Articles by Grist staff

Oil refinery in Texas explodes, four injured

An oil refinery in Big Spring, Texas, exploded Monday for as-yet-unknown reasons, injuring four workers and sending large plumes of smoke into the air. The explosion closed schools, shut down the nearby freeway, and shook buildings up to a few miles away. Fires at the facility were apparently extinguished as of Monday night, but the […]

Mattel, Toys “R” Us to phase out cadmium batteries, citing toxicity

Toy giants Mattel and Toys “R” Us have announced they will phase out cadmium batteries due to their toxicity and the associated health problems they can cause at the factories in China that produce them. Scores of factory workers have been sickened by cadmium, which can cause lung cancer, bone disease, and kidney failure, but […]

Why burning a vinyl album is a bad idea

Thursday night, a group of us Grist gals headed out to The Stranger‘s Valentine’s Day Bash — a yearly purge for Seattle’s lovelorn wherein the wronged bring in mementos of their failed relationship and host Dan Savage destroys them on stage in some sick and twisted but totally satisfying way. (Fret not, old boyfriends, I […]

Aerial spraying of pesticide on Bay Area given OK

The California agriculture department has authorized nighttime aerial pesticide spraying on the San Francisco Bay Area this summer in an attempt to eradicate a potentially crop-destroying moth. Similar spraying was done in two other counties this fall, after which more than 600 residents complained of respiratory problems. Application of the pesticide, called Checkmate, was only […]