Chemicals

"A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has refused to block a new federal rule requiring Denka Performance Elastomers to dramatically limit the release of chloroprene, a likely cancer-causing chemical, within 90 days or shut down its LaPlace plant."

"For the second time this year, a chemical recycling plant built to turn waste into usable products has closed, casting further doubt on the viability of an upstart industry that has been plagued by financial and technical challenges in its effort to scale up."

"The Chemical Safety Board issued recommendations Monday after finding that miscommunication and errors hampered the response to a chemical leak and fire that killed two people at an Ohio refinery."

"Norfolk Southern and its contractors botched the decision to blow open five vinyl chloride tank cars after last year’s disastrous derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, and trackside detectors that might have prevented the crash failed to accurately detect the temperature of a burning wheel bearing 20 miles (32.19 kilometers) beforehand, according to the National Transportation Safety Board."

"In heat waves, chemicals like formaldehyde and ozone can form more readily in the air, according to researchers driving mobile labs in New York City this week."

"An L.A. Times/WeedWeek investigation finds alarming levels of pesticides in cannabis products at dispensaries across the state".

"Agricultural insecticides were a key factor, according to a study focused on the Midwest, though researchers emphasized the importance of climate change and habitat loss."

"The biotech giant Bayer has lobbied Congress over the past year to advance legislation that could shield the company from billions of dollars in lawsuits, part of a national campaign to defeat claims that its weedkiller Roundup causes cancer in people who use it frequently."

"The world is drowning in plastic. Experts say we need to stop making so much. But the plastics industry is peddling a “solution” that works like magic. Don't be fooled."

"With their bulging red eyes and their alien-like mating sound, periodical cicadas can seem scary and weird enough. But some of them really are sex-crazed zombies on speed, hijacked by a super-sized fungus."