Chemicals

"Public health advocates urged the Trump administration to protect residents and workers by sticking to a Biden-era timeline for reducing benzene and chromium emissions at the perimeter of steel and coke plants in Pennsylvania and other states rather than continuing to delay compliance rules."

"Ryan Dunham heard his eleven-year-old daughter’s scream from his living room. He bolted up the stairs to the bathroom where she was taking a shower and couldn’t believe his eyes. The water flowing from the faucet was brown, and it smelled like 'decay, rot and death.'"

"When the Food and Drug Administration needs outside guidance, it normally turns to a trusted source: a large roster of expert advisers who are carefully vetted for their independence, credentials and judgment. ... Instead, FDA Commissioner Marty Makary has launched a series of ad hoc 'expert panels' to discuss antidepressants, menopause drugs and other topics with physicians and researchers who often have contrarian views and financial interests in the subjects."

"With billions of dollars at stake, Bayer has gone on the offensive. Billboards along major highways. A social media offensive. Tens of thousands of dollars in campaign donations in Missouri alone. And a major push in at least 11 states to change pesticide labeling laws."

"In a glimpse at the Trump administration’s tilt toward polluting industries, EPA embraced the aid of manufacturers in easing a new rule."

"The counties with the highest use of pesticides per square mile are all located in Missouri’s Bootheel. Many of these counties have some of the state’s highest cancer rates and their health care options are dwindling."

"A decades-long battle to transform a Southeast Chicago lakefront property into a public park is starting to bear fruit. But where the new toxic sludge will go has yet to be determined."

"A train derails and spills at least 1,000 gallons of hazardous materials in the U.S. about once every two months. Nearly half of those derailments resulted in evacuations; more than a quarter resulted in a fire or explosion since 2015, an analysis of federal derailment data showed. And many communities along the rail lines aren’t prepared to keep people safe when it happens."

"While touting a $50 million initiative to identify the causes of autism, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is helping lead an administration that is rolling back protections against pollution and toxic chemicals, including some linked to the condition."

"A commercially valuable but unpronounceable toxicant with multiple chemical variations is being increasingly found at harmful levels in Michigan waters. Sound familiar? It’s not PFAS or PCBs this time. Now, it’s neonicotinoids, or “neonics” — a type of synthetic pesticide that’s widely used on corn and soybeans."