"After a year of working with environmental groups, government regulators and the chemical industry, a leading advocate for chemical regulation has devised a plan to remake the nation's chemical laws -- a 34-year-old set of regulations that all players agree is outmoded and ineffective."
A Tennessee-based chemical company, cited and fined by New Mexico authorities for environmental violations there, won $75,000 in punitive damages in its SLAPP suit against a community activist for what it claimed were defamatory public presentations.
"Plumes of toxic, smog-causing chemicals from Barnett Shale natural-gas operations are so common that inspectors find them nearly every time they look, a Dallas Morning News examination of government records shows. What's more, the inspectors have rarely looked."
"Federal officials have moved quickly to clamp down on the use of potent rodent-killing pesticides after one was linked to the deaths of two Utah girls earlier this year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said aluminum and magnesium fumigants can no longer be used near homes."
"The Food and Drug Administration said recent research raises 'valid concerns' about the possible health effects of triclosan, an antibacterial chemical found in a growing number of liquid soaps, hand sanitizers, dishwashing liquids, shaving gels and even socks, workout clothes and toys."
"Chemicals found in food cans, nail varnish and shampoos could be triggering early puberty in girls, putting them at greater risk of cancer and diabetes, scientists believe."
"More than 50 Indiana National Guardsmen have filed a lawsuit in Houston claiming KBR failed to warn them about exposure to carcinogenic chemicals at an Iraqi water facility they were guarding."
"NASA, the agency known for exploring space, will be spending a lot more time studying Earth in the next few years. The Obama administration has proposed a budget for NASA that includes billions of dollars for satellites and other tools to help scientists investigate Earth-bound problems, especially climate change."
The EPA is considering requiring pesticide-makers to disclose often-toxic "inert" ingredients, changing a policy of secrecy that has been in effect for nearly 2/3 of a century.
"African-American residents of Mossville, a community just west of Lake Charles, have won a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on charges that the U.S. government has violated their rights to privacy and racial equality in not forcing local chemical plants to stop polluting."
Advertisement 
