Washington, D.C. (PRWEB) June 28, 2007

Americans are breathing dirty air. As court-ordered deadlines approach for the federal government to decide on strengthening protections against air pollution, people from across the country will voice their opinion to the Environmental Protection Agency that clean air protections are important for our health, our environment, and our future through a new online project called “Adopt the Sky”(http://www.adoptthesky.org).

Earthjustice, a non-profit public interest law firm, is launching “Adopt the Sky,” using the latest in Flash technology to entertain, engage and promote clean air and better health. Air pollution is choking communities from Los Angeles to Philadelphia, and this website gives people a chance to tell those in charge why clean air is important to them.

“EPA has heard from environmental and public health groups, and now it’s time they start hearing from everyone forced to breath dirty air,” said Alexandra Allred, a Texas activist and mom whose son, Tommy, has severe asthma. “We deserve clean air. Adopt the Sky is a way that we can tell EPA to clean up their act.”

People visiting http://www.adoptthesky.org are greeted with images of smoggy, dirty sky coupled with startling facts about asthma: 4.5 million children in the U.S. have it. Visitors can then navigate around a big blue sky, viewing personalized messages from people all over the country who have signed the petition demanding cleaner air. Georgia M. from New Hampshire writes, “EPA, the science is in. Don’t fall short. Adopt the most protective standards.” Michael W. from San Francisco says, “I have asthma and it’s getting harder to breathe.” Other petition signers simply list the names of their children and grandchildren.

Visitors are then prompted to “Adopt the Sky,” signing their names to an assigned virtual square-mile of sky over some of the dirtiest regions of the country. The user will see floating air molecules that represent those who have already signed the clean air petition. When people roll over the molecules, a name, home state location, adopted state location and user-generated comment or message related to preserving clean air are revealed.

Clean air advocates can navigate from state to state, revealing the numbers of adults and children with asthma. “The goal here is to help visitors really visualize the impact that dirty air has on our health and our environment, and to give them a sense that there is something we can all do together to let EPA know that weak protections against dirty air are not acceptable,” said Georgia McIntosh, Director of Marketing at Earthjustice. “Smog pollution doesn’t know state or county boundaries. We’re all affected by it and need to tell EPA and government regulators that it’s time they moved toward stronger protections.”

Later this summer, EPA is going to hold public hearings on whether to strengthen health standards for ozone, or smog. At the hearings, Earthjustice representatives, along with other environmental and public health groups like the American Lung Association and Public Interest Research Group will present the signatures gathered from Americans across the country who want clean air and stronger protections to EPA officials.

For more information (and a higher resolution screen grab) , contact Jared Saylor, Earthjustice (202) 667-4500, and visit http://www.adoptthesky.org.

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Find More Our Environment News

Balanced Mind Beautiful Body, John B Williams

Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 17, 2009

Washington-DC (PRWEB) December 17, 2009 — EVO Health founder, John B. Williams, has just published the first installment of a three part series in the Science of Getting Fit Program (SGF) to change traditional planning and structure in dealing with long term health goals with Balanced Mind Beautiful Body (HoverFly Media, 2009, $ 12.95 paperback ISBN# 978-0-578-04523-8).

This inspiring and insightful text is written in a simple, easy to follow format, which welcomes both the health veteran and the ‘newbie’ to a healthy lifestyle path. Balanced Mind Beautiful Body challenges the reader to look inside and identify some of the areas that need redirection to obtain the health and wellness goals desired. In his sometimes harsh yet caring and easy to understand style, author John B. Williams draws upon his 13+ years as a health and fitness professional, and gives you the honest truth about what needs to be done today, right now, to reach all health and longevity goals.

Part one of a three part series called, The Science of Getting Fit, Balanced Mind Beautiful Body provides a sound base that helps anyone looking to achieve better health starting at any level. John has taken the better part of his career to cultivate his findings and knowledge and is bringing his insight and experience to the world with The Science of Getting Fit. The philosophy behind the program is that to have total health, you address the mind, your nutrition and physical activity step by step and then collectively. While the first step is a balanced mind, John believes that you need to master all three in steps individually and then learn how to integrate them. Having worked with hundreds of athletes, individuals, groups and organizations John has a complete understanding of needs across the board, from the performance athlete to the infirm and has created this program with application for a broad spectrum of people.

Beautiful Mind Beautiful Body is available through Amazon.com as well as the EVO Health website which is an interactive fitness, health and wellness community. Unique in interactive capabilities – the website is available to members to create their own book/fitness groups so that they can utilize close support while embarking upon the SGF Program. The special SGF section of the site launched simultaneously with the book so members can have discussions, check in with each other and gain support from EVO as they read through and begin implementing its practices.

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Find More Environment Problems News

Beryllium is a steel gray, strong, and light-weight element that is toxic and primarily used as hardening agent in alloys.  In group 2 (or IIA) of the periodic table, beryllium ranks about 51st in natural abundance among the elements in Earth’s crust. It has a high strength per unit weight. It is one of the light metals that have the highest melting points. Besides having excellent thermal conductivity and being nonmagnetic, beryllium resists attack by concentrated nitric acid and at standard temperature and pressures it resist oxidation when exposed to air. Beryllium was so named for its chief mineral that is an aluminum beryllium silicate. It was discovered as an oxide, now known as beryllia, in 1797 by French chemist Louis Nicolas Vauquelin. Because its soluble compounds are sweet-tasting, the new element was first called glucinium.

Beryllium tarnishes only slightly in air, becoming covered with a thin layer of oxide. The ability of beryllium to scratch glass is usually ascribed to this oxide coating. Beryllium compounds are generally white (or colorless in solution) and show great similarity in chemical properties to the corresponding compounds of aluminum. This similarity makes it difficult to separate beryllium from the aluminum that is almost always present in beryllium ores.

The most important industrial application of beryllium is in the manufacture of alloys. In very small amounts, the element adds strength, durability, and temperature stability to alloys. Copper-beryllium alloys make good hand tools in industries that use flammable solvents because the tools do not cause sparks when struck against other objects. Nickel-beryllium alloys are used for specialized electrical connections and various high temperature applications. The addition of beryllium to some  metals often results in products that have high heat resistance, improved corrosion resistance, greater hardness, greater insulating properties, and better casting qualities. Many parts of supersonic aircraft are made of beryllium alloys because of their lightness, stiffness, and dimensional stability. Other applications make use of the nonmagnetic and nonsparking qualities of beryllium and the ability of the metal to conduct electricity. Beryllium has important use in many systems. In miniature, high-purity components made with beryllium, a single wire can carry hundreds of electronic signals.  A typical application of beryllium-copper alloys is in the defense and aerospace industries.

Because X- rays easily pass through pure beryllium, the element is used as window material for X-ray tubes. Beryllium and its oxide, beryllia, are also used as a moderator, or so-called blanket, around the core of a nuclear reactor because of the tendency of beryllium to slow down or capture neutrons. Although beryllium products are safe to use and handle, the fumes and dust released during fabrication are highly toxic. Extreme care must be taken to avoid breathing or ingesting even very small amounts. Specially designed exhaust hoods are used by persons working with beryllium oxide. Beryllium and its oxide are being utilized more and more in industry. Besides its importance in aircraft and X-ray tubes, beryllium is used in computers, lasers, televisions, oceanographic instruments, and personal body armor.

The beryllium content on Earth crust and in soil is 2.6 ppm, and 6 ppm respectively. Beryllium in soil can pass into the plants grown on it, provided it in a soluble form. Typical levels in plants vary between 1 and 40 ppb that is too low to affect animals which eat these plants. Beryllium is found in 30 different minerals, the most important of which are bertrandite, beryl, chrysoberyl, and phenacite. Precious forms of beryl are aquamarine and emerald. Beryllium enters the air, water and soil as a result of natural processes and human activities. Whereas it occurs naturally in the environment in small amounts, humans add beryllium through production of metal and combustion of coal and oil. Beryllium exists in air as very small dust particles. It enters waterways during weathering of soils and rocks. Industrial emissions add beryllium to air and wastewater disposals. It usually settles in sediment. Beryllium as a chemical element occurs naturally in soils in small amounts, but human activities have also increased these beryllium levels. Beryllium is not likely to move deeper into the soil and dissolve within groundwater.

In water, chemicals will react with beryllium, to make it insoluble which is a good thing as the water-insoluble form of beryllium can cause much less harm to organisms than the water-soluble form. While beryllium has not been found to accumulate in the bodies of fish, some fruits and vegetables such as kidney beans and pears may contain significant levels of beryllium. Beryllium of these levels can enter animals that eat them, but luckily most animals excrete beryllium quickly through urine and feces. The uptake of beryllium has awful consequences mainly for human health. Nevertheless, laboratory tests have indicated that it is possible for beryllium to cause cancer and changes of DNA with animals. However, so far there is no field evidence to support these findings.

Though beryllium is one of the most toxic chemicals we know, it is not an element that is crucial for humans. This metallic element can be very harmful to humans when they breathe it in, because it can damage the lungs and cause pneumonia. The most commonly known effect of beryllium is called berylliosis, a dangerous and persistent lung disorder that can also damage other vital organs. In about 20% of all cases people die of this disease. It is the breathing in of beryllium in the workplace that causes berylliosis. People who have weakened immune systems are most susceptible to this disease. Beryllium can also cause allergic reactions to people who are hypersensitive to this chemical element and its compounds. These allergic reactions can be very dangerous and they can even cause a person to be seriously ill, a condition known as Chronic Beryllium Disease (CBD). The symptoms of this problem are: weakness, tiredness and breathing problems. Some people who suffer from CBD will develop anorexia and blueness of hands and feet. Sometimes people can even be in such a serious condition that CBD can cause them to tend towards premature death. Next to causing berylliosis and CBD, beryllium can also increase the chances of cancer development and DNA damage.