Chemicals

"Pregnant women who eat canned vegetables daily have elevated levels of bisphenol A, an estrogenic chemical found in food containers and other consumer products, according to new research published today. More than 90 percent of pregnant women had detectable levels of BPA, and a variety of sources of the chemical were identified in the study. Pregnant women who were exposed to tobacco smoke or worked as cashiers also had above-average concentrations."

"Federal regulators leaned on McDonald's to quickly recall 12 million 'Shrek'-themed drinking glasses this spring because they concluded that a typical 6-year-old could be exposed to hazardous levels of the metal cadmium by touching one of the glasses just eight times in a day, according to documents obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act."

"The Environmental Protection Agency wants to regulate a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel that has contaminated drinking water supplies, reversing a decision made under the Bush administration."

"University researchers said on Thursday they recently found alarming levels of cancer-causing toxins in an area of the Gulf of Mexico affected by BP's oil spill, raising the specter of long-lasting health concerns."

"Mid-Ohio Valley teenagers who were exposed to DuPont Co.'s C8 pollution experienced a four- to six-month delay in puberty, according to a new study that adds to the growing concerns about potential health effects of chemicals that have been widely used in nonstick and stain-resistant products."

EPA last month denied a petition from a coalition of environmental groups to ban lead hunting ammunition, who claimed EPA could do it under the Toxic Substances Control Act. Now the environmentalists have filed a Freedom of Information Act request, seeking documents that could tell whether EPA bowed to pressure from the National Rifle Association in an effort to dispose of the issue before the November election.

"A long-delayed government epidemiological study of possible ties between diesel exhaust and lung cancer in miners may finally be published this fall -- but only after a mining industry group, represented by the Washington lobbying powerhouse Patton Boggs, finishes a pre-publication review of the study's drafts."

"The Obama administration is renewing the long-running effort to win U.S. ratification of two international treaties aimed at limiting the reach of the world's most toxic chemicals."