Chemicals

"Bedbugs used to be solely a residential problem, but they are showing up in commercial settings, and not just in places with beds like hotels, nursing homes  and apartment complexes. Increasingly, pest control companies report finding bedbugs in office buildings, movie theaters, clothing stores, food plants, factories and even airplanes. For the affected businesses, the expense can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. For the companies that deal with the scourge, it is a bonanza, with business doubling and tripling."

"The United States ended its involvement in the Vietnam War 35 years ago, and established diplomatic relations with Hanoi 15 years ago.  But a recent visit to Vietnam by members of the U.S.-Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange and Dioxin saw the lingering effects of highly toxic chemicals used by U.S. forces to remove dense vegetation in a bid to flush out enemy combatants."

In a classic two-sided story, the New York Times reports scientific uncertainty about whether the ubiquitous plastic chemical BPA hurts humans or not. It does not explore another key question: should the burden of proof be on companies to prove chemicals they widely expose people to are safe? -- or on environmental health scientists to prove them unsafe?

"Children and teens exposed to higher amounts of the toxic chemical C8 appear to be more likely to have elevated cholesterol levels, according to a landmark new study published by researchers from West Virginia University."

"KABUL, Afghanistan — Blood tests have confirmed that a mysterious series of cases of mass sickness at girls’ schools across the country over the last two years were caused by a powerful poison gas, an Afghan official said Tuesday."

"India's supreme court has reopened the Bhopal  toxic gas leak case in response to a government petition seeking harsher punishment for officials from Union Carbide, the chemical company responsible."

"Despite vigorous opposition from industry, it appears [Wyoming] state regulators and the general public will have broad access to documents detailing chemicals used in oil and gas drilling, hydraulic fracturing and other drilling operations."

As Vietnam veterans age, there has been an explosion of claims for disabilities related to Agent Orange. It could cost the taxpayers $42 billion over the next 10 years, and it raises questions about the government's failure to address Agent Orange risks before using it.

"A release of of toxic anhydrous ammonia from a refrigeration plant in Theodore, Alabama that sent more than 130 people to hospital has drawn investigators from three federal agencies and several state agencies to the scene."

The application of sewage sludge (renamed "biosolids" by industry PR) to fields has created worries about smell, disease, and toxic contaminants. Federal efforts to track sludge problems have been fragmented, haphazard, and delayed -- which does not inspire confidence in industry-backed federal assurances that sludge is safe. The assurances have preceded the evidence that would support them.