Latest Chemicals Headlines

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

States Prevail Over Industry with Tougher Chemical Security Laws

Jan 16 2008 // The federal government won’t override New Jersey’s chemical security laws, which are tougher than the national standard, thanks to a provision pushed by Sen. Frank Lautenberg.Lautenberg, D-N.J., was in Jersey...

Hanover Insurance to Acquire Chemical Industry Insurer Verlan

Jan 14 2008 // Worcester, Mass.-based The Hanover Insurance Group, Inc. has agreed to acquire Verlan Holdings, Inc., a Silver Spring, Maryland-based holding company that provides insurance to manufacturers and distributors of...

First Cancer Lawsuit Related to Texas Railroad Tie Plant Begins

Jan 10 2008 // Owners of a Texas plant that makes railroad ties were grossly negligent in failing to provide safety equipment for workers handling toxic chemicals, a pollution prevention expert testified in the first of a flurry of...

Report: Deadly Explosion at Fla. Chemical Plant Equal to Ton of TNT

Jan 7 2008 // The blast from an explosion that killed four workers at a Florida chemical plant last month was equal to a ton of TNT and blew debris as far as a mile away, a U.S. investigator said Thursday.“The blast at T2...

Fla. Chemical Plant Explodes, Half Mile Area Initially Evacuated

Dec 20 2007 // An explosion and fire at a chemical plant in Jacksonville, Fla., killed four people Wednesday and injured at least 14, fire officials said.Fire officials initially ordered a precautionary evacuation within a half-mile of...

Lexington Ups Capacity on Bio-Chemical Terrorism Coverage

Nov 27 2007 // Lexington Insurance Company, a member company of American International Group, Inc. (AIG), has increased capacity of its BioChem Shield product from $10 million to $25 million. BioChem Shield is Lexington’s coverage...

LA Jurors Award $3.3 Million to Banana Workers in Pesticide Case

Nov 8 2007 // A jury awarded $3.3 million to six workers who claimed they were left sterile by a pesticide used at a banana plantation in Nicaragua operated by Dole Fresh Fruit Co.The workers’ lawsuit accused Dole and Standard...

Democrats Push OSHA to Regulate Worksites with Popcorn Flavoring

Sep 28 2007 // That buttery taste and smell of microwave popcorn may have caused a deadly lung disease in workers who package it. While there’s no evidence of any danger to the millions of people who eat it, Congress is taking...

CSI Expands Liability Coverage for Chemical Industry

Sep 19 2007 // Salisbury, Md.-based Consumer Specialties Insurance Co. (CSI), a risk retention group serving chemical manufacturer and distributor members of the Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA), announced that it has...

Midwest Popcorn Makers Dropping Chemical Linked to Lung Disease

Sep 7 2007 // Four of the nation’s biggest microwave popcorn makers, including one in Iowa, are working to remove a flavoring chemical from their products linked to a lung ailment in popcorn plant workers while reassuring...

Report: Inadequate Safety Controls Led to Fatal N.C. Plant Explosion

Aug 2 2007 // Inadequate safety controls for chemical reaction hazards led to an explosion at a North Carolina chemical plant that killed one worker and injured 14 others last year in Morganton, federal safety investigators said...

Trial Set in Calif. for Latin American Banana Workers

Jul 11 2007 // The pesticide was designed to kill worms infesting the roots of banana trees on Latin American plantations.But at least 5,000 agricultural workers from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Panama have filed five...

Oil Industry Develops New Safety Standards for Hazardous Worksites

Jun 22 2007 // An oil industry trade group said it has developed standards to better protect workers from explosions like the 2005 BP refinery in Texas explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170.The American Petroleum...

Florida Company Recalls China-Made Shir Toothpaste in U.S.

Jun 13 2007 // A Florida company issued a U.S.-wide recall of toothpaste it imported from China and distributed to wholesalers, saying that the product may contain a poisonous chemical.Gold City Enterprise LLC said the roughly 170,000...

Miss. Environmental Crews to Finish Creosote Cleanup in Hattiesburg

Jun 6 2007 // Hattiesburg’s Gulf States Creosote Plant shut its doors nearly 50 years ago, but the clean up of creosote continues.Environmental activists and property owners are far from satisfied with the project, said Sherri...

Mass. Debates Overhauling Fire Code to Address Chemical Risks

May 30 2007 // State lawmakers are considering an overhaul of Massachusetts’ fire code after the explosion at a chemical plant in Danvers damaged hundreds of nearby homes.The bill, filed by state Rep. Theodore Speliotis, D-Danvers,...

Judge Approves Class Action Deal Against Kentucky Chemical Firm

May 29 2007 // A federal judge has approved a class-action settlement between a chemical company and the residents of a southwestern Louisville, Kentucky neighborhood.Under the settlement approved by U.S. District Court Judge John...

AIG Introduces Service to Assist with Homeland Security Compliance

May 15 2007 // AIG Homeland Security Solutions, a specialty unit of the property and casualty subsidiaries of American International Group Inc. (AIG), introduced Chemical Security Compliance Service, a new service available to AIG...

Inspections to Target Small Firms in Mass. Handling Dangerous Materials

May 9 2007 // State inspectors in Massachusetts will target small companies handling dangerous materials in residential areas to try to prevent a repeat of a Danvers explosion that was blamed on a build up of chemical vapor.The state...

Minn. Senate Votes to Examine Health Risks from 3M Co. Chemicals

Apr 24 2007 // With traces of industrial chemicals linked to 3M Co. products turning up in more places, legislators are demanding that state scientists step up their examination of health risks and are allocating money for testing and...