Chemicals

"Use of petroleum-based chemicals skyrocketed during the postwar era, most of them entering the market with little concern for safety. Now, mounting evidence links petrochemicals to the rapidly rising prevalence of a slew of chronic and deadly conditions, a review published in the New England Journal of Medicine warned earlier this month."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday announced a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a carcinogen that is still used in some chlorine bleach, brake pads and other products and that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year."

"Residents already hit with disease are fighting the multibillion-dollar corporation DR Horton, America’s largest homebuilder".

"President Joe Biden’s administration has conditionally agreed to loan more than $2 billion to the company building a controversial lithium mine in Nevada with the largest known U.S. deposit of the metal critical to making batteries for electric vehicles key to his renewable energy agenda."

"Plastic manufacturers have received $9 billion in subsidies for new or bigger facilities since 2012."

"Sarah Stogner plucked a piece of cement off a rusted steel pipe jutting from the ground on a West Texas ranch. The chunk, part of the plug for a long-dormant oil well, crumbled in her hand."

"At least 3,000 more chemicals are in plastics — from food packaging to toys to medical devices — than previously estimated by environmental agencies, a report published on Thursday found, raising questions over pollution and consumer safety."

"High-profile lawsuits have accused pesticides of causing cancer and Parkinson’s. But three states are now considering bills that would prevent these lawsuits."

"The three 6-year-old girls stood on the sidelines as their coach swabbed their hands. Then they ran onto a lush green turf field and played soccer for 90 minutes straight — no stepping off the pitch. This wasn’t just a practice. It was part of a small experiment conducted in the suburban foothills of San Diego last summer."

"A booming petrochemical buildout on the Gulf Coast has drawn billions of dollars in public subsidies from state tax abatement programs despite regular violations of pollution permits, according to a new report released Thursday."