Chemicals

"Days after environmental watchdog group Center for Environmental Health cried foul on the levels of a controversial caramel coloring in Pepsi, soda giant PepsiCo announced its intention to phase out the ingredient nationwide by February 2014."

"We have to confess: When we heard that Twinkies will have nearly double the shelf life, 45 days, when they return to stores next week, our first reaction was -- days? Not years?"

"On its face, Eastman Chemical’s lawsuit against two small Texas labs that have said its plastics may be unsafe for consumption looks like a David and Goliath kind of fight (in fact, that’s how the labs are describing it). Corporate giant attempts to silence scientists -- including a professor at the University of Texas at Austin -- from publicizing research that runs counter to its commercial interests."

"Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer, citing lax oversight, urged regulators and states to do more to curb threats caused by poor storage of ammonium nitrate in the wake of April’s deadly explosion in Texas."

"A 27-year-old U.S. program intended to warn the public of the presence of hazardous chemicals is flawed in many states due to scant oversight and lax reporting by plant owners, a Reuters examination finds."

"Pepsi-Cola is still using caramel coloring containing a chemical linked to cancer in rodents, a report released on Wednesday showed, more than a year after the beverage maker promised to phase it out."

"In Vernon, a judge allows Exide to resume operations that had been suspended for alleged pollution violations. In the Central Valley, a state agency OKs expansion of a hazardous waste dump."

"WASHINGTON -- Environmental safety groups are stepping up efforts to prevent a reportedly dangerous yet widely used herbicide from being sold in the United States, even as the country’s primary environmental regulator is considering increasing the amount of the herbicide allowed in the U.S. food supply."

"Colorado oil and gas industry regulators have given medical community leaders a written assurance that doctors can obtain and share trade-secret information about fracking chemicals for the purpose of treating patients and protecting public health."

"In response to a massive bumblebee die-off blamed on pesticides, the Oregon Department of Agriculture issued a temporary restriction Thursday on 18 insecticides with the active ingredient dinotefuran."