Consumer

"Facing pressure from consumer groups, Home Depot said it would discontinue use of a potentially harmful chemical in its vinyl flooring by the end of the year."

"Home improvement chain Lowe's Cos Inc will stop selling a type of pesticide suspected of causing a decline in honeybee populations needed to pollinate key American crops, following a few U.S. retailers who have taken similar steps last year."

"As the public has learned of health risks tied to chemicals in everyday products, many companies have responded by eliminating, one by one, the suspected cancer causers, brain damagers and hormone disruptors. But even prompt action doesn't entirely appease some health experts, who warn of a problematic pattern."

"On a recent afternoon, Gregg Houghaboom pointed to a photo of a fish fillet and asked a room full of ocean experts to identify it. They couldn't. Absent a head, tail and scales, it looked like a hunk of grouper -- but it was actually Lake Victoria perch."

"St. Paul-based 3M Co, one of the world’s largest manufacturers and the maker of Post-it notes, will take new steps to ensure that its suppliers of paper, pulp and packaging provide materials that come from sustainably logged timber."

"The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is overhauling its voluntary labeling system for designating that household cleaners and contain environmentally safe ingredients."

"The California Department of Toxic Substances Control has sued Ernest and Julio Gallo's glass production plant in Modesto. Keith Kihara with the state says the company improperly stored, then improperly recycled oil and hazardous dust -containing lead, arsenic, cadmium and selenium from 2009 -to- last year."

Prompted by a new California rule, manufacturers of polyurethane foam furniture are removing potentially toxic flame retardants from their new products. But the sale of old furniture in second-hand stores may put poor people at greater risk.