Latest Chemicals Headlines

All the headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page, ordered by recency.

West Virginia Judge OKs Settlement in Agent Orange Suit

Feb 27 2012 // A West Virginia judge has approved a settlement in a class-action lawsuit filed by residents who say that chemical manufacturer Monsanto burned dioxin wastes, polluting the area with unsafe levels of the chemical. The...

Ohio Petroleum Producers Push Back Against Proposed Regulations

Feb 14 2012 // Ohio petroleum producers are pushing back against a call by the state attorney general to increase environmental penalties and chemical reporting requirements on the drilling industry. Republican Attorney General Mike...

Factory Dust Explosions Killing Workers While Safety Rules Lag

Nov 15 2011 // Each year, people are killed and maimed by explosions of finely powdered wood, metal or chemicals at factories around the country. Safety experts have studied the threat posed by dust at industrial sites for nearly a...

Cyber Attack Targets Chemical, Defense Firms

Nov 1 2011 // At least 48 chemical and defense companies were victims of a coordinated cyber attack that has been traced to a man in China, according to a new report from security firm Symantec Corp. Computers belonging to these...

Fire Manufacturing Plant Near Dallas Contained, Authorities Say

Oct 4 2011 // A fire at a chemical plant south of Dallas shot massive plumes of black smoke and bright orange flames into the sky on Oct. 3, forcing schoolchildren and residents to evacuate or take cover indoors to avoid possible...

Judge Lets Agent Orange Case Against Monsanto Proceed

Sep 29 2011 // Monsanto Co. has lost a bid to close part of a lawsuit alleging the company caused health injuries to residents living near a plant that made the Vietnam War-era U.S. military defoliant “Agent...

Colorado Chemical Depot Says Safety Still a Concern

Sep 27 2011 // Federal officials say safety is still a concern at the Pueblo Chemical Depot because of leaking weapons. Quality assurance specialist Lisabeth Watchutka says more than 100 of the 780,000 chemical weapons stored at the...

Video on West Virginia Plant Leak Urges Manufacturing Safety

Sep 26 2011 // The U.S. Chemical Safety Board, releasing a video depicting a deadly chemical leak at a DuPont plant in Belle, West Virginia last year, said the final investigation report should remind every manufacturer to make safety a...

Warning: Insecticides Can Be More Dangerous Than Bedbugs

Sep 26 2011 // Bedbugs don’t make people sick. But the poisons used to kill them can. A new government study has found that dozens of Americans have fallen ill from the insecticides, and a North Carolina woman died after using 18...

Chartis Expands Environmental Insurance Coverage to Chemical Industry

Jul 26 2011 // Chartis has expanded NextGen Protection, a suite of environmental insurance products offered through its Environmental division, to meet the needs of chemical manufacturers and distributors. The latest product in the...

Samsung Says Study Finds Workplace Isn’t Cause of Employees’ Cancer

Jul 14 2011 // A study commissioned by Samsung Electronics rejected assertions that employees may have been exposed to carcinogenic chemicals at its plants, as several cancer-stricken former employees of the world’s top memory...

Greenpeace Charges Big Name Brands Sourcing from Polluting China Firms

Jul 13 2011 // Some of the world’s leading clothing brands rely on Chinese suppliers that pollute rivers with toxic, hormone-disrupting chemicals banned in Europe and elsewhere, the environment group Greenpeace said on...

Report Faults DuPont in West Virginia Worker’s Death

Jul 7 2011 // Chemical maker DuPont failed to promptly inform emergency crews about a phosgene leak that killed a worker last year, according to a U.S. government report released Thursday. The report by the Chemical Safety Board (CSB),...

Explosions Rock Louisiana Chemical Plant; No Injuries

Jun 16 2011 // A fire at a plant in Louisiana’s Iberia Parish where chemicals are blended and stored for oilfield operations forced area residents to evacuate or hunker down while a grayish-brown column of smoke rose hundreds of...

Judge: No Reduction in Fine, Restitution in Louisiana Man’s Death

Jun 3 2011 // A federal judge has declined to reduce the $1 million fine and $2 million in restitution he ordered paid by a Colorado company that admitted partial responsibility for the death of a Baton Rouge plant worker. Chief U.S....

Hundreds Sue Over West Texas Chemical Contamination

May 9 2011 // Two lawsuits have been filed on behalf of more than 250 West Texas residents against four companies they contend contaminated their Midland-area neighborhood with hexavalent chromium. According to court documents obtained...

Marsh Launches Package Policy for Midsize Chemical Companies

Jan 24 2011 // Marsh has launched ChemPreferred, a customized package of policies for midsize chemical companies. Available to U.S. chemical and processing companies with annual sales between $25 million and $500 million, ChemPreferred...

Reports on 2 West Virginia Chemical Plant Incidents Delayed

Nov 29 2010 // Reports on a federal board’s investigations of fatal incidents at two West Virginia chemical plants won’t be released until next year. The U.S. Chemical Safety Board is investigating a 2008 explosion at Bayer...

Dow Settles Hazardous Chemical Exposure Claims with Alabama Miners

Sep 29 2010 // Dow Chemical Co. and Flexible Products Co. settled with nearly 1,400 miners in an Alabama court over the miners’ claims they were exposed to hazardous chemicals, Dow said Tuesday. The surprise settlement involving...

Chemical BPA Used In Most Food Can Linings Raises Concerns

Jun 10 2010 // Yolande Sprague could be forgiven for feeling virtuous. Four years ago, just after giving birth to her second child, the Dover, new Hampshire stay-at-home mom heard about BPA, a chemical inside some plastics that can leach...