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A Texas Community Is Being Bombarded by Cancer-Causing Benzene. State Officials Have Known for Nearly Two Decades

DeSmogBlog

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or TCEQ, has not told residents about the health risks they face. TCEQ documents obtained by Public Health Watch show that some of those early readings were double the level Texas considered safe at the time. Emerging research also connects it to diabetes and reproductive problems.

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As Alarm Over Plastic Grows, Saudis Ramp Up Production in the US

DeSmogBlog

Styrene is classified as a possible human carcinogen by the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) and can cause problems such as memory loss, confusion and slowed reflexes, even at low levels. People who live near a chemical or plastic plant are not just exposed to one chemical in isolation.

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Ohio officials know how to stop Lake Erie from turning toxic, but no one will do it

Grist

Since 2011, the state has spent more than $3 billion on it, largely to upgrade sewage and drinking water plants. Though the bay’s health is far from perfect, and agriculture nutrients remain a challenge , progress accelerated after the U.S. But Ohio’s agriculture nutrient-reduction strategy has yet to show results.

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New data show Houston-area communities are being flooded with chemicals

Grist

In June, Public Health Watch, the Investigative Reporting Workshop and Grist published a year-long investigation about pollution, power, and politics in the Texas petrochemical industry. Her two oldest children left the city to protect their health and are urging their mother, a cancer survivor, to do the same. Mark Felix.