Thursday, May 18, 2006

America's Toxic 100

Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI) at the University of Massachusetts last week released the Toxic 100, an updated list of the top corporate air polluters.

The Toxic 100 index is based on air releases of hundreds of chemicals from industrial facilities across the United States. The rankings take into account not only the quantity of releases, but the relative toxicity of chemicals, nearby populations, and factors such as prevailing winds and height of smokestacks. The Toxic 100 index identifies the top air polluters among corporations that appear in the Fortune 500, Forbes 500, and Standard & Poor's 500 lists of the country's largest firms. The Toxic 100's top five companies are E.I. Du Pont de Nemours & Co., US Steel, ConocoPhillips, GE, and Eastman Kodak.

A new feature is that readers can see the details behind each company, such as individual facilities owned by the corporation, specific chemicals they emit, their toxicities, and their contributions to the company's overall Toxic Score.

No comments: