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 "foreign production" ...
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Lead in Dental Work
"WBNS-TV spent the past year probing into the presence of toxic lead in dental work such as crown, bridges and dentures. The team discovered a lack of state and federal regulation in the dental laboratory industry, an industry largely overlooked and unknown to the consumer until WBNS-TV broke the story in February 2008. An increasing number of laboratories outsource dental work to other companies. The FDA doesn't track the materials in foreign or domestic dental work. The lack of oversight results in patient risk.
Tags: lead poisoning; dental work; dentistry; regulations; infection; foreign production
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Exposed: The Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Products and What's at Stake for American Power
This book investigates the response by U.S. companies and the U.S. government to the raising of environmental health standards by the European Union. The book reveals the Bush Administration's policy of retreating from environmental responsibility, while the rest of the world embraces it. The book explores the effects of this attitude on the environment, health of U.S. citizens and international relations.
Tags: environment; international relations; foreign affairs; chemicals; pollution; waste; environmental affairs; international trade;
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Trash-to-Energy Proposal Trashed
A company named Green Power "proposed turning Cheyenne's trash to diesel through the process of catalytic depolymerization." The Austrian gentleman who owned the company, Michael Spitzauer, intended to "cure the shortage of diesel and America's dependence on foreign oil within a matter of years." But a background check revealed a criminal record in Austria, and a jail sentence for fraud. In addition, an expert noted that it is not possible for "a low-energy material such as trash to be turned into a high-energy product such as diesel fuel."
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A Tank of Gas, A World of Trouble
By tracking gasoline and oil from around the world to a single gas station in the United States, the Tribune tells the story of how Americans have become addicted to oil "at a time when the world's crude production appears to be tipping into historic decline." The Tribune examines the oil fields of Venezuela, Nigeria, Iraq and elsewhere, revealing "how America's gas addiction binds us to some of the most fragile and hostile corners of the planet."
Tags: Oil; gas; Venezuela; Iraq; Nigeria; dependence on foreign oil
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The Problem with Recalls/Hazard in Aisle 5
In the strong tradition of Consumer's Union reports on dangerous products, these articles look specifically at the six federal agencies responsible for "overseeing the safety of the full range of consumer products." The investigation found that weak laws and poor enforcement of recalls often result in dangerous and hazardous products making their way into homes across the country. Large percentages of recalled products are never turned in, one in three toys violates mandatory safety standards, and recalled goods are often exported to unsuspecting consumers in foreign countries.
Tags: Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC); hazardous goods
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Trade Secrets
California set up foreign-trade offices around the world to boost the state's exports and lure investors from other countries. However, documents obtained by the Register showed the trade offices repeatedly made false and overblown claims about the business deals they said they were instrumental in landing. In their last annual report, the offices took credit-at least 31 times on deals totaling $4.2 million-for export or investment deals in which they played little or no role. Six times, they took credit for deals that, in reality, did not happen. Officials in the state agency that had oversight responsibility for the offices said they never checked the accuracy of the offices' claims and believed they had no reason to.
Tags: commerce; trade offices; annual report; California Legislature; California Technology Trade and Commerce Agency; California Assembly; California Senate; brokerage; toxic-cleanup; Gigante USA; South Africa; Tokyo; Taiwan; Singapore; Tri-C Manufacturing; exports; Onlyone Products Inc.; H/A International; United Food and Commercial Workers union; U.S. Department of Commerce; California Bureau of State Audits; Department of Finance; private enterprise
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Foreign Objects
A Star-Ledger investigation revealed that "while implants save or improve the lives of millions of people, thousands suffer in pain, disfigurement, immobility and, in some cases, death. The multimillion-dollar medical implant industry is supposed to be overseen by the Food and Drug Administration, but in fact it is regulated so laxly that devices often reach the market without clinical testing and with little oversight afterwards."
Tags: implants; medicine; artificial heart valves; pacemakers; dental implants; joint replacement; breast enhancements; Food and Drug Administration; FDA
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Phillips in Africa: Coltan (Colombite Tantalite); Zimbabwe business grab
CBS News reports on the Congo civil war. The first part of the investigation finds that the efforts to stop the war have failed, "in part because Western companies are helping pay for it." Coltan, a mineral essential for the production of computer chips and high-tech devices, has kept the war going because African governments, middlemen and rebels have become "interested in loot as much as politics." The second segment reports on a land dispute in Zimbabwe, which has caused racial conflicts. The threats to white farmers and business-owners have forced some of them to try to escape to South Africa.
Tags: TAPE; TRANSCRIPT; Rwanda; democracy; political instability; foreign affairs; international reporting; business
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Coal Synfuels: A $1 Billion Federal Tax Scam?
The Charleston Gazette investigates the many coal synfuel plants that opened up in Southern West Virginia and Eastern Kentucky in the fall of 1999. Synthetic fuel, or synfuel, has become more popular with energy providers since 1979. That year, Congress passed a bill that would give a tax credit to those who produce synfuels. The hope was that the bill would help make the U.S. more energy independent in the wake of the Arab oil embargo. While the bill has made the nation less dependent on foreign oil, it has also caused problems for traditional, domestic coal miners. Because they receive a tax credit, synfuel producers charge less for their product than traditional coal miners. Thus, energy suppliers are turning more and more to the cheaper synfuel. Synfuel producers are threatening to put traditional miners out of business.
Tags: synfuel; synthetic fuel; energy providers; coal miners; Arab oil embargo; American Electric Power; Electric Fuels Corp.
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Formula For Greed
The Columbus Guardian investigates plans by Ross Products Division of Abbott Laboratories, the largest manufacturer of baby formula in the United States, to expand into the international market by establishing its own private Foreign Trade Zone in downtown Columbus. State and local officials have lent support to the plan despite serious questions about Ross's past business practices, about how infant formula is marketed in underdeveloped countries and about the possible economic consequences for central Ohio. (June 13 - 19,1996)