Public health

California wildfires could be transforming natural metals into cancer-causing compounds

Wildfires in parts of the U.S. West may be transforming a benign form of chromium into its cancer-causing counterpart —…

11 months ago

Toxic chemical reactions fuel crises at L.A. County landfills

Photo: The Sunshine Canyon landfill lies just beyond the Granada Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles. Area residents have complained of…

12 months ago

Stricter Microplastics Regulations Are on the Horizon. Here’s How California Manufacturers Should Prepare

According to the American Chemical Association, the average American consumes up to 121,000 microplastic particles each year—through air, water, and soil—and…

12 months ago

Military firefighters’ ‘forever chemical’ exposures remain unrecognized by the VA.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the armed forces began employing aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF) on many U.S. military…

12 months ago

Microplastics could trigger cloud formation and affect the weather, new study suggests

Sunset scenery at Mount Tai in Tai'an, east China's Shandong Province on May 23, 2018. Jia Guangrui/SIPA/Zuma CNN — Microplastics…

1 year ago

Opinion: Our water is polluted with ‘forever chemicals.’ Here’s how some agencies are stepping in.

In this June 7, 2018, file photo, PFAS, or perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, foam gathers at the the Van Etten…

1 year ago

The EPA Has Found More Than a Dozen Contaminants in Drinking Water but Hasn’t Set Safety Limits on Them

Credit: Illustration by Micha Huigen, special to ProPublica The inaction on regulating contaminants — including those that likely cause cancer,…

1 year ago

EPA Restarts Assessment of Health Risks from Nitrate in Water

The agency will evaluate the hazards from agriculture’s primary water pollutant. Farming regions in northeastern Nebraska and elsewhere have some…

1 year ago

EPA Plans Rulemaking on Tire Chemical 6PPD That Pollutes Bodies of Water

Action triggered by petition concerning indirect impact on salmon habitats EPA officials say a chemical used in tire production reacts…

1 year ago

San Mateo County schools’ drinking water contaminated with nitrate

Image from October shows a beaker filled with water from the faucet at Pescadero Middle/High School in Pescadero, Calif. KGO-TV…

1 year ago