toxics

Trump Plan to Protect Kids From Lead Falls Far Short

Trump Plan to Protect Kids From Lead Falls Far Short

The long-awaited plan by the Trump administration to “wage a war against lead” and protect children from exposure to the potent neurotoxin is a woefully unacceptable response to this public health crisis, said Environmental Working Group. The administration’s Lead Action Plan—announced Wednesday by Andrew Wheeler, acting administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)—is nothing […]

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    Trump White House Pushes to Let Minors Spray Brain-Damaging Pesticides on Farms

    Trump White House Pushes to Let Minors Spray Brain-Damaging Pesticides on Farms

    The White House’s just-released list of planned environmental and public health rollbacks includes letting high-school-age kids spray brain-damaging pesticides on commercial farms. The plan would drop the age of workers permitted to spray restricted-use pesticides on crops from 18 to 16. Minors would be allowed to apply dangerous chemicals such as chlorpyrifos, which U.S. Environmental […]

    EPA Considers 300,000-Acre Expansion for Bee-Toxic Pesticide

    EPA Considers 300,000-Acre Expansion for Bee-Toxic Pesticide

    The Center for Biological Diversity Thursday urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to deny Bayer CropScience’s request to allow the highly bee-toxic pesticide flupyradifurone to be sprayed on tobacco in states like Kentucky and North Carolina. Although flupyradifurone is known to harm pollinators like bees and freshwater invertebrates like mussels, the pesticide maker is asking […]

    New Report Highlights Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products

    New Report Highlights Toxic Chemicals in Consumer Products

    By Anna Reade A new report by the Breast Cancer Prevention Partners (BCPP) details findings from product testing they performed on beauty, personal care and cleaning products, with an emphasis on products often marketed to vulnerable populations, such as children and women of color. The report focuses on the identification of chemicals used for fragrance […]

    Congress Poised to Act to Reduce Major Source of PFAS Chemicals in Drinking Water

    Congress Poised to Act to Reduce Major Source of PFAS Chemicals in Drinking Water

    House and Senate leaders included a provision in legislation to fund the Federal Aviation Administration and strengthen disaster programs that will give commercial airports the option to switch to firefighting foams that do not include the highly toxic fluorinated chemicals known as PFAS. Under current law, airports are required to use firefighting foams that contain […]

    Report: 140 House Members Vote Against Chemical Safeguards Every Time

    Report: 140 House Members Vote Against Chemical Safeguards Every Time

    The Environmental Working Group Action Fund, the political arm of the Environmental Working Group (EWG), released a first-ever report that scores how each member of the U.S. House of Representatives voted on chemical policy and safety. The scorecard shows that 140 House members voted against chemical safeguards every time, while 149 members consistently voted for […]

    How Residents of South LA Are Tackling Environmental Racism

    How Residents of South LA Are Tackling Environmental Racism

    By Daniel Ross For decades, the South Los Angeles neighborhood of Watts has been hemmed in by dangerous pollutants. On one corner sits the Jordan Downs housing project, at the center of which is a toxic former industrial site. Children in Jordan Downs have been found with elevated levels of lead in their blood, and […]

    The Home Depot Will Be Third Major U.S. Retailer to Ban Deadly Paint Strippers

    The Home Depot Will Be Third Major U.S. Retailer to Ban Deadly Paint Strippers

    The world’s largest home improvement retailer, The Home Depot, announced Tuesday that it will phase out the use of the toxic chemicals methylene chloride and N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) in its paint removal products by the end of this year. The company, which operates more than 2,200 stores in the U.S., Canada and Mexico, is the third […]