People whose blood contains more of the chemicals (BPA and phthalates) found in household plastics are likelier to have impaired thyroid function, a new large-scale study confirms.
The DuPont company, which has touted its own safety and environmental record, turned down in 1988 a construction option for its Belle, WV, plant that could have protected workers and the community from deadly phosgene gas. One worker died in a series of three phosgene releases there in 2010.
"DuPont Co. rejected affordable plant and equipment upgrades, ignored near-miss incidents and violated the chemical giant's own widely touted safety guidelines in failing to prevent three January 2010 accidents that left one Belle plant worker dead, federal investigators said in a report issued Thursday."
"Tons of imported fish laced with chemicals banned from the U.S. food supply, including carcinogens, are routinely showing up in this country and, state officials say, winding up on American dinner plates."
The Agriculture Department under President Obama has partly restored public access to the Agricultural Chemical Usage data by the National Agricultural Statistics Service. President Bush had cancelled the reports in 2008.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had gone through an open rulemaking process on the "Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) Articles Exemption Clarification Rule" but withdrew a final rule it had sent to President Obama's Office of Management and Budget for approval after OMB met privately with chemical, wood, and other industry lobbyists.
When some Baltimore residents worried about lead in remodeling dust tried to get help from state, local, and federal agencies, all they got was the run-around. Their experience shows the system for protecting people from lead-based paint is badly broken.
"A new study released Monday shows that exposure to a common ingredient in plastic bottles and packaging can cause male mice to act like females. The lead author of the study discusses its significance for humans."
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