A storm-driven chlorine gas release in a vulnerable community is the type of worst-case scenario that scientists and engineers have warned about for decades.
For combustion to occur, oxygen must be present. Ammonium nitrate prills provide a much more concentrated supply of oxygen than the air around us.
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
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.
Episodes of reported PFAS contamination are never far from the news. Here’s a run-down of what PFAS is, and why we have little reason to worry about its potential effects on our health.
‘Larry, I have to confess. I’m not a wasp. I’m an orchid.’
Alyssa Weinstein
EPA is moving to regulate two chemicals from a group called PFAS that are contaminating drinking water. A public health expert explains why the agency should take much broader action.
Sodium hydroxide among a series of chemistry bottles in a typical school science lab.
Shutterstock/ipmphotographers
The spill at Sydney’s Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation facility was of a household cleaning chemical that can be dangerous if it makes contact with the skin.
Do you know what have your clothes been soaking in?
ET1972/Shutterstock
Dry cleaning isn’t really dry – it uses chemical solvents. Perc, the most common option, has contaminated soil and groundwater and poses serious health risks, but safer choices are emerging.
Hundreds of lawsuits against Monsanto contend that its popular Roundup weed killer gave users cancer. But proving this kind of connection is challenging in both science and law.
Dana Cordell, University of Technology Sydney; Dena Fam, University of Technology Sydney, dan Nick Florin, University of Technology Sydney
Regulation can’t keep up with the thousands of harmful chemicals that wash down our drains. Rather, companies should take responsibility for their products – before they hit the market.
Disruption of the thyroid hormones can prevent tadpoles from becoming frogs.
Coffee/Pixabay
Research shows thyroid hormone, which is required for brain development in all vertebrates, is severely affected by chemicals present in our everyday cleaning products, clothing and cookware.
Professor of Civil, Environmental & Ecological Engineering, Director of the Healthy Plumbing Consortium and Center for Plumbing Safety, Purdue University