Chemicals

"Nearly a decade of BP-funded research has uncovered a laundry list of potential health effects resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including possible links between obesity and dispersants used to break up the oil; the discovery of dangerous bacteria in tar balls still washing up on Gulf beaches; and a new understanding of the links between disasters and the mental health problems of both fishers and oilfield workers."

"A bill that would require the EPA to regulate PFAS, an emerging family of chemicals contaminating U.S. municipal and private water supplies, is slated to be the first major legislation that the House will take up in 2020."

"The Trump administration has built up the biggest backlog of unfunded toxic Superfund cleanup projects in at least 15 years, nearly triple the number that were stalled for lack of money in the Obama era, according to 2019 figures quietly released by the Environmental Protection Agency over the winter holidays."

"What scientists can see and measure, in the garbage patches and on beaches, accounts for only a tiny fraction of the total plastic entering the water".

"High levels of multiple contaminants have been found in soil and groundwater at an old industrial site in suburban Detroit, state regulators said, after an inspection that was triggered by the discovery of a yellow-green substance along a major interstate."

"Some Detroit lawmakers and residents are keeping up the fight against the proposed expansion of a hazardous waste facility."

"Michigan motorists were taken aback on Friday by an alarming image lurking just off the highway: a mysterious green liquid oozing from the walls of Interstate 696, spilling onto the road's shoulder."

"New York enacted a ban on the use, manufacture, sale, or distribution of firefighting foam and equipment containing fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS, unless no viable alternatives are available."

"The U.S. is weighing in on Bayer AG ’s side in its appeal of the first, and so far only, federal jury verdict finding the company’s Roundup weed killer causes cancer."

"A coalition of environmental groups is suing the Trump administration over its easing of chemical plant safety regulations following a recent plant explosion in Texas that injured several people."