Wednesday the Environmental Protection Agency announced new drinking water standards to limit people's exposure to some PFAS chemicals. For decades, PFAS have been used to waterproof and stain-proof a variety of consumer products. These "forever chemicals" in a host of products — everything from raincoats and the Teflon of nonstick pans to makeup to furniture and firefighting foam. Because PFAS take a very long time to break down, they can accumulate in humans and the environment. Now, a growing body of research is linking them to human health problems like serious illness, some cancers, lower fertility and liver damage. Science correspondent Pien Huang joins the show today to talk through this new EPA rule — what the threshold for safe levels of PFAS in tap water is, why the rule is happening now and how the federal standards will be implemented.
Read more of Pien's reporting on the EPA's first ever rule on PFAS in drinking water.
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A new satellite will take continuous measurements of dangerous air pollution in the U.S. That has scientists, and residents, warily optimistic about undoing decades of environmental injustice.
The Environmental Protection Agency recently confirmed high lead levels in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood. The location stands in contrast to many polluted sites investigated by the federal Superfund program — often in former industrial or waste disposal areas where environmental racism has left marginalized groups at risk.
The Environmental Protection Agency received billions from President Biden's climate legislation, but the EPA inspector general warns there is "a high risk for fraud, waste and abuse."
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An unregulated landfill that accepts vegetative waste has burned underground for months. Neighbors were inundated with smoke and left wondering why the site wasn't regulated in the first place.
There is one number that the Environmental Protection Agency relies on to decide which climate policies to pursue. So why does that number assume the lives of richer people are worth more?
Oil refineries release billions of pounds of pollution into waterways each year, according to regulatory data. NPR found that pollution is concentrated near places where people of color live.
Oil and gas production is the nation's largest industrial source of methane, the main component of natural gas, and is a key target for the Biden administration as it seeks to combat climate change.
Starting with $1 billion, the EPA announced that 23 states and Puerto Rico would be getting money to clean up Superfund sites in a previously unfunded backlog.
Starting with $1 billion, the EPA announced that 23 states and Puerto Rico would be getting money to clean up Superfund sites in a previously unfunded backlog.
Agency officials issued a final ruling on Wednesday saying chlorpyrifos can no longer be used on the food that makes its way onto American dinner plates. The move overturns a Trump-era decision.
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