“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

As children at Patrick Air Force Base in the early 1980s, Kristen Emery and her siblings fished Florida’s Banana River and strung their catch on the back porch to eat. They dug up the backyard, muddying their hands. When they were thirsty, they drank tap water at their base housing. Kristen’s nose bled all the time. She was in and out of the emergency room constantly with asthma or other illnesses from kindergarten through second grade. When puberty hit at 13, a large mass grew on her neck. The diagnosis was Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She spent her teenage years in chemotherapy. More:

• More reasons to be worried about cancer-causing chemicals on military bases – Military Times
• Addressing Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) (Report presentation)

On May 9, a federal appeals court heard oral arguments in a case about an explosive issue among U.S. veterans: the widespread use of burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the potential health consequences they suffered as a result. The case, which dates back to 2008, consolidated dozens of lawsuits by hundreds of veterans and their families seeking to recover damages from the military contractor.

• Veterans Go Back to Court Over Burn Pits. Do They Have a Chance? – The New York Times Magazine
• Burn pits downrange caused lung disease in service members, court rules – Military Times

The FAO report warns that this dangerous phenomenon should be of concern worldwide. Its consequences are not limited to the degrading of our soils: ultimately, it also poisons the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe. Soil pollution significantly reduces food security, not only by reducing crop yields due to toxic levels of contaminants, but also by causing crops produced from polluted soils unsafe for consumptions both for animals and humans

• FAO Releases Alarming Report on Soil Pollution – IPS
• Soil Pollution: A Hidden Reality (Report)

New York City's fire department has assembled one of the largest firefighter research populations in the world - Every day for almost three years, a group of firefighters would travel from a clinic in Brooklyn to a laboratory in the Bronx. They had precious cargo in tow: blood samples collected from individuals serving in the Fire Department of the City of New York, many of whom were first responders to the World Trade Center attack on 9/11. More:

• Researchers think 9/11 gave first responders cancer—but proving it will be nearly impossible – Popular Science
• How Modern Furniture Endangers Firefighters – The Atlantic
• Learn about Dioxin ‐ US EPA
• Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCB's): Current Intelligence Bulletin 45 – US NIOSH
• Multiple Myeloma and Its Precursor Disease Among Firefighters Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster (Research article)
• Estimation of Future Cancer Burden Among Rescue and Recovery Workers Exposed to the World Trade Center Disaster (Research abstract)

A fluoroether from a Chemours plant near Petersburg, W.Va., contaminates public and private well water in Ohio and West Virginia, U.S. EPA. This marks the first time that the industrial chemical hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA) has been found in U.S. water outside of North Carolina. In that state, the substance contaminates the Cape Fear River downstream of a Chemours plant near Fayetteville that makes fluoroethers. HFPO-DA has also been found in that river’s sediments, well water up to 11 km from the plant, and rainwater. More:

• GenX-related fluoroether taints water in wells near West Virginia Chemours plant – C&EN
• What’s GenX still doing in the water downstream of a Chemours plant? – C&EN

Afternoon naps are a time-honored tradition in many child-care centers, as toddlers snuggle up on soft mats to drowse, daydream or fidget. The possibility that those mats could be exposing kids to toxic chemicals might come as a surprise to most parents and day-care workers. But a new analysis found potentially harmful flame retardants in the majority of mats at some day cares across Seattle (US). More:

• Nap mats at some Seattle child-care centers contain potentially harmful chemicals – The Seattle Times (US)
• New Warning to Consumers: Avoid These Flame Retardants – CR Consumer Reports
• Flame Retardants – US National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences
• Reducing public health threats by restricting the use of toxic flame retardants in certain consumer products – State of Washington House Bill 2545
• Exposure to brominated and organophosphate ester flame retardants in U.S. childcare environments: Effect of removal of flame-retarded nap mats on indoor levels (Research article)

First-of-its-kind study finds finished cabinetry is a major source of PCBs inside people's homes; scientists suspect wood sealants are the culprit. Researchers tested indoor air at 16 homes and found three types of PCBs are widespread and finished cabinets are the source of the toxics. More:

• Finished kitchen cabinets are emitting toxic PCBs – EHN
• A New Study Found Toxic Chemicals In Kitchen Cabinets, And Here's What You Need To Know – BuzzFeed.News
• Emissions of Tetrachlorobiphenyls (PCBs 47, 51, and 68) from Polymer Resin on Kitchen Cabinets as a Non-Aroclor Source to Residential Air (Research article)
• Stepping backward to improve assessment of PCB congener toxicities (Research article)
• Non-dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls induce a release of arachidonic acid in liver epithelial cells: a partial role of cytosolic phospholipase A(2) and extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1/2 signalling (Research article)
• In Vitro Toxicity Profiling of Ultrapure Non–Dioxin-like Polychlorinated Biphenyl Congeners and Their Relative Toxic Contribution to PCB Mixtures in Humans (Research article)

Two decades after pollution from highly toxic fluorinated chemicals was first reported in American communities and drinking water, the number of known contamination sites is growing rapidly, with no end in sight. The latest update of an interactive map by Environmental Working Group (EWG) and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute at Northeastern University documents publicly known pollution from so-called PFAS chemicals at 94 industrial or military sites in 22 states. More:

• Fluorinated Chemical Pollution Crisis Spreads – EcoWatch
• Interactive map of toxic fluorinated chemicals in tap water at industrial or military sites – EWG
• Teflon chemical harmful at smallest doses – EWG
• Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet – US CDC
• New Teflon toxin found in North Carolina drinking water – The Intercept
• Algoma Township PFAS testing expands again – Michigan Live

Researchers study how pepper plants absorb common antimicrobial found in personal care items. More:

• Cleaning product toxins found in crops – COSMOS
• Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: An Endocrine Society Scientific Statement – Endocrine Society
• Transformation, Conjugation, and Sequestration Following the Uptake of Triclocarban by Jalapeno Pepper Plants (Research article)