Chemicals

"High-profile studies reporting the presence of microplastics throughout the human body have been thrown into doubt by scientists who say the discoveries are probably the result of contamination and false positives. One chemist called the concerns 'a bombshell.'"

"The Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention has lowered the state limit on forever chemicals, or PFAS, in drinking water to align with rigorous federal standards established by the Biden administration."

"Florida and Utah have banned fluoridation, with multiple other states looking to do the same. Critics of fluoride in drinking water point to supplements as an alternative, but many are creating barriers to these very products."

"Ohio is letting the oil and gas industry put more toxic waste underground despite community concerns — even as the state defers to local opponents of clean energy."

"After decades of PFAS contamination, North Carolina’s attorney general is challenging an EPA proposal to narrow reporting requirements for toxic 'forever chemicals.'"

"The Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement’s crusade against pesticides is creating divisions in the Republican Party, as some members back the industry while others stand with MAHA activists."

"Arsenic and lead are among the contaminants found at dozens of Detroit neighborhood demolition sites, according to the first round of test results released by the city late last month amid state and local investigations — at least one criminal — into potentially toxic dirt used as backfill across hundreds of vacant lots."

"The Senate is taking up a spending package passed by the House of Representatives that would cut $125 million in funding promised this year to replace toxic lead pipes. "

"In a reversal, the agency plans to calculate only the cost to industry when setting pollution limits, and not the monetary value of saving human lives, documents show."

"The Supreme Court is poised to decide whether to take up a case involving weedkillers and cancer that could effectively curtail one of the largest waves of tort litigation in American history."