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The Examination

Texas lawmakers urge better regulation of toxic gas

Legislators respond to The Examination and Houston Chronicle investigation of oil companies leaking hydrogen sulfide near families and schools.

July 22, 2024
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The hidden pollution risk behind the electric vehicle surge

A new investigation examines the track record of chemical suppliers winning hefty contracts to fuel the green transportation revolution.

July 10, 2024
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‘Forever chemical’ polluters land hefty contracts to meet electric vehicle battery demand 

Chemical suppliers for lithium-ion batteries have been accused of misleading regulators, hiding information and contaminating communities while making related products.

July 10, 2024
Man smoking in London

Revealed: Big Tobacco’s campaign to undermine UK generational smoking ban

By making legal threats and lobbying politicians, the tobacco industry worked to undermine a radical new bill to create a “smoke free” generation, documents show.

June 29, 2024
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Future of delta-8 in question as lawmakers and hemp industry square off

Architect of hemp law says she ‘did not know’ that highly-potent compounds could be made from the plant.

June 27, 2024
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Is leaking hydrogen sulfide a risk to Texans living near oil wells?

A new investigation examines the health threat of H2S, a strong-smelling poisonous gas that saturates the Permian Basin of West Texas and other oil-production regions.

June 12, 2024
H2S sign in Odessa

Oil companies leak toxic gas across Texas — making local residents sick

Tens of thousands of people live close to oil and gas wells where they risk exposure to hazardous levels of hydrogen sulfide. Regulators do little to protect them.

June 12, 2024
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How Philip Morris International secured a stake in one of the world’s few growing cigarette markets

The tobacco giant and its longtime business associate quietly gained a major foothold in Egypt, as the country sold off its stake in its state tobacco monolith.

May 8, 2024
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Medscape severs ties with tobacco industry after backlash over $3M Philip Morris International deal

The medical education provider had proposed a year’s worth of online content about smoking cessation backed by the tobacco giant, an internal document shows.

April 26, 2024
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Court suspends battery recycling plant in the Republic of Congo, citing lead poisoning

Residents who live near the Metssa factory in Vindoulou submitted blood test results, including those commissioned by The Examination, as evidence of a health crisis.

April 23, 2024
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Kenya advances graphic health warnings on nicotine pouches

The new labels are being proposed after The Examination revealed that British American Tobacco had successfully lobbied for minimal health warnings on its products.

April 22, 2024
Nano Delta 9 gummies

Sales of delta-8 and other hemp products are booming. Here’s what to know.

Marijuana for recreational use remains outlawed in half of the U.S. — yet it is easy to buy gummies, vapes and other products that deliver a high in many of those same states.

April 18, 2024
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Sales of delta-8 and other hemp products have soared. So have calls to poison control centers.

 As a new kind of legal weed takes the U.S. by storm, regulators, law enforcement and even industry voices are calling for more oversight.

April 18, 2024
Gloria Moraa

While many Black women in US abandon hair relaxers linked to cancer, sales climb in African countries

The companies at the center of thousands of U.S. lawsuits produce some of Africa’s most popular chemical straighteners like Dark & Lovely and TCB Naturals.

April 10, 2024
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As obesity rises, Big Food and dietitians push 'anti-diet' advice

General Mills warns of “food shaming"; dietitian influencers promote junk foods and discourage weight loss efforts.

April 3, 2024
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 Top UK public health official advised vape giant Juul, documents reveal

England’s tobacco control programme lead, Martin Dockrell, told the controversial e-cigarette company how it could best enter the British market, internal company files show.

March 23, 2024
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A decade after its pioneering food law, where does Chile’s obesity crisis stand?

While studies show that food products, consumer habits and awareness have changed, experts say that it can take decades for obesity rates to budge.

March 13, 2024
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How lead-tainted applesauce pouches ended up in US stores

Investigations by The Examination, The New York Times and El Universo uncovered food safety lapses that caused hundreds of children to be poisoned by cinnamon that went from Sri Lanka to Ecuador to the United States.

February 29, 2024
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Lead-tainted applesauce pouches sailed through gaps in US food safety system

Hundreds of American children were poisoned last year. Records show how, time and again, the contamination went unnoticed across borders.

February 27, 2024
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Help us report on the tobacco industry

Our reporters are committed to investigating the tobacco industry as it pushes new products and targets emerging economies. What do we need to know? Share your ideas with us.

January 31, 2024
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British American Tobacco undermines Kenyan health laws in bid for Gen Z

Leaked documents show how lobbying successfully relaxed regulations around Velo nicotine pouches. Experts fear the products will addict a new generation.

January 23, 2024
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In battle over e-cigarettes in Latin America, tobacco money quietly at play

Philip Morris International has poured millions into a nonprofit that funds a sprawling network of pro-vaping groups trying to influence laws.

January 16, 2024
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Samsung insider talks blowing the whistle on a polluting cell phone plant in Vietnam

In revelations made to South Korean newsroom Newstapa last year, a former safety manager says he raised concerns about noxious gas and effluent discharges from the factory for years — but was met with inaction.

January 9, 2024
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Video: How a tobacco giant changed a global anti-tobacco treaty

Smoking rates have declined dramatically in much of the world since the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control was signed 20 years ago. But not in China – and its people are suffering the consequences.

December 20, 2023
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Snack recipe or advertising? Some dietitians now say who’s paying them

A federal crackdown on social media ads has prompted nutrition influencers to declare their sponsors.

December 13, 2023
A man cradles his daughter in his yard, near the METSSA Congo factory in Vindoulou

Les entreprises indiennes introduisent en Afrique l’une des industries les plus polluantes au monde, entraînant des problèmes de santé au sein de la population.

Les tests révèlent que les familles résidant à proximité des usines de recyclage de batteries présentent des niveaux de plomb « dangereux » dans leur sang et dans le sol.

December 4, 2023
A man cradles his daughter in his yard, near the METSSA Congo factory in Vindoulou

Indian companies are bringing one of the world’s most toxic industries to Africa. People are getting sick.

Families near battery recycling plants face “dangerous" levels of lead in their blood and in soil, testing shows.

December 4, 2023
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New Zealand to drop world’s first ‘generational’ smoking ban

Other countries are also considering bans on tobacco product sales, similar to a pioneering law now axed in a deal by New Zealand’s right-wing coalition.

November 28, 2023
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Plastic pollution a ‘massive experiment on ourselves,’ scientists warn

As talks for an international plastics treaty advance at a UN summit in Kenya, little is known about the long-term health risks of the ubiquitous material.

November 16, 2023
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US regulator cracks down on food industry for paid dietitian ‘influencer’ posts

The agency said food and sugar industry trade groups and nutrition influencers failed to adequately disclose who was behind paid advertising.

November 15, 2023
A hairdresser straightens the hair of a woman of color

FDA’s proposed ban on chemical hair straighteners follows years of ‘beauty justice’ advocacy

We sat down with ecologist Micaela Martinez to talk about harmful products that disproportionately affect women of color as a rising frontier of environmental justice.

October 20, 2023
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Soda industry playbook on display in South Africa's sugar tax battle

As taxes aimed at reducing sugary drink consumption have been adopted around the world, health advocates face familiar pushback from the sweetened-beverage industry.

October 13, 2023
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‘Big Vape’ reporter talks lessons learned from Juul’s rise, fall, and future

We talk to the author of the book behind Netflix’s new docuseries on e-cigarette company Juul about the corporate and regulatory missteps that helped fuel a teen vaping crisis.

October 11, 2023
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Philip Morris ‘smoke-free’ and online campaigns are propaganda, lawsuit alleges

The tobacco giant is accused of violating French public health law in its marketing strategy for IQOS heated tobacco products. 

October 5, 2023
Illustration of smokers outside China's Great Hall of the People

China Tobacco, by the numbers

Measuring the power and influence of the world’s largest cigarette manufacturer.

September 28, 2023
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What to know about the global tobacco control treaty

Twenty years on, the landmark Framework Convention on Tobacco Control has changed tobacco policy across the world — but still faces fierce industry resistance.   

September 28, 2023
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I spent months reading vaping research. Here’s what science does — and doesn’t — say about the risks

As e-cigarette use spreads, the health of millions hinges on getting the answers right.

September 18, 2023
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Killing millions and lowering IQs, lead is a greater global threat than previously measured, studies show

New research surveys tainted household products and analyzes worldwide toll of the dangerous chemical, urging governments to expand blood testing for lead poisoning.

September 15, 2023
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Cheap cigarettes, misleading marketing and interference by a tobacco monopoly

Six ways China has side-stepped the global anti-tobacco treaty

September 13, 2023
A beaker with a straw, smokestacks spewing pollution, and a pack of cigarettes with money inside

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September 13, 2023
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How corporate behavior shapes our health

Poor health is often blamed on personal choices. But business activity – and lack of accountability – often have much to do with it, says Kelley Lee, an expert on 'commercial determinants of health'.

September 13, 2023
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The food industry pays 'influencer’ dietitians to shape your eating habits

Registered dietitians are being paid to post videos that promote diet soda, sugar and supplements on Instagram and TikTok.

September 13, 2023
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Why tobacco is a core beat at The Examination

While the tobacco epidemic continues to kill millions each year, the industry is making big bets on new products and emerging global economies.

September 13, 2023
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Everyday products expose us to thousands of chemicals. We’re still learning what they do to our bodies.

From baby bottles to nonstick pans, U.S. regulators often discover health risks decades after items are released.

September 13, 2023
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Help us report on nutrition influencers on social media

We’re continuing to report on this issue and we need your help.

September 13, 2023
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How China became addicted to its tobacco monopoly

For two decades, China Tobacco has undermined a landmark anti-smoking treaty. Millions more deaths are predicted as a result.

September 13, 2023