New data shows that rainwater in some parts of the US contains high enough levels of potentially toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to possibly affect human health and may, if found in drinking water, in some cases be high enough to trigger regulatory action. More:

• Rainwater in parts of US contains high levels of PFAS chemical, says study –  The Guardian
• Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) –  US EPA
• Toward a new comprehensive global database of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs): Summary report on updating the OECD 2007 list of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs) (Summary report) –  OECD

Monitoring & Exposure

• PFAS found in Saline during investigation across River Raisin watershed –  MLive
• How bad is Michigan’s PFAS problem? –  Great Lakes Now
• NC PFAS Testing Network –  North Carolina PFAS
• Exposure to polybrominated diphenyl ethers and perfluoroalkyl substances in a remote population of Alaska Natives (Research article)

Lansing became the first city in Michigan to send its PFAS-based fire-fighting foam to a hazardous waste landfill. Stacks of five-gallon buckets, totaling 1,260 gallons and some dating back from at least decade ago, were carted to trucks operated by US Ecology.More:

• Disposal begins for Michigan’s fire-fighting foam containing PFAS –  MLive

People and the environment are exposed to a wide variety of extremely persistent chemicals known as PFAS, many of which are known to be toxic. A briefing by the European Environment Agency presents an overview of these chemicals, which continue to accumulate in people and the environment. More:

• PFAS pollution is widespread in Europe but risks are still poorly understood –  European Environment Agency
• Emerging chemical risks in Europe — ‘PFAS’ –  European Environment Agency

They’re a family of chemicals famous enough to have a Hollywood movie made about them. They are also known to cause cancer, thyroid problems and other serious health issues. And worryingly for environmental justice advocates and disadvantaged communities, growing data highlighting the per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) problem nationally and in California suggest that the impact may be hardest felt by those on the lower rungs of the economic ladder. More:

• Topic of Cancer: How PFAS Threaten Our Water –  Capital & Main
• Eco-Thriller “Dark Waters” Exposes the Health Dangers of “Forever Chemicals” –  Moms clean air Force
• Is a New Toxic Danger Threatening California? –  Capital & Main

• Research on Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) –  US EPA
• Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) –  California Water Boards
• EWG Proposes PFAS Standards That Fully Protect Children’s Health –  EWG
• Levels and trends of poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances in the Arctic environment – An update (Research article)

With heightened awareness around the country about the health effects of PFAS, calculations for what artificial turf installations actually cost over their full life-time may send a shock through the artificial turf industry. Intrepid reporting revealed that the so-called 'forever chemicals'—PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances)—are used in the production of artificial turf. More:

• Hidden gotcha in artificial turf installations –  EHN
• Toxic PFAS chemicals found in artificial turf –  The Intercept
• Teflon toxin safety level should be 700 times lower than current EPA guideline –  The Intercept

The harbour porpoise calves in waters around the UK carry a more neurotoxic cocktail of pollutants than their mothers, a study suggests. New research shows that the 209 variants of Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have varied levels of persistence in marine mammals. More:

• UK porpoise calves exposed to chemical pollutants in mothers’ milk –  Science Focus
• Juvenile harbor porpoises in the UK are exposed to a more neurotoxic mixture of polychlorinated biphenyls than adults (Research article)

PFAS stands for per or polyfluoroalkyl substances, a group of hundreds of manmade chemicals that are used for a variety of industrial and commercial uses ranging from the firefighting foam used at airstrips and on military bases to waterproof or nonstick products, such as stain repellent, cleaning products or food packaging. More:

• What you need to know about PFAS or 'forever' chemicals –  ABC News
• Contaminated water still plagues lakeside community in Michigan –  ABC News
• Basic Information on PFAS –  US EPA
• Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet –  US CDC

Exported Australian plastic waste may be "poisoning" villages in Indonesia, according to a new report which found eggs near dumping grounds had some of the highest levels of dioxins recorded in Asia. More:

• Australian plastic among waste 'contaminating' Indonesian food chains, report finds –  ABC News
• Plastic Waste Poisons Indonesia’s Food Chain –  IPEN

In 1973, an accident at a chemical plant in the small town of St. Louis in the middle of Michigan’s mitten triggered one of the largest mass poisonings in American history.. Before the crisis was over, nearly the entire state population – about 9 million residents – ate food contaminated with a toxic fire retardant called PBB that workers erroneously mixed into cattle feed. More:

• "Here we are again:" Decades after PBB crisis, echoes seen in current PFAS crisis – Michigan Radio
• In a Michigan town with a toxic legacy, residents fought for decades to heal – Bridge

A new study that sampled chicken eggs around sites in the country where plastic waste accumulates identified alarming levels of dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls long recognised as extremely injurious to human health. More:

• Indonesia's food chain turns toxic as plastic waste exports flood in – The Guardian
• Western plastics 'poisoning Indonesian food chain' – BBC
• Agent Orange still stokes fear in Vietnam's pregnant women – The Guardian
• Plastic waste poisons Indonesia’s food chain (Report) – IPEN
• An Overview of the Effects of Dioxins and Dioxin-like Compounds on Vertebrates, as Documented in Human and Ecological Epidemiology (Reseach article)

Waste-to-energy (WtE) incineration has been raised as a solution. While turning plastic waste into energy may sound good, it creates more pollution and delays a necessary transition to a circular economy. More:

• Why municipal waste-to-energy incineration is not the answer to NZ’s plastic waste crisis – The Conversation
• Municipal waste – OECD
• What a waste: A Global Review of Solid Waste Management (report) – World Bank
• Toxic ash poisons our food chain (report) – IPEN
• Hidden emissions: A story from the Netherlands (case study) – Zero Waste Europe
• Incidents with dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in the food chain - Chemical hazards in foods of animal origin (Research article)

Searching for survivors in the wreckage of last year’s deadly Camp fire, the Marin county battalion chief, Jeremy Pierce, had to hear and feel his way through the debris. Black, murky smoke had disappeared entire streets in and near the small California town of Paradise. More:

• Nobody gets out without damage': what fighting fire does to the body – The Guardian
• Firefighter Cancer Rates: The Facts from NIOSH Research – US CDC

Herring is one of the most common species of fish in the Baltic Sea, but sales of it for human food are restricted by the EU. Lower concentrations of dioxins and PCB compounds could remove restrictions on selling and exporting this abundant fish species. Now most of the catch goes to feed fur animals and farmed fish, with dioxins removed during the process of making fishmeal. More:

• Toxin levels in Baltic herring drop significantly, spurring export hopes – YLE

The chemicals called “PFAS” have been in the news a lot lately — like the recent revelation that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency was allowing PFAS-contaminated water to be treated in Lowell and discharged into the Merrimack River, or the news that chemical giant 3M is suing the state of New Hampshire over the state’s strict PFAS drinking water standards. More:

• What Are PFAS Chemicals, And Should I Be Freaking Out About Them? – WBUR
• Is your takeout lunch bowl covered in toxic 'forever chemicals'? – The Guardian
• History and Use of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) – ITRC

• How can I be exposed to PFAS? – US ATSDR
• A Review of the Pathways of Human Exposure to Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) and Present Understanding of Health Effects (Research article)
• Serum Vaccine Antibody Concentrations in Children Exposed to Perfluorinated Compounds (Research article)

• Report- Up to 110 Million Americans Could Have PFAS-Contaminated Drinking Water – EWG
• Interactive Map- PFAS Contamination Crisis- New Data Show 1,398 Sites in 49 States –  EWG
• PFAS Blood Testing – US ATSDR
• Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals in the U.S. Population- Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2004 (Research article)
• PFAS Testing of Drinking Water – Massachussetts Department of Environmental Protection

• N.H. Approves Unprecedented Limits For PFAS Chemicals In Drinking Water – nhpr
• Drinking Water Health Advisories for PFOA and PFOS – US EPA
• EPA Says It Plans To Limit Toxic PFAS Chemicals, But Not Soon Enough For Critics –  NPR

• Detox Me app: Tips for healthier living – Silent Spring Institute
• PFAS-Free Products – PFAS CENTRAL

A pesticide linked to cancer - chlordecone - was sprayed on banana crops on the islands for two decades and now nearly all the adult local residents have traces of it in their blood. More:

• Pesticide poisoned French paradise islands in Caribbean – BBC
• Chlordecone exposure and adverse effects in French West Indies populations (Research article)
• Prostate cancer statistics – World Cancer Research Fund & American Institute for Cancer Research

The widespread environmental contaminants known as PFAS cause multiple health problems in people, according to Linda Birnbaum, who retired as director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Toxicology Program earlier this month. More:

• Top Toxicologist Banned From Saying PFAS Causes Disease in Humans. She's saying it now – The Intercept
• PFOA Safety Level Should Be 700 Times Lower Than EPA Guidelines – The Intercept
• When Environmental Chemicals Act Like Uncontrolled Medicine (Research Article)
• Regulating toxic chemicals for public and environmental health (Science Article)
• Toxicological Profile-Perfluoroalkyls – US ATSDR

Disease ecologist Andrew MacDonald and his Stanford University colleague Erin Mordecai analyzed more than a decade of data showing the occurrences of malaria in nearly 800 villages, towns and cities across the Brazilian Amazon. They also looked at satellite-tracked deforestation over that same time frame. More:

• Malaria surges in deforested parts of the Amazon, study finds – Mongabay
• Amazon deforestation drives malaria transmission, and malaria burden reduces forest clearing (Research article)

Flame retardants are everywhere from your TV to your couch to your car. In the U.S., we’ve largely switched out an old class of retardants with another class that may be much more toxic and widespread than what they were created to replace. More:

• New Study Shows 'Everybody on the Planet' Is Exposed to Toxic Flame Retardants – Gizmodo
• Certain Organic Flame Retardants substance grouping – Government of Canada
• Organophosphate Ester Flame Retardants-Are They a Regrettable Substitution for Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (Research Article)

At first, teachers at Sky Valley Education Center simply evacuated students and used fans to clear the air when the fluorescent lights caught fire or smoked with noxious fumes. When black oil dripped onto desks and floors, they caught leaks with a bucket and duct-taped oil-stained carpets. Then came the tests that confirmed their suspicions about the light ballasts. More:

• Toxic PCBs linger in schools; EPA, lawmakers fail to act  –  AP News

First there was Fred Stone, the third-generation dairy farmer in Maine who discovered that the milk from his cows contained harmful chemicals. Then came Art Schaap, a second-generation dairy farmer in New Mexico, who had to dump 15,000 gallons of contaminated milk a day. More:

• America’s Dairyland May Have a PFAS Problem  –  EcoWatch
• ‘This has poisoned everything’ – pollution casts shadow over New Mexico’s booming dairy industry  –  The Guardian
• The curious case of tainted milk from a Maine dairy farm  –  Reuters

PFAS occurrence and exposure

• Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)  –  US NIH
• Slash Allowable Levels of PFAS in Michigan’s Drinking Water: NRDC Analysis  –  NRDC
• Drinking Water Health Advisory for Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS)  –  US EPA
• Maine PFAS Task Force  –  Maine Department of Environmental Protection
• Who Wants Farm-to-Table Forever Chemicals?  –  Environmental Health Strategy Center
• Wisconsin DNR asks sewage treatment plants to test for PFAS  –  Wisconsin Journal