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Deadly environments
[Fall 2013 Centennial issue] On a October afternoon in 1948, daylight barely trickled into the storefronts of Donora, Pennsylvania. Stagnant weather had trapped a noxious black cloud of emissions from nearby steel and zinc plants above the town,…
A mother's crusade for clean water
[Fall 2013 Centennial issue] In 1972, Anne Anderson’s life changed forever. Her 3-year-old son Jimmy, the youngest of her three children, was diagnosed with leukemia—and other children who lived nearby were suffering from leukemia, too. “Everywhere I went—to…
Engineering clean water
[Fall 2013 Centennial issue] When sanitary engineer Gordon Fair joined the faculty of Harvard School of Public Health in 1919, one fact seemed certain: Water could sustain life, but in many cases, it could also take it away.…
Improved sanitation vital to safe drinking water
September 10, 2013 – To help ensure clean drinking water for future generations, it is important to understand the links between clean water and sanitation. Antiquated sanitation systems must be replaced in many parts of the world, particularly…
U.S. standards for ‘safe’ limits of PFCs in drinking water appear too high for children
A new environmental toxicity study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the University of Copenhagen has found that exposure limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies for perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) found…
Arthur Kill oil spill: Diesel cleanup continues, 'luckily' it's not crude
Coverage in the Huffington Post, November 1, 2012, featuring HSPH's Jim Shine
Arku's journey
[ Fall 2012 ] Raphael Arku should have been on top of the world. There he was, in his early 20s, a geologist for a gold mining company, a job with prestige and money—neither of which he’d ever…
Toxic mercury, accumulating in the arctic, springs from a hidden source
Harvard study finds circumpolar rivers most responsible for high levels of mercury in the Arctic For immediate release: Monday, May 21, 2012 Boston, MA -- Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a…
The Water Tamer: John Briscoe tackles water insecurity around the world
“Water truly branches into all aspects of life,” HSPH Prof. John Briscoe told Harvard Magazine in a profile published in the January/February 2012 issue. Briscoe, who has a joint appointment at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences,…
Global health news: In Pakistan, controlling water is key
Pakistan is a nation built around a single river, the 1,800-mile Indus. Earlier this summer, rains sent floodwaters raging down the river, killing more than 1,600 and destroying more than a million homes, along with bridges, roads, power…