A major pediatricians’ group is urging families to limit the use of plastic food containers, cut down on processed meat during pregnancy and consume more whole fruits and vegetables rather than processed food. Such measures would lower children’s exposures to chemicals in food and food packaging that are tied to health problems such as obesity, the group says. More:

• Chemicals in Food May Harm Children, Pediatricians’ Group Says – The New York Times
• Children are being harmed by food additives, U.S. pediatric association warns – The Globe and Mail Canada
• Food Additives and Child Health (Research article)
• A Suspect Screening Method for Characterizing Multiple Chemical Exposures among a Demographically Diverse Population of Pregnant Women in San Francisco (Research article)

Industrial chemicals dumped long ago still haunt Minden, W.Va., a community beset by cancer and fear. Like her father, physician Ayne Amjad is trying to track the links. More:

• A toxic town, a search for answers – The Washington Post
• Minden, WV - Shaffer Equipment Company – US EPA
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)(Arochlors) – US EPA
• Cancer Clusters – US National Cancer Institute
• Cancer Clusters – American Cancer Society

Polar bears following the sea-ice in hunt for seals have 30-35% higher concentration of perfluoroalkyl substances compared to coastal bears and levels are higher further east than the Svalbard area. More:

• Polar bears in eastern Barents Sea have most chemical pollutants – The Barents Observer
• Choose Your Poison—Space-Use Strategy Influences Pollutant Exposure in Barents Sea Polar Bears (Research article)

Michigan - Scientists and regulators are trying to define their approaches to highly fluorinated chemicals - collectively known as PFAS - as officials increasingly discover them in water supplies, prompting concerns to escalate. More

• How to protect yourself from PFAS contamination – MLive Michigan
• PFAS response – Michigan.gov

New Bedford was a whaling town. But it also has an industrial past, and with the industries came chemicals. The biggest source of PCBs came from a company that made electrical components from the 1940s to 1978. It was located by the Acushnet River, which leads into the harbor. Officials keep dredging up PCBs and posting signs at New Bedford Harbor—but studies suggest anglers are eating too much of their contaminated catch. More:

• Fishermen disregard New Bedford Harbor’s lingering toxic past – Environmental Health News
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Toxicity: What Is the Biologic Fate of PCBs in Humans? – US ATSDR
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) Toxicity: What Are Adverse Health Effects of PCB Exposure? – US ATSDR

In Bhopal, residents who survived the massive gas leak and those who arrived later continue to deal with the consequences. In old bhopal is the abandoned Union Carbide factory. Here, in one ramshackle building, are hundreds of broken brown bottles crusted with the white residue of unknown chemicals. Below the corroding skeleton of another, drops of mercury glitter in the sun. More:

• The World’s Worst Industrial Disaster Is Still Unfolding – The Atlantic
• Indian institute of toxicological research tests water of 20 more Bhopal communities for chemical contamination – www.bhopal.org
• Bhopal's toxic legacy lives on, 30 years after industrial disaster – Reuters
• Water contamination briefing paper – www.bhopal.org

Leaded gasoline; cancer-causing dyes; Kevlar, a synthetic fiber found to cause cancer in rats; Freon, a refrigerant that ate a hole in the ozone layer; neoprene, the production of which gives off a carcinogenic gas; refined uranium for atomic weapons; and PFOA, which now pollutes drinking water around the plant — and around the planet — are among the 1,200 chemical products DuPont made and stored at what was its largest manufacturing complex. More:

• Dupont's museum of disastrous chemistry continues to spread its poison – The Intercept

Whitney Prieto was diagnosed last September with stage 2B triple negative breast cancer. She was 35, early in her pregnancy with twins and said she had no family history or genetic mutations that could make her especially susceptible to the serious disease. Prieto said that she knew of six or seven classmates from Satellite High School in Satellite Beach, Florida, who were also diagnosed with uncommon cancers when she was diagnosed but that she now knows of about 20 -- all at about the same time. More:

• Florida community raises alarm about potential cancer link to water contamination – ABC News
• Threshold for harmful chemicals in drinking water lower than thought: Study – ABC News
• DoD: At least 126 bases report water contaminants linked to cancer, birth defects – Military Times

After a small group of women increased their house cleaning and hand washing, the levels of harmful common flame retardants in their bodies plummeted, according to a study. More:

• Worried about flame retardants? Clean your house (and hands)! – Environmental Health News
• Toxic chemicals in household dust linked to cancer and infertility – The Guardian
• Not Just Dirt: Toxic Chemicals in Indoor Dust – Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC)
• These 10 chemicals are probably in your dust – NRDC
• Flame retardant exposure assessment: findings from a behavioral intervention study (Research article)

“The day will come, probably in the near future, when prophylactically killing pests and weeds with toxic chemicals and neurotoxins will seem primitive and irresponsible,” Mary-Howell Martens of Lakeview Organic Grain exuberantly predicts. More:

• Farming with Intentional Biodiversity ‐ Civil Eats

On a busy weeknight, takeout and fast food are easy dinner time solutions. But your family's favorite on-the-go meal may come with a side of toxic fluorinated chemicals. Per- and polyfluoralkyl substances, or PFAS, are a family of greaseproof, waterproof and nonstick industrial compounds. They're used in hundreds of consumer products, including ones that touch your food. More:

• These Toxic Chemicals in Food Packaging Are Getting Into Your Meals – EcoWatch
• PFAS – Environmental Working Group
• Toxic Microwave Popcorn – Center for Environmental Health
• Many fast food wrappers still coated in PFCS, kin to carcinogenic Teflon chemical – Environmental Working Group
• Is Teflon in Your Cosmetics? – Environmental Working Group
• EWG's guide to avoiding PFAS chemicals: A family of chemicals you don't want near your family – Environmental Working Group
• Washington Is First State to Ban Fluorinated Chemicals in Food Packaging – Environmental Working Group
• San Francisco Bans Fluorinated Chemicals in Foodservice Ware and More – www.packaginglaw.com
• Exposure to Perfluorinated Alkyl Substances and Health Outcomes in Children: A Systematic Review of the Epidemiologic Literature (Research article)
• Migration of fluorochemical paper additives from food-contact paper into foods and food simulants (Research article)

Soil in urban areas is more likely to be sullied by contaminates like lead and arsenic. A variety of other heavy metals, as well as industrial chemicals like PCBs and PAHs, are occasionally found in urban areas, though not usually in residential areas. Wherever past industrial uses are suspected, however, these substances should be tested for as well. More:

• Urban Gardening 101: How to Deal with Contaminated Soil – Modern Farmer
• How to Test Your Soil – Modern Farmer

E-waste burning near Hebron, in a region that makes up about 20 percent of the West Bank, is a well-documented problem. It occurs mostly on the outskirts of a string of villages to the southwest of the city, beyond the municipal boundaries of the Palestinian Authority and near the concrete barrier that separates the Palestinian West Bank from Israel. More:

• Amid Smoldering E-Waste in the West Bank, Activists Fight for Reform – UNDARK
• Can old computers bring Palestinians and Israelis together? – Nature

According to a recent study, a number of Canadian-made and imported baby products contain toxic compounds known as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), both of which have been banned in Canada and internationally. A study conducted by the NAFTA environmental protection agency found that two-thirds (or 94) of 137 tested products were contaminated with compounds. More:

• Study Finds Dangerous Chemicals in Canadian Baby Blankets – US Recall News
• Toxic chemicals found in Canadian baby products, study finds – The Star
• Communities Fight Back Against PFC Manufacturers – US Recall News
• Furthering the Understanding of the Migration of Chemicals from Consumer Products (Study report)

Certainly, the statistics are grim. Native ladybird populations are crashing; three quarters of butterfly species – such as the painted lady and the Glanville fritillary – have dropped significantly in numbers; while bees, of which there are more than 250 species in the UK, are also suffering major plunges in populations, with great yellow bumblebees, solitary potter flower bees and other species declining steeply in recent years. More:

• Where have all our insects gone? – The Guardian
• Urban butterfly declines 69% compared to 45% drop in countryside – The Guardian
• Breeding ground correlates of the distribution and decline of the Common Cuckoo Cuculus canorus at two spatial scales (Research article)

Since managing pests and weeds organically starts with healthy soil, experts recommend you start with a soil test. The test will tell you what nutrients your soil may need and whether it’s acidic or not. With that information, you can start figuring out what you need to do to make your soil healthier. More:

• Pesticide bans raise question: Can we manage garden pests without chemicals? – Press Herald Maine

Katie Jurek was 19 years old when she was told the osteosarcoma, an aggressive form of bone cancer, had returned. Her death, aged 20 in 2007, was devastating for former classmates. Within seven years, another four teenagers died from cancer. More:

• Toxic Secrets: The town that 3M built - where kids are dying of cancer – The Sydney Morning Herald
• Cancer toll on Williamtown's Cabbage Tree Road near Newcastle – The Sydney Morning Herald

Lots of big brands are shifting toward more sustainable gear, without harmful PFCs. But for the industry as a whole, change is slow. In July 2017, the shake machine, which tests water resistant properties of hydrophobic down, had been going for 2,000 minutes. A then 21-year-old intern at bulk down supplier Sustainable Down Source (SDS), knew she was onto something. So far, the test results indicated that 33 hours of rain wouldn’t rob the feathers, which had been treated with a eco-friendly Durable Water Repellent (DWR), of their insulating properties. More:

• Outdoor Gear Makers: Get Green or Die Trying – Outside

Plastic and traces of hazardous chemicals have been found in Antarctica, one of the world’s last great wildernesses, according to a study. Seven of the eight sea-surface water samples tested contained microplastics such as microfibres. Seven of the nine snow samples tested contained detectable concentrations of the persistent hazardous chemicals – polyfluorinated alkylated substances, or PFAS. More:

• Antarctica: plastic contamination reaches Earth's last wilderness – The Guardian
• Microplastics in the Antarctic – Greenpeace
• Microplastics and persistent fluorinated chemicals in the Antarctic (Report)

Mixtures of chemicals commonly found in consumer products are more likely to increase breast cancer risk than the same chemicals individually, according to a new analysis. But safety tests by government regulators don't routinely evaluate the combined effects of multiple chemical exposures. More:

• Consumer Product Safety Testing Overlooks Cancer Risk From Exposure to Multiple Chemicals – EWG
• A Ternary Mixture of Common Chemicals Perturbs Benign Human Breast Epithelial Cells More Than the Same Chemicals Do Individually (Research article)
• How Toxic Pollutants Can Harm Future, Unexposed Generations – EWG