"WASHINGTON -- A proposed overhaul of how the country regulates toxic chemicals came under sharp attack [Wednesday] from officials of California and several other states."

"Stunning footage of dust coming from Detroit-side stockpiles of the heavy crude byproduct deepens environmental concerns."

Some chemicals can cause cancer. But the chemical industry, unable to get the results it wants from toxicologists at the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences, is now trying to get them by using lawyers, lobbyists, and legislators.

"How far a person lives from a manufacturing plant that releases the chemical benzene into the environment may determine their risk of developing immune system cancer, a new study suggests."

"An appeals court on Tuesday unanimously upheld a decision striking down New York City’s restrictions on the sale of large, sugary drinks, dealing a serious blow to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s hopes of reviving the rule before his term runs out."

"The Carson City (Calif.) Council declared a local emergency Monday night over contamination in the city’s Carousel tract, upping the pressure on Shell Oil to expedite cleanup of benzene, methane gas, and other hazardous chemicals on the site."

"Even though she'd been walking in the woods for only a few minutes, Jen McIntyre was in distress. Tears were running down her cheeks. She couldn't breathe through her nose. 'I feel like this is our new reality,' McIntyre said recently of the allergies that have begun to plague her."

"Baby mice exposed in the womb to low doses – but not high doses – of bisphenol A were fatter and had metabolic changes linked to obesity and diabetes, according to a new study published today."

"Authorities have evacuated and shut down a section of a national forest outside Los Angeles for at least a week after a ground squirrel was found there infected with the plague, county public health officials said on Thursday."

"Federal judges today upheld U.S. EPA's ozone air standard in a challenge from public health groups that said the agency ignored a scientific consensus pointing to a stricter limit."

"After a three-decade delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first controls that would significantly curb power plant discharges of toxic coal ash and sludge into the nation's waterways, according to a report by five national environmental organizations."

"At the doorstep to the largest hazardous waste landfill in the West, Kettleman City has some of California's biggest pollution burdens, the state Environmental Protection Agency says."

"Advocates for farmworkers, especially those who grow America's leafy greens and fresh vegetables, are pushing the government to do more to protect those workers from exposure to pesticides."

"ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — Indian authorities on Wednesday were trying to determine how food served as part of a free school lunch program got tainted with insecticide, leading to the deaths of at least 22 children and the hospitalization of more than two dozen others."

"MEXICO CITY -- More than 800 tons of asbestos from Russia were dumped eight months ago at the Mexican Gulf coast port of Veracruz and represents a health risk for the population, the Reforma newspaper reported Saturday."