Chemicals

"Federal auditors announced an investigation Friday of how the government has dealt with lead contamination of drinking water in Benton Harbor, an impoverished, mostly Black city in southwest Michigan."

"Residents of a New Hampshire town where drinking water was contaminated with the industrial compounds known as PFAS have elevated rates of several cancers compared to the national average and compared to several nearby communities that were not contaminated with the chemicals, according to a study published today in the journal Environmental Health Insights."

"America’s national bird is more beleaguered than previously believed, with nearly half of bald eagles tested across the U.S. showing signs of chronic lead exposure, according to a study published Thursday."

"A group of 19 firefighters in Massachusetts and New York allege in two separate lawsuits that 3M and 23 other companies knowingly made and sold products containing “forever chemicals” that placed the plaintiffs’ health at risk."

"After a HuffPost investigation last year brought to light a vast, decades-old chemical dumping ground in the Gulf of Mexico, the Environmental Protection Agency has officially declared that the site is nothing to worry about ― without reviewing any recent scientific data or visiting the site."

"Pollution by states and companies is contributing to more deaths globally than COVID-19, a U.N. environmental report published on Tuesday said, calling for "immediate and ambitious action" to ban some toxic chemicals."

"The province of Alberta will toughen its greenhouse gas emissions standards for oil sands mines, closing a loophole that rewarded some of Canada’s highest-emitting facilities with millions of dollars’ worth of tradeable credits, its environment ministry told Reuters."

"If a scientific opinion recently proposed by European officials is upheld, the recommended daily dose of bisphenol-A, or BPA, in Europe will be more than a million-fold lower than what U.S. regulators say is safe."

"The success of New Jersey’s biggest city at replacing nearly 24,000 lead drinking water pipes can serve as a national model and shows why infrastructure spending is vital, Vice President Kamala Harris said Friday in Newark."

"Health-care workers and others who are exposed on the job to formaldehyde, even in low amounts, face a 17 percent increased likelihood of developing memory and thinking problems later on, according to research published in the journal Neurology."