Chemicals

"In 2017, two United Nations experts called for a treaty to strictly regulate dangerous pesticides, which they said were a “global human rights concern”, citing scientific research showing pesticides can cause cancers, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s, and other health problems. Publicly, the industry’s lead trade association dubbed the recommendations “unfounded and sensational assertions”.  In private, industry advocates have gone further."

"Using EPA funds, Colorado will deploy cutting edge technology for detecting methane emissions from its 80 landfills, making it a leader among states."

"In a first-of-its-kind ruling, a federal district court said teeth-strengthening chemicals added to drinking water pose an “unreasonable risk,” a designation prompting EPA regulations under the nation’s premier toxics law."

"Officials were working Wednesday to assess the scene the day after a chemical leak from a railcar prompted the evacuation of hundreds of residents in southwestern Ohio."

"In a quiet patch of forest in Nova Scotia, a company is building a machine designed to help slow global warming by transforming Earth’s rivers and oceans into giant sponges that absorb carbon dioxide from the air."

"An estimated 189 compounds linked to breast cancer are found in food packaging and tableware, according to a new study."

“Paper or plastic” will no longer be a choice at grocery store checkout lines in California under a new law signed Sunday by Gov. Gavin Newsom that bans all plastic shopping bags."

"The landmark lawsuit is the first time a state has targeted an oil company over claims that recycling could solve the plastic pollution crisis."

"A destructive cocktail of herbicides, including a key compound in the lethal defoliant Agent Orange, is being used to chemically deforest huge areas of Brazil as ranchers there seek new, less detectable ways to clear forests for grazing cattle."