The mining city of La Oroya, in western-central Peru is one of the most polluted places in the world.. According to the International Federation for Human Rights, 97 per cent of La Oroya children between six months and six years of age, and 98 per cent between age seven and 12, had elevated levels of lead in their blood in 2013. More:

• Health or survival? The impossible choice facing one Peruvian mining community  –  Euronews

Every year, insects like the cotton bollworm destroy more than 20 percent of the world’s crops. Farmers fight back by using pesticides, but some are harmful to our health, and many damage surrounding ecosystems. Clearly, more environmentally friendly approaches to pest control are needed, and there’s one solution that could be about to hit the big time: targeting these pests’ sex drives. More:

• To Ditch Pesticides, Scientists Are Hacking Insects’ Sex Signals  –  WIRED
• Insect pest management with sex pheromone precursors from engineered oilseed plants (Research article)

A new study finds exposure to the harmful class of chemicals known as phthalates poses particular risks for women. These substances lurk in many household items people use every day, including personal care products, clothing and more. More:

• Hiding in household products: Study links phthalates to uterine fibroids  –  EWG

• Pervasive phthalates: New study links child exposure to cancer  –  EWG
• Phthalates - The Everywhere Chemicals (download PDF)  –  Zero breast cancer
• Mono-(2-ethyl-5-hydroxyhexyl) phthalate promotes uterine leiomyoma cell survival through tryptophan-kynurenine-AHR pathway activation (Research article)

• Six tips to avoid phthalates after study highlights health harms, billion-dollar costs  –  EWG
• Are the ingredients in your fragrance safe? (YouTube)  –  EWG
• Guide to Healthy Cleaning  –  EWG

The lungs’ immune defenses can wane with age, leaving older adults more susceptible to lung damage and severe bouts of respiratory infections. New research reveals one reason why this might happen: Inhaled particulate matter from pollution gunks up the works over time, weakening the lungs’ immune system. More:

• Pollution mucks up the lungs’ immune defenses over time  –  ScienceNews

• The list of diseases linked to air pollution is growing  –  ScienceNews
• Inhaled particulate accumulation with age impairs immune function and architecture in human lung lymph nodes (Research article)
• Estimates and 25-year trends of the global burden of disease attributable to ambient air pollution: an analysis of data from the Global Burden of Diseases Study 2015 (Research article)

The production of blue jeans, one of the most popular apparel items ever, has for decades left behind a trail of heavy consumption, diminishing Earth’s water and energy resources, causing pollution, and contributing to climate change. More:

• Blue jeans: An iconic fashion item that’s costing the planet dearly  –  Mongabay

• The True Costs of Cotton: Cotton Production and Water Insecurity (Download PDF) (Report) – Environmental Justice Foundation
• Cultivating distress: cotton, caste and farmer suicides in India (Research article)

• Toxic Threads: The Big Fashion Stitch-Up  –  Greenpeace International
• Destination Zero: Seven Years of Detoxing the Clothing Industry  –  Greenpeace International
• Roadmap to Zero: Paving the way for sustainable chemical management within the fashion industry  – Roadmap to Zero

• How denim fabrics are made (YouTube)  – Inspecta Biz
• The Sneaky Way Clothing Brands Hooked Men on Stretch Jeans  –  The Atlantic
• Early pre-Hispanic use of indigo blue in Peru (Research article)

In a new analysis, researchers at Mount Sinai Medical Center, the University of Copenhagen, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, among others, found that sperm count globally dropped by more than half between 1973 and 2018, and that the decline is accelerating: Since 1972, sperm count has dropped by about 1% each year. Since 2000, the annual decrease has been, on average, more than 2.6%. More:

• A new analysis shows a “crisis” of male reproductive health  –  EHN
• WATCH: The latest evidence of widespread sperm count decline  –  EHN
• Count Down: The infertility crisis  –  EHN

• Semen quality in relation to biomarkers of pesticide exposure (Research article)
• How is BPA bad for my health?  –  EHN
• How your environment influences infertility  –  EHN
• 22 endocrinologists on what products they use in their homes  –  EHN

• Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis of samples collected globally in the 20th and 21st centuries (Research article)
• Temporal trends in sperm count: a systematic review and meta-regression analysis (Research article)
• Frequently asked questions on the new sperm count decline study  –  EHN

Non-stick cookware is often a kitchen favorite because food doesn’t stick to its surface—making it easy to whip up dinner without a huge cleaning hassle. The kitchen essential has grown in popularity since scientists created the first non-stick cooking pan in 1954, but the COVID-19 pandemic drove a surge. The market demand for non-stick cookware reached 206.1 million units worldwide in 2020 and is expected to increase even more due to the growing preference for it. More:

• Why you should throw away your non-stick pan the second it cracks  –  Popular Science

• Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet  –  US National Biomonitoring Program
• Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)  –  US NIEHS
• Are Fluoropolymers Really of Low Concern for Human and Environmental Health and Separate from Other PFAS? (Research article)

• PFAS and Other Chemical Hazards in Nonstick Cooking and Baking Pans  –  Ecology Center
• Raman imaging for the identification of Teflon microplastics and nanoplastics released from non-stick cookware (Research article)

• PTFE-coated non-stick cookware and toxicity concerns: a perspective (Research abstract)
• Rare disease- Polymer fume fever (Research article)

• Use the Leidenfrost effect to make your stainless steel pan non-stick  –  Popular Science
• Making a stainless steel pan non-stick (Youtube)
• How to stop your frying pan from sticking - 5 Min hack! (Youtube)

A lawsuit filed by the state of California accuses 3M, Dupont and 16 smaller companies of covering up the harm caused to the environment and the public from chemicals manufactured by the firms that have over decades found their way into waterways and human bloodstreams. More:

• California sues over ‘forever chemicals’ that taint water  –  AP News
• ‘Forever chemicals’ found in groundwater near military bases  –  AP News
• ‘Forever chemicals’ in deer, fish challenge hunters, tourism  –  AP News
• FDA: Sampling finds toxic nonstick compounds in some food  –  AP News

After Theo Colborn, Dianne Dumanoski and I published Our Stolen Future in 1996, we got "slapped" by one of the most prominent science journalists of the day, Gina Kolata writing for the New York Times. Among her criticisms was that one chemical can't cause a plethora of diseases. More:

• Reflecting on two decades of progress in environmental health and science communication  –  EHN
• 20 Years of Amplifying Science & Partnering for Health  –  Collaborative on Health and the Environment (CHE)
• Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs)  –  Endocrine Society

The study, one of the first to investigate the decades-long consequences of lead poisoning, suggests countries could face an explosion of people seeking support for dementia as individuals who were exposed to high lead levels during early life progress into old age. More:

• Children exposed to lead may experience symptoms of dementia sooner – study  –  The Guardian
• Half of US adults were exposed to harmful lead levels as kids, study finds  –  The Guardian
• Childhood lead exposure is associated with lower cognitive functioning at older ages (Research article)

In a study published in Environmental Health Perspectives, researchers from the Mount Sinai Medical Center and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health presented a new tool that offers PFAS researchers a way to compare total exposures to PFAS across scientific studies. The tool may provide researchers a more effective method to study these persistent toxins. More:

• New PFAS exposure scoring method could speed research on health effects  –  The New Lede
• Developing an Exposure Burden Score for Chemical Mixtures Using Item Response Theory, with Applications to PFAS Mixtures (Research article)

Buildings renovated with healthier furnishings had significantly lower levels of the entire group of per- and polyfluoralkyl substances (PFAS)—toxic chemicals linked with many negative health effects—than buildings with conventional furnishings, according to a new study led by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. More:

• PFAS levels lower in buildings with healthier furnishings  –  Phys.org
• Organic Fluorine as an Indicator of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Dust from Buildings with Healthier versus Conventional Materials (Research article)
• Beauty products with fluorinated ingredients may also contain PFAS, study reports  –  Phys.org

The EPA knows that plastic containers are leaching toxic ‘forever chemicals’ into pesticides. But PFAS are also ending up in pesticides from other sources—in much higher quantities. More:

• New Evidence Shows Pesticides Contain PFAS, and the Scale of Contamination Is Unknown  –  Civil Eats
• A New OECD Definition for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (Scientific article)
• Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (download PDF)  –  U.S. Government

• Pesticides Are Spreading Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals,’ Scientists Warn  –  Scientific American
• Aerially Sprayed Pesticide Contains PFAS  –  PEER.org
• PFAs Found in Widely Used Insecticide  –  Maryland Pesticide Education Network
• Revisiting pesticide pollution: The case of fluorinated pesticides (Research article)

• Targeted analysis and Total Oxidizable Precursor assay of several insecticides for PFAS (Research article)
• PFAS Concentrations from MassDEP Anvil 10 + 10 Sampling Initiative (Summary table) (download PDF)  –  State of Massachusetts

• Pesticides  –  U.S. Geological Survey
• Estimated Annual Agricultural Pesticide Use for Imidacloprid - 2019  –  USGS
• Estimated Annual Agricultural Pesticide Use for Sulfentrazone - 2019  –  USGS

• EWG: ‘Forever chemicals’ may taint nearly 20 million cropland acres  –  EWG

• Will the U.S. Ban PFAS in Food Packaging?  –  Civil Eats
• Memorandum on PFAS Container Contamination Updates (download PDF)  –  State of Maine
• Results of EPA’s Analytical Chemistry Branch Laboratory Study of PFAS Leaching from Fluorinated HDPE Containers (download PDF)  –  US EPA

• Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Cosmetics  –  US FDA
• What are the health effects of PFAS?  –  US ATSDR
• Lifetime Drinking Water Health Advisories for four Perfluoroalkyl Substances (download PDF)  –  US EPA
• Pesticides and Mosquito Management in Maryland  –  Maryland Pesticide Education Network

“Forever chemicals” are everywhere. The thousands of chemicals in the group known as perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in cookware, packaging, cosmetics, clothing, carpet, electronics, firefighting foam and many other products. More:

• States take on PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ with bans and lawsuits  –  The Washington Post
• EPA warns toxic ‘forever chemicals’ more dangerous than once thought  –  The Washington Post

Chemicals may drift away from farms and land on birds’ skin and feathers, they might seep into soil and water where they kill the insects and invertebrates birds love to eat. Sometimes, birds directly ingest them when the pesticide is a granule or coated onto a seed. More:

• Op-ed: This loophole allows pesticide-coated seeds to kill birds. It’s time to close it.  –  EHN
• Dead Bees, Sick Residents from Pesticide Pollution in Nebraska  –  Civil Eats

• Effects of Neonicotinoid Insecticides on Physiology and Reproductive Characteristics of Captive Female and Fawn White-tailed Deer (Research article)
• Birds, Bees, and Aquatic Life Threatened by Gross Underestimate of Toxicity of World's Most Widely Used Pesticide  –  American Bird Conservancy

The celebration was short-lived: Though the fish have returned, researchers from the Penobscot Nation and government agencies have documented an array of toxic chemicals contaminating them, including dreaded per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances linked to various cancers and other health problems. More:

• Industrial chemicals threaten hunting and fishing traditions  –  The New Lede
• PFAS Explained  –  US EPA

• PFAS in Fish  –  Michigan Government
• High Levels of PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ Found in Fish  –  Civil Eats
• Interim Report on Initial Fish Tissue Results for Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (download PDF)  –  Team Kentucky
• One Health Assessment of Persistent Organic Compounds and PFAS for Consumption of Restored Anadromous Fish  –  US EPA

• PFAS and Precursor Bioaccumulation in Freshwater Recreational Fish: Implications for Fish Advisories (Research article)
• Maine CDC issues freshwater fish consumption advisory for seven locations  –  News Center Maine
• PFAS advisory: State asks people to limit or not eat fish caught at 5 Cape Cod ponds  –  University of Rhode Island

• PFAS and PBDEs in traditional subsistence foods from Sivuqaq, Alaska (Research abstract)
• Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances and associations with serum thyroid hormones in a remote population of Alaska Natives (Research abstract)
• Health Consultation - Review of Anadromous Fish: Penobscot River (download PFD)  –  US ATSDR

Testing on popular brands of infant bedding, bibs and other products for babies found nearly one third contained toxic PFAS chemicals and there were indicators that all of the products tested could contain PFAS. More:

• Tests find PFAS in baby products and pet food packaging  –  The New Lede
• PFAS tests results - Infant bedding, bibs and other products for babies (download PDF)  –  EWG
• Quibble with Kibbles: ‘Forever chemicals’ in pet food packaging add to perils at home  –  EWG

Nearly all participants in a new study looking at exposure to PFAS “forever chemicals” in the US state of North Carolina have multiple dangerous compounds in their blood, and most at levels that researchers say requires medical screening. More:

• PFAS left dangerous blood compounds in nearly all US study participants  –  The Guardian
• Hexafluoropropylene oxide-dimer acid (HFPO-DA or GenX) alters maternal and fetal glucose and lipid metabolism and produces neonatal mortality, low birthweight and hepatomegaly in the Sprague-Dawley rat (Research article)

Unilever is the latest company to issue a voluntary recall of aerosol personal care products because of elevated levels of benzene. Benzene contamination has led to similar product recalls by other major manufacturers, including Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. More:

• Unilever spray shampoo tainted with cancer-causing benzene  –  EWG
• Independent lab finds ‘troubling’ levels of cancer-causing chemical in more types of dry shampoo products, report alleges  –  CNN

• Why is cancer-causing benzene widespread in personal care products?  –  EWG
• Unilever Issues Voluntary U.S. Recall of Select Dry Shampoos Due to Potential Presence of Benzene  –  US-FDA
• FDA alerts drug manufacturers to the risk of benzene contamination in certain drugs  –  US FDA

• Benzene - Hazard Summary (download PDF)  –  US EPA
• Exposure to benzene: a major public health concern  –  WHO

For Halloween, many kids will use face paint as the perfect finishing touch for their costumes. It’s a popular alternative to costume masks, which can obscure children’s vision on dark streets. But exposure to some ingredients in novelty makeup can result in scary reactions, like skin rashes, itching, swollen eyelids and other irritations, where the paints are applied. More:

• Frightful ingredients hiding in Halloween face paint  –  EWG
• Novelty Makeup  –  US FDA
• ‘Natural’ or ‘Organic’ Cosmetics? Don’t Trust Marketing Claims.  –  EWG
• What are endocrine disruptors?  –  EWG

• Fluorinated Compounds in North American Cosmetics (Research article)

• Study: PFAS Act Similar to Known Cancer-Causing Chemicals  –  EWG
• PFAS Chemicals Harm the Immune System, Decrease Response to Vaccines, New EWG Review Finds  –  EWG
• PFAS and Developmental and Reproductive Toxicity (PDF document)  –  EWG

• FDA's Testing of Cosmetics for Arsenic, Cadmium, Chromium, Cobalt, Lead, Mercury, and Nickel Content  –  US FDA

• Alert: Tests Find High Levels of Asbestos in Children’s Makeup Kit  –  EWG

• Why is cancer-causing benzene widespread in personal care products?  –  EWG
• Toxicological Profile for Benzene (PDF document) (Report)  –  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services