Chemicals

"U.S. regulators have relied on flawed and outdated research to allow expanded use of an herbicide linked to cancer, and new assessments should be urgently conducted, according to a column published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday."

"During the five decades in which DuPont used and profited from C8, the company had only infrequently discussed the chemical with environmental authorities, and it kept most of its extensive internal research on the chemical confidential."

"Four new fires have broken out at the site where two huge blasts last week killed 116 people, Chinese state media reported Friday soon after officials said safety hazards were found at almost 70 percent of firms handling dangerous chemicals in Beijing."

"Chinese authorities warned that cyanide levels in the waters around the Tianjin Port explosion site had risen to as much as 277 times acceptable levels although they declared that the city's drinking water was safe."

"Male black bass and some sunfish in North Carolina rivers and streams are developing eggs in their testes, which can cause reproductive problems and potentially threaten populations, according to unpublished research."

"The task of removing lead-contaminated soil from thousands of homes near a closed Vernon battery recycling plant would be the largest cleanup of its kind in California and rank among the biggest conducted nationwide, say environmental officials and experts in toxic remediation."

"A former chemical company executive charged over a spill that fouled the drinking water of about 300,000 West Virginians pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors on Tuesday, according to federal court documents."

Chinese authorities have told news media not to report independently on the hazardous chemical explosion that killed more than a hundred people in Tianjin. No live broadcasting, interpretation, or social media reporting is allowed. Only state-controlled media can be used. Many of the dead were firefighters, who may not have known the hazard they were confronting. There are signs that the Chinese government has been suppressing information about firefighter deaths.

DuPont, a major U.S. chemical company, for years hid what it knew about the threats to employees and neighbors from a chemical -- perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C8 -- that can cause cancer and other health damage. The PFOA was used in operations of DuPont's Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, WV. Its health damage was the focus of a major class-action lawsuit.

"Sixteen companies have reached a $14.3 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Maryland to stabilize and cap waste and contaminated soil at the Central Chemical Superfund site in Hagerstown, the agency announced Monday."