The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "disease exposures" ...
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Biodefense Security Failures in Texas
"Following a watchdog's report that a Texas A&M researcher had been infected with the bioterror agent Brucella in a lab, The Dallas Morning News used state and federal open records laws to pursue dozens of additional security breaches and disease exposures at other state universities."
Tags: bioterror; biodefense; security breaches; lab accidents; disease control; disease exposures
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Disease is swift, response is slow
Diacetyl is found in thousands of food products and used as a butter flavoring, but the toxicity levels has never been tested. Hundred of workers is a Midwestern popcorn plant developed lung damage after exposure to the chemical.
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Danger Dismissed: How the Pentagon downplays the risks of depleted uranium weapons
Evans discovers that the veterans of the 1991 Persian Gulf War "have a disability rate three times as high as that of Vietnam and World War II veterans," and that this trend may be the result of using depleted uranium weapons. His eight-chapter series takes an in-depth look at the science of depleted uranium weapons, centralizing his focus around Matt Rohman, a Gulf War veteran who lives every day in pain. Evans explores different concepts of radiobiology, geology, radiation physics, and health science, and takes a look at what depleted uranium weapons could mean for today's soldier.
Tags: depleted uranium weapons; Pentagon; Gulf War Syndrome; Gulf War illness; war-related illness; ill veterans; nerve disorders; Lou Gehrig's disease; nuclear weapons; chronic fatigue; bystander effect; radioactive dust; military munitions; depleted uranium exposure; veterans with cancer; pyridostigmine bromide; chemical weapons; biological weapons; Fort Eustis; C-4 plastic explosive
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Death in the air: Asbestos Exposure
An American-Statesman investigation discovers that most asbestos removal projects in major Texas cities are "violating state and federal safety laws without getting caught, thereby exposing thousands of construction workers to dangerous levels of the health-damaging fibers." As most building owners and construction contractors are leery to get their buildings inspected for asbestos before starting renovation or demolition, construction workers get repeated long-term exposure that is likely to cause asbestos diseases, the newspaper reports. The unprotected employees have been "mostly Hispanic day laborers hired to do the dirtiest jobs." After the series was published, the state enforced new laws that prohibit "city building officials from issuing permits for renovations or demolitions unless the building owner shows they have had the building surveyed for asbestos by a licensed inspector."
Tags: health; occupational safety; federal FOIA requests; Texas Open Records law; building permits; immigrants; Latinos; cancer; Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); asbestosis; lobbying; politics
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"Monkey Business" and "A Dangerous Breed"
ABC News 20/20 reports that "It's a thriving black market trade few know about: dangerous and diseased monkeys, right out of the country's most prestigious zoos and research labs, ending up as pets in backyards across America. In a two part series, ABC's .... Ross went behind the scenes of this trade to show how monkeys brought to this country solely for research and exhibition purposes are being mishandled and mistreated. As a result, thousands of researchers and unsuspecting members of the public run the risk of exposure to a deadly virus....."
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The Asbestos Danger
In the California Sierra Nevada, the Sacramento Bee commissioned scientific testing of the region. In their research, they found a particularly hazardous kind of asbestos in dust raised along roads and settled inside houses of the commuter communities, about 15 miles from California's capital. Even a few months' exposure to these needle-like fibers could induce a fatal chest cancer decades later, lung disease experts said.
Tags: health; developers; hazard; residents
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No title (id: 13228)
Discover examines the collaborative work of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Czech Republic in assesing pollution problems in Ostrava, the industrial center of former Czechoslovakia. The study identified pollutants and their hazards. It also determined risks of exposure and probability of causing disease. This report also outlines the process of turning coal into coke, a key ingredient in making iron.