Researchers sampled sediment from lakes Michigan, Ontario and Superior to track organophosphate esters, a group of chemicals that are used as flame retardants. All three locations showed that the concentration of one of them—TCPP—has increased rapidly since 2000. More:

• New flame retardant threat documented in Great Lakes–Great Lakes Echo)
• Organophosphate Esters in Sediment of the Great Lakes (Research article)

Today’s homes and offices are jam-packed with plastics, electronics, and furniture covered in flame-retardants. When they combust, they are extremely toxic. That means the smoke firefighters are exposed to is often loaded with a litany of septic chemicals—formaldehyde, vinyl chloride, chlorophenols, dioxins, trichloroethylene,  polychlorinated biphenyls, to name a few. Alone, any one of these may be harmful; mixed together they can make a potent cocktail of carcinogens. More:

• Why Cancer Is Killing Boston’s Firefighters–Boston magazine

March 2017 is particularly eventful with Geneva hosting many discussions aiming for a human rights-based approach towards better protection of the environment and of human health, which are also the common objectives of the BRS Conventions. Among these events, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) has opened its 34th session. More:

• ‘Detoxifying’ the future from hazardous chemicals and wastes: a child’s fundamental (human) right (BRS blog)
• The cost of a polluted environment: 1.7 million child deaths a year, says WHO (News release)
• Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health (WHO report)
• Inheriting a sustainable world: Atlas on children’s health and the environment (WHO report)
• Report of the Special Rapporteur on the implications for human rights of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes

Researchers have found a significant relationship between social behaviors among young children and their exposure to widely used flame retardants. The finding, contained in a pilot study, points to some chemicals in furniture, electronics and other goods to help prevent fires. As these chemicals, which are found throughout the built environment in furniture, mattresses, carpeting, electronics, vehicles and more, are added to the products and are not bound in the material, they are often released into indoor environments. More:

• Study links flame retardants to social behavior among young children–Xinhua news
• Flame retardant chemicals may affect social behavior in young children–Science Daily
• Cross-sectional study of social behaviors in preschool children and exposure to flame retardants (Research article)

A trend towards using plastic parts in electrical and electronic goods is causing a headache for the recycling industry. Brominated flame-retarding chemicals have been associated with lower mental, psychomotor and IQ development, poorer attention spans and decreases in memory and processing speed, according to the peer-reviewed study by the campaign group CHEM Trust. More:

• Warnings over children's health as recycled e-waste comes back as plastic toys–The Guardian
• No Brainer. The impact of chemicals on children’s brain development: a cause for concern and a need for action (Report)
• Toxic Toy or Toxic Waste. Recycling POPs into new products (Summary for decision-makers)

Exposure to polluted environments is associated with more than one in four deaths among children younger than 5, according to two World Health Organization reports. Worldwide, 1.7 million children's deaths are attributable to environmental hazards, such as exposure to contaminated water, indoor and outdoor pollution, and other unsanitary conditions, the reports found. Weaker immune systems make children's health more vulnerable to harmful effects of polluted environments. More:

• Exposure to pollution kills millions of children, WHO reports find–The Washington Post
• The cost of a polluted environment: 1.7 million child deaths a year, says WHO–WHO News release
• Don’t pollute my future! The impact of the environment on children’s health (Report)
• Inheriting a sustainable world: Atlas on children’s health and the environment (Report)

A pair of long-lasting, man-made chemicals called PFOA and PFOS have generated controversy and lawsuits in recent years, worldwide and in Alabama, but a new peer-reviewed paper warns there are more than 3,000 replacement chemicals with similar chemical makeup used to make consumer products whose toxicology and potential health impacts are unknown. More:

• Substitute chemicals for cancer-linked PFCs may also be harmful, researchers warn–AL.com Alabama
• A Never-Ending Story of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs)? (Feature article)

BELIZE CITY, Mon. Feb. 20, 2017–Although Belize discontinued widespread use of Dichloro-diphenyl-trichloroethylene (DDT) for mosquito eradication two decades ago, it is believed to still be in the environment, as well as in the bodies of people who had been exposed over the years. More:

• 24 tons of deleterious DDT stockpiled by Belize headed to France for destruction–Amandala (Belize)

Scientists have discovered “extraordinary” levels of toxic pollution in the most remote and inaccessible place on the planet – the 10km deep Mariana trench in the Pacific Ocean. Small crustaceans that live in the pitch-black waters of the trench, captured by a robotic submarine, were contaminated with 50 times more toxic chemicals than crabs that survive in heavily polluted rivers in China. More:

• 'Extraordinary' levels of pollutants found in 10km deep Mariana trench–The Guardian
• Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna (Research article)
• Surprising Levels of Pollution Found in the Depths of the Mariana Trench–Smithsonian
• Banned chemicals persist in deep ocean–BBC
• Toxins found in creatures even in deepest part of oceans: study–Reuters

Researchers are finding an ever-growing list of chemicals in dust and are trying to understand what the compounds mean for our health. As sure as the sun rises, houses collect dust. It gathers on our knickknacks and dirties the carpets. More than just dirt, house dust is a mix of sloughed-off skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, bacteria, dust mites, bits of dead bugs, soil particles, pollen, and microscopic specks of plastic. It’s our detritus and, it turns out, has a lot to reveal about our lifestyle. More:

• Tracing the chemistry of household dust–C&EN
• Consumer Product Chemicals in Indoor Dust: A Quantitative Meta-analysis of U.S. Studies (Research article)

Researchers tested more than 400 samples of packaging materials, including hamburger and sandwich wrappers, pastry bags, beverage cups and French fry containers, and found evidence of fluorinated compounds called per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). Of the materials tested, these chemicals were found in 56 percent of dessert and bread wrappers, 38 percent of sandwich and burger wrappers and 20 percent of paperboard. More:

• Extensive use of fluorinated chemicals in fast food wrappers: Chemicals can leach into food–ScienceDaily
• Fluorinated chemicals in fast food packaging–Food Packaging Forum
• Fluorinated Compounds in U.S. Fast Food Packaging (Research article)
• Fast food with a side of fluorinated chemicals–Environmental Health News
• Perfluorinated Chemicals Found in Fast Food Wrappers–Environment News Service
• Report finds chemicals in one-third of fast food packaging–CNN
• Warning: Food Wrappers Still Coated in Cancer-Causing Chemical–EcoWatch
• Toxic chemicals in one-third of fast food packaging–Reuters

Long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) are persistent chemicals with proven toxic effects. A study estimated the emissions and concentrations of two such chemicals, perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), in 11 of Europe's most populated river catchments. Estimated emissions were lowest in the Thames and highest in the Rhine, while the EU environmental quality standard for PFOS was exceeded in all rivers. More:

• Europe's rivers ‘highly contaminated’ with long-chain perfluoroalkyl acids–Science for Environment Policy
• Europe-wide estuarine export and surface water concentrations of PFOS and PFOA (Research article)

Researchers at the Columbia University have discovered high and potentially harmful levels of flame retardant on the hands of toddlers in New York City. The study, from the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health, or CCCEH, in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University, examined 25 mother-child participant pairs from the CCCEH Sibling-Hermanos birth cohort. More:

• NYC toddlers exposed to high levels of flame retardants: Study–UPI
• Prevalence of historical and replacement brominated flame retardant chemicals in New York City homes (Research article)

Polar bears are facing trouble inside and out. The animals are losing habitat as global warming melts sea ice. Now a study shows bears’ bodies hold toxic chemicals originally made in distant factories, substances that threaten adult bears’ health at a level 100 times greater than the acceptable threshold of risk for humans. For cubs, the risk is more than 1,000 times that threshold. More:

• Polar Bear Cubs at High Risk from Toxic Industrial Chemicals, Despite Bans–Scientific American
• Risk of POP mixtures on the Arctic food chain (Research article)

A new National Academy of Sciences' risk assessment could accelerate public health protection from pesticides. More:

• Will Better Science Help Protect Us from Chemical Exposures?–Civil Eats
• New Report Calls for Use of Emerging Scientific Data to Better Assess Public Health Risks–The National Academies of Sciences.Engineering.Medicine
• Using 21st Century Science to Improve Risk-Related Evaluations (Report)

The first stage in this policy making process is identifying problems – what they are, how severe their impacts are, who they affect and whether there is a need for policy intervention. This requires collecting scientific knowledge and is described as impact assessment. Evidence-based impact assessment allows policymakers to maximise benefits and mitigate unwanted consequences and is becoming increasingly important in decision making. However, current impact assessment methods are expensive and time consuming; often, by the time evidence has been provided, the policy context has changed. More:

• QUICKScan: a quick, participatory method for exploring environmental policy problems – Science for Environment Policy
• QUICKScan as a quick and participatory methodology for problem identification and scoping in policy processes (Research article)

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals have been an area of growing concern, making many headlines in 2016. This article examines further developments concerning EDCs through the year. More:

• Concern Over EDCs Continues to Grow – MedPage Today
• Commission presents scientific criteria to identify endocrine disruptors in the pesticides and biocides areas – European Commission
• Migration of Parabens, Bisphenols, Benzophenone-Type UV Filters, Triclosan, and Triclocarban from Teethers and Its Implications for Infant Exposure (Research article)

The global industrial food system is emerging as a significant pathway through which people are exposed to potentially hazardous chemicals,1 but no method exists to assess the full extent to which chemicals are transported through food. More:

• Exploring Chemical Transport through Food: A Proposal for a Comprehensive Approach to Predict Exposures – Environmental Health Perspectives
• The Global Food System as a Transport Pathway for Hazardous Chemicals: The Missing Link between Emissions and Exposure – Environmental Health Perspectives

New mothers who quit breastfeeding earlier than they had wanted often chalk it up to not being able to produce enough milk. But a handful of researchers are exploring whether certain environmental exposures may affect some women’s ability to lactate. More:

• Mother’s Milk and the Environment: Might Chemical Exposures Impair Lactation? –Environmental Health Perspectives
• Serum Persistent Organic Pollutants and Duration of Lactation among Mexican-American Women (Research article)
• Gestational PFOA Exposure of Mice is Associated with Altered Mammary Gland Development in Dams and Female Offspring (Research article)
• Gestational and Chronic Low-Dose PFOA Exposures and Mammary Gland Growth and Differentiation in Three Generations of CD-1 Mice (Research article)

Research results further elucidate the already suggested different sensitivity of genders towards HBCD exposure on the protein level, and confirm the need for undertaking toxicological animal experiments in both genders. More:

Gender specific differences in the liver proteome of rats exposed to short term and low-concentration hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD) (Research article)