Chemicals

"A massive pipeline fire sent a pillar of flame towering over some Houston suburbs on Monday as first responders evacuated a surrounding neighborhood and tried to keep more nearby homes from catching on fire."

"A tiny, vibrant world thrives along the rocky bottom of most streams. As sunlight filters through the water, mayfly nymphs, no larger than your fingernail, cling to algae-coated cobbles. Six spindly legs anchor them against the current, while feathery gills wave gently, drawing oxygen from the flowing water."

"Rust-colored piles of mine waste and sun-bleached wooden derricks loom above the historic Colorado mountain town of Leadville — a legacy of gold and silver mines polluting the Arkansas River basin more than a century after the city’s boom days."

"Shrink-wrap sealed around a piece of raw meat. Takeout containers filled with restaurant leftovers. Plastic bottles filled with soft drinks." "A new study shows the extent to which chemicals are finding their way into human bodies."

"New attention to trifluoracetic acid, or TFA, underscores the game of whack-a-mole that scientists and communities face with forever chemicals."

"US lawmakers and the military are pushing for a new definition of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that would exclude a subclass of toxic compounds increasingly used across the economy and considered to be potent greenhouse gases."

"Texas is inching closer to adopting revised oil and gas waste management rules for the first time in four decades." "While environmentalists say the new rule doesn’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells."

"US regulators claim they are not legally required to regulate toxic PFAS chemicals in sewage sludge spread on farmland across the country, according to a court filing the government made this week in response to a lawsuit from an environmental watchdog group."

"Girls exposed to certain chemicals that are common ingredients in household products may be starting puberty comparatively early, a new study has found."

"Concern about the fossil fuel and plastics industries’ alleged deception about recycling is growing, with new polling showing a majority of American voters, including 54% of Republicans, support legal efforts to hold the sectors accountable."