Tropical Storm Gordon continues to gradually slow and weaken in the open Atlantic, it will dissipate long before reaching the US.
In the meantime the Gulf remains quiet, with the only area of potential development coming of the southeast coast of the United States. Regardless of whether or not it becomes a named storm, there will be no impacts to the Gulf Coast.
September 14,11 a.m.
Tropical Storm Gordon will gradually weaken and dissipate in the Atlantic today and tomorrow. It poses no threat to the United States or Caribbean.
Another area of potential development off coast of the Southeast U.S. now has a 50% chance of developing according to the National Hurricane Center, and will bring rain through the east coast, but will have no impact on our weather in Texas.
September 13,1 p.m.
Tropical Storm Gordon has formed in the Atlantic. It will slowly put on the breaks before reaching the Caribbean, and could U-turn back to the east before dissipating. The storm poses no threat to the United States.
Elsewhere we are monitoring a few disturbances with a low chance of development, but none are expected to impact us here in Southeast Texas.
September 13, 7 a.m.
Remnants of Francine will continue to slowly move northwestward in northeast Arkansas. Pockets of heavy rain will continue across the lower Ohio Valley through Friday morning. While the major rivers in these areas are unlikely to see significant flooding, small stream and urban flooding is likely to occur.
In the central Atlantic, Tropical Depression Seven continues to move generally to the west over the open waters of the central Atlantic. The depression is forecast to become a tropical storm on Friday. No direct impacts to land are expected from this storm.
Additionally, an area of disturbed weather off the Carolina coast has a low chance for development. Regardless of development it is expected to produce heavy rain, gusty winds and dangerous seas for that region.
WASHINGTON, Sept 13 (Reuters) – TikTok and parent company ByteDance face a key court hearing on Monday in a legal battle seeking to block a law that could ban the app used by 170 million Americans as soon as Jan. 19.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hold oral arguments on the legal challenge, putting the fate of Chinese-owned TikTok in the middle of the final weeks of the 2024 presidential election.
Both Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are active on TikTok seeking to court younger voters.
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TikTok and ByteDance argue the law is unconstitutional and violates Americans’ free speech rights saying it is “a radical departure from this country’s tradition of championing an open Internet.”
Driven by worries among U.S. lawmakers that China could access data on Americans or spy on them with the app, the measure was passed overwhelmingly in the U.S. Congress in April just weeks after being introduced.
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ByteDance has said a divestiture is “not possible technologically, commercially, or legally” and without a court ruling will lead to an unprecedented ban on Jan. 19. Circuit Judges Sri Srinivasan, Neomi Rao and Douglas Ginsburg will consider the legal challenges brought by TikTok and users.
TikTok and the Justice Department have asked for a ruling by Dec. 6, which could allow the U.S.
President Joe Biden signed the law in April, giving ByteDance until Jan. 19 to sell TikTok or face a ban, but he could extend the deadline by three months if he certifies ByteDance is making progress toward a sale.
The White House and other advocates of the law said the measure is a challenge to Chinese-based ownership of the app, and not a move to eliminate TikTok.
The White House says it wants to see Chinese-based ownership ended on national security grounds, but not a ban on TikTok.
Americans broadly pick Kamala Harris as the winner of last week’s widely watched presidential debate – yet neither she nor Donald Trump moved the needle in terms of trust on the issues, ratings of the candidates’ personal attributes or vote preferences in the 2024 election.
Even Taylor Swift shows little impact: Just 6% in the latest ABC News/Ipsos poll say the pop star singer-songwriter’s endorsement of Harris makes them more likely to vote for her; 13%, instead, say it makes them less likely to support her, with 81% saying it makes no difference. Those responding negatively are overwhelmingly Trump supporters, according to the poll.
Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during a presidenti…Show moreSaul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
Americans by 58-36% say Harris won the debate – a reversal from the Biden-Trump match in June, which Trump was seen as winning by 66-28%. Biden’s performance intensified questions about his cognitive health, precipitating his departure from the race.
The poll of 3,276 adults, produced for ABC by Langer Research Associates with fieldwork by Ipsos, finds that Harris did firm up some of her personal appeal: Thirty-seven percent say the debate made them feel more favorably toward her, vs. 23% less favorably. There was no such benefit for Trump: People by nearly 2-1 say the debate made them see him less favorably.
The benefit for Harris occurred almost exclusively in her base, potentially helping her turnout efforts. Sixty-nine percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning Independents say the debate made them see her more favorably. Only half as many Republicans and GOP-leaning Independents, 34%, say the debate made them see Trump more favorably. One factor may be that Harris, a walk-on candidate, has had less public exposure until now.
The poll also finds a slight dip in the share of Trump supporters who back him strongly – 56%, vs. 60% at the end of August. Sixty-two percent of Harris’ supporters now are strongly behind her, the first meaningful difference in strong support between the two.
That said, Trump shows an advantage in another gauge: while 42% call him too conservative, 47% call Harris too liberal, one of his debate themes.
Preferences
Vote preferences haven’t moved meaningfully. This poll finds the race at 51-46%, Harris-Trump, among all adults; 51-47% among registered voters; and 52-46% among likely voters. Each is within a percentage point of its pre-debate level in ABC/Ipsos polling.
Results are essentially identical when including third-party or Independent candidates Chase Oliver, Jill Stein and Cornel West; they get at most 1% support apiece. State-to-state ballot access for these candidates is a work in progress; ABC News estimates that as of now Oliver likely is on the ballot in about 36 states, Stein in about 27 and West in about 15.
It’s important to note that this poll measures preferences nationally, an effort to better understand how all Americans are coming to their choices in the presidential election. It doesn’t assess the contest at the state level, which determines the winner of the Electoral College.
The absence of movement in vote preferences, despite a 22-point tilt to Harris as having won the debate, marks the sharply polarized nature of the electorate. Almost everyone has a preference between Harris or Trump, and among those who do, few say they’d even consider the other. This is especially true among likely voters, with just 3% potentially persuadable to switch.
Another result also shows the entrenched divisions in attitudes. Seventy-three percent of Trump’s supporters say they’ve backed him all year. Of the rest, 17% were undecided at some point but settled on Trump; just 9% moved to Trump from another candidate – mostly, other Republicans or the former Independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Barely 2% of Trump’s supporters came to him after previously preferring Harris or Biden.
It’s similar on Harris’ side of the ledger. Two-thirds of her supporters say they’ve been with her since she got into the race. A quarter were undecided at some point. Just 2% of Harris supporters have moved to her from Trump.
Movable voters can matter – as everyone matters – in a tight race. But these results suggest that the biggest pickings for Trump and Harris alike are in motivating turnout among their existing support groups.
Groups
Harris leads Trump by nine points among women while running virtually even with him among men, and by a slight nine points among 18- to 29-year-olds, entirely due to her support from women that age. She improves among young adults who are more likely to vote.
While younger women are important to Harris, the Swift endorsement doesn’t show a positive impact even in this group. Eight percent of women younger than 30 say the endorsement makes them more likely to support Harris, while 13% say it makes them less likely to do so. Most, 78%, say it makes no difference.
Views on the DebateABC News/Ipsos poll
Her position among suburban women, an often-watched group, is similar to her support among women overall. More tellingly, she’s +12 points among independents, often a swing voter group in presidential elections.
Trump, for his part, leads by a vast 79-18% among white evangelical Protestants, with this core GOP group seemingly unfazed by his layered position on abortion. He’s roughly on par with past performance, having won white evangelical Protestants by 74-25% in 2020 and 81-16% in 2016.
In other groups, Trump leads by 12 points among white people, growing to 28 points among those who don’t have a four-year college degree, a mainstay of his support. Despite suggestions that he’s denigrated the military, he leads by 29 points among veterans, 63-34%.
Voters
Many of these results – but not all – hold steady when moving from the general public (relevant because there’s still time to register) to registered voters and then to likely voters. But there are a few notable exceptions.
Harris advances from +9 points among all adults aged 18-29 to +19 points among those identified as likely voters. This is fueled by young women, a cornerstone group in her campaign: Harris goes from +23 points among all women under 30 to +38 points among those likely to vote.
Vote Preference by Groups: Harris-TrumpABC News/Ipsos poll
There’s a stark contrast with men aged 18-29 who are likely to vote: Just 51% in this group back Harris, with virtually as many, 48%, for Trump.
Trump, for his part, remains closer than usual to Harris among Hispanic people, now trailing her by 17 points among those who are likely voters. That’s better than usual for Trump compared with past elections: Biden won Hispanic people by 33 points in 2020; Hillary Clinton won them by 40 points in 2016, per ABC News exit polls.
Issues and attributes
While overall vote preferences are stable, so are views on issues and attributes. The economy and inflation continue to dominate as the top issues in the election, and Trump leads by 7 points in trust to handle each of them.
In the next most important issues, Harris responds with a 7-point lead on “protecting American democracy” and a 9-point lead on handling health care. The two remain evenly matched on crime and safety.
It’s clear, too, why Trump keeps doubling down on immigration as an issue: He leads Harris by 10 points in trust to handle it. She leads him by 14 points on abortion and by 16 points on handling race relations, although both rate lower in importance.
There are differences among groups in issue importance. In notable gender gaps, women are 14 points more apt than men to cite abortion as a top issue in their vote, 68% vs. 54% – a difference that holds regardless of age. Women also are 11 points more likely than men to cite health care as a top issue, 82 vs. 71%. Still, the economy and inflation top the issues list among women and men alike.
Views on the DebateABC News/Ipsos poll
Harris’ best results vs. Trump continue to be on personal attributes, explaining her effort to lean in on this domain. She leads him by 32 points in having the physical health it takes to serve effectively, 17 points in honesty and trustworthiness, 10 points in mental sharpness, 10 points in understanding the problems of people like you and 7 points in better representing your personal values. All, again, are essentially the same as they were before the debate.
Overall favorability also is essentially unchanged: Forty-seven percent have a favorable impression of Harris, vs. 35% for Trump. Still, they’re close in being seen as qualified for office – Harris by 53%, Trump by 49%. The difference widens, however, among independents; 56% see Harris as qualified vs. 48% who say the same of Trump.
Debate
Lastly, on the debate, it’s notable that 95% of Democrats say Harris won, while fewer Republicans, 75%, say Trump won. (Among independents, 61% pick Harris.) Similarly, among Trump’s own supporters, 78% say he won the debate, while among people backing Harris, 97% give her the win. (These results include people who initially called the debate a tie, then leaned toward Harris or Trump as the winner.)
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump attend a presidential debate in Phila…Show moreSaul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images
While 58% overall say Harris won, this rises to 64% of those who watched all or some of the debate. That reflects the fact that Harris supporters are 8 points more likely than Trump supporters to have watched. Harris supporters are even more apt to have read, watched or listened to follow-up news coverage or commentary about the debate – 75% have done so, vs. 59% of those who support Trump.
Methodology
This ABC News/Ipsos poll was conducted online via the probability-based Ipsos KnowledgePanel® Sept. 11-13, 2024, in English and Spanish, among a random national sample of 3,276 adults. Partisan divisions are 29-29-30%, Democrats-Republicans-independents. Results have a margin of sampling error of 2 percentage points, including the design effect, for the full sample. Sample sizes are 2,772 for registered voters and 2,196 for likely voters, with a 2-point error margin for each. Sampling error is not the only source of differences in polls.
The survey was produced for ABC News by Langer Research Associates, with sampling and data collection by Ipsos. See details on the ABC News survey methodology here.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Stuck-in-space astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams said Friday it’s been tough dealing with their Boeing ride leaving without them and the prospect of spending several extra months in orbit.
It was their first public comments since last week’s return of the Boeing Starliner capsule that took them to the International Space Station in June. They remained behind after NASA determined the problem-plagued capsule posed too much risk for them to ride back in. Their eight-day mission is now expected to last more than eight months.
“It was trying at times. There were some tough times all the way through,” Wilmore said from 260 miles (420 kilometers) up. As spacecraft pilots, “you don’t want to see it go off without you, but that’s where we wound up.”
While they never expected to be up there nearly a year, as Starliner’s first test pilots, they knew there could be problems that might delay their return. “That’s how things go in this business,” Williams said.
Wilmore and Williams are now full-fledged station crew members, chipping in on routine maintenance and experiments. Williams will take over command of the space station in a few more weeks, Wilmore told reporters during a news conference – only their second since blasting off from Florida on June 5.
The duo, along with seven others on board, welcomed a Soyuz spacecraft carrying two Russians and an American earlier this week, temporarily raising the station population to 12, a near record. And two more astronauts will fly up on SpaceX later this month; two capsule seats will be left empty for Wilmore and Williams for the return leg.
The transition to station life was “not that hard” since both had previous stints there, said Williams, who logged two long space station stays years ago.
“This is my happy place. I love being up here in space,” she said.
Wilmore noted that if his adjustment wasn’t instantaneous, it was “pretty close.”
The astronauts said they appreciate all the prayers and well wishes from strangers back home, and that it’s helped them cope with everything they’ll miss out on back home.
Williams couldn’t help but fret for a while over losing precious face-to-face time with her mother. Wilmore won’t be around for his youngest daughter’s final year of high school. He just requested an absentee ballot on Friday so he can vote in the November election from orbit. Both stressed the importance of carrying out their civic duties as their mission goes on.
Their Starliner capsule marked the first Boeing spaceflight with astronauts. It endured a series of thruster failures and helium leaks before arriving at the space station on June 6. It landed safely in the New Mexico desert earlier this month, but Boeing’s path forward in NASA’s commercial crew program remains uncertain.
The space agency hired SpaceX and Boeing as an orbital taxi service a decade ago after the shuttles retired. SpaceX has been flying astronauts since 2020.
Williams said she’s excited to fly two different spacecraft on the same mission. “We’re testers, that’s what we do,” she said.
“We wanted to take Starliner to the completion and land it back on land at home,” she added. “But you have to turn the page and look at the next opportunity.”
AUSTIN, Texas — Ride-hailing leader Uber on Friday announced it will dispatch robotaxis built by driverless technology pioneer Waymo beginning next year in Austin, Texas, and Atlanta in a deal that deepens the bond between once-bitter rivals.
The alliance expands upon a partnership the two companies forged in Phoenix last year, signaling they were ready to set aside their differences and work together following a bruising legal battle revolving around allegations that Uber had stolen Waymo’s trade secrets.
Uber’s increasing reliance on Waymo’s robotaxis to supplement the fleet of cars driven by people responding to requests sent on a mobile app comes just a few weeks after it announced plans to deploy driverless cars from General Motors’ beleaguered Cruise subsidiary.
It hasn’t been revealed yet where Uber and Cruise will be working together next year, but it probably won’t be in California, where Cruise’s license remains suspended f ollowing a grisly October 2023 incident in San Francisco that seriously injured a pedestrian.
Unlike Cruise, Waymo so far hasn’t been involved in any major crashes or accidents that have sidelined its robotaxis, which are now giving more than 100,000 rides per week in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Phoenix on its own ride-hailing app.
But Waymo’s robotaxis will be responding to requests on Uber’s app in Austin and Atlanta next year, instead of Waymo’s own.
Working through Uber’s already well-established app in those cities signals that Waymo is looking at ways to introduce its driverless technology in new markets more quickly in an effort to make money to its corporate parent, Alphabet Inc., which also owns Google.
Although Alphabet doesn’t disclose Waymo’s financial results, the robotaxi service is believed to responsible for most of the $2.15 billion in operating losses posted by its “Other Bets” division during the first half of this year.
The cozy relationship between Uber and Waymo is a dramatic about-face from the legal bickering that culminated in the two sides agreeing to a $245 million settlement during a high-profile trial in 2018. The truce resolved a lawsuit alleging former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick conspired with former Google engineer Anthony Levandowski to steal Waymo’s self-driving car technology.
Levandowski later pleaded guilty to criminal charges that arose from the civil lawsuit, but avoided an 18-month prison sentence in January 2021 when he was pardoned by President Donald Trump just before he left office.
Uber subsequently sold the self-driving car division that triggered the theft allegations under current CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, after one of the company’s robotic vehicles killed a pedestrian in Tempe, Arizona, in March 2018.
SUGAR LAND, Texas (KTRK) — Sugar Land police say they’re seeing a jump in vehicle break-ins and want the community to take extra precautions.
Surveillance video from Sugar Land PD captured the moments they say a truck was broken into. Incidents like this are why police are urging residents to be on alert when leaving their vehicles.
“The main thing is that we got the holiday season coming up so we want to get out ahead of all the action that’s happening,” Capt. David White said.
White says there have been six cases since August, but unlike the one in the video, the thieves were using a different approach.
“What these thieves do is they will sit at a bank, or department store. They will wait until someone comes out with money or expensive goods. They’ll follow them until they stop. Then, they’ll break in their car,” White said.
That’s a problem resident Omar Ahmed has dealt with before.
“My wife, actually, not too long ago in Sugar Land, had parked at the gym and went inside for maybe ten minutes and came out. Her bag, wallet, everything was stolen within like five or ten minutes span,” Ahmed said.
He and others say vehicle break-ins in the area are highly unusual.
“Surprised, you don’t see that happen much around here,” Ahmed said.
With the holidays approaching, shopping centers are expected to get busier. ABC13 asked what will be done to make sure the number of cases doesn’t go up.
“We have extra surveillance. We have extra security that comes out, especially during the holiday season,” White said.
To keep your vehicle from being targeted, make sure no shopping bags or valuables like wallets, purses, or phones are left inside, and be aware of your surroundings.
“You know, when I go out, I look around and try not to go at certain times,” Kristie, who is already taking the extra precautions, said.
Attorney General Ken Paxton this week withdrew an eight-year-old legal opinion that gave private nonprofits the green light to ban guns on land they lease from a city – a move that comes as Paxton challenges the nonprofit State Fair of Texas’ ban on firearms.
Paxton, a Republican who ardently opposes gun restrictions, sued the city of Dallas and state fair officials last month, arguing the State Fair of Texas had violated state law that largely bars local governments from restricting firearms on land they own or lease. Fair Park, the site where the fair is held, is owned by the city of Dallas and leased to the nonprofit that runs the fair. The event is set to run from Sept. 27 through Oct. 20.
In court filings, Paxton argued that the private fair organizer “acts under authority” of the city and cannot ban guns at the site. City and fair officials have insisted the city has nothing to do with how the nonprofit operates the event and played no role in this year’s gun ban – thus making the policy fair game, they argue. Both entities say the attorney general’s case is at odds with an opinion he issued in 2016, which found that private entities could post notices banning guns on government-leased land without fear of civil penalty as long as said government “has no control over the decision to post such notice.”
Later in 2016, an official from Paxton’s office cited that opinion in finding that firearm-banning notices could be posted at the entrances of the Fort Worth Zoo because, while the zoo is on city-owned land, the city contracts with a nonprofit corporation to oversee the zoo’s operations and management.
The attorney general’s website states that the 2016 opinion – which is legally nonbinding – was withdrawn “pending issuance” of Paxton’s forthcoming opinion responding to two Republican lawmakers who questioned last month whether the State Fair of Texas was “operating jointly” with the city and thus prohibited from banning firearms at the fairgrounds. A spokesperson for Paxton’s office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.
In their letter to Paxton requesting his opinion, state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston and state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock argued that the city “exerts significant control over the operations of the fair” and is “intertwined” with the private organizer.
Attorneys for the State Fair of Texas denied the claim, writing to Paxton that it was based on “mistaken assumptions” about the nonprofit’s relationship with the city.
“There is no overlapping leadership structure between SFOT and the City,” the nonprofit’s attorneys wrote. “SFOT is currently governed by a 20-person board of directors, none of whom are government employees, government officials, or government appointees. SFOT is also financially independent and does not receive any money from the City to host the Fair.”
The fair’s attorneys also pointed to a prior court ruling that found the city “has no say in SFOT’s internal decision making” and shot down a case that alleged the State Fair was essentially “a shell corporation” for the city.
An official from Paxton’s office wrote a letter last month to Dallas interim city manager Kimberly Tolbert that threatened legal action, noting that if the State Fair had relied on Paxton’s 2016 opinion in going ahead with its gun ban, “such reliance was misplaced.” The letter, from Paxton’s administrative law chief Ernest Garcia, did not explain further why the opinion did not apply in this case.
Fair officials have said their firearm ban is aimed at making the event safer, following a shooting at last year’s fair in which three people were injured by gunfire. GOP state lawmakers have urged the fair to reverse course, arguing the policy is misguided and would have the opposite effect. State Sen. Bob Hall, R-Edgewood, said last month he would skip the fair because the gun ban would make it a “free-fire-zone for criminals” that was too dangerous to attend.
The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans – and engages with them – about public policy, politics, government, and statewide issues.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — It’s going to be a beautiful weekend with plenty of sunshine, but we’ll also see a return of summer-like heat and humidity that could pop off some showers and thunderstorms.
High temperatures each day this weekend will be in the mid-to-upper 90s under a partly cloudy sky. Morning lows will be in the mid-to-upper 70s, which is more typical for July and August. Rain chances are minimal at 10% for Saturday increasing to 30% for Sunday with the potential for some strong of even severe storms Sunday afternoon.
Do you expect those summertime temperatures to continue?
Yep. High temperatures should remain at or above 90 degrees for the next 10 days. Thankfully, we don’t foresee any 100-degree days, but the combination of heat and humidity could put the heat index into the triple digits.
How long will we have to wait for our first fall front?
At least 10 days…if not longer. There are hints that a “baby” fall front could roll in just after the start of astronomical fall on September 22, but we wouldn’t get too excited over those prospects just yet.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
There are a few tropical waves we are monitoring in the Atlantic, none of which are expected to threaten the Gulf. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for the latest on what’s happening in the tropics.
The US Food and Drug Administration announced Tuesday that it will examine the potential harm to women of heavy metals such as lead and arsenic found in tampons.
The FDA’s action follows the July publication of a small pilot study that found arsenic and lead in organic and non-organic tampons. Although the levels of both metals were low, there is no safe level of exposure to lead, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency.
The July study discovered only the presence of the metals and “did not test whether metals are released from tampons when used,” the FDA said in a statement Tuesday. “It also did not test for metals being released, absorbed into the vaginal lining, and getting into the bloodstream during tampon use. The FDA has therefore commissioned an independent literature review and initiated an internal bench laboratory study to evaluate metals in tampons.”
The FDA lab study will mimic normal use of tampons to see just how much – if any – metals may be released into the human body during their use. The literature review will examine all research in the area to shed light on the potential health impact of such exposure, the agency said.
“We want the public to know that before tampons can be legally sold in the U.S., they must meet FDA requirements for safety and effectiveness,” the statement says. “Manufacturers must test the product and its component materials before, during, and after manufacturing.
“Before a product is allowed onto the market, biocompatibility testing is undertaken by the manufacturing company, which is part of safety testing, and is reviewed by the FDA prior to market authorization.”
The Consumer Healthcare Product Association, a trade group, also noted in a statement that its products “are rigorously tested” to meet “strict regulatory standards.” The group said it “is supportive of continued research to help ensure the safe use of these products.”
The Center for Baby and Adult Hygiene Products, a trade association also known as BAHP, said it supports the FDA’s further research on the safety of tampons in real world use and the agency’s ongoing commitment to public health.
Heavy metals in tampons
The July study tested 30 tampons from 14 brands purchased from major online retailers and stores in the United States, the United Kingdom and Greece. The researchers conducted a blinded study, so they did not know the brands.
Researchers ran tests for 16 heavy metals: arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc, according to senior study author Kathrin Schilling, assistant professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health in New York City.
“We found an average of 100 nanograms per gram of lead and 2 nanograms per gram of arsenic in the tampons,” Schilling told CNN at the time. “There was no detectable level of chromium and no detectable level of mercury, which is very good.”
Organic tampons contained higher levels of arsenic, while nonorganic tampons had higher levels of lead, the study found.
“The average lead concentration in tampons was about 10 times higher than the maximum levels currently allowed in drinking water,” Schilling said, adding that arsenic levels were five times lower than current limits for drinking water.
“It’s important to note that arsenic shouldn’t be present in tampons at all, and we don’t yet understand the effects of vaginal exposure since it hasn’t been studied,” she said. “There is no safe level of lead exposure, and it has been shown to cause reproductive health issues in women.”
However, the mere presence of a chemical is not an indication of risk or adverse effect, according to the American Chemistry Council, an industry association.
“As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention emphasizes, ‘The measurement of an environmental chemical in a person’s blood or urine is a measure of exposure; it does not by itself mean that the chemical causes disease or an adverse effect,'” a spokesperson for the council previously told CNN.
Why tampons would be more of a concern
Vaginal tissue is more permeable than other parts of the body, so if studies were to find that heavy metals – or worrisome chemicals – do leach from menstrual products into the body, it could be a significant problem, Anna Pollack, associate professor of global and community health at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, told CNN previously. She was not involved in the pilot study.
“I am most concerned with menstrual products that are used inside the body,” said Pollack, who coauthored a review of 10 years of studies on contaminants in tampons, sanitary pads, menstrual cups and other products.
“However, there is no reason for people to be afraid to use menstrual products at this time,” Pollack added. “I would just be aware of the issue and monitor any research that develops.”
Tampon makers and the FDA recommend that tampons not be used at night or for longer than eight hours due to a greater risk of toxic shock syndrome, a deadly bacterial infection that can cause organ failure and death if not treated.
That advice also applies to anyone concerned about heavy metals or chemicals in their menstrual products, experts say.
Other recommendations include washing your hands before and after inserting or removing a tampon to reduce bacterial spread, changing tampons every four to eight hours and using the lowest absorbency possible.
“If you can wear one tampon up to eight hours without changing it, the absorbency may be too high,” the FDA noted on its website.
Signs of toxic shock, which include a sudden high fever, diarrhea, dizziness, vomiting or a rash that looks like a sunburn, need immediate medical attention.
In addition, “if you have discomfort, pain or other unexpected symptoms like unusual discharge when trying to insert or wear a tampon, or if you have an allergic reaction, stop using tampons and contact your provider,” the FDA said.
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RALEIGH, N.C. — A new tropical storm has formed in the Atlantic Ocean, taking on the name Tropical Storm Gordon.
Gordon strengthened into a tropical storm Friday around 11 a.m. That’s around three days after it organized off the Cabo Verde Islands.
At 5 p.m. on Friday, the storm had maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. The storm was moving west-northwest at 10 mph and was expected to continue to strengthen for another day or so, but next week it should dissipate without ever threatening land.
Gordon formed after Francine weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.
Francine slammed into the Louisiana coast Wednesday evening with 100 mph winds in coastal Terrebonne Parish, battering a fragile coastal region that has not fully recovered from a series of devastating hurricanes in 2020 and 2021. The system then lashed New Orleans with torrential rain – leaving behind widespread power outages and debris-covered streets.
Rushing water nearly enveloped a pickup truck in a New Orleans underpass, trapping the driver inside. A 39-year-old emergency room nurse who lived nearby waded into the waist-high water with a hammer, smashed the window and pulled out the driver. The rescue was captured live by WDSU.
“It’s just second nature I guess, being a nurse, you just go in and get it done, right?” Miles Crawford told The Associated Press on Thursday. “I just had to get to get him out of there.”
The water was up to the driver’s head and rising, he said.
News footage from coastal communities showed waves from lakes, rivers and Gulf waters thrashing seawalls. Water poured into city streets in blinding downpours. Oak and cypress trees leaned in the high winds, and some utility poles swayed.
At the storm’s peak, 450,000 people in Louisiana were without power, according to the Public Service Commission. Many of the outages were linked to falling debris, not structural damage. At one point, around 500 people were in emergency shelters, officials said.
“The amount of money invested in resilience has really made a difference, from the power outages to the number of homes saved,” said Deanne Criswell, the Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator, who attended the governor’s news conference.
In the coastal community of Cocodrie in southern Louisiana, where many families own seasonal homes along the bayou for fishing, police guarded a road to prevent looting as people cleaned their properties.
Brooks Pellegrin, 50, and his family cleared muck out of their campsite, a two-story structure with a large dock on a canal about 14 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. They worked well into Thursday afternoon raking marsh grass and spraying down muddy floors after a 10-foot (3-meter) storm surge washed away the building’s back wall, porch and much of the boat deck.
“We built everything up so we wouldn’t have to do this. This one brought in a lot more water than Ida,” Pellegrin said. “It packed a lot more punch than I was expecting.”
For many in the area bordered by bayous, swamps, lakes and the Gulf of Mexico, threats of flooding and hurricanes have become a way of life, Lafourche Parish Sheriff Craig Webre said.
Water comprises about a quarter of the area in the parish, which is home to about 97,000 people south of New Orleans. In 2021, Ida made landfall in the southern point of the parish as a Category 4 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph.
That storm was “cataclysmic” and “the most significant hurricane” to impact the area. Following the 2021 storm, 90% of homes in the area needed a roof replacement and many houses were damaged beyond repair, Webre said.
Over the years, the area has become more resilient against storms, improving drainage and pumping stations and replacing roofs that can better withstand hurricane-force winds. Residents also are evacuating quicker when there are significant storm threats, Webre said.
“This population is very resilient. They’re very independent. They’re very pioneering,” he said.
