Chemicals

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is moving to withdraw its interim regulatory decision on paraquat, announcing that it needs more time to examine the potential health effects of the weed killing chemical that has been widely used in agriculture for decades, but also linked for years to the incurable brain ailment known as Parkinson’s disease."

"At the height of the Los Angeles County wildfires, atmospheric concentrations of lead, a neurotoxin, reached 100 times average levels even miles from the flames, according to early detailed measurements obtained by The New York Times. Levels of chlorine, which is also toxic at low concentrations, reached 40 times the average."

"Agencies and unions have put in place new guardrails designed to limit political interference in government research."

"While burning the pellets would reduce greenhouse gases from the university’s physical plant, it would increase harmful levels of nitrogen oxides, lead, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds."

"U.S. regulators on Wednesday banned the dye called Red 3 from the nation’s food supply, nearly 35 years after it was barred from cosmetics because of potential cancer risk."

"Ants — yes, ants — could protect apples, nuts, cocoa, and other beloved crops from disease and climate change."

"Chemical residues from burned houses, cars, consumer products and fire retardants create toxic hazards for fire survivors."

"Thousands of firefighters are working to contain the blazes of multiple fires across Los Angeles. Months from now when the fires are extinguished and the rain comes, however, a hidden threat could put communities at risk once again."

"A Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab investigation finds very high levels of lead and arsenic in homes near a factory processing US toxic waste"

"For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday warned that “forever chemicals” present in sewage sludge that is used as fertilizer can pose human health risks."