Prenatal exposure to flame retardants may increase the risk of reading problems in young children, according to a new study at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons in New York. More:

• Prenatal Exposure to Flame Retardants May Affect Brain’s Reading Network in Kids  –  PsychCentral
• Functional connectivity of the reading network is associated with prenatal polybrominated diphenyl ether concentrations in a community sample of 5 year-old children: A preliminary study (Research article)

Tommy Joyce is no cinephile. But there's a film that's attracting a lot of attention in his community. "Dark Waters" — a legal thriller — tells the epic story of the DuPont corporation's failure to inform residents of the Mid-Ohio Valley of the considerable health risks of a perfluoroalkyl substance [PFAS] called perfluorooctanoic acid, or C8, for its chain of eight carbons. More:

• A lasting legacy: DuPont, C8 contamination and the community of Parkersburg left to grapple with the consequences  –  EHN
• The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare  –  The New York Times
• The Teflon Toxin  –  The Intercept
• C8 Science Panel  –  C8 Science Panel Website
• The Brookmar C8 Health Project (CO)  –  HPCBD PLLC

I'm the founder and chief scientist of Environmental Health Sciences, a nonprofit in Virginia that publishes Environmental Health News and engages in scientific research and outreach to help the public and policy makers understand that we have many opportunities to prevent diseases and disabilities that are afflicting our families, friends and neighbors today. More:

• Looking ahead: Hormone-altering chemicals threaten our health, finances and future  –  Environmental Health News
• Delayed discovery, dissemination, and decisions on intervention in environmental health: a case study on immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylate substances (Research article)

• Industry Documents Library  –  University of California
• Toxic Docs  –  Columbia University & CUNY

• Designing endocrine disruption out of the next generation of chemicals (Research article)
• Environmental Chemicals: Evaluating Low-Dose Effects (Research editorial)
• Hormones and Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Low-Dose Effects and Nonmonotonic Dose Response (Research article)
• Webinar: CLARITY-BPA: Achieving clarity on low dose effects of bisphenol A (Webinar)
• EDCs Androgenic Activity Perfluoroakyl Substances (Research article)

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) were outlawed in the 1970s after it was found they can cause cancer and damage the environment. Despite efforts to eliminate all traces of the potent chemicals, POPs remain in the food chain today – mainly in dairy, meat and fish. Researchers found women who were exposed to high levels of POPs in pregnancy went on to have smaller foetuses. More:

• Mothers-to-be exposed to toxic chemicals hidden in meat, dairy and fish which were BANNED in the 1970s 'have smaller babies' –  Daily Mail
• Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants in Early Pregnancy Linked With Smaller Fetal Sizes –  MedPage Today
• Low levels of environmental pollutants may slow fetal growth –  Reuters
• Association of Maternal Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants in Early Pregnancy With Fetal Growth (Research article)

In 2019, about 60 percent of sewage sludge from 16,000 wastewater processing facilities in more than 160 U.S. cities has been spread on our soils – farmland and gardens, as well as schoolyards and lawns. More:

• Op-ed: Yes, food is grown in sewage waste. That’s a problem. –  EHN
• Biosolids: mix human waste with toxic chemicals, then spread on crops – The Guardian
• EPA Unable to Assess the Impact of Hundreds of Unregulated Pollutants in Land-Applied Biosolids on Human Health and the Environment (Report) – US EPA

Environmental officials from Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, and Denmark today announced a plan to restrict all PFAS compounds under Europe’s chemical regulations framework. The announcement in Brussels came one day after the submission of a document to the European Commission that lays out a strategy to phase out most uses of PFAS compounds by 2030, and one week after the commission proposed a drinking water standard for the entire class of chemicals. More:

• European countries announce plan to phase out toxic PFAS chemicals by 2030 –  The Intercept
• New teflon toxin causes cancer in lab animals –  The Intercept
• EPA allowed companies to make 40 new PFAS chemicals despite serious risks –  The Intercept
• Media briefing: Drinking Water Directive –  The Greens EFA
• The concept of essential use for determining when uses of PFASs can be phased out (Research article)

Why are endocrine-disrupting chemicals different from other toxic exposures? In these videos, you will learn about how chemicals interfere with hormone biology and endocrine systems, and how principles of endocrinology can be applied to toxic chemical exposures. More:

• An Introduction to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (video) –  The Endocrine Society
• Environmental Endocrine Disruptors & Metabolic Disorders (video) –  The Endocrine Society

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