September 16, 2026

Chemical Safety

A bipartisan group of senators is pushing federal health agencies to study the health effects of occupational exposures to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) on firefighters and others in future studies on the chemicals, expressing disappointment that the agencies recently precluded the subjects from an ongoing investigation.

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OSHA is consulting with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and weighing enforcement to protect workers from exposure to strong antimicrobial disinfectants used in meat and poultry processing, after the Government Accountability Office (GAO) warned of serious gaps in federal oversight and urged coordination on the chemicals' risks.

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Lawmakers negotiating a new five-year Farm Bill have agreed to Democrats' demands to drop language originally included in the House version of the bill that aimed to codify a permanent waiver from OSHA's process safety management (PSM) standards for retail facilities, Capitol Hill sources say.

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White House officials have completed review of an OSHA proposed rule seeking to revise an Obama-era final rule strengthening the agency's beryllium standards in accordance with a settlement with an industry group that calls for clarifying ancillary provisions of the rule's standard for general industry.

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Alexandra Dunn, President Donald Trump's nominee to serve as EPA's toxics chief, is likely to face tough questions at her Nov. 29 confirmation hearing given Democrats long-standing opposition to Trump administration rules setting a framework for how EPA will consider chemicals' risks to workers and others under the revised toxics law.

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Federal advisors are urging the Trump administration to retain two Obama-era rules bolstering protections for farmworkers from pesticide exposure, measures that are intended to provide farmworkers with similar protections to workers in industries regulated by OSHA.

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OSHA has sent for White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) review a proposed rule seeking to revise an Obama-era rule strengthening the agency's beryllium standards, changes that are part of a settlement with industry groups that calls for clarifying ancillary provisions of the Obama-era rule's general industry standard.

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North Carolina regulators are asking their science advisors to review strict guidance developed with EPA for protecting against workers and others' exposures to trichloroethylene (TCE) through vapor intrusion at contaminated sites, amid ongoing controversy with EPA's 2011 assessment that found the solvent poses risks to pregnant women.

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EPA is seeking public comment and peer review on a draft assessment of Colour Index Pigment Violet 29 (PV29), the first of 10 risk evaluations it is conducting of existing chemicals' risks to workers and others under the revised Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA).

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Despite Democrats' control of the House next year, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) faces continued uncertainty about its future as its supporters fear the Trump administration may deprive it of a quorum to operate by not nominating new board members to replace those whose terms expire starting at the end of 2019.

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