Chemicals

"A solvent widely used in industrial settings and found in automotive and other consumer products poses too great a risk of harming both workers and consumers, the EPA said Oct. 29."

"The widespread environmental contaminants known as PFAS cause multiple health problems in people, according to Linda Birnbaum, who retired as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program earlier this month."

"A new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rule proposal would shrink enforcement responsibilities for farmers by narrowing the areas they must restrict human contact during pesticide applications, a move the agency is labelling easier management."

"EPA must analyze the effects of eight widely used pesticides and other chemicals on plants and animals under a settlement reached yesterday [Tuesday] with conservation groups."

"A class of toxic chemicals known to have contaminated drinking water in many areas across the country is also presenting human health risks via another exposure method — our food supply."

"The Trump administration official leading the Environmental Protection Agency’s research office took part in conversations about a health assessment of formaldehyde even while planning to recuse himself from the issue because of his previous work for one of the country's biggest producers of the toxic substance."

"A towering explosion at a century-old Philadelphia oil refinery earlier this year released 5,239 pounds of a hydrofluoric acid, federal investigators said today, the first time they have seen releases of the potentially deadly chemical during a refinery blast."

"The Pentagon’s inspector general is examining the military’s use of a dangerous but ubiquitous class of man-made chemicals that has leached into the drinking water of millions of Americans, including many living near military bases across the country."

"The Trump administration on Thursday proposed new regulations on lead and copper in drinking water, updating a nearly 30-year-old rule that may have contributed to the lead-tainted water crisis in Flint, Mich., that began in 2015."

"Beginning in early 2020, California will ban the sale of the pesticide chlorpyrifos which state environmental officials say has been linked to brain damage and other health defects in children."