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 "fluid" ...
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What Killed Arafat?
This 50-minute film was the result of a nine month long cold case investigation into the suspicious death of Yasser Arafat, Palestine's iconic, revolutionary leader. After obtaining Arafat's entire original medical files, Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit, led by producer and reporter Clayton Swisher, crossed continents to track down and interview the French, Jordanian, Egyptian, and Palestinian doctors who had worked to save Arafat's life. Part I of "What Killed Arafat?" was able to easily shatter popular myths about what caused Arafat's precipitous decline from the onset of his illness on October 12, 2004 until his death on November 11th. Testimony from Arafat's doctors conclusively ruled out liver cirrhosis, cancer, even rumors of HIV. The scientific, evidence-based discoveries made in the Part II result from the work performed by a team of forensic pathologists, toxicologists, and radiation physicists from the University Center for Legal Medicine and Institute for Radiation Physics in Lausanne, Switzerland. Working without payment, they agreed to run a battery of sophisticated tests on a large gym bag containing Arafat’s last personal effects. The scientists discovered significant levels of reactor-made Polonium 210 contaminating areas of Arafat's personal effects that came into contact with his biological fluids. When the final results came back in late June, Al Jazeera hosted Mrs. Arafat in Doha to watch the Swiss explain the results on set. Upon witnessing their testimony, Ms. Arafat made a resolute, unanticipated surprise announcement, calling on the Palestinian Authority to exhume her husband's body for testing. Yasser Arafat’s body was exhumed on November 27, 2012 so that the final samples could be retrieved. Whether the causes of Arafat's death are determined to be natural, inconclusive—or even murder—suffice it to say that Al Jazeera’s "What Killed Arafat?" and the resulting investigations and exhumation will have inched the world closer to understanding what did not, and possibly for the first time, what did claim the life of this historic and controversial personality.
Tags: Science; death; biology; investigation; exhumation; testing
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Government Orders Columbia to Tell Patients 'True Nature' of Drug Study
Columbia University Medical Center conducted a study with experimental surgical fluid on patients undergoing open heart surgery. Subjects were not made aware of the risks of potentially fatal bleeding caused by the fluid. Some of the study's subjects were poor, Spanish-speaking patients who were enrolled without giving formal consent. At least two patients died and more than two dozen required transfusions.
Tags: Columbia University Medical Center; open heart; surgery; fluid; internal bleeding; fatal; study; experimental; emergency room;
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Are you getting greased at Heartland Jiffy Lubes?
Heartland Automotive Jiffy Lubes were found to be selling two oils to customers for different prices. Yet when tested, the I-Team found that the oils had the same properties. ConocoPhillips, the supplier of the more expensive oil, said that Jiffy Lube had known this for sometime. In a later investigation the I-Team found that Heartland Jiffy Lubes sold washer fluid contained no methanol to prevent freezing, despite calling it their “winter blend.†It had simply been died blue by order of the Heartland.
Tags: Jiffy Lube; Heartland; oil; consumer; ConocoPhillips; washer fluid; fraud; deception
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Gasping for Help
Over a hundred workers at the TRW brake plant have suffered from lung ailments because of the airborne metalworking fluid. The employees will become ill and be out of work for nearly five years later because of the toxic fluids. Warnings to the TRW were disregarded as the state inspectors reported the levels of metalworking fluid in the air exceeded safe levels.
Tags: ailment; mist; toxicity; health; Mount Vernon; Craig Chadwick; machine; atmoshpere
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The Body Show
The authors investigated reports that an exhibit of human bodies at the Masonic Center in San Francisco were leaking. Tests revealed the fluid to be a mix of silicone, used in the preserving process, and liquefied human fat. Research led the authors on a global investigation as they uncovered a market in human corpses. A large part of the investigation focused on the origin of the bodies, whether there was consent to use the bodies in the show from the deceased or next of kin in some cases the cause of death.
Tags: The Body Show; Gunther Von Hagens; plastination; human exhibit; Masonic Center; muscular structure; FOIA
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Murky waters
A Star-Telegram two-part investigation sheds light on water pollution problems caused by the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. The story reveals that the airport "sits on underground lakes of jet fuel." It has hemorrhaged toxic waters into the nearby Trinity River tributaries and into Trigg Lake for at least a decade. The major findings are "that pollutants ... have flowed into waters where people fish, that the airport sometimes misrepresented waste problems to investigators and that antifreeze can still escape into creeks despite recent improvements."
Tags: chemicals; toxins; waste dumps; de-icing fluid; environment; government; Clean Water Act; Superfund; contamination; EPA; sewer system; fraud; wastewater; fish; drainage; storm-water; natural resources; conservation
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I Want To Be a Fireman
A Philadelphia Magazine investigation reveals that "at least 130 of the city's 4,400 active and retired firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians have hepatitis C - a blood-borne, often fatal virus that attacks the liver." The report profiles six of the Philadelphia firefighters who believe that they have contracted the deadly disease on the job. The interviewees admit that they have often been involved in childbirths and "cases with a lot of bodily fluids." The story quotes one of the sick men who blames the fire department for not providing - until recently - the rescue workers with masks or gloves. It also describes how the city has denied the claims and has refused the medical expenses of the sick firemen..
Tags: health; medical expenses; fatalities; workers compensation; hepatitis; Centers for Disease Control
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Could Breast Implants Make You Sick?
This story investigates saline breast implants. In a small percentage of cases, some of the "fluid-filled sacs" have become contaminated with mold and bacteria causing dangerous health problems to the wearer.
Tags: breast implants; saline; mold; bacteria; pathology; FDA; plastic surgery; women's health; medical records
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Hazard from Below: Abandoned Oil Wells in Texas
This three-part series examines the crumbling infrastructure of Texas' once-thriving oil and gas industry, detailing how government oversight and corporate welfare contributed to massive ecological devastation in the face of economic decline. "Over the last century, there have been between 700,000 and 1 million oil and gas wells drilled in Texas.... Abandoned, unplugged and leaking wells litter the state. If not properly plugged, they become perfect pathways for saltwater and other toxic fluids found deep underground to pollute groundwater aquifers..."
Tags: CAR pollution Railroad Commission; Natural Resources Conservation Commission; SEC; campaign contribution
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Chemical Reaction
"Chemical Reaction" uncovers a silent killer in the auto industry - metal working fluids. Metal working fluids have been used by the auto industry for years to lubricate pieces of metal. WXYZ finds that those chemicals are causing serious health problems (scarring of the lungs & industrial asthma) in workers across the U.S. and Canada. The investigation exposed how General Motors covered up the results of a million dollar study into the danger of metal working fluids.
Tags: VIDEOCLIP TAPE TRANSCRIPT Chemical reaction Automobiles OSHA Occupational Safety and Health