Environmental Health

"Environmental advocates are bracing for potentially 'catastrophic' changes to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations that protect children from dangerous lead exposure across the country. Advocates say if the agency moves forward with its plans to repeal or replace programs that regulate hazardous lead levels, lead poisoning prevention efforts would be set back decades."

"A federal judge ruled on Wednesday that ExxonMobil Corp should pay a $19.95 million penalty for pollution from its Baytown, Texas, refining and chemical plant complex between 2005 and 2013."

"State programs that track Zika infections and Zika-related birth defects around the country are in jeopardy as public health officials have been told not to count on federal funds for those efforts after July."

"As he paddled Virginia’s Shenandoah River on a hot day last July, Mark Frondorf came upon a father and two children. “They were just tubing down the river, just two little munchkins, happy as can be,” he said. It was a idyllic sight — except for the herd of cows Frondorf noticed wading on the water’s edge nearby."

"Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that he wants a long-term fix for miners’ healthcare benefits in the next government funding bill, moving Congress closer to a deal on the issue."

"Contamination from former or current military installations has ignited a nationwide review of water on or around bases that used a firefighting foam containing toxic chemicals."

"In 1945, the American Chemical Paint Company introduced its product Weedone, the first herbicide ever to hit the market that killed broad-leaved plants but not grasses. On farms, the weedkiller reduced the need for pulling weeds in grain fields, a godsend during the post-war labor shortage."

"California generates an average of 1.7 million tons of hazardous waste each year. That ranges from industrial pollution to discarded household products. It includes liquids, solid, or gases that science has determined pose a threat to human or other life."