Scientists have developed an extension to an ordinary cellphone that turns it into an instrument capable of detecting chemicals, drugs, biological molecules, and pathogens. The advance is reported in Reviews of Scientific Instruments. More:

• Cellphone converts into powerful chemical detector  –  Phys.org
• Cell-phone camera Raman spectrometer (Research abstract)

The legislation, S.20, would restrict PFAS chemicals — perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl — in four main areas: fire-extinguishing foam, food packaging, rugs and carpets, and ski wax. It also includes restrictions of phthalates and bisphenols, which are commonly used in plastic products. More:

• House unanimously approves ban on toxic PFAS chemicals in consumer products  –  VTDigger
• Senate unanimously favors restricting PFAS and other chemicals in consumer products  –  VTDigger

Weak rules and poor implementation: this is why the EU is failing to curb pollution from the chemical industry, according to a new report by the European Environmental Bureau. More:

• Wasted ink on waste water?  –  META European Environmental Bureau
• Wasted ink on waste water? Of missed opportunities and untapped potential in the CWW BREF  –  Environemental European Bureau

We still don’t know the true impact of these microplastics on human health. But the good news is, having hard floors, using more natural fibres in clothing, furnishings and homewares, along with vacuuming at least weekly can reduce your exposure. More:

• We’re all ingesting microplastics at home, and these might be toxic for our health. Here are some tips to reduce your risk  –  The Conversation

• Interactions between microplastics and organic pollutants: Effects on toxicity, bioaccumulation, degradation, and transport (Research abstract)

• Quantification and exposure assessment of microplastics in Australian indoor house dust (Research abstract)
• Microplastic Fallout in Different Indoor Environments (Research abstract)
• Estimation of the mass of microplastics ingested – A pivotal first step towards human health risk assessment (Research abstract)

• We estimate up to 14 million tonnes of microplastics lie on the seafloor. It’s worse than we thought  –  The Conversation
• White and wonderful? Microplastics prevail in snow from the Alps to the Arctic (Research article)
• Microplastics contaminate the deepest part of the world’s ocean (Research article)
• Plastic Resin Pellets as a Transport Medium for Toxic Chemicals in the Marine Environment (Research abstract)
• First evidence of microplastic contamination in the supraglacial debris of an alpine glacier (Research abstract)

When the research vessel Sally Ride set sail for Santa Catalina Island to map an underwater graveyard of DDT waste barrels, its crew had high hopes of documenting for the first time just how many corroded containers littered the seafloor off the coast of Los Angeles. But as the scientists on deck began interpreting sonar images gathered by two deep-sea robots, they were quickly overwhelmed. It was like trying to count stars in the Milky Way. More:

• Stunning DDT dump site off L.A. coast much bigger than scientists expected  –  Los Angeles Times

• How the waters off Catalina became a DDT dumping ground  –  Los Angeles Times
• Ocean Dumping of Containerized DDT Waste Was a Sloppy Process (Research article)
• Trial Over Huge Offshore Deposit of DDT Begins  –  Los Angeles Times

• Newly Identified DDT-Related Compounds Accumulating in Southern California Bottlenose Dolphins (Research article)
• Sea lions are dying from a mysterious cancer  –  Los Angeles Times

Seven years ago, a kindergarten teacher at P.S. 290 in Manhattan was following her students’ curiosity about the origins of food when she led them in a role play on how toxic pesticides harm people, ecosystems and even — to the 5-year-olds’ horror — turtles like their class pet, Soccer Ball. More:

• N.Y.C. Bans Pesticides in Parks With Push From Unlikely Force, Children  –  The New York Times
• Baltimore City Council Votes to Control Harmful Pesticides  –  Maryland Matters
• Dandelions a sign that a park is chemical free, park district says  –  Chicago Tribune

As the impact of our species on the natural world intensifies, so does the knowledge of our dependency on it: from crop-pollinating critters and wild fish populations that nourish millions, to ecosystems that inhale carbon emissions and filter air and water. These connections have bolstered a legal argument around the importance of a healthy environment. More:

• A healthy environment as a human right  –  Knowable Magazine
• Constructing the Human Right to a Healthy Environment  –  Annual Review of Law and Social Science

• New Zealand's Whanganui River is a legal person. How will it use its voice  –  National Geographic

The report found that receipts and food packaging used by several leading Canadian grocers and foodservice companies could contain bisphenols, phthalates, PFAS, and other harmful chemicals. More:

• Why American food wrappers are less toxic than Canadian  –  Canada's National Observer
• New report reveals Canadian retailers falling behind U.S. companies in making major progress on chemical safety  –  Environmental Defence Canada

Paper straws broke down in drinks really quickly. But then the biodegradable market—plant- and paper-based straws—expanded, giving people more structurally sound plastic straw replacement options. People could dip them in a drink without having to pull out a soggy clump of paper. Oftentimes, companies will coat permeable products in per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). More:

• ‘Forever chemicals’ coat the outer layers of biodegradable straws  –  EHN
• The last straw: Characterization of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in commercially-available plant-based drinking straws (Research abstract)
• PFAS - the ‘Forever Chemicals’  –  CHEMTrust

• Elements for an EU-strategy for PFASs (Document)
• Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment  –  European Commission

A study found a significant association between DDT in grandmothers' blood during pregnancy, and obesity and early first menstrual periods in their granddaughters—factors known to increase the risk for breast cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. More:

• Pesticide DDT linked to increased breast cancer risk generations after exposure  –  EHN
• Grandmaternal Perinatal Serum DDT in Relation to Granddaughter Early Menarche and Adult Obesity- Three Generations in the Child Health and Development and Development Studies Cohort (Research abstract)

• DDT exposure linked to type 2 diabetes risk  –  C&EN
• DDT Linked to Abnormal Sperm  –  Scientific American
• Exposure to Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) and Their Relationship to Hepatic Fat and Insulin Insensitivity among Asian Indian Immigrants in the United States (Research abstract)
• DDT and Breast Cancer: Prospective Study of Induction Time and Susceptibility Windows (Research article)
• DDT Exposure in Utero and Breast Cancer (Research article)
• Sperm Aneuploidy in Faroese Men with Lifetime Exposure to Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (p,p´-DDE) and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Pollutants (Research article)
• Reproductive Effects of Occupational DDT Exposure among Male Malaria Control Workers (Research article)

Indoor dust contains dangerous, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, according to a study. The study of 46 dust samples from 21 buildings at a U.S. university found that all 46 samples contained hormonally active compounds that can lead to health effects, including infertility, diabetes, obesity, abnormal fetal growth, and cancers. More:

• Indoor Dust Contains PFAS and Other Toxic Chemicals  –  The Intercept
• Chemical companies, Big Tobacco and the toxic products in your home  –  Chicago Tribune
• Assessing Indoor Dust Interference with Human Nuclear Hormone Receptors in Cell-Based Luciferase Reporter Assays (Research article)

• Top Toxicologist Barred From Saying PFAS Causes Disease in Humans  –  The Intercept
• EPA Allowed Companies to Make 40 New PFAS Chemicals despite serious risks  –  The Intercept
• Estimated exposures to perfluorinated compounds in infancy predict attenuated vaccine antibody concentrations at age 5-years (Research article)
• Association of perfluoroalkyl substances with gestational hypertension and preeclampsia in the MIREC study (Research article)
• Associations of Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances With Thyroid Hormone Concentrations and Birth Size (Research abstract)

• Organophosphate flame-retardant metabolite concentrations and pregnancy loss among women (Research article)
• Paternal urinary concentrations of organophosphate flame retardant metabolites, fertility measures, and pregnancy outcomes among couples undergoing in vitro fertilization (Research abstract)
• Prenatal exposure to organophosphate esters and cognitive development in young children in the Pregnancy, Infection, and Nutrition Study (Research abstract)

• Flame Retardants in Furniture  –  Green Science Policy Institute
• PFAS-Free Products  –  PFAS Central
• Highly Fluorinated Chemicals (FAQ)  –  Ikea 
• Lowe’s Safer Chemicals Policy  –  Lowe’s Corporate
• The Home Depot bans toxic PFAS in carpets and rugs it sells  –  Safer Chemicals Healthy Families

Rainwater collected in the Ohio-Indiana region contains both new and phased-out per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), according to research. Rainwater samples also contained high levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), which is no longer made in the US. The continued presence of PFOA is likely explained by its ability to persist in the environment over the long term. They also found high levels of PFOA’s replacement, hexafluoropropylene oxide dimer acid (HFPO-DA). More:

• US rainwater contains new and phased out PFAS  –  C&EN

• PFAS pollution from Chemours plant distributed by air  –  C&EN
• Evidence of Air Dispersion: HFPO–DA and PFOA in Ohio and West Virginia Surface Water and Soil near a Fluoropolymer Production Facility (Research abstract) –  C&EN

The increased risk of these tumors, estimated as much as twice to 2.5 times higher for some pesticides occurs even if the mother is not a farmworker, or lived as far as 2.5 miles from the field where the pesticides are sprayed. More:

• Mom's Exposure to Pesticides During Pregnancy Can Lead to Childhood Tumors, Study Says  –  NBC Los Angeles
• Residential proximity to pesticide application as a risk factor for childhood central nervous system tumors (Research abstract)

Companies that make, use, dispose, and recycle plastics must participate in international efforts to restrict plastic waste and chemicals used to make plastic, because the policies will affect how they do business, industry officials say. More:

• Industries Urged to Weigh in on Global Plastics Restrictions  –  Bloomberg Law
• Virgin Plastic Production Must be Addressed in Pollution Treaty: Expert Brief  –  SDG Knowledge Hub - IISD

• New International Requirements for the Export and Import of Plastic Recyclables and Waste  –  US EPA
• A proposed integrated management approach to plastic products to prevent waste and pollution (Discussion paper)  –  Environment and Climate Change Canada
• Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability Towards a Toxic-Free Environment  –  European Commission
• UN experts take steps to recommend eliminating UV-328 (a toxic plastic additive)  –  Stockholm Convention

• The Ashley Indiana Plastics Renewal Facility  –  Brightmark
• Eastman and Governor Lee Announce World-Scale Plastic-to-Plastic Molecular Recycling Facility to be Built in Kingsport  –  Eastman
• PureCycle Technologies Completes $250 Million Bond Raise; Begins Construction on Phase II Industrial Line in Ironton  –  Businesswire

For decades, Europe has poured millions of tons of its trash into incinerators each year, often under the green-sounding label “waste to energy.” Now, concerns about incineration’s outsized carbon footprint and fears it may undermine recycling are prompting European Union officials to ease their long-standing embrace of a technology that once seemed like an appealing way to make waste disappear. More:

• In Europe, a Backlash Is Growing Over Incinerating Garbage  –  Yale Environment 360
• The Dirty Truth About Your Rubbish: Dispatches Monday 8th March, 8pm  –  Channel 4

• Greenhouse Gas and Air Quality Impacts of Incineration and Landfill  –  Eunomia
• Hidden emissions, A story from the Netherlands (Case study) –  ToxicoWatch
• Denmark’s ‘devilish’ waste dilemma  –  POLITICO

• First circular economy action plan  –  European Commission
• Single-use plastics  –  European Commission
• Beyond Recycling, A strategy to make the circular economy in Wales a reality  –  Welsh Goverment

• How waste burning affects UK’s poorest neighbourhoods (YouTube)  –  Unearthed
• UK waste incinerators three times more likely to be in poorer areas  –  Unearthed
• Stop The Edmonton Incinerator Now: Everything You Need to Know  –  Stop The Edmonton Incinerator

In Connecticut, a condo had lead in its drinking water at levels more than double what the federal government deems acceptable. At a church in North Carolina, the water was contaminated with extremely high levels of potentially toxic PFAS chemicals. The water flowing into a Texas home had both—and concerning amounts of arsenic, too. All three were among locations that had water tested as part of a nine-month investigation into the country’s drinking water. More:

• How Safe Is Our Drinking Water?  –  Consumer Reports
• How to Test and Treat Your Drinking Water  –  Consumer Reports
• More Than 25 Million Americans Drink From the Worst Water Systems  –  Consumer Reports

• Threats on tap - Widespread violations highlight need for investment in water infrastructure and protections (Report) –  NRDC
• Perfluorinated Compounds in the Cape Fear Drainage Basin in North Carolina (Research article)
• PFAS Exposure Study:  PFAS in the Haw River and Pittsboro  –  Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment

• Immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylates: calculation of benchmark doses based on serum concentrations in children (Research article)
• A cross-sectional study of well water arsenic and child IQ in Maine schoolchildren (Research article)

• EWG Proposes PFAS Standards That Fully Protect Children’s Health  –  EWG
• After Decades of Debate, EPA Releases New Arsenic-in-Tap-Water Standard; NRDC Welcomes Progress, Calls for Lower Standard in Near Future  –  NRDC
• NRDC Sues EPA Over Rules Allowing Another Generation of Children to Drink Tainted Water From Lead Pipes  –  NRDC

A new study by Simon Fraser University's Faculty of Health Sciences researchers found correlations between increased expressions of autistic-like behaviors in pre-school aged children to gestational exposure to select environmental toxicants, including metals, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, and bisphenol-A (BPA). More:

• Maternal exposure to chemicals linked to autistic-like behaviours in children  –  Medical Express
• Prenatal phthalate exposure associated with autistic traits in young boys  –  Medical Express
• Gestational Exposure to Toxicants and Autistic Behaviors using Bayesian Quantile Regression (Research abstract)

The United States is home to nearly 2,000 active landfills. Each day, these enormous piles of garbage can leach well over 2 million liters of liquid per site into the soil, contaminating local water with potentially toxic substances. More:

• Scientists Ranked The Most Dangerous And Toxic Pollutants in US Landfills  –  ScienceAlert

• Occurrence and ecological potential of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in groundwater and reservoirs in the vicinity of municipal landfills in China (Research article)
• An integrative method for identification and prioritization of constituents of concern in produced water from onshore oil and gas extraction (Research article)

• Potential for enhanced phytoremediation of landfills using biosolids – a review (Research article)

Researchers from Germany, Malaysia, and the United States published the results of a systematic review estimating the number of unintentional pesticide poisonings and fatalities globally. The conclusion was startling: An estimated 44 percent of farmers, farmworkers, and pesticide applicators experience at least one incident of acute pesticide poisoning on the job every year, and 11,000 die annually from accidental pesticide poisoning. More:

• New Study Shows the Growing Risks of Pesticide Poisonings  –  Civil Eats
• The global distribution of acute unintentional pesticide poisoning: estimations based on a systematic review (Research article)

• Change to Federal Rule Could Expose More Farmworkers to Pesticides  –  Civil Eats
• Trump’s Legacy, Damaged Brains  –  The New York Times

• What the ‘Insect Apocalypse’ Has to Do With the Food We Eat  –  Civil Eats
• Worldwide pesticide usage and its impacts on ecosystem (Research article)

Researchers used data from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxicity Forecaster, or ToxCast, to assess the health hazards of the most common chemicals added to food, as well as the “forever chemicals” known as PFAS, which can migrate to food from packaging. More:

• Study: Preservative Used in Pop-Tarts and Hundreds of Popular Foods May Harm the Immune System  –  Environmental Working Group
• Investigating Molecular Mechanisms of Immunotoxicity and the Utility of ToxCast for Immunotoxicity Screening of Chemicals Added to Food (Research article)
• List of Processed Foods With The Preservative TBHQ  –  Environmental Working Group

• Many Fast Food Wrappers Still Coated in PFCs, Kin to Carcinogenic Teflon Chemical  –  Environmental Working Group

• PFAS Chemicals Harm the Immune System, Decrease Response to Vaccines, New EWG Review Finds  –  Environmental Working Group
• Severity of COVID-19 at elevated exposure to perfluorinated alkylates (Research article)

• Food additive may influence how well flu vaccines work  –  Michigan State University
• Research links TBHQ to allergies  –  Food Business News