Chemicals

 

 By CHERYL HOGUE
 

We don't have a lot of information about many of the industrial chemicals that are in our air, water and soil, or those that are increasingly found in our blood.

This dearth of data often leaves audiences hanging when journalists report about pollution and biomonitoring. Too often, scientists just can't tell us what the presence of Chemical X in our bodies means.

Hundreds of civic groups and individuals called on EPA March 1, 2009, to restore the Toxics Release Inventory to its former usefulness for informing people of what toxic chemicals companies are releasing into their air, water, and land.

EPA proposes a new rule addressing emissions of toxic chemicals from kilns that are fueled by coal or other typical fuels, or allegedly nonhazardous waste. You'll find this, as well as other environmental story ideas, in the latest issue of TipSheet.

Atrazine, one of the most commonly used pesticides on crops ranging from corn to trees, may not be as dangerous to humans as previously thought.

In 2000, 753 trains carrying hazardous substances had an accident and 35 released some of those hazardous substances to the environment.

Acid mine drainage from abandoned coal mines is the biggest water-quality problem in the Appalachian states.

While a few of the country's nearly 40,000 dry cleaners are opting for alternatives to the solvent perchloroethylene, most are not.

The Bush administration seems poised to accept the testing of potentially toxic pesticides on human subjects -- a practice that has raised ethical concerns.

Automotive technicians can suffer long-lasting nerve damage after occupational exposures to n-Hexane.

Incoming EPA administrator Lisa Jackson faces an immediate test on perchlorate secrecy, as the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia rejects EPA's argument for FOIA exemption. Will EPA and the Justice Department appeal, even though Obama urges agency openness?