Synthétisée en 1939 par un universitaire bâlois, la molécule insecticide permettra de neutraliser les épidémies de typhus et de paludisme, sauvant notamment une bonne partie des troupes alliées. Mais la substance se révélera plus dangereuse que prévu. More:

• Le DDT, de l’invention providentielle au polluant mortel – Le Temps

Farmed fish can contain persistent organic pollutants, or POPs, transferred from the feed they consume, according to a study. Carla Ng, assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the university, tracked the presence of a class of synthetic flame retardants called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), which were once a popular additive to increase fire resistance in consumer products such as electronics, textiles, and plastics. More:

• Study: Farmed fish can contain pollutants transferred from feed – Undercurrent News
• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ether (PBDE) Accumulation in Farmed Salmon Evaluated Using a Dynamic Sea-Cage Production Model (Research article)

Studies conducted in the late 1970s and early 1980s were kept under wraps by chemical companies as pollution spread across the US, according to an editorial. More:

• Hidden studies from decades ago could have curbed PFAS problem: Scientist – Environmental Health News
• Delayed discovery, dissemination, and decisions on intervention in environmental health: a case study on immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylate substances (Research article)
• The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare – The New York Times
• PFCS: Global contaminants: PFOA is a pervasive pollutant in human blood, as are other PFCS – EWG
• Polyfluorinated Compounds: Past, Present, and Future (Research article)

Internal studies and other documents show that 3M knew by the 1970s that PFOA and PFOS were toxic and accumulating in people's blood. More:

• 3M knew about the dangers of PFOA and PFOS decades ago, internal documents show – The Intercept
• The Teflon Toxin - The series – The Intercept
• GenX - New Teflon toxin causes cancer in lab animals – The Intercept
• Teflon toxin contamination has spread throughout the world – The Intercept
• Up to 110 million Americans could have PFAS contaminated drinking water – EWG
• Environmentalists outraged Michigan warning about PFAS went unheeded – Bridge Michigan
• Bipartisan Outrage as EPA, White House Try to Cover Up Chemical Health Assessment – Union of Concerned Scientists

Toxicological profile

• Toxic Substances Portal - Perfluoroalkyls – US Agency for Toxic Substances & Disease Registry
• Maximum Contaminant Level Recommendation for Perfluorooctanoic Acid in Drinking Water – New Jersey Drinking Water Quality Institute

Human exposure

• Polyfluoroalkyl Chemicals in the U.S. Population: Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2003–2004 and Comparisons with NHANES 1999–2000 (Research article)
• Fluorocarbons and Human Health: Studies in an Occupational Cohort - Thesis 1992 – University of Minnesota

Toxicity

• Delayed discovery, dissemination, and decisions on intervention in environmental health: a case study on immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylate substances (Research article)
• Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) Exposures and Incident Cancers among Adults Living Near a Chemical Plant (Research article)
• Mortality among employees of a perfluorooctanoic acid production plant (Research article)
• Effect of perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) on influenza A virus-induced mortality in female B6C3F1 mice (Research article)
• Immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylates: calculation of benchmark doses based on serum concentrations in children (Research article)
• Suppression of humoral immunity in mice following exposure to perfluorooctane sulfonate (Research article)
• Estimated exposures to perfluorinated compounds in infancy predict attenuated vaccine antibody concentrations at age 5-years (Research article)

Endocrine disruption

• Endocrine disrupting properties of perfluorooctanoic acid (Research article)
• Association of Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Perfluorooctane Sulfonate (PFOS) with age of puberty among children living near a chemical plant (Research article)
• REPRODUCTIVE TOXICOLOGY: Study Associates PFOS and PFOA with Impaired Fertility (Research article)
• Prenatal Exposure to Perfluorooctanoate and Risk of Overweight at 20 Years of Age: A Prospective Cohort Study (Research article)

Thyroid disease and high cholesterol

• Association between Serum Perfluorooctanoic Acid (PFOA) and Thyroid Disease in the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Research article)
• PFOA and High Cholesterol: Basis for the Finding of a Probable Link (Research article)

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