Chemicals

"Swallows, swifts and house martins were once a common sight over UK towns and cities, dextrously catching insects on the wing. But these spring and summer visitors are becoming increasingly rare, according to the definitive survey of the country’s birds."

"The number of U.S. oil refineries exceeding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s action level for benzene in 2023 was cut in half compared to 2020, according to a new report from the Environmental Integrity Project."

"In the DRC’s copper belt, pollution from the mining of cobalt and copper, critical minerals for the energy transition, is on the rise and polluters are ignoring their legal obligations to clean it up. Cases of pollution have caused deaths, health problems in babies, the destruction of crops, contaminated water and the relocation of homes or an entire village, residents and community organizations say."

"Beyond a chain-link fence topped with spiraled barbed wire, swaying coastal grasses conceal a cache of buried radioactive waste and toxic pesticides from a bygone chemical plant."

"The U.S. government has a specialized plane loaded with advanced sensors that officials brag is always ready to deploy within an hour of any kind of chemical disaster. But the plane didn’t fly over eastern Ohio until four days after the disastrous Norfolk Southern derailment there last year."

"An industry-backed bill to regulate how data from community air monitors is used was given final legislative approval Monday over objections from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and activists seeking to reduce pollution."

"Officials in Alameda, Calif., have told scientists to stop testing a device that might one day be used to artificially cool the planet by making clouds brighter, reflecting planet-warming sunlight back into space."

"The Food and Drug Administration has missed its own deadline to propose a ban on the use of formaldehyde as an ingredient in hair relaxers and hair straighteners on the market in the United States."

"Republican legislators have blunted the impact of citizen-led air monitoring, which is set to receive millions from the feds."

"U.S. Steel’s proposed sale to Nippon Steel stokes concerns over labor rights and national security, all while the company continues to break clean air laws in Western Pennsylvania."