Besides lead, no contaminant in drinking water has provoked as loud a public outcry in the last two years in the United States as a class of chemicals known as perfluorinated compounds. New Jersey regulators are taking the strongest action to date on the man-made chemicals that are used in scores of household and industrial products. The state will be the first to require utilities to test for two compounds and remove them from drinking water. More:

• New Jersey Sets First Binding State Limits for Perfluorinated Chemicals in Drinking Water – Circle of Blue
• Emerging Water Contaminants Update: Uncertainty Remains Despite Regulatory Action – Marten Law

The US Department of Defense (DOD) is checking for firefighting foam contamination at nearly 400 bases, as well as in all 515 of its water supplies. So far, it’s found drinking water contamination at dozens of bases. Firefighting foams used ubiquitously by the military between 1970 and 2015 contained toxic perfluorinated compounds such as PFOS and PFOA, which are now being found at a growing number of bases. More:

• Firefighting foam contamination now at 45 military bases – The Intelligencer
• Document listing 45 U.S. military bases where contamination from firefighting foam chemicals has impacted a potable water supply (The Intelligencer/Bucks County Courier Times)
• DRINKING WATER: DOD Has Acted on Some Emerging Contaminants but Should Improve Internal Reporting on Regulatory Compliance (US GAO Report GAO-18-78)
• Military Bases and Fire Fighting Foam (Civilian Exposure - 21 April 2016)

Some risks are difficult to deal with because they are not precisely calculable in advance. Where there is scientific uncertainty about the full extent of possible harms but 'doing nothing' is also risky, decision-makers may use the precautionary principle. A Future Brief explores the role of the precautionary principle in EU law and policy, and examines key points of discussion drawn from the evidence. More:

• Future brief: The precautionary principle: decision-making under uncertainty – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Identifying emerging risks for environmental policies  – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Integrating Environmental Risk Assessment – EC Science for Environment Policy

Even long-banned persistent organic pollutants (POPs) still linger in the environment; others are still in use and are being directly emitted; and new POPs may be identified for which we have limited information. This Future Brief from Science for Environment Policy presents recent research into POPs’ potential impacts, the levels and future outlook for POPs in the environment and humans, and how we can reduce our use of POPs.

• Future brief: Persistent organic pollutants: towards a POPs-free future – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Europe's rivers ‘highly contaminated’ with long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Europe-wide estuarine export and surface water concentrations of PFOS and PFOA (Research article)
• Lake Como contaminated with chemicals banned in the 1970s – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Recent DDT and PCB contamination in the sediment and biota of the Como Bay (Lake Como, Italy) (Research article)
• Global variation in persistent organic pollutants in breast milk – EC Science for Environment Policy
• Spatial and temporal trends of the Stockholm Convention POPs in mothers’ milk — a global review (Research article)

The organic compounds that enabled industrialization have unintended, long-lasting consequences for the planet’s life. More:

• How the Benzene Tree Polluted the World – The Atlantic
• Benzene (IARC Monograph)
• Consolidated Assessment of Efforts Made Toward the Elimination of Polychlorinated Biphenyls – UNEP
• Man-made pollutants found in Earth's deepest ocean trenches (Research article)
• Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna (Research article)
• Carcinogenicity of polychlorinated biphenyls and polybrominated biphenyls (Research article)
• Inadvertent Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Commercial Paint Pigments (Research article)
• Nonlegacy PCBs: Pigment Manufacturing By-Products Get a Second Look (Research article)
• Baptized in PCBs Race, Pollution, and Justice in an All-American Town (Book presentation)
• Living downstream (Book presentation)

Exposure to Agent Orange sprayed during the Vietnam War has been linked to increased levels of certain hormones in women and their breastfeeding children decades later, potentially putting them at higher risk of health problems, according to a new study in Science of the Total Environment. More:

• Agent Orange still linked to hormone imbalances in babies in Vietnam – Science News
• A relationship in adrenal androgen levels between mothers and their children from a dioxin-exposed region in Vietnam (Research article)
• This is the legacy of Agent Orange in Vietnam – New York Post

A new study provides disturbing evidence that children’s exposure to household insecticides is linked to higher risks of childhood leukemia and lymphoma, the most common cancers in children. The analysis also found an association between use of outdoor herbicides to lawns and gardens and higher risks of leukemia. More:

• Study Links Childhood Cancer and In-Home Pesticide Use – EWG
• Residential Exposure to Pesticide During Childhood and Childhood Cancers: A Meta-Analysis (Research article)

Perfluorooctanoic acid, widely used for decades in the making of nonstick coatings like Teflon and a variety of other consumer products, is considered toxic even in tiny amounts. PFOA has been linked to cancer, birth defects and immune system dysfunction. In 2006, eight major chemical companies, including 3M and DuPont, entered into a “voluntary stewardship agreement” to phase out the production and use of PFOA by 2015. In its place, the industry switched to other chemicals in the same family that were deemed less hazardous. But lately experts have begun to believe that these new chemicals also pose grave threats to human health. More:

• Trading old hazards for new? Mystery shrouds chemicals that replaced PFOA –Hill Country Observer

In the 1960s, Wolverine used the 76-acre undeveloped land as a dump site for hazardous sludge waste generated by its former tannery in Rockford, where the company treated pigskin with Scotchgard, a fabric protector that repels water and stains. 3M developed Scotchgard in 1956 and two years later, Wolverine used it to develop a pigskin nubuck leather for Hush Puppies. Six decades later, that innovation's toxic legacy has surfaced in local drinking water. More:

• Cancer, thyroid problems plague Wolverine dump neighbors – M Live Michigan
• What to know about toxic Wolverine dump sites and drinking water – M Live Michigan
• Tannery chemicals are 540 times above EPA level in Belmont well – M Live Michigan

U.S. Federal regulators urged manufacturers to stop using hazardous flame retardants that are known to cause health problems. The technical name of the chemical additives is Non-Polymeric Organohalogen Flame Retardants. More:

• CPSC to manufacturers: Toxic flame retardants ill advised in mattresses, TVs, furniture–KOMO news
• Federal panel votes to warn public about flame retardants in baby products, furniture–Chicago Tribune
• Guidance Document on Hazardous Additive, Non-Polymeric Organohalogen Flame Retardants in Certain Consumer Products–U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission

A systematic literature review and meta-analysis on the association between exposure to the pesticide DDT and its metabolites and obesity reach to the conclusion that p,p′-DDT and p,p′-DDE can be classified as “presumed” to be obesogenic for humans, based on a moderate level of primary human evidence, a moderate level of primary in vivo evidence, and a moderate level of supporting evidence from in vivo and in vitro studies. More:

• Association between Exposure to p,p′-DDT and Its Metabolite p,p′-DDE with Obesity: Integrated Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis (Research article)

The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry tasked with protecting Americans from health threats is facing growing pressure to perform a nationwide health study on perfluorinated compounds — unregulated chemicals being found in drinking water supplies across the country, including locally. More:

• Pressure growing on feds to do PFC health study–Bucks County Courrier Times
• Letter to the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention requesting to launch a health study in communities affected by PFAS
• CDC: Some in Horsham, Warrington, Warminster exposed to PFCs several times the safe level–The Intelligencer

Combined exposures to polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) may exceed acceptable levels in breastfeeding infants and in small children even for moderate (vs. high) exposure scenarios, according to a study. The study also suggests that acceptable levels of combined PBDEs may be exceeded in adults whose diets are high in fish and corroborates reports from several epidemiological studies of associations between PBDE exposures and neurobehavioral outcomes. More:

• A Human Mixture Risk Assessment for Neurodevelopmental Toxicity Associated with Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers Used as Flame Retardants (Research article)

Increased exposure among pregnant women to a class of flame-retardant chemicals found in older furniture and other everyday consumer products is linked to lower IQs in their children. Examining data from nearly 3,000 mother-child pairs from previous studies done around the world, researchers concluded that every tenfold increase in women’s exposure during pregnancy to chemicals known as polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, was associated with a 3.7-point decrease in their children’s IQ. More:

• Flame retardants linked to lower child IQ–SFgate
• Developmental PBDE Exposure and IQ/ADHD in Childhood: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis (Research article)

Many of the products we use every day contain chemicals of concern that may be harming our health. Many of these substances can be grouped into “Six Classes”, each containing similar chemicals. The Six Classes approach allows us to better understand these chemicals, their functions, where they are used, and how they can be avoided. It can prevent a cycle of “regrettable substitution,” whereby a phased out harmful chemical is replaced with a closely related chemical which may cause similar harm. More:

• The Six Classes Approach to Reducing Chemical Harm–The Green Science Policy Institute
• Stop playing whack-a-mole with hazardous chemicals–The Washington Post
• How to Save Your Sperm–The New York Times

FOUNTAIN — Water providers and residents south of Colorado Springs chafed as the U.S. Air Force on Tuesday unveiled a nine-month study verifying that firefighting foam used at Peterson Air Force Base contaminated water and soil with toxic perfluorinated chemicals at levels more than 1,000 times higher than a national health advisory limit. More:

• Air Force admits firefighting foam that was spilled on base contaminated water and soil; people south of Colorado Springs left in lurch–The Denver Post
• Water tainted with perfluorocarbons by U.S. military is focus of legislation–Chemical & Engineering News
• Nearly 400 military bases must be tested for drinking water contamination — and it will take years–The Philadelphia Inquirer

Making the chemical used in many nonstick frying pans, stain-resistant carpets and fire-fighting foams can pollute drinking water. Known as PFOA, this chemical can persist unchanged in the environment for years — perhaps for centuries or longer. And that can be troubling because studies have suggested that PFOA can harm the health of people and animals. But a new lab-made chemical can now remove PFOA from water. More:

• New ‘magnet’ pulls pesky nonstick pollutants from drinking water–Science News for Students
• β-Cyclodextrin Polymer Network Sequesters Perfluorooctanoic Acid at Environmentally Relevant Concentrations (Research article)

The EPA encouraged companies beginning in 2006 to phase out PFOA and related chemicals. The industry replaced them with GenX (perfluoro-2-propoxypropanoic acid) and other new-generation agents known as perfluorinated compounds, or PFAS. According to the industry, the new class is eliminated faster from the body, making them safer. However, several scientists have expressed concerns, citing their persistence in the environment including plant life, as well as a dearth of studies. More:

• On U.S. Rivers, Teflon’s Old Cancer Ties Are Stoking New Fears–Bloomberg
• Wilmington residents, NC officials seek answers in toxic tap water meeting–WRAL.com
• Formula-fed infants at highest risk for GenX health effects–WECT.com
• Joint DEQ, DHHS Release: State Releases First Water Quality Data, Updated Health Information for GenX in Cape Fear River–North Caroline Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Environmental Quality (NC DHHS, DEQ)
• Questions and Answers Regarding North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services UpdatedRisk Assessment for GenX (Perfluoro-2-propoxypropanoic acid) (NC DHHS)

Fish are a source of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in the human diet. Although species, trophic level, and means of production are typically considered in predicting fish pollutant load, and thus recommendations of consumption, capture location is usually not accounted for. Capture location is an important consideration when assessing the level and risk of human exposure to POPs through ingestion of wild fish. More:

• Geographic Differences in Persistent Organic Pollutant Levels of Yellowfin Tuna (Research article)

In a warming world new opportunities open up for disease-bearing mosquitoes, spreading Ethiopia’s malaria zone to higher altitudes. For the malaria parasite, things are looking up. As climates change, and mountain regions warm, conditions become favourable not just for the parasite but for the mosquito that carries it. New research suggests that Ethiopia’s malaria zone could soon include the highlands, for centuries free of the disease’s ravages. More:

• High-flying insects expand Ethiopia’s malaria zone–Climate News Network
• Temperature suitability for malaria climbing the Ethiopian Highlands (Research article)