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Articles on Chemicals

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UV absorbents and industrial antioxidants can reach aquatic environments through the degradation of plastics, or via wastewater treatment plant effluents. (Environment and Climate Change Canada)

Contaminants of emerging concern, found in sunscreens and plastics, end up in the St. Lawrence River

UV absorbents and industrial antioxidants are used in many household goods to protect them from UV radiation. They can have an adverse impact on ecosystems.
Maywood Riverfront Park was built on the site of eight former industrial properties in Los Angeles County. Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

Flood maps show US vastly underestimates contamination risk at old industrial sites

Climate change is colliding with old factory sites where soil or water contamination still exist, and the most vulnerable populations are particularly at risk.
Soybean plants on an Arkansas farm. Those at left show signs of damage from dicamba; others at right were planted later in the season. Washington Post via Getty Images

The herbicide dicamba was supposed to solve farmers’ weed problems – instead, it’s making farming harder for many of them

Farmers are stuck in a chemical war against weeds, which have developed resistance to many widely used herbicides. Seed companies’ answer – using more varied herbicides – is causing new problems.
Scientist Michelle Murphy says we should ‘value wastelands …and injured life.’ Here, collected plastic from the shoreline of Hamilton, Ontario is sorted by colour. Jasmin Sessler/Unsplash

Why pollution is as much about colonialism as chemicals — Don’t Call Me Resilient EP 11

In this episode, two Indigenous scientists running collaborative labs to address our climate crisis offer some ideas for environmental justice, including a redefinition of pollution.
Chlorpyrifos is widely used on crops, including fruits, vegetables, nuts, corn and soybeans. AP Photo/John Raoux

The EPA is banning chlorpyrifos, a pesticide widely used on food crops, after 14 years of pressure from environmental and labor groups

What kind of evidence does it require to get a widely used chemical banned? A professor of medicine and former state regulator explains how the case for chlorpyrifos as a threat to public health developed.
The same chronic illnesses associated with exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds also increase risk of developing severe COVID-19. Engin Akyurt and Kai Dahms/Unsplash

How chemicals like PFAS can increase your risk of severe COVID-19

Endocrine-disrupting compounds are pervasive in modern life, from food packaging to shampoo. Research is connecting their effects on humans to risk of severe illness or death from the coronavirus.
The 2018 Camp Fire north of Sacramento burned everything in its path: cars, power lines, and buildings – and contaminated local drinking water. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Wildfires can poison drinking water – here’s how communities can be better prepared

Buildings aren’t the only things at risk in wildfires. Recent disasters in California have left local water system contaminated with toxic chemicals afterward, slowing return and recovery.

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