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inspections
Posts Tagged “
Safety
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Food and Water Watch is suing the FDA for failure to comply with a Freedom of Information Act request to disclose the plans for how it goes about inspecting various food products. [Food and Water Watch]
inspections
health
Recalled Heparin Contaminant Confirmed, And Congress Grills FDA On Inspections
Researchers have identified the chemical in the contaminated blood thinner Heparin that killed 81 people in the U.S. and made patients here and in Europe sick:The researchers freeze-dried the heparin and used a combination of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to analyze its structure. In addition to a known impurity of heparin called dermatan sulfate, they found that contaminated lots contain a molecule that looks similar to heparin and showed it was almost certainly oversulfated chondroitin sulfate.
More »
health
Should Companies Replace BPA Baby Products In The U.S.?
There's nothing official about BPA in the U.S. (yet), and there's no legal reason (again, yet) for a company to refund or replace any products that have BPA in them. But with Canada's newly awarded "toxic" status on the chemical last week, and the subsequent announcements by Nalgene and Playtex that they would stop using BPA in their products, what do you think other companies should do? At least one reader who's now stuck with some BPA baby bottles thinks they should offer a refund.More »
travel
Midwest Airlines: The Milwaukee Brewers Are More Important Than You
Midwest Airlines flies the Milwaukee Brewers on their planes through a "charter service" says the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, but the Brewers weren't grounded like the over 100,000 other passengers who were booked on MD-80s. More »
airlines
Pilots Complain That Cash-Strapped Airlines Are Skimping On Fuel
What's the surest way to save money on rising fuel prices? Don't use it! MSNBC has gathered pilot complaints from a database NASA maintains for the FAA, and they show that airlines are challenging pilots' refueling decisions, urging them to carry only the minimum fuel required by FAA regulations in order to reduce the weight of the plane and improve mileage. Pilots, however, have the final say on the matter and some of them are upset that cost-cutting is a factor at all in such a crucial decision. One pilot wrote in his complaint, "It's almost like a contest to see how far we can spread this company thin, and when an accident happens, we'll start reintroducing the safety elements we once had."More »
fads
The Crocs Fad Is Over?! Profits Down, Will Close 1 Factory
Like Zubaz pants before them, Crocs seem to be well on their way to assuming their rightful place of honor in the bad fad hall of fame as the company slashed its sales forecast and announced that it would be closing a plant in Quebec due to decreased traffic in its US stores. More »
safety
US Airways Pilot Who Fired Gun In Cockpit Will Himself Be Fired
The US Airways pilot who accidentally fired his weapon in the cockpit of a plane will be fired, says CNN. The pilot, Capt. James Langenhahn, 55, was not available for comment. He told investigators that he was stowing his weapon in preparation to land when the gun went off. The bullet pierced the jet's fuselage but did not hit any crucial wiring or instrumentation, according to the TSA. More »
safety
17th Fatality Sets Colorado Ski Slope Death Record
Safety is important, people. This year's skiing season is going out on a sombre note as a new record was set for the most skiing or snowboarding deaths on Colorado ski slopes in a single season. More »
health
Canada May Become First Country To Classify BPA Toxic
Canada is about to become the first country to declare bisphenol-a (BPA)—used in baby bottles, drink containers, and as a liner in cans—a toxic chemical, reports the New York Times. An anonymous source has said that the work by Canada's chemical review program to list BPA as a toxic chemical "was complete and was recently endorsed by a panel of outside scientists." The announcement is expected any time between today and the end of May. More »
lawsuits
Southwest Passengers Sue Over Missed Inspections
The AP is reporting that four Southwest passengers have filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Southwest broke its contract with passengers by skipping important safety inspections... over a period of six years. More »
travel
These Headlines Are Getting Repetitive: AA Cancels 570 More Flights
American Airlines has canceled 570 more flights today, upping their total number of cancelled flights (this week) to A BAZILLIONTY. (Ok, 3,000.) More »
travel
American Cancels 933 More Flights, Raising Total To Over 2,500
The trouble continues at American Airlines! They've cancelled 933 more flights today. This raises the total number of flights canceled this week to 2,500, as the airline struggles to perform a backlog of neglected safety inspections on its MD-80 aircraft. More »
Delta has canceled a few flights on MD-80 aircraft. [Fox Business News]
health
Drugs In The Water No Big Deal, Says NYC Official
In regards to a headline grabbing AP investigation that found the drinking water of major cities contained trace amounts of an array of pharmacopoeia, the deputy commissioner of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection, "A person would have to drink one million glasses of water to get the dose of even one over-the-counter ibuprofen tablet or the caffeine in one cup of coffee...Even at eight glasses of water per day, this would take the average person over 300 years to consume." So for those of you hoping to replace your medicine cabinet just by draining the Brita, sorry Charlie. However, there are no studies on the long-term effects to human of small exposure to a vast array of drugs, although, the Times notes, they have been shown to cause mutations in fish.
Council Considers Testing Water for Traces of Drugs [NYT]
PREVIOUSLY: AP: 41 Million Americans Drink Water Contaminated With Antibiotics, Anti-Convulsants, Mood Stabilizers, And Sex Hormones
(Photo: Getty)
corruption
FAA Says Southwest Tried To Hide Safety Problems
There's a congressional hearing going on right now over the unsafe Southwest Airlines planes. It seems like the FAA's Southwest Airlines operation was a smörgåsbord of delicious corruption that put many lives (and careers) at risk by becoming too cozy with the airline it was supposed to regulate. More »
travel
United Airlines Cancels 31 Flights
United Airlines canceled 31 flights today to test the fire suppression system. It's just the latest in a series of self-imposed groundings and butteningups by airlines hoping to avoid the negative PR Southwest experienced when a CNN investigation three weeks ago revealed the airline flew over 100 plans with thousands of passengers while skipping required safety inspections.
United Cancels 31 Flights for Inspections [NYT]
Records: Southwest Airlines flew 'unsafe' planes [CNN]
(Photo: zonaphoto)
complaints
