Chemicals

"The Environmental Protection Agency has wrapped up its review of the world's most widely used herbicide and plans to release a much-anticipated preliminary risk assessment no later than July, the regulator's chief pesticide regulator told Reuters."

"Bowing to public pressure, the [Washington] Department of Ecology and a growers association have agreed to cancel a recently issued permit for the use of a controversial pesticide to treat oyster beds, the DOE said Sunday."

"More than 200 scientists outline potential health concerns from fluorinated chemicals, urge replacements and tightened regulations ".

"Even though Maryland has yet to permit any hydraulic fracturing for natural gas, emissions linked to the controversial drilling technique have been detected in the air in Baltimore and Washington, according to a new study."

"The waterway linking Gulf Coast oil with the refineries of Baton Rouge has brought great prosperity to Louisiana. But the people living in 'Cancer Alley' have a different story to tell."

"Male minnows exposed to a widely used diabetes drug ubiquitous in wastewater effluent had feminized reproductive parts and were smaller and less fertile, according to a new study."

"A Senate committee passed a bill Tuesday that would reform the federal government’s regulation of toxic chemicals for the first time in decades."

"KIEV -- Emergency services were battling on Tuesday to prevent Ukraine's largest forest fire since 1992 from spreading towards the abandoned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said."

"Tyson, the country's biggest producer of chicken meat, says within 2 years, it expects to stop giving chickens antibiotics that humans also use. The decision echoes one by McDonald's last month."