Chemicals

"Partially inspired by the Flint, Michigan, water crisis, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a new rule to reduce exposure to lead from drinking water around the country on Thursday."

"PFAS chemicals have been identified in synthetic turf, according to lab tests performed on several samples of the artificial grass that were shared with The Intercept. The presence of the chemicals, members of a class that has been associated with multiple health problems, including cancer, adds to growing concerns about the grass replacement that covers many thousands of acres in parks, schools, professional sports stadiums, and practice fields around the U.S."

"COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — The movement started last spring with a dinner table conversation at then third-grader Aggy Deagle’s home."

"Plastic production really began in earnest in the 1950s. It’s hard to remember, but we once got along without it. Of course, plastic offered great convenience, and its production skyrocketed."

"The US Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog is investigating EPA activity on a consent order controlling the manufacture of two fluoroethers. The 2009 order initially applied to DuPont and now affects its Chemours spin-off."

"Sterigenics U.S. LLC announced Sept. 30 it will permanently shut its Willowbrook, Ill., medical sterilization facility after a bitter fight with Illinois residents and lawmakers over the plant’s ethylene oxide emissions."

"Legislation that would require the EPA to designate all PFAS as hazardous substances within one year isn’t feasible, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler said Sept. 26."

"The Senate urged its negotiators Sept. 25 to back language banning the Pentagon’s use of firefighting foam containing potentially hazardous nonstick chemicals known as PFAS, as House-Senate talks continue toward a single Defense Department reauthorization bill."

"Chemicals used for carpets and anti-stain products have been found in water sources for 7.5 million people in California, detailing the extent of the problem as state regulators work to develop safety levels for the contaminants that have been linked to cancer."

EPA allowed 40 new chemicals in the toxic PFAS family to be manufacured and used despite scientific evidence suggesting they had seriously harmful health effects.