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 Poplar tees, inoculated with a probiotic, degraded the carcinogen, trichloroethylene, TCE, at a California contaminated site.  Sharon Doty, University of Washington, is using phytoremediation  as inexpensive green technology for  cleaning soil and water pollution from the environment. Plants naturally contain pollutant destructive bacteria, a process called phytoremediation. Doty soaked poplar tree cuttings with a probiotic that degrades TCE. The Poplars treated grew faster and larger than untreated trees. The water tested downstream was below EPA standards of safety.

Chemical and Engineering News, September, 11, 2017.

Arsenic in rice originates from groundwater, soil levels, and pesticides previously applied to rice fields. In flooded rice paddies, arsenite, an inorganic more toxic form is prevalent.

Rice absorbs more arsenite in flooded fields because it cannot differentiate arsenite and silicic acid. Rice likes the silicon because it strengthens the stem. It can absorb  10 x's more than other grasses. As it absorbs more silicon, it also absorbs more arsenite. (MaryLou Guerinot, Dartmouth College)

Rice can also be grown in aerobic conditions where fields are not flooded. Arsenate, another toxic form of arsenic is prevalent in this condition. Rice cannot differentiate arsenate from phosphate, a beneficial nutrient available in soil. As rice absorbs phosphate, it also absorbs arsenate.

Rice needs high levels of silicon and phosphate to strengthen, protect, and enhance its nutrition. The most obvious way to lower arsenic absorption is to lower the use of pesticides containing arsenic used in agricultural fields.

Recently, the F.D.A. has solicited pharmaceutical veterinary drug companies to phase out arsenic in more than 100 pet products. The use of arsenic in poultry has already been removed commercially.

Source: Urvashi Rangan, Consumer Reports Food Safety and Sustainability Center 

The E.P.A. proposed a rule to prevent sending fracking waste water to public sewage plants. Some oil and gas extraction facilities have previously sent waste water to publicly owned facilities. In fact, we are drinking it. 

During fracking, millions of gallons daily of this water is sent underground. Most of the water returns to the surface containing various metals, salts, radioactive material and organic matter we don't want to drink. Public treatment sewage plants are not able to remove these materials. This polluted sewage is also apparent in some well water.

Let your city leaders know we expect the clean water we pay for.

Chemical& Engineering News, April 15, 2015

U.S. beekeepers lost 42% of their honeybees from April 2014 to 2015.This is the second highest loss ever recorded. Although Congress is frustrated with the conflicting research, it has asked President Obama to release a strategy to protect our pollinators within the next 2 weeks.

Although the U.S.D.A. finds no reason to restrict soybean seeds coated with neonicotinoid pesticides, the E.P.A. has recently restricted any new use of these pesticides accused by consumer groups for decimating the bee and pollinator population. This includes aerial spraying or any different application until all data is evaluated.

On April 2,a letter to chemical companies indicated any new  use of clothian,dinotefuran, imidacloprid and thiamethoxam will not be approved any time soon. The manufacturers are asked to withdraw them from production or delete them from outdoor use. The E.P.A. admitted lack of sufficient data to determine the outcome of usage on bees and  pollinators. Peter Jenkins, Center for Food Safety, says under federal regulation (F.IF.R.A), the E.P.A. should suspend existing use of these pesticides, pending a thorough investigation of impact of these pesticides on the environment. The outcry and demands from the public have retailers removing neonicotinoids from their shelves and have forced the E.P.A. and government agencies to seriously reconsider use in the future. Until the E.P.A. can prove these pesticides are safe for pollinators and the public, further use may be restricted all together.

Sources: Chemical and Engineering News, May 11 and May 16, 2015.