Chemicals & Manufacturing

Lei Huang could be a poster child for China's laboring classes. For each 60-hour week he works on an assembly line for Foxconn, a manufacturer of electronics and computer parts in this south China manufacturing hub, he earns $32 and a bunk in a dormitory room with 19 other laborers. Read More

Lawyers will today begin preparing the ground for one of the largest class actions heard in the UK over 400 tonnes of allegedly highly toxic waste dumped in the Ivory Coast from a cargo ship chartered by a London-based company. Read More

After years of community protests, including a semi-permanent tent camp, the Trinidad and Tobago government abruptly announced that it was backing away from plans to construct aluminium smelter plants in the southwest peninsula villages of Cedros and Chatham. Read More

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and U.S. Department of Justice have reached an agreement with Von Roll America Inc. on alleged clean air and hazardous waste violations at the company's commercial hazardous waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. Read More

Experts from the Department of Health (DoH) were denied entry Thursday by the management of the Tagum Agricultural Development Corporation, Inc. (Tadeco) to the company-owned hospital in Panabo City where victims of toxic chemical inhalation from the nearby town of Braulio Dujali in Davao del Norte were confined. Read More

The number of consumer products made with nanotechnology is exploding, with a 70 percent increase in the past eight months. While recognizing the value of these molecular-level advances, critics say the Bush administration is doing too little to ensure the safety of nanotechnology for workers and the public. Read More

Destined for American kitchens, planks of birch and poplar plywood are stacked to the ceiling of a cavernous port warehouse. The wood, which arrived in California via a cargo ship, carries two labels: One proclaims "Made in China," while the other warns that it contains formaldehyde, a cancer-causing chemical. Read More

The Ford Motor Company is misleading the public and the government about several of its vehicles that claim to operate on ethanol, according to letters sent to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) by the watchdog group Public Citizen. Read More

Thousands of steelworkers on Saturday joined striking miners of an Arcelor Mittal-owned metal and mining complex in Kazakhstan, in an escalating standoff with the international steel giant over wages. Read More

A month after seven Indian states imposed severe restrictions on the sale of colas and other aerated drinks, the Coca-Cola company has become the target of a vigorous popular campaign in Uttar Pradesh, India's largest state. Read More