D-Con banned

The Environmental Protection Agency said it will ban the sale of D-Con mouse and rat poisons after producer Reckitt Benckiser Group refused to adopt the agency’s safety standards.

The poisons are used in millions of households each year, and removing them from store shelves will lead to a “substantial reduction” in children being exposed to the rodent bait, according to the agency.

Toyota recall

Toyota has announced recalls of 1 million vehicles, including some models of its popular Toyota Corolla and its Lexus IS.

About 752,000 Corolla and Corolla Matrix vehicles are being recalled to fix an air bag control module that is susceptible to short-circuiting that could eventually cause the front air bags and seat belt pretensioners to deploy when they shouldn’t.

The recall affects Corollas from the 2003 and 2004 model years.

More for us

Germans are emptying fewer beer steins these days. Consumption of the national beverage fell 1.8 percent last year to the lowest level since West and East Germany reunified in 1990.