Chemicals

"Before Freddie Gray died of spinal injuries he received in police custody, sparking weeks of protest in his native Baltimore and around the country, he was a 'lead kid,' one of thousands of children in the city with toxic levels of lead in their blood from years of living in substandard housing -- and long-term health problems as a result."

"Federal officials this week labeled DuPont Co. a “severe violator” of worker safety rules, after uncovering more safety problems in an investigation launched following a massive toxic gas leak that killed four workers at the company’s La Porte, Texas, plant last November."

"A St. Louis County jury has found that Monsanto is not liable in a series of deaths and illnesses suffered by people who were exposed to the PCBs manufactured by the company until the late 1970s."

"The tiny federal agency that has urged big reforms in how California regulates oil refineries is in disarray."

"A CSX train car carrying hazardous material derailed and caught fire in the middle of the night in eastern Tennessee, forcing the evacuation of thousands of people and sending dozens to the hospital with respiratory issues and nausea."

"The Obama administration moved Thursday to restrict the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), the most potent greenhouse gases emitted by human activity."

"A helicopter pilot who repeatedly flew over Curry County homes while spraying herbicides on clear cuts in 2013, drawing 20 complaints of illness, will not face any monetary fine from the state."

"A chemical used in sodas and some laxatives for years assumed safe by federal health officials might make people more prone to obesity."

MARYVILLE, Tenn. -- "A CSX tanker car carrying acrylonitrile caught fire just after midnight Thursday morning forcing the evacuation of more than 5,000 people in an expanding evacuation zone last listed as a 2-mile radius around the site."