Chemicals

"Oregon officials think they've found high levels of a cancer-causing chemical in the air near a Lebanon battery parts maker, but a judge won't let them say a word about it.

Linn County Circuit Court Judge Thomas A. McHill on Friday agreed to Entek International's request for what appears to be an unprecedented gag order against state environmental and health regulators. Entek would be "irreparably harmed" if the regulators told the public about the preliminary finding, McHill wrote.

"Scientists say the sunscreen we slather on when we head to the beach may be deadly for horseshoe crabs."

"Environmentalists asked a federal court today to compel U.S. EPA to take action on a common farm pesticide linked to children's health risks."

"Scott Pruitt’s rejection of an organophosphates ban may endanger the children of those who harvest produce."

"The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency refused Wednesday to ban a commonly used pesticide that the Obama administration had sought to outlaw based on mounting concerns about its risks to human health."

"Inspectors from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found numerous safety violations at the Torrance oil refinery during reviews of the plant last fall, according to a report released Monday."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture has quietly dropped a plan to start testing food for residues of glyphosate, the world’s most widely used weed killer and the key ingredient in Monsanto’s branded Roundup herbicides."

"Forty California residents are suing chemical giant Monsanto, alleging that exposure to the company’s Roundup weed killer caused them to develop non-Hodgkin lymphoma."

"Dozens of California communities have experienced recent rates of childhood lead poisoning that surpass those of Flint, Michigan, with one Fresno locale showing rates nearly three times higher, blood testing data obtained by Reuters shows."