12/31/04
WASHINGTON, DC /U.S. Newswire/ -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) will publish a final rule in the Jan. 5, 2005, Federal Register on the second phase of its standards improvement project. The project addresses inconsistent, duplicative or outdated provisions in OSHA's safety and health standards for general industry, maritime and construction. [Click For More]

12/30/04
Workers in factories that make flat screen televisions could suffer long-term health damage, say scientists. [Click For More]

12/29/04
The Environmental Protection Agency told Dow Chemical Co. this week it can no longer sell a controversial pesticide used to protect new homes from termites as of Friday, ending speculation that the administration might extend a phaseout deadline the two parties negotiated four years ago. [Click For More]

12/28/04
South Brunswick, NJ -- The investigation into a chemical spill that leaked 8,300 gallons of the chemicals naptha and xylene into a section of the Lawrence Brook in South Brunswick continues into its second week. [Click For More]

12/27/04
Eating fish is the leading route of exposure to methylmercury. Women who eat fish more than twice a week have blood mercury levels that are seven times higher than women who eat no fish. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently estimated that as many as 630,000 infants, or roughly one in every six U.S. babies, are born each year with unsafe levels of methylmercury in their blood. [Click For More]

12/22/04
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today released information to help hospitals safeguard their own employees as they care for patients injured in incidents involving chemical, biological or radiological materials. [Click For More]

12/21/04
Los Angeles, CA - The Environmental Protection Agency has ordered a Burbank metal-plating shop to test the soil around its site for chromium and cyanide contamination. The company faces fines of $6,500 per day if it fails to comply with the order. [Click For More]

12/20/04
WASHINGTON -- The Labor Department published today in the Federal Register final regulations implementing changes to employment rules for youth. The new rules expand protections for youth working in restaurant cooking, roofing, and driving, among other changes. [Click For More]

12/17/04
Neighbors sue CSX for $500M over creosote - People in the town of Hull, Florida say a former railroad work area is making them sick and may be polluting the water. [Click For More]

12/16/04
Watertown, WI - A leak from a tanker unloading a hazardous plastic-making chemical, toluene diisocyanate, sent six people, including a police officer, to the hospital with minor injuries. [Click For More]

12/15/04
Virginia has adopted stricter guidelines that have expanded the list of waterways and fish considered to be contaminated by a chemical linked to cancer, including more stretches of the Roanoke, New and James rivers. [Click For More]

12/14/04
Medical News Today - What are dioxins? Why the concern? Over the past decade, EPA and industry have worked together to dramatically reduce dioxin emissions. [Click For More]

12/13/04
CHAPEL HILL, NC -- Exposure to low levels of hydrogen sulfide and possibly other airborne chemicals from nearby asphalt plants may have contributed to an increased suicide rate in a North Carolina community, a study suggests for the first time. [Click For More]

12/10/04
WASHINGTON -- Workers and employers involved in the manufacture, distribution, use and storage of chemicals will benefit from a new web page -- Chemical Reactivity Hazards -- unveiled today by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The page is a product of two national Alliances with OSHA: the Dow Chemical Company and the Reactives Alliance (consisting of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and six organizations involved in the chemical industry). [Click For More]

12/9/04
REDWOOD CITY, CA -- Imagine being afraid of water. The same water in your coffee. The water in your soup. The water in your shower, dishwasher and sink. Residents lobbied the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to take a long, hard look at the potential health effects of chloramine. The new chemical disinfectant used in water lines has been accused of causing everything from skin rashes to cancer. [Click For More]

12/8/04
Chronic exposure to lead may be a significant overlooked cause of cataracts, according to a provocative new study. U.S. researchers have found that the more lead a person has accumulated in their bones, the greater their likelihood of developing cataracts, a clouding of the lenses of the eye that is the leading cause of blindness. [Click For More]

12/7/04
WASHINGTON -- A dispute over an unregulated chemical used to make Teflon erupted again Monday as the Environmental Protection Agency sought fines against DuPont Co., saying the chemical maker withheld some lab results. EPA officials accused DuPont of not sharing its findings on perfluorooctanoic acid and its salts, known as PFOA or C-8, in blood samples taken in July from 12 people living near DuPont's Washington Works Facility near Parkersburg, W.Va. [Click For More]

12/6/04
Experiments with the brain cells of rats show that contact with an ingredient found in shampoos, hand lotions and paint causes neurons to die. The chemical, methylisothiazolinone (MIT), belongs to a class of compounds called biocides. These are used in the manufacture of many common household products and industrial water cooling systems to prevent bacteria from developing. [Click For More]

12/3/04
HASBROUCK HEIGHTS, N.J. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited Star Manufacturing Inc., Little Ferry, N.J., for alleged safety and health violations including failure to develop and maintain a hazard communication program for employees who work with hazardous chemicals. [Click For More]

12/2/04
Residue from a rocket fuel plant destroyed in an explosion nearly 17 years ago near Henderson, Nev., continues to pollute the lower Colorado River, whose waters irrigate much of the lettuce consumed in the United States. Now the Food and Drug Administration has confirmed earlier studies showing perchlorate contamination from that plant and other sites around the nation is concentrating in lettuce and milk. [Click For More]

12/1/04
There is an apparent link between a commonly used agricultural pesticide, chlorpyrifos, and lung cancer, and caution should be exercised when using the product, government scientists say in a study released today. [Click For More]

11/30/04
PHILADELPHIA - (KRT) - Scientists are finding trace amounts of drugs, herbicides and fragrances - from birth-control hormones to weed killers - in the nation's drinking water. Where once experts thought the water-filtration process would eliminate the chemicals, new studies have discovered otherwise. One water industry investigation into 18 drinking-water plants nationwide found the compounds in 14 of them. [Click For More]

11/29/04
EPA enforcement actions concluded in fiscal year (FY) 2004 will reduce a projected one billion pounds of pollution and require cleanups estimated to total a record $4.8 billion - significant increases from last year. [Click For More]

11/27/04
Newcastle, WY-- No lawsuit has been filed so far, but attorneys say they are scheduling interviews and medical examinations for Newcastle residents experiencing symptoms that may be related to a 2002 chemical spill from the oil refinery owned by Wyoming Refining Co. About 60 to 70 individuals and families from Newcastle have indicated interest in pursuing legal action. [Click For More]

11/26/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish a final rule in tomorrow's Federal Register that will require federal government agencies to adopt worker safety and health recordkeeping and reporting requirements that are essentially identical to the private sector. The new requirements will go into effect beginning Jan. 1, 2005. [Click For More]

11/25/04
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Concentrations of a flame retardant banned by many European countries have been found in Lake Michigan and are increasing, adding to concerns over previous findings that the chemicals were showing up in supermarket foods and women's breast milk. [Click For More]

11/24/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is seeking public comments on its overall project to update agency standards that reference or that are based on outdated national consensus standards. The agency is also seeking comments on the first rulemaking actions associated with the update project, a direct final rule and notice of proposed rulemaking to revoke five references to national consensus standards and industry standards that are outdated. [Click For More]

11/23/04
Porto Romano. It sounds like the name of a fancy seaside resort. Yet in 2000, it was identified by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) as "an environment disaster area" and "one of the worst environmental hotspots of the Balkans". The agency called for urgent action to prevent further damage to the environment and said people in the area should be resettled. Nothing was done. [Click For More]

11/22/04
WASHINGTON, DC - At the request of the chemical industry, one chemical has been removed from the federal list of air toxics, and five others have been reclassified as less harmful than previously thought. [Click For More]

11/19/04
A chemical company’s inability to control a chemical reaction and an erroneous accident emergency plan led to injuries of 17 police and ambulance personnel and the evacuation of more than 100 families and businesses, reports the Chemical Safety & Hazard Investigation Board in a draft accident report concerning MFG Chemical Inc., Dalton, Ga. [Click For More]

11/18/04
AKRON, Ohio - The Army wants to burn old buildings at former ammunition plants in Ohio and Wisconsin, but its plan has run into a roadblock: The structures are contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. Exposure to these toxins, found in paint used decades ago, can cause cancer, liver damage and skin irritation. Burning PCBs increases their toxicity. [Click For More]

11/17/04
PHILADELPHIA — Ground-level ozone, a common form of air pollution long linked to breathing problems, is now being blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year in a new study of 95 urban areas. [Click For More]

11/16/04
MARLTON, N.J. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Terminix Commercial, Pennsauken, N.J. for failing to protect workers from hazards involving methyl bromide exposure and assessed a penalty of $119,250. [Click For More]

11/15/04
WEST FARGO, ND (AP) -- Workers are preparing for the cleanup of a chemical spill at a former dry-cleaning business, six years after the contamination was discovered, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. [Click For More]

11/12/04
A new lawsuit filed by thousands of Costa Rican banana workers against U.S. companies is the latest in a so-far unsuccessful series of claims against the use of Nemagon, a pesticide widely associated with sterility and cancer. The suit was filed against Shell Chemical Co. and Dow Chemical, and the banana giants Dole Food Co., Chiquita Brands International Inc. and Fresh Del Monte Produce Co. [Click For More]

11/11/04
Mountain Prairie Farms LLC, a subsidiary of Hormel, faces $116,000 in proposed penalties and M2P2, doing business as Heritage Farms LLC, received $175,500 proposed penalties including exposing employees to unsafe levels of hydrogen sulfide gas at several hog farms in Wiley, Colo. [Click For More]

11/10/04
BEIJING: Lightning caused a chemical leak at a factory in central China overnight that led to 108 people living nearby being taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. The accident happened in the middle of the night at a chemical firm when lightning caused a blackout that damaged a sulphur dioxide insulating tower. [Click For More]

11/9/.04
WASHINGTON -- November 9 -- The Environmental Protection Agency has failed to protect children from exposure to chemical rat poisons, according to a lawsuit filed today by West Harlem Environmental Action (WEACT) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). The agency introduced safety regulations in 1998 that would have protected children from the poisons, but it revoked those regulations in 2001. [Click For More]

11/8/04
MANATEE, FL - The risk from exposure to toxic dust generated by the Loral American Beryllium Co. for four decades may extend far beyond former workers to everyone who had contact with them. [Click For More]

11/5/04
HOUSTON, TX -- Dozens of workers at a southwest Houston cleaning facility were overcome with fumes after a gallon of a concentrated chemical spilled inside the warehouse. More than 100 workers at Admiral Linen & Uniform Service told officials they felt sick at about 9 a.m. after a worker spilled hydrogen peroxide. [Click For More]

11/4/04
The New Scientist journal has reported a leak of a US inquiry into the ill-health of veterans of the 1991 war. The magazine reported the ill-health could have been caused by low level exposure to sarin. [Click For More]

11/3/04
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) -- About 80 residents affected by a spill of coal tar distillates last week will remain under an evacuation order until at least Thursday morning as workers try to determine when the area will be safe. [Click For More]

11/2/04
HUNTINGTON, W.Va. - About 35 families remained out of their homes Monday as crews continued to clear the remnants of 22,000 gallons of a hazardous oil that leaked last week from a railroad tanker. [Click For More]

11/1/04
Tons of chemical weapons are stoking fears and costing billions to clean up, from concrete "igloos" in Oregon, to the Panama rain forest, to the highlands of China, where Japanese war leftovers reportedly have killed hundreds. Chemical-weapons material was being unearthed even in Washington, four miles from the White House. [Click For More]

10/29/04
MELBOURNE, Australia -- At least 24 people were taken to the hospital for treatment and 400 workers evacuated following a chemical spill at a freight depot. Workers were exposed to toxic vapour when a package was dropped in a parcel handling area near Melbourne airport. [Click For More]

10/28/04
Kingman, KS -- A white plume of toxic vapor rose over Kingman County farmland Wednesday, forcing the evacuation of 30 homes. The chemical, anhydrous ammonia, was spouting from a buried pipeline just northeast of U.S. 54 and Northeast 70th Avenue, about seven miles east of Kingman. [Click For More]

10/27/04
LOS ANGELES -- A jury has recommended that two companies must pay $20.5 million to a former nuclear submarine machinist who contracted a fatal form of lung cancer after exposure to asbestos from their products. [Click For More]

10/26/04
Louisville, KY -- About 200 homes were evacuated for about seven hours after a chemical began leaking from a tank at the nearby Norfolk Southern terminal. The chemical, thioglycol, an industrial solvent, began leaking from a valve as the tank was moved from a train car. The leak was rated a Level 3 risk, the most serious. [Click For More]

10/25/04
PEORIA, Ill. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations and proposed penalties to Formosa Plastics Corp. of Illiopolis, Ill., following its investigation into an April 23 explosion that took the lives of five workers, seriously injured three others and destroyed much of the facility. [Click For More]

10/22/04
CARBONDALE, IL -- The 130-acre area, formerly known as the Kopper's Co., has been undergoing a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency cleanup since June. The danger that lurks in the soil are the remnants of creosote, a wood preservative that is derived from coal tar and contains more than 100 chemical components. The EPA considers creosote to be a cancer-causing agent. [Click For More]

10/21/04
In the past decade or so, many businesses have evolved in their outlook on protecting human health and the environment. Increasingly, many parts of industry—including chemical manufacturing firms—are establishing systems to anticipate and prevent environmental and health problems and are voluntarily producing hazard data for some of their products. [Click For More]

10/20/04
A recently discovered disinfection byproduct (DBP) found in U.S. drinking water treated with chloramines is the most toxic ever found, says a scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who tested samples on mammalian cells. [Click For More]

10/19/04
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The state Department of Environmental Quality is trying to find out which company is responsible for releasing a chemical compound suspected of causing cancer into the air. Monitors at Port Allen and South Scotlandville showed levels of 1,3-butadine above standards set by the state. [Click For More]

10/18/04
PORTLAND — A judge has ruled the Army was not responsible for injuries suffered by 49 construction workers who claim they were exposed to a nerve gas leak at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Eastern Oregon. [Click For More]

10/15/04
BATON ROUGE, La -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed penalties of $50,850 on a Baton Rouge pipe manufacturing company for allegedly failing to protect employees from hazardous chemical exposure. [Click For More]

10/14/04
MILAN, Tenn. (AP) -- Two people were reported missing and another seriously injured when an explosion rocked a storage building at the Milan Army Ammunition Plant. [Click For More]

10/13/04
Under President Bush, OSHA has so far published no new regulations that the government classifies as "economically significant," that is costing or saving society $100 million or more. That's a first for a presidential term in the OSHA's 24-year history. OSHA issued nine of those rules under Clinton and 10 under Bush's father, an OMB Watch study found. [Click For More]

10/12/04
The EPA has recently changed the listing of HCFC-141b from acceptable to unacceptable for use as a foam blowing agent under the Significant New Alternatives Policy (SNAP) Program under section 612 of the Clean Air Act. The SNAP program reviews alternatives to Class I and Class II ozone depleting substances and approves use of alternatives which reduce the overall risk to public health and the environment. [Click For More]

10/11/04
Like much of the rest of Shanxi province in northern China, the industrial city of Linfen thrives on coal. Coal mining, coal processing and coal-fired power plants keep the people of Shanxi employed and supply most of China's energy needs. It is also one of the most environmentally dangerous places in the world. Linfen (population 4 million) is the dirtiest city in China, and one of the most polluted on the planet. [Click For More]

10/8/04
Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers and colleagues have identified three new chemical risk factors for bladder cancer in a study involving some 600 people in the Los Angeles area. The work was reported in the Oct. 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. [Click For More]

10/7/04
A new report on the causes of breast cancer concludes exposure to environmental toxins and radiation contributes more than previously understood to the risk of developing breast cancer. [Click For More]

10/6/04
A chemical solvent introduced to replace traditional ozone-depleting solvents in industrial settings has proven highly neurotoxic, according to a study presented at the 129th annual meeting of the American Neurological Association. Five workers whose job involved gluing foam cushions together with a glue containing the solvent 1-bromopropane (1-BP, also known as n-propyl bromide) developed severe neurological symptoms, some of which appear to be permanent. [Click For More]

10/05/04
Women working in nail salons, dry cleaning establishments, medical laboratories, and manufacturing plants who have on-the-job exposure to chemical solvents used with these types of jobs are putting their fetus' brain development at risk, new research shows. [Click For More]

10/4/04
Asbestos has created the biggest legal mess in American history. Its lawsuits continue to pile up by the thousands in state courts across the country, with an estimated 35,000 languishing in Texas alone. Seventy-three companies have been pushed into bankruptcy. Others are sure to join them. [Click For More]

10/1/04
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) for occupational exposure to Hexavalent Chromium in the Oct. 4, 2004 Federal Register. OSHA is proposing three separate standards that cover exposure to hexavalent chromium (CrVI) in general industry, construction, and shipyards. [Click For More]

9/30/04
BRAINTREE, Mass. -- A wide range of health and safety hazards including failure to train workers and provide information on the hazards associated with chemicals at a New Bedford, Mass., tire recycling and disposal company has resulted in $45,750 in proposed fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). [Click For More]

9/29/04
Huntsville -- Hundreds of people are hoping to get in on a lawsuit against a valley company claiming that chemicals soaked into the soil could cause cancer. Residents are filing petitions against 3M after environmental tests performed last month revealed high levels of sulfonated perfluoro chemicals or PFC's in their soil. [Click For More]

9/28/04
EPA publishes clarification and extends deadline for submission of information on methyl bromide inventories to October 14, 2004. [Click For More]

9/27/04
BLYTHE, CA -- A leak in the cooling system at the Blythe Energy Plant shut down Interstate 10 for about four hours and prompted the evacuation of everyone around the plant for a mile. [Click For More]

9/24/04
Arsenic could be toxic at much lower levels than previously thought, suggesting that the new EPA drinking water standard of 10 parts per billion might still be too high, according to a team of researchers at Dartmouth Medical School. [Click For More]

9/23/04
SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- An Ogdensburg, N.Y., cheese manufacturer's failure to protect workers against the unexpected startup of machinery, hazardous chemicals, falls and other safety and health hazards has resulted in $184,900 in proposed fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration. [Click For More]

9/22/04
GENEVA - The United Nations this week added 14 pesticides and chemicals, including lead additive for petrol, to a growing list of toxic substances in which trade is restricted. [Click For More]

9/21/04
SEATTLE -- Traces of a potentially deadly chemical have been detected for the first time in samples from underground waste tanks at the Hanford nuclear site. A citizens watchdog group has raised concerns about worker safety. The chemical, dimethyl mercury, can be inhaled, ingested or absorbed through the skin. Depending on the amount and type of exposure, the substance can irritate the eyes, skin and lungs, or result in damage to the central nervous system or even death. [Click For More]

9/20/04
Pharmaceutical contaminants found in not only fish, but also and invertebrates, caught downstream from urban areas in Texas may cause neurological, biochemical and physiological changes in the animals, according to Baylor University researchers. [Click For More]

9/17/04
"We have just reached the crisis level on mercury," Steinwachs, the environmental quality specialist with the University of Missouri Extension, says. She has spent years trying to reduce and recycle hazardous waste. "Now, we're finding it in our food, our water, our soil, our babies, everywhere." [Click For More]

9/16/04
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- A recently discovered disinfection byproduct (DBP) found in U.S. drinking water treated with chloramines is the most toxic ever found, says a scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who tested samples on mammalian cells. [Click For More]

9/15/04
EPA has published a notice in the Federal Register that provides a list of 15 Proposed Acute Exposure Guideline Levels for Hazardous Substances that are available for public review and comment. [Click For More]

9/14/04
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U-Haul of Western New York faces $73,200 in fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for failing to adequately protect employees working with hazardous chemicals at its Tonawanda, N.Y., truck rental and leasing facility. [Click For more]

9/13/04
ROSEMOUNT, MN - Thirteen Rosemount families learned it may be a couple of weeks before they can return to their homes, after their mobile home park was contaminated by mercury. [Click For More]

9/10/04
DuPont has agreed to pay as much as $343 million to settle a class-action lawsuit alleging the chemical giant contaminated drinking water supplies in West Virginia and Ohio with a key ingredient of its Teflon product. [Click For More]

9/9/04
New Zealand -- A report into the effects of exposure to dioxin from Ivon Watkins-Dow's chemical plant has found that people living in the area have on average three times the normal level of the chemical in their blood. [Click For More]

9/8/04
The EPA is requesting comments on a white paper that describes various options the Agency is considering for implementing a new international system for pesticide labels. [Click For More]

9/7/04
Miami, FL -- Formaldehyde evaporation in the morgue at Broward General Medical Center caused a second-floor laboratory to shut down Monday while fire-rescue personnel worked to fix the problem. [Click For More]

9/3/04
At least six people died and 142 were injured in an accidental explosion at a giant chemical plant in South Africa run by the minerals and hydrocarbons group Sasol. [Click For More]

9/2/04
An early morning hazardous chemical spill on I-65 near Munfordville shut down traffic in both directions and left motorists stranded for hours. Police say a truck carrying the highly flammable and combustible chemical Vinyl Toluenes overturned around 4:30 this morning at mile marker 68 on I-65 northbound. [Click For More]

9/1/04
PITTSFIELD, MA -- A lawsuit that explores new ground in the fight over PCB pollution is poised to go before a jury and would be the first time General Electric has gone to trial for the contamination that spread from its now-dormant transformer plant. [Click For More]

8/31/04
LAUGHLIN (AP) — The Mohave Generating Station in Southern Nevada emits more toxic lead than any other coal or oil-fired power plant in the nation, according to a new report by a trio of environmental groups. [Click For More]

8/30/04
Ferris, TX - Eleven people were injured -- two critically -- in a chemical explosion at an aircraft cleaning plant near the downtown district of this town just south of the Ellis and Dallas County boundary. [Click For More]

8/27/04
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration has cited 11 contractors including AKJ, Inc., d/b/a Martin Enterprises, Inc. and Marous Brothers Construction for hazards involving asbestos removal and other alleged safety and health violations. [Click For More]

8/26/04
Mattress Giant Corp. faces $140,000 in OSHA fFines for multiple safety hazards including the lack of a chemical hazard communication program and training at warehouses in three states, [Click For More]

8/25/04
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- Ansonia Copper and Brass Inc. of Ansonia, Conn., faces $55,500 in fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for failing to safeguard workers against overexposure to cadmium, inadequate respirator use and maintenance, and unguarded moving machine parts. [Click For More]

8/24/04
Kodak Park, the largest industrial complex in the Northeast, has been the centerpiece of Rochester industry for more than a century. At its peak, the facility made enough photographic film each year to circle the Earth's equator 30 times. But Kodak Park's legacy includes more than film and world fame. There's also pollution — in the sky, in the pores of its concrete buildings, in the soil and in the moist bedrock that underlies the facility. [Click For More]

8/23/04
ONTARIO, Calif. - An explosion at a sterilization company's plant Thursday afternoon caused part of a building's roof to collapse and injured four workers, officials said. The explosion at Sterigenics occurred about 3 p.m. when volatile ethylene oxide exploded. [Click For More]

8/20/04
Boston, MA -- He learned he had angiosarcoma, a rare form of lung cancer his physicians believed was caused by environmental exposure. He was not the only one. Four of his childhood buddies were also diagnosed with cancer. Two died before Kane. As boys, all five played on the grounds of the former Megunko Road dye factory where tons of toxic sludge were dumped and buried before the plant closed in 1978. [Click For More]

8/19/04
UK --Benzene link with petrol stations should be explored -- The incidence of leukaemia in young children is rising and we do not know why. Children account for about one- quarter of the 6600 new cases diagnosed annually, making it the most common form of childhood cancer. [Click For More}

8/18/04
Ninety-five percent of the chemicals used in fragrances are petroleum-based synthetic compounds. Listed here are some principal chemicals found in scented products and the health risks that can be involved, according to one or more hazardous waste lists. [Click For More]

8/17/94
MINNEAPOLIS — Maplewood-based 3M Co. stopped making the chemicals behind such products as Teflon and Scotchgard four years ago, but the compounds are showing up everywhere from polar bears in Alaska and birds in the Pacific Ocean to remote Minnesota lakes. The compounds, which are in a family known as fluorochemicals, are a concern because they don't break down and it's not clear how they've become so widespread. [Click For More]

8/16/04
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today urged employers and workers to take appropriate safety measures to avoid injury and illnesses associated with the recovery and cleanup efforts following hurricanes. [Click For More]

8/12/04
Concerns about the potential ill effects of engineered nanomaterials such as carbon buckyballs and nanotubes through inhalation, ingestion, or absorption through the skin are increasing. For example, in early-stage studies it has been shown that inhaled nano-sized particles accumulate in the nasal cavities, lungs and brains of rats, raising concerns that this build-up could lead to harmful inflammation and a risk of brain damage or other central nervous system disorders. [Click For More]

8/11/04
SAVANNAH, Ga. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited HPI Products Inc. for failing to protect workers from health and safety hazards at its Damascus, Ga., plant. The agency is proposing $69,200 in penalties against the pesticide manufacturer. [Click For More]

8/10/04
Farmers are at great risk of contracting respiratory problems due to the amount of dust and chemicals they breathe in on a daily basis. Wearing protective equipment, which is readily available, can prevent acute and chronic respiratory illnesses. [Click For More]

8/9/04
CHICAGO -- Field Container Company, L.P., headquartered in Elk Grove Village, Ill., is facing proposed penalties of $137,500 following an investigation into alleged workplace safety violations including deficiencies related to the storage of flammable liquids and an inadequate flammable liquid storage room, as well as failing to train workers in hazard communication. [Click For More]

8/6/04
Pittsburgh, PA -- Cement burns, surprisingly, are a common injury seen by doctors at West Penn Hospital's Burn Unit, especially during summer months, when a lot of construction projects are under way. Mercy Hospital burn doctors also see their share, although most are related to industrial accidents. [Click For More]

8/5/04
From 1999-2001, EPA collected two composite samples of one predator fish species and one bottom dwelling fish species at 260 lakes, for a total of 520 composite samples, or 2,547 fish. Some 55 percent of samples contained mercury levels that exceed the EPA's safe limit for women of childbearing age, and 76 percent exceeded the safe limit for children under age three, according to the report by Clear the Air, a joint campaign of the Clean Air Task Force, National Environmental Trust, and U.S. Public Interest Research Group (PIRG). [Click For More]

8/4/04
ATLANTA -- Two people were treated Tuesday for ammonia exposure when up to 2,000 pounds of the chemical leaked from a Fulton County warehouse, triggering a fire. [Click For More]

8/3/04
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- A Bridgeport, Conn., company that engages in the nationwide distribution of heavy steel beams has been cited by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for allegedly exposing employees to multiple workplace hazards including failure to maintain a list of hazardous chemicals used in the workplace and to have on hand material safety data sheets for those chemicals. [Click For More]

8/2/04
Los Angeles -- In an unusually public punishment, a Saugus plastics manufacturer will be forced to say 'sorry' to its neighbors for spewing cancer-causing chemicals into the air and pumping potent toxins into the fragile Santa Clara River ecosystem. [Click For More]

7/30/04
Philadelphia, PA -- Workers have been allowed back into the small industrial park. They got the "all clear" three hours after a chemical explosion that sent three people to the hospital. It happened at L3 Communications, a company that cleans and recycles electric circuit boards. Employees say this is the first time something like this has happened. [Click For More]

7/29/04
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Journal of Analytical Toxicology have collaborated on a special edition of the journal devoted to assessing human exposure to chemical agents. The edition highlights new methods using state-of-the-art instruments to measure low-level exposure to chemicals. [Click For More]

7/28/04
WASHINGTON -- Almost one in 10 of the nation's 1,230 Superfund toxic waste sites have not yet been cleaned up enough to guarantee that people and drinking water supplies won't become contaminated, according to Environmental Protection Agency data. [Click For More]

7/27/04
A type of carcinogen carried in the dust that enveloped lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center catastrophe posed a very small cancer risk for most residents of the area, according to a new study. Nevertheless, the researchers urged more study on the potential health risks of children whose mothers breathed the air during pregnancy. [Click For More]

7/26/04
Tallevast, FL -- An environmental disaster in the making. From a relatively isolated spill solely within American Beryllium's property, the pollution zone keeps expanding and the threat level keeps growing. The pollution plume has tripled in size over earlier projections, and the degree of concentration by one toxic chemical has risen to as high as 10,000 times safe levels. [Click For More]

7/23/04
BINGHAMTON, N.Y. -- A $7.2 million settlement has been reached ending litigation two decades old over exposure to toxic chemicals in a fire at the Binghamton State Office Building. With trial starting in state Supreme Court, the 41 claimants settled Wednesday with manufacturers of the building's electrical equipment and transformer coolant, the General Electric Co. and Monsanto Co. [Click For More]

7/22/04
Carrollton, KY (AP) -- A chemical spill at the Dow Corning plant in Carroll County early Thursday resulted in the closure of U.S. 42, Ohio River traffic and rail traffic, according to officials. [Click For More]

7/21/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) today launched The Whistleblower Program webpage to provide a single source for obtaining detailed information on the laws with whistleblower protections that are administered by OSHA. [Click For More]

7/20/04
The EPA is announcing the receipt of a complete petition from the Ketones Panel of the American Chemistry Council (ACC) (formerly the Chemical Manufacturers Association) requesting EPA to remove the chemical methyl isobutyl ketone (MIBK) (hexone) (Chemical Abstract Service No. 108101) from the list of hazardous air pollutants. [Click For More]

719/04
Most (80 percent) of contact dermatitis is due to exposure to physically irritating chemicals like detergents and industrial solvents. Even milder chemicals and materials can be irritants when in frequent or long-term contact with sensitive skin. [Click For More]

7/16/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) launched a web-based assistance tool to help workers and employers identify and control hazards associated with the operation and maintenance of ammonia refrigeration systems. [Click For More]

7/15/04
The National Environmental Trust tested 40 products, including hair coloring, lipstick, all-purpose cleaners and paints. The group said 34 of those products contained glycols, organic solvents or phthalates not shown on the labels. [Click For More]

7/14/04
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed a $122,200 fine against Lee Brass Company for exposing workers to health and safety hazards including failure to implement controls to reduce employee exposure to silica and lead. [Click For More]

7/13/04
The gradual shrinkage of the Aral Sea over the past decades has laid bare about 50,000 square kilometers of seabed - an area larger than Estonia. This new desert is contaminated by a toxic mix of chemical residue washed down by rivers from farms upstream. [Click For More]

7/12/04
Boca Raton· Crews began pumping chlorine dioxide gas into the former headquarters of American Media Inc. Sunday to decontaminate the site of the country's first anthrax attack nearly three years ago. [Click For More]

7/9/04
WASHINGTON, DC - The Environmental Protection Agency said that it would fine the DuPont chemical company for failing to report test results on a chemical related to the manufacturing of Teflon. [Click For More]

7/8/04
Poplar Bluff, MO -- The interaction between two chemicals at NORDYNE Industries sent 12 workers to the hospital. NORDYNE, located in the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park, manufactures heating and cooling products. [Click For More]

7/7/04
DUARTE, CA -- Two City of Hope researchers have added a piece to the unfinished puzzle Swedish researchers started in 2002 when they announced that common foods such as potato chips and french fries contain significant levels of a known rodent carcinogen. [Click For More]

7/6/04
SANTA FE DE LA LAGUNA, MEXICO – Griselda Maximo Guzman dunks her slender, bare arms into the bucket to stir the yellow glaze called greta. It looks like cake batter. The glaze is mostly lead, a poison that can cause miscarriage or brain damage when ingested or absorbed through the skin. [Click For More]

7/5/04
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. -- An Ohio utility says its water supply is contaminated with a chemical used at a nearby DuPont plant and customers should use it at their own risk. [Click For More]

7/2/04
BUDAPEST—At a meeting of European health ministers here last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) moved action against synthetic chemicals that affect child development higher on the global health agenda. [Click For More]

7/1/04
NEW CASTLE, IN - The Allegheny Ludlum stainless steel factory continues to be the largest emitter of toxic chemicals in East Central Indiana, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's latest annual Toxic Release Inventory. [Click For More]

6/30/04
The discovery of a chemical that had solidified with age into a potential explosive forced an evacuation at Clark Atlanta University for about two hours until the substance could be neutralized. [Click for More]

6/29/04
SAN ANTONIO -- A Union Pacific train engineer died Monday after a freight train collision that resulted in a chlorine and an anhydrous ammonium gas leak southwest of San Antonio. [Click For More]

6/28/04
An exploding vending machine turned the coolant Freon into phosgene, a poisonous gas used as a chemical weapon in World War I, and forced the evacuation of 10 people from a Texas hospital. [Click For More]

6/25/04
WASHINGTON, June 24 — The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today put back on track its review of a chemical used to make Teflon cookware. The EPA is so concerned about the prevalence and health risks of the Teflon chemical that Agency officials are going to do their own studies to determine how it gets into human blood, rather than wait for industry to come forth with data. [Click For More]

6/24/04
IBM has settled 50 toxic chemical lawsuits brought by former employees at its San Jose manufacturing plant. [Click For More]

6/23/04
ERIE, Pa. (AP) — A tanker truck exploded spilling chemicals on a freeway and injuring one person. Emergency crews are trying to clear wreckage from Interstate 90. [Click For More]

6/22/04
Perchlorate has been found in drinking water in more than 20 states, including California, which has extensive ties to the military, defense industry and the space program. The chemical has been detected in the Colorado River, the major source of drinking water and irrigation in Southern California and Arizona. [Click For More]

6/21/04
MADISON, Wis. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has issued citations and proposed penalties of $135,600 to Quarra Stone Company, LLC, of Madison, Wis., for failing to protect workers from hazards associated with silica. [Click For More]

6/18/04
FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) says first responders - such as police, firefighters and emergency medical workers - must be ready to respond to natural disasters and hazards such as a chemical spill. The Under Secretary for Homeland Security told northwest Ohioans to be vigilant for terrorist activity and to form local citizen corps to assist with emergency management. [Click For More]

6/17/04
FRESNO — Pesticide-based pollution went up in the San Joaquin Valley by 34 percent, according to recent data from the Department of Pesticide Regulation. [Click For More]

6/16/04
JACKSON, Miss. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Irby Steel for exposing workers to serious safety and health violations including failing to label and properly store chemicals. The agency is proposing $113,750 in penalties. [Click For More]

6/15/04
Toxic chemical law will undergo a major change in 2006 when the European Union is expected to enact legislation known as the Registration, Evaluation, and Authorization of Chemicals (REACH). REACH will replace more than 40 existing directives and regulations. It requires registration of chemicals made in or imported to the EU, assessment of the risks arising from chemical use, and implementation of measures to manage risks. [Click For More]

6/14/04
The Vietnam War ended in 1975, but the scourge of dioxin contamination from a herbicide known as Agent Orange did not. [Click For More]

6/11/04
SALMON, Idaho -- More than 60 barrels of volatile chemicals were cleaned up and removed from a farm supply store in Lemhi County, Idaho, after the arrest of a Wasilla man who authorities say is the chemicals' owner. The Federal Bureau of Investigation contacted the sheriff's office to report that Krister Sven Evertson, 50, had been arrested in Alaska on suspicion of illegally transporting sodium metal. [Click For More]

6/10/04
Louisville, KY -- An unchecked release of toxic chemicals from any one of dozens of plants in the Louisville metropolitan area — from chemical plants to a commercial bakery — could sicken thousands of residents. [Click For More]

6/9/04
Sick building syndrome (SBS) and multiple chemical sensitivities (MCS) are two debilitating illnesses that arise directly from toxic exposures. New research indicates a genetic liver enzyme deficiency may predispose individuals to SBS and MCS. [Click For More]

6/8/04
NEWPORT, Ind. — In a cavernous, pipe-filled structure known simply as the Utility Building, Army contractors in Western Indiana are preparing to destroy a lethal Cold War-era concoction that's the human equivalent of bug spray. [Click For More]

6/7/04
A study by Oak Ridge National Laboratory and partners might help explain whether there is a relationship between inhalation of small particles, reduced heart rate variability and death. While there is evidence to suggest that breathing air containing particulate matter can cause problems for people with decreased heart rate variability, no one has done a definitive study to examine whether there is a direct link between the two. [Click For More]

6/4/04
SAN FRANCISCO -- "Toxic dust" found on computer processors and monitors contains chemicals linked to reproductive and neurological disorders, according to a new study by several environmental groups. The survey, released Thursday by Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, Computer TakeBack Campaign and Clean Production Action, is among the first to identify brominated flame retardants on the surfaces of common devices in homes and offices. [Click For More]

6/3/04
WASHINGTON -- Sick nuclear weapons workers who want the government to help them get workers' compensation checks will continue their long wait, a congressional watchdog agency said. Although the Energy Department is processing more worker claims, it still does not have enough physicians to review them, a General Accounting Office report said. And the department is doing a poor job of telling workers why it is taking so long to process their claims. [Click For More]

6/2/04
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Defense Department and the CIA used flawed computer modeling to determine which and how many troops were exposed to chemical warfare agents during the first Gulf War, the General Accounting Office said Tuesday. [Click For More]

6/1/04
Think twice before you eat one of Cincinnati's Brood-X cicadas. That's the warning from researchers at the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering, who have found surprising levels of mercury in these insects. [Click For More]

5/28/04
SAN FRANCISCO -- The U.S. Army and its contractor will pay $51,699 for the August 2002 release of a deadly nerve agent at its Chemical Agent Disposal System facility on Johnson Atoll in the South Pacific, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. [Click For More]

5/27/04
Ft. Lauderdale, Fla -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Square One Armoring Co., and proposed penalties totaling $42,000, for failing to abate safety hazards and not implementing and maintaining a written communication program for employees exposed to chemicals. [Click for More]

5/26/04
Conyers, GA -- A chemical warehouse fire that sent a plume of noxious smoke more than 100 miles and prompted the evacuation of hundreds of homes continued to burn early Wednesday. [Click For More]

5/25/04
Boston, MA -- Tens of thousands of children in Massachusetts alone could still be at risk for lead poisoning. Long known to cause seizures and brain damage in children, lead poisoning, research suggests, may start at much lower levels than previously thought -- and below the level the federal government considers safe. [Click For More]

5/24/94
RACINE - Not your normal captain of industry, Sam Johnson didn't just talk about protecting the environment. He acted, sometimes at the expense of company profits. In 1975, Johnson, then the chairman of Johnson Wax, decided that his company would remove chlorofluorocarbons from its aerosol products. [Click For More]

5/20/04
WASHINGTON -- Millions of American teens are preparing to enter the workforce this summer doing a variety of jobs that will teach them valuable skills. While most will earn extra money and gain valuable work experience, many risk being seriously or even fatally injured on the job. [Click For More]

5/19/04
A Colorado man working for the company, Chemical Specialties, was recently sentenced to serve one year in prison and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine for illegally discharging a de-icing chemical into the city storm sewers of Grand Junction, Colorado. [Click For More]

5/18/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is extending for an additional thirty days -- until June 16 -- the informal public comment period on two guidance documents associated with the hazard communication initiative announced in March. [Click For More]

5/17/04
When you think of a hazardous profession, construction, manufacturing or fire fighting may come to mind. But what about hairstyling? Hairstylists do more than just cut hair. They work in chemicals all day long, in the form of coloring and perm solutions. [Click For More]

5/14/04
The body has been found of the last person reported missing after a blast three days ago at a plastics factory in Glasgow, Scotland. [Click For More]

5/13/04
Indianapolis -- Marion County Sheriff deputies want to talk to three former employees of a chemical company following a burglary and spill of 15,000 gallons of highly flammable chemicals at the company's Northwest side distribution center. [Click For More]

5/12/04
CAMDEN, N.J. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $162,000 in fines for C.W.S. Industries, an electroplating company, in Camden, N.J. for allegedly exposing their employees to hazards associated with cadmium, nickel, silver and other electroplating solution. [Click For More]

5/11/04
SAN FRANCISCO -- Many U.S. residents carry toxic pesticides in their bodies above government assessed "acceptable" levels, according to a report released today by Pesticide Action Network North America (PAN). Chemical Trespass: Pesticides in Our Bodies and Corporate Accountability, makes public for the first time an analysis of pesticide-related data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a study of levels of chemicals in 9,282 people nationwide. [Click For More]

5/10/04
WASHINGTON -- OSHA is seeking public comment until July 6, 2004 on its Site-Specific Targeting (SST) inspection program to determine more accurately how the program is accomplishing its goal of targeting the nation's most hazardous workplaces for inspection. [Click For More]

5/7/04
ATHABASCA, Alberta Canada - About a dozen families had to leave their homes in northern Alberta and a small airport was temporarily closed after an ammonia leak from a tank at a grain company facility. [Click For More]

5/6/04
PARIS, France - The French Association for Research on Treatments Against Cancer is convening a trans-Atlantic group of leading cancer specialists to present scientific evidence on the role of environmental pollutants as major causes of cancer and other diseases. Foremost on the agenda is the proposed new chemicals policy for the European Union, known as REACH - Registration, Evaluation and Authorization of Chemicals - an unprecedented complex of regulations for industrial chemicals. [Click For More]

5/5/04
Poughkeepsie, NY -- Liability for a 30-year-old chemical spill could strain jobs and profits at Hopewell Precision Inc., an employee-owned company founded in 1972. [Click For More]

5/4/04
Federal investigators are focusing their attention on a safety device in the deadly Illiopolis plant blast a week ago. The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation board is citing questions first raised at a public meeting Tuesday, about whether a water-deluge system that should douse the area when it detects vinyl chloride, was functioning. [Click For More]

5/3/04
A chemical spill in the St. Clair River from the Sunoco Petrochemical Plant in Sarnia, MI on Thursday resulted in water intake pumps, including those in Mount Clemens, Ira Township, Algonac and Walpole Island, Ontario, to be shut down. [Click For More]

4/30/04
JOPLIN, Mo. - Testimony was completed Thursday in the trial of the second of a series of lawsuits from people who claim a butter flavoring used at the popcorn factory where they worked caused disabling lung injuries. [Click For More]

4/29/04
WASHINGTON - Democrat John Kerry wants chemical plants to assess their risks of a catastrophic attack and to use less dangerous alternatives whenever possible, saying President Bush has been lax on the industry. [Click For More]

4/28/04
One death every fifteen seconds. Six thousand a day. Work kills more people than wars. And it injures and mutilates, too. Almost 270 million accidents are recorded each year, of which 350,000 are fatal. [Click For More]

4/27/04
ENDICOTT, NY -- Working conditions at Endicott Interconnect Technologies will be evaluated this week by a federal health agency responding to workers' complaints. The factory, formerly owned by IBM Corp., assembles printed circuit boards and employs about 1,800 workers. [Click For More]

4/26/04
Washington, DC - Investigators from the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board are headed to the scene of Friday night's explosions at the Formosa Plastics polyvinyl chloride manufacturing facility in Illiopolis, Illinois, near Springfield, which reportedly killed at least two workers, left others missing, and destroyed most of the plant. The explosions and fire caused a large public evacuation, cut power to local communities, and closed an interstate highway, according to media reports. [Click For More]

4/23/04
Shanghai. (Interfax-China) - Over ten villagers in Hengxian County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have recently died of silicosis, with a further 20 in a serious condition, arousing the attention of national health and safety departments. Workers from construction sites, chemical factories and mining areas often suffer from the disease, with around 500,000 estimated to be suffering from silicosis in Guangxi alone, while the national average may hit as high as 50-60 mln workers. [Click For More]

4/22/04
CH2M Hill, a Colorado-based engineering firm with a $1.5 billion federal contract to clean up the largest haul of nuclear waste in the Western Hemisphere, said it will now require workers to wear supplied-air breathing apparatus when working near some underground waste tanks. [Click For More]

4/21/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has approved changes in coverage in the Washington and Alaska occupational safety and health plans that will transfer coverage of Indian-owned establishments, native health care facilities, and certain military bases to Federal OSHA. [Click For more]

4/20/04
Ethylene glycol methyl ether a solvent for nitrocellulose, oils and resins, adhesives and for many different purposes may raise the risk of breast or ovarian cancer among women taking hormone treatments, say researchers at Duke University. Ethylene glycol methyl ether is used in formulating cleaners, printing inks, photographic film, lacquers, and nail polish. [Click For More]

4/19/04
Neodesha, KS -- A chemical plume of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene pollutes the groundwater under a large part of the community. All four chemicals, known collectively as BTEX, are hazardous to humans. Benzene is one of only a few substances classified by the government as a known human carcinogen. [Click For More]

4/17/04
Workers at MFG Chemical Inc., which produces coatings and other substances for the textile industry, were mixing chemicals when the reactor malfunctioned. The problem caused a cloud of hydrochloric acid _ a highly corrosive substance commonly used for cleaning _ to be released over the area. [Click For More]

4/16/04
Financial and workplace environment risks are the biggest issues concerning businesses today when it comes to paint application in areas where people are present, according to a study commissioned by Rust-Oleum (NYSE: RPM), a leading industrial paint manufacturer. In fact, well over 90 percent of survey respondents want to reduce the risks associated with paint applications, but don't know of a clear cut solution to do so. [Click For More]

4/15/04
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Connecticut Steel Corporation (CSC), of Wallingford, Conn., a manufacturer of wire reinforcing rods, for a total of 47 alleged willful, serious and other workplace safety and health violations including inadequate hazard communication training and labeling. [Click For More]

4/14/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration announced today that its site-specific targeting (SST) plan for 2004 will focus on approximately 4,000 high-hazard worksites for unannounced comprehensive safety and health inspections over the coming year. [Click For More]

4/13/04
For 40 years, the Hanford reservation made plutonium for the nation’s nuclear-weapons arsenal. The most deadly waste, about 53 million gallons of radioactive liquid, sludge and saltcake, sits in 177 underground tanks less than 10 miles from the Columbia River. [Click For More]

4/12/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is extending until May 17 the informal public comment period on two guidance documents associated with the hazard communication initiative announced last month. [Click For More]

4/9/04
TAMPA, Fla. -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Kirkplan Kitchens and Bath Fort Myers, Inc., and has proposed a $46,000 penalty after a return inspection to the Fort Myers plant confirmed that the company had failed to correct a dangerous condition observed during a prior inspection. [Click For More]

4/8/04
The American Chemistry Council and the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association will host the 2nd Annual Chemical Security Summit June 27-29, 2004, at the Marriott Philadelphia Downtown in Philadelphia, PA. [Click For More]

4/7/04
An internal Army memo reveals "near misses" of agent exposure to workers, a toxic spill and other unsafe practices at the Tooele County chemical weapons incinerator. [Click For More]

4/6/04
LONDON, Ky. -- The northbound lanes of a Kentucky highway remain closed after fire and intense heat kept police away from an accident scene and chemical spill. [Click For More]

4/5/04
The first two studies of the health effects of engineered nanoparticles, published in January, revealed lung damage more severe and strangely different than that caused by conventional toxic dusts. [Click For More]

4/2/04
CHICAGO -- A Chicago southside company is facing $84,750 in fines following an inspection by the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) that allegedly revealed serious and willful workplace hazards including exposure to wood dust. [Click For More]

4/1/04
TEXAS CITY, TX -- Ten people were treated for chemical exposure after a furnace exploded and burned at the BP refinery in Texas City. [Click For More]

3/31/04
In the same week that the US food watchdog releases new findings on the presence of acrylamide, the probable human carcinogen, in processed food products, the American Chemical society will dedicate an entire symposium to this sensitive issue that has ramifications for the global food industry. [Click For More]

3/30/04
Over the past three decades, the removal of lead from gasoline, paint, solders and food cans has dramatically reduced children's lead exposure. [Click For More]

3/29/04
The first study to look at the health effects of microscopic, manufactured "nanoparticles" on aquatic animals has found troubling evidence that the molecules -- which scientists are starting to make for research and industry -- can trigger organ damage and other toxic effects. [Click For More]

2/26/04
The Army says its stockpiles of chemical weapons are a threat to the American people that must be disposed of expeditiously. [Click For More]

3/25/04
Dirty dancing takes on new meaning if you have carpet. Different toxic chemicals, such as lead, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are routinely found in household dust. [Click For More]

3/24/04
Montreal - A United States delegation arrived today at a special meeting of the 184 nation Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to press for an increase in the quota of Methyl Bromide (MB), a highly toxic and ozone depleting pesticide. [Click For More]

3/23/04
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration on Monday fined the owners of the Isotec Inc. chemical plant $256,500 for violations related to a Sept. 21 explosion that caused evacuation of 2,000 residents. [Click For More]

3/22/04
Coca-Cola Co. said t is voluntarily withdrawing its Dasani bottled water products from store shelves in Britain due to high levels of bromide, a potentially harmful chemical, in the drinks that exceed British legal standards. [Click For More]

3/19/04
Stratford, TX - The south side of the town of Stratford was forced to leave their homes and businesses after a truck carrying hazardous chemicals caught on fire. [Click For More]

3/18/04
THE STATE OF CHEMICAL REGULATION = Conference focuses on planned EU legislation, U.S. policies on new and existing substances. [Click For More]

3/17/04
WASHINGTON -- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, U.S. Department of Labor, today announced a new initiative to focus attention on hazard communication in the workplace, following an Agency review of current issues. [Click For More]

3/16/04
Eric Peoples cradled his wife and wept after a jury agreed that vapors from butter flavoring at the microwave popcorn factory where he once worked had permanently ruined his lungs. Peoples said his tears didn't only come out of satisfaction with the $20 million verdict. [Click For More]

3/15/04
Scores of men suffering from cancer are among a group of 699 firefighters who battled the infamous New York Telephone Co. fire of 1975. [Click For More]

3/12/04
FRANKFORT, KY — A bill making it a crime to expose children to the manufacture of methamphetamine cleared a House committee yesterday despite objections that it contains a potential death sentence. [Click For More]

3/11/04
Danville, VA - The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality said yesterday it will investigate the cause of an equipment malfunction that resulted in the release of a pungent chemical into the air and the closure of five Pittsylvania County public schools. [Click For More]

2/10/04
Tulsa, OK -- Three McAlester Army Ammunition Plant workers were sent to a health clinic and a warehouse and office buildings were evacuated after a chemical leak. [Click For More]

3/9/04
Hundreds or even thousands of chemicals, many of them toxic, are used to produce a computer and a set of specific health concerns has arisen regarding chemical exposure in the production process. Another pressing concern is the environmental and health impacts of emissions of hazardous substances from discarded computer equipment. [Click For More]

3/8/04
The asbestos crisis is far from over and the United States can expect to see at least 10,000 asbestos-related deaths each year for the next two decades or so. [Click For More]

3/5/04
Cleveland, OH -- The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has cited Picken's Plastics, Inc., of Jefferson, Ohio, following an agency inspection that revealed a number of dangerous workplace issues including shortcomings in safety and health training, hazard communication programs, and personal protective equipment. Proposed fines total $216,360. [Click For More]

3/4/04
TOLEDO, Ohio -- The U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has proposed $127,000 in fines for Envirosafe Services of Ohio, Inc., of Oregon, Ohio, for failing to protect workers from over-exposures to lead and cadmium. [Click For More]

3/3/04
An Ohio company pleaded guilty Monday to criminal violations of the Clean Water Act for its part in the 1999 chemical spill that killed nearly 5 million fish in White River. [Click For More]

3/2/04
JOPLIN, Mo. - A jury was selected Monday to hear the claim of an ailing factory worker who says his rare lung disease was caused by the artificial butter vapors at a microwave popcorn plant. [Click For More]

3/1/04
WASHINGTON -- The Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health has alerted approximately 13,000 employers throughout the country that their injury and illness rates are significantly higher than the national average and encourages them to take steps to address safety and health hazards in the workplace. [Click For More]

2/27/04
SANTA CLARA, CA - Attorneys for IBM Corp. will defend the technology giant in a $100 million birth defect lawsuit beginning next week, bolstered by a decisive victory over two employees who said Big Blue's workplace toxins caused cancer. [Click For More]

2/26/04
Washington, DC - There are new developments in the investigation into high levels of lead in the District’s drinking water, the problem could be with the new chemicals being used to treat the city’s water supply. [Click For More]

2/25/04
Los Angeles -- Dozens of residents across the San Fernando and Simi valleys developed cancers and other conditions from toxics released at Rocketdyne's Santa Susana Field Lab and other facilities, according to experts hired by plaintiffs in a lawsuit against the company. [Click For More]

2/24/04
BATON ROUGE -- A Lawrenceville, Ga.-based company's alleged failure to protect employees from the health hazards of asbestos at a Louisiana job site has resulted in citations and proposed penalties of $44,800 from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). [Click For More]

2/23/04
Some of the most influential scientists in the United States have gone public with disquieting accusations that the Bush administration has suppressed and distorted scientific findings, manipulated research and stacked government advisory panels to suit its political objectives. [Click For More]

2/20/04
WASHINGTON — It is ethical to test pesticides and pollutants on human volunteers to determine whether environmental safety standards can be lowered, a National Academy of Sciences panel said yesterday in an opinion expected to strongly influence government policy. [Click For More]

2/19/04
Scientists are warning that the accumulation of toxic flame retardants in people is verging on a public health crisis. The greatest risk is that the chemicals will interfere with fetal brain development, causing learning, memory and behavioral problems in the children of women who have accumulated high amounts of the chemicals. [Click For More]

2/18/04
Natchez, MS -- A tractor-trailer rig overturned on U.S. 61 on Tuesday, spilling about 3,000 gallons of hydrogen peroxide and forcing authorities to close the highway for five miles and evacuate nearby residents. [Click For More]

2/17/04
PHNOM PENH-Cambodian authorities have ordered the closure of a Chinese-invested clothing factory in Kampong Speu Province after 90 of its workers fell ill following contact with the hazardous chemical trichloroethylene used in the manufacturing process. [Click For More]

2/13/04
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is announcing the IRIS 2004 agenda and requesting scientific information on health effects that may result from exposure to the chemical substances for which EPA is starting assessments this year. [Click For More]

2/12/04
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A Fairport, N.Y., commercial printer/engraver's failure to correct previously cited lead and cadmium occupational health hazards has resulted in an additional $93,600 in fines from the U.S. Labor Department's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). [Click For More]

2/11/04
PHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Northeast Philadelphia residents and community leaders called Monday for action on the cleanup of a Superfund site in the Port Richmond section of the city. The site is the Franklin Slag Pile, about 110,000 cubic yards of byproduct from nearby copper smelting that contains extremely high lead levels and is about a half-mile from row houses. [Click For More]

2/10/04
Rats subjected to extreme electromagnetic fields produce dangerous levels of the toxic gas ozone, according to a new study out of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory that is sure to reenergize the decade-dormant debate about safety around power lines and household appliances. [Click For More]

2/9/04
PORT HURON, MI -- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, or NIOSH, has yet to release a final report on the hydrazine contamination at the Belle River Power Plant. The company and union asked NIOSH to determine health risks to employees who were exposed. [Click For More]

2/6/04
HARTFORD, Conn. -- OSHA has cited a Windsor, Conn. manufacturer of automotive engine components for a wide variety of safety and health hazards including  deficiencies in the company's respiratory protection program,  hazardous waste operations, and chemical hygiene program, and inadequate precautions to protect employees against lead and blood borne pathogen hazards. [Click for More]

2/5/04
PADUCAH, Ky. — At least 65 current and former workers at the Energy Department's gaseous diffusion plants in Kentucky and Ohio have been exposed to beryllium, a toxic metal that can be fatal. [Click For More]

2/4/04
HANOI, Vietnam -- For the first time, Vietnamese victims of Agent Orange have filed a suit against the U.S. companies that produced the toxic defoliant used by American forces during the Vietnam War. [Click For More]

2/3/04
New Jersey -- Pollution originating from a Superfund site on the Passaic River has contaminated shellfish well beyond the immediate environs of Newark Bay, according to a study by the state Department of Environmental Protection. [Click For More]

2/2/04
A massive spill of more than 150,000 litres of volatile chemicals into the St. Clair River early yesterday forced at least six Canadian and American communities to shut down their water intake systems. [Click For More]

1/30/04
St. Louis, MO -- Reilly Industries was the scene of an explosion and fire Wednesday afternoon that injured one worker and forced the evacuation of the plant’s 35 employees. [Click For More]

1/29./04
Olympia, WA -- An executive order was signed Wednesday to step up the battle against long-lasting toxic chemicals that build up in the food chain, singling out toxic flame-retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers for immediate attention. [Click For More]

1/28/04
Atlanta, GA -- At least three workers were hospitalized after being exposed to an unknown chemical during an apparent chemical spill at a wastewater treatment plant. [Click For More]

1/27/04
ASHLAND, Ohio -- Part of Interstate 71 remained closed in both directions Monday evening after a car hit a commercial truck carrying 5,000 gallons of aqua ammonia, causing it to overturn and spill. [Click For More]

1/26/04
U.S. veterans who were exposed to depleted uranium during the 1991 Gulf War have continued to excrete the potentially harmful chemical in their urine for years after their exposure, according to a new study published in the journal Health Physics. [Click For More]

1/23/04
BATON ROUGE, La. -- Honeywell International Inc. in Baton Rouge, La., has agreed to pay $110,000 in penalties and to correct hazards listed in OSHA citations. The company was cited for failure to protect workers from hazardous gas, chemical burns and exposure to hydrofluoric acid. [Click For More]

1/22/04
WASHINGTON -- OSHA today announced the availability of two new resources on the agency's website: MyOSHA, a tool to create personalized links to OSHA online resources; and Quick Start, a step-by-step guide to identify major OSHA requirements and guidance materials. [Click For More]

1/21/04
Rohm and Haas says an 18-month study it conducted reveals no statistically significant links between an unusually high instance of brain tumors among workers at its Spring House, Pa., research campus and employees' exposure to chemicals on the job. [Click For More]

1/20/04
Framingham, MA -- OSHA has issued citations alleging willful and serious safety violations to Triram Corporation of 721 Waverly St., including proposed penalties totaling $52,500. [Click For More]

1/19/04
Formaldehyde is a chemical widely used in many building materials and household products. According to the Environmental Defense Scoreboard it is ranked as one of the most hazardous compounds to ecosystems and human health. [Click For More]

1/14/04
OSHA Cites New Britain General Hospital for Allegedly Exposing Employees to Safety and Health Hazards; Faces $91,500 in Fines [Click For More]

1/9/04
Environmental effects of Exxon Valdez spill still being felt more than a decade later. A significant amount of oil still persists and the long-term impacts of oil spills may be more devastating than previously thought. [Click For More]

1/8/04
GARDNERVILLE, Nev. (AP) - An emergency response team from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency arrived at a northern Nevada middle school early Wednesday to check for mercury contamination after one youngster brought a vial of the toxic metal to school. [Click For More]

1/7/04
Living in a community where a common pesticide has gotten into the soil, water and air may interfere with sexual development in young men. [Click For More]

1/6/04
The Supreme Court in Florida has found that Benlate, a fungicide, was responsible for causing birth defects such as babies being born without eyes. [Click For More]

1/5/04
SALISBURY, MD. -- Some researchers are questioning the long-standing use of certain arsenic-based ingredients as chicken feed additives, citing possible health and environmental risks. [Click For More]

1/2/04
MAYLUU-SUU, Kyrgyzstan -- Outside the rusting, closed Izolit uranium processing plant, 23 radioactive waste sites infest the landslide-prone hills -- a catastrophe in waiting that could spill poison into the river below and on to the most populous area of Central Asia. [Click For More]