Most Popular Chemicals Headlines This Year
The most viewed headlines from our Chemicals Topic Page over the last year.
#1 EPA to Rollback Limits on ‘Forever Chemicals’ in Drinking Water
May 16 2025 // The Environmental Protection Agency said Wednesday that it plans to weaken limits on some “forever chemicals” in drinking water that were finalized last year, while maintaining standards for two common...
#2 As Chips Race Spews ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Startups Emerge to Destroy Them
Mar 14 2025 // The battle for artificial intelligence supremacy hinges on microchips. But the semiconductor sector that produces them has a dirty secret: It’s a major source of chemicals linked to cancer and other health...
#3 Viewpoint: Are PFAS the New Asbestos? Getting Ahead of Forever Chemical Risk
Nov 3 2025 // Perfluoroalkyl or polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), the synthetic “forever chemicals” found in everything from firefighting foam to food packaging, are shaping up to be one of the most urgent emerging risks...
#4 EPA Reaches $1.1M Settlement With Illinois Chemical Solutions Company
Jun 9 2025 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement with chemicals solutions company Stepan Co. of Northbrook, Illinois, for allegedly distributing or selling a misbranded pesticide in violation of the Federal...
#5 Illinois Chemical Manufacturer Reaches $400K Settlement With EPA
May 9 2025 // The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a settlement for alleged violations of the Clean Air Act with Nalco Production LLC and Nalco Co. LLC. The companies manufacture polymer blend chemicals at their facility...
#6 Forever Chemicals Quietly Contaminate Drinking Water Wells
Feb 5 2026 // Kristen Hanneman made a small decision in 2022 that would upend life for her entire town. State scientists were checking private drinking water wells across Wisconsin for a widely used family of harmful chemicals called...
#7 Citing Cancer Risk, Fire Departments Switch to Gear Free of Forever Chemicals
Sep 3 2025 // Every time he rushed out on a fire call, East Providence Lt. Thomas Votta knew he put himself at risk for cancer. There are potential carcinogens in the smoke billowing out of a house fire, but also risks from wearing his...
#8 Verlan Files Subrogation Suit Against Georgia Chemical Plant After $20M Payout on Fire
Dec 9 2025 // About 5 a.m. on Sept. 29, 2024, an employee at the Bio-Lab chemical warehouse outside Atlanta heard a popping sound, a tell-tale sign that stored chemicals had come in contact with water and were reacting. Within 90...
#9 Texas Bill That Limits Spread of ‘Forever Chemicals’ Misses Key Deadline
May 14 2025 // A bill aimed at limiting the spread of toxic chemicals on Texas farmland has hit a political wall — missing a key deadline that decreases its likelihood of passage this session. House Bill 1674, introduced by Rep. Helen...
#10 Black Residents Get Most of the Pollution But Few Jobs From Chemical Industry: Study
Apr 17 2025 // Residents of the mostly Black communities sandwiched between chemical plants along the lower Mississippi River have long said they get most of the pollution but few of the jobs produced by the region’s vast...
#11 Explosion at Mississippi Chemical Plant Causes Ammonia Leak, Evacuations
Nov 7 2025 // An explosion at a hydrogen and nitrogen product manufacturer in Mississippi on Wednesday caused an ammonia leak and forced nearby residents to evacuate, officials said. Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said in a post on the...
#12 Florida Chemical Plant Releases Toxic Vapor Cloud But No Injuries Reported
Oct 6 2025 // A toxic cloud of chemicals was released from an industrial site near Cocoa Beach last week, but authorities said no one was seriously injured, and the leak has been repaired. Florida Today and other news outlets reported...
#13 Forklift Error at New York Beauty Products Warehouse Spurs Chemical Leak and Fire
Sep 4 2025 // A chemical leak and fire at a suburban New York beauty products warehouse Tuesday may have been caused by a forklift mishap, officials said, warning neighbors to stay indoors. Commuter trains were temporarily stalled in...
#14 Australia Has Banned 3 ‘Forever Chemicals’ – but Europe Wants to Ban all 14,000
Aug 25 2025 // Last month, Australia’s ban on the import, use and manufacture of three types of “forever chemical” came into effect. These chemicals – PFOA, PFOS and PFHxS – have long lifespans and resist breaking...
#15 Washington Supreme Court Restores $185M Monsanto Chemical Leak Verdict
Oct 30 2025 // A U.S. court reinstated a $185 million verdict against Bayer’s Monsanto unit over chemical contamination at a Washington state school on Thursday. The Washington state Supreme Court reversed a lower court ruling that...
#16 Chemical Board Investigators Digging Into Fatal Tennessee Explosives Plant Blast
Oct 28 2025 // The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board is deploying investigators to Tennessee this week, now that federal ATF teams have completed much of their work at a military explosives plant that blew up Oct. 10...
#17 Bayer Settles Sky Valley Cases Over Chemical PCB
Aug 18 2025 // Bayer said on Monday it reached agreements in principle with more than 200 plaintiffs to resolve the so-called Sky Valley Education Center product liability cases related to the chemical PCB, but said payments were already...
#18 Derailed Train in Kentucky Causes Chemical Leak and Sparks a Fire
Jan 2 2026 // A derailed CSX train leaked a flammable chemical and sparked a fire in a rural part of southern Kentucky on Tuesday, prompting authorities to issue a shelter-in-place order that was later lifted for nearby residents. No...
#19 Chlorofluorocarbon Replacements Cause Vast ‘Forever Chemical’ Pollution: Research
Feb 5 2026 // When the phaseout of ozone-destroying chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) was first agreed in 1987, the world narrowly avoided an environmental catastrophe. However, the replacement of CFCs is causing the pollution of the...
#20 Chemical Safety Board to Investigate Fatal US Steel Facility Explosion
Aug 12 2025 // The U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) said today that it is investigating the fatal explosions and fires at U.S. Steel’s Clairton Coke Works plant in Clairton, Pennsylvania, that occurred on...
