical research performed without consent
Bill Sizemore of The Virginian-Pilot writes about a medical school's experiment in which researchers exposed more than 200 children to a genetically modified plant virus in an effort to track how kids spread germs in day-care centers. The team of scientists from the Center for Pediatric Research, a joint venture of Eastern Virginia Medical School and Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, failed to get written consent from parents before the study began. "EVMS officials say the solution was safe, parents were notified and no children were harmed." One medical ethicist says ``This experiment went off the ethical rails.'' A parent's complaint led to the termination of the experiment, an internal review and changes to the school's oversight system.
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Shuttle debris could have caused disaster on the ground
John Kelly and Todd Halvorson of Florida Today analyzed the debris trail from the breakup of the space shuttle Columbia, finding that "NASA narrowly skirted what could have been an unprecedented disaster on the ground: Raining debris on thousands of people and homes in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth." Had the craft disintegrated even a minute earlier, the paper's review of field maps and flight trajectory data showed, "nearly three times as many people and homes would have been exposed to falling wreckage." NASA has never studied re-entry debris patterns for the shuttle, even though it does so for unmanned space vehicles.
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FBI turned down chance to buy biological weapons
Joby Warrick and John Mintz of The Washington Post have a startling tale of biological weapons from South Africa. In the first of a two-part series, the paper details how a former South African government scientist offered a deadly bacteria sample to the FBI, seeking in return American citizenship and as much as $5 million. The FBI turned him down and others fear that the privately held germs could fall into the wrong hands.
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