Chemicals

"Most plastic products, from sippy cups to food wraps, can release chemicals that act like the sex hormone estrogen, according to a study in Environmental Health Perspectives."

"It’s clear that Agent Orange was 'very widely used' in Ontario for more than three decades and may have been used in other provinces and territories, the Ontario government said Monday."

"A hydrofluoric acid leak from an oil refinery in Ohio last week sent a worker to the hospital and required the use of a 'water cannon' to disperse the poisonous gas, underscoring the potentially perilous nature of a chemical used at 50 refineries across the country."

"Polystyrene makes comeback in US Congress building after Republicans reverse green initiatives brought in by Democrats."

Some Iowa lawmakers are pushing a bill they say would protect children by removing from the market many plastic products containing BPA, which some scientists think harms health. Lobbyists for the chemical industry say that's premature.

"Thousands of people living within four miles of the Bayer CropScience plant in Institute could have been exposed to potentially harmful levels of methyl isocyanate if the contents of an MIC tank located near an August 2008 explosion had been released, according to a government study obtained by the Gazette."

"As [Maine] Gov. Paul LePage continued to weather national fallout for recently saying women could develop 'little beards' if exposed to bisphenol-A, or BPA, questions continue to mount about the motives behind the governor's proposal to reverse a ban on the substance."

"The pesticide industry is applying extra doses of lobbying in an effort to eradicate federal requirements it considers harmful."