asbestos

Philadelphia Oil Refinery’s Toxic and Racist Legacy Continues in Cleanup

Philadelphia Oil Refinery’s Toxic and Racist Legacy Continues in Cleanup

The sprawling Philadelphia Energy Solutions oil refinery has poisoned the Greys Ferry neighborhood for 150 years, and continues to do so even after it closed in 2019 following numerous explosions, Reuters reports. The scale of the toxic legacy left by the East Coast’s oldest and largest refinery — including poisonous waste fuels poured onto the […]

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    Claire’s Cosmetics Test Positive for Asbestos, FDA Warns

    Claire’s Cosmetics Test Positive for Asbestos, FDA Warns

    The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a warning Tuesday urging customers not to use certain Claire’s cosmetics products that may be contaminated with asbestos. FDA testing turned up tremolite asbestos in the following products, the agency said: Claire’s Eye Shadows – Batch No/Lot No: 08/17 Claire’s Compact Powder – Batch No/Lot No: 07/15 […]

    Johnson & Johnson Knew About Asbestos in Baby Powder for Decades, Reuters Investigation Finds

    Johnson & Johnson Knew About Asbestos in Baby Powder for Decades, Reuters Investigation Finds

    By Jessica Corbett A Reuters investigation published Friday charges that Johnson & Johnson, a multi-billion dollar company known for its healthcare products, knew for decades that its iconic talcum baby powder “was sometimes tainted with carcinogenic asbestos,” but concealed the information from regulators and the public. Johnson & Johnson knew for decades that asbestos lurked […]

    Why Asbestos Is Still a Major Public Health Threat in the U.S.

    Why Asbestos Is Still a Major Public Health Threat in the U.S.

    Reports surfaced this month that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) had proposed a significant new use rule (SNUR) for asbestos in June, requiring anyone who wanted to start or resume importing or manufacturing the carcinogenic mineral to first receive EPA approval. Advocates and some EPA employees raised concerns that the SNUR could pave the […]

    Career EPA Staff Objected to Trump Administration’s Asbestos Plan

    Career EPA Staff Objected to Trump Administration’s Asbestos Plan

    Attorneys and scientists with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) objected to the Trump administration’s proposal of a “significant new use rule” (SNUR) for asbestos, according to internal agency emails obtained by the The New York Times. Trump’s former EPA boss Scott Pruitt quietly announced the proposal in June, framing the plan as an “important, […]

    Russian Asbestos Company Makes Trump Its Poster Boy

    Russian Asbestos Company Makes Trump Its Poster Boy

    Asbestos killed at least 45,221 Americans between 1999 and 2015, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention found. But President Donald Trump has long expressed his support for the dangerous mineral currently banned by 65 countries. “If we didn’t remove incredibly powerful fire retardant asbestos & replace it with junk that doesn’t work, the World […]