Chemicals

"At homes and day care centers throughout Central Washington, children play in yards contaminated with lead and arsenic."

"Local agencies often spray mosquito-killing pesticides in an effort to control West Nile virus. But it's not clear whether the significant health risks from the pesticides outweigh the comparatively low risks of West Nile."

"For the first time since 1992, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has updated the pesticide protections it requires for the more than two million people who plant and harvest our food. The new protections, which will go into effect in early 2017, could be a game-changer for American farms and workers."

"Students may be getting a less-than-nutritious extra ingredient in the lunches and breakfasts they eat in their school cafeterias, a new study suggests. Whether it's enough to worry about, though, is a matter of dispute."

"The Senate may pass bipartisan environmental legislation [soon], and it's kind of a big deal."

"An Ohio woman was awarded $1.6 million Wednesday in the trial of a lawsuit that alleged a chemical from a DuPont Co. plant contaminated drinking water and contributed to her contracting kidney cancer."

"The Senate may pass bipartisan environmental legislation as soon as [this] week, and it's kind of a big deal."

"Stain repellent and fire retardant chemicals that scientists know little about are increasingly showing up in herring gull eggs around the Great Lakes, spurring concern for potential health impacts."

"Exposure to toxic chemicals in food, water and air is linked to millions of deaths, and costs billions of dollars every year, according to a report published Thursday by an international organization of medical professionals."

Trains carrying hazardous liquids have recently caused more than a dozen explosions, fires, and spills around the country. But communities have little say over hazardous rail facilities in their midst. The rail industry is exploiting obscure historic exemptions from state and local laws protecting communities.