Chemicals

"The World Health Organization’s cancer agency has deemed the sweetener aspartame — found in diet soda and countless other foods — as a “possible” cause of cancer, while a separate expert group looking at the same evidence said it still considers the sugar substitute safe in limited quantities.

The differing results of the coordinated reviews were released early Friday. One came from the International Agency for Research on Cancer, a special branch of the WHO. The other report was from an expert panel selected by WHO and another U.N. group, the Food and Agriculture Organization.

"The Biden administration on Wednesday proposed to strengthen requirements for the removal of lead-based paint dust in homes and child care facilities built before 1978, an effort to eliminate exposure to lead that could require millions of property owners to pay for abatement."

"Controversial proposals to allow deep-sea mining will be centre-stage at global talks in Jamaica from Monday."

"Chlorpyrifos is so harmful that America banned its use on food. But a top EPA official made it clear that the U.S. was not ready to support similar protections for the rest of the world under a treaty that restricts pollutants that travel the globe."

"EPA has found that a dangerous chemical prevalent in drinking water poses more risks than previously determined, including outsize cancer threats."

"The International Seabed Authority had until this weekend to finish drafting exploitation regulations for deep-sea mining. They’re not done. So now what happens?"

"When Mississippi environmental regulators checked the emissions of a large wood pellet mill operating a few miles from the Louisiana line, they found pollution levels two times higher than the legal limit."

"A massive Houston-area chemical fire that burned for three days in 2019 could have been prevented if proper procedures were in place at the chemical storage facility run by the Intercontinental Terminals Co., according to an investigation released Thursday by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board."

"The most high-profile chemicals under fire from the Biden administration likely permeate almost half of U.S. tap water systems, according to a new study from the U.S. Geological Survey that raises yet more concerns about the sprawling family of compounds."

"New Mexico oilfield and air quality regulators on Thursday announced unprecedented state fines against a Texas-based oil and natural gas producer on accusations that the company flouted local pollution reporting and control requirements by burning off vast amounts of natural gas in a prolific energy-production zone in the southeast of the state."