Chemicals

"Many Pennsylvania school districts have detected lead and other contaminants in their drinking water and documented problems with mold and radon in school buildings—but not all of them removed the hazards, according to a new report."

"Three common neonicotinoid insecticides were ruled "likely to adversely affect" thousands of endangered species and critical habitats, according to draft biological evaluations released by EPA on Thursday, Aug. 26."

"President Biden has made a push to remove the nation’s lead pipelines a cornerstone of his infrastructure agenda, but a requirement to make that happen is noticeably MIA in EPA’s current rule. Advocates hope that changes."

"Efforts to expand production and exports of ethane—a natural gas byproduct used to make plastics—were criticized by groups that told the Department of Energy Tuesday that any job gains wouldn’t benefit regions bearing the brunt of environmental damage."

"Although the formaldehyde assessment has grave implications for public health, Trump administration officials refused to allow the EPA to release it."

"Frackers in America’s largest oil field are letting massive amounts of natural gas spill into the atmosphere. Scientists and activists are trying to find the leaks and get them plugged before they cook the planet further."

"A tsunami of electric vehicles is expected in rich countries, as car companies and governments pledge to ramp up their numbers – there are predicted be 145m on the roads by 2030. But while electric vehicles can play an important role in reducing emissions, they also contain a potential environmental timebomb: their batteries."

"Numbers of the country’s carrion-loving birds dropped by over 97% in the 1990s. Now, a successful breeding scheme is giving them a boost".

"Herbicides are losing the war — and agriculture might never be the same again."