Chemicals

"GENEVA -- U.N.-mandated human rights investigators said Wednesday that they believed the Syrian government dropped the chemical agent chlorine on civilian areas on eight different occasions in April."

"PITT MEADOWS, British Columbia – On an early spring morning the Pitt River flows so calmly that the peaks of the Coast Range seem to pause to admire themselves in its glassy waters. A motorboat lifts a wake, and the docks of the marina moan. Still tucked in for the winter, the pleasure boats stir then rock themselves back to sleep."

"Environmentalists and a South Florida community want to limit aerial spraying for mosquitoes — saying it's ineffective and harmful to wildlife. Two butterfly species were added to the endangered list."

"The law, Ordinance 960, which was enacted last year, bitterly divided the normally idyllic island and also captured global attention. Hawaii’s year-round growing season had made the state a hub for the development of genetically engineered corn seeds that are then planted throughout the United States and in other countries. Corn stalks now sprout where pineapples and sugar cane once grew."

"WASHINGTON - The United States has made progress in reducing dangerous air pollution since 1990 but work remains to reduce risks for the country's most overburdened urban areas, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's top official said on Thursday."

"New research from NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center shows that large quantities of a chemical responsible for depleting the ozone layer are still being emitted, even years after an international ban."

"The job of removing mercury from the environment can be so dangerous that Brian Chapman sometimes wears the equivalent of a spacesuit to scoop up the toxic balls of liquid metal."

"Michigan State University environmental toxicology professor Matt Zwiernik presented part two of the results from the 2013 dead bird collection in St. Louis to the Pine River Superfund Taskforce Wednesday. Zwiernik’s team monitored 60 active nests not only in the nine-block residential area surrounding the former Velsicol plant site but also 15 kilometers downstream. As was the case with the first batch of results, American robins eggs collected contained DDx levels far above those found to induce death in laboratory settings."

"Drilling-wary Maryland is one of several East Coast states considering whether to open their lands to fracking as public health concerns mount."

"WASHINGTON -- For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency may require oil refineries to regularly measure the air quality at their perimeters. These fence line measurements will give surrounding communities – largely low-income communities of color – data on the level of pollution they are exposed to each day."