A new study has identified a possible link between exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and celiac disease in young people. More:

• Chemical pollutant exposure linked to celiac disease in young people  –  Medical News Today
• Persistent Organic Pollutants Impact on Child Health (Report)  –  WHO
• Definition & Facts for Celiac Disease  –  National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
• Persistent organic pollutant exposure and celiac disease A pilot study (Research abstract)

A new study reveals that polybrominated biphenyl-153 (PBB-153) — a flame retardant present in older consumer products, which has been banned since 1976 — may cause serious birth defects by altering the genetic code in sperm. The new study into this common household chemical raises questions about the present-day consequences of corporate malfeasance nearly half a century ago. More:

• A flame retardant commonly found in vintage furniture may be affecting human sperm  –  Salon
• The toxic chemical whack-a-mole game  –  Salon
• Polybrominated Diphenyl Ethers (PBDEs) and Polybrominated Biphenyls (PBBs) Factsheet  –  Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention
• Detrimental effects of flame retardant, PBB153, exposure on sperm and future generations (Research article)
• Hand-Me-Down Hazard Flame Retardants in Discarded Foam Products (Research article)

More than 10,000 years of domestication have made dogs strikingly similar to humans, from their ability to read facial our expressions to our closely related genomes. Now, a new study reveals that dogs and humans carry the same toxic chemicals in their bodies—a discovery that could possibly improve human health. More:

• Dogs can be 'early-warning systems' for toxic chemical exposure at home  –  National Geographic
• Chemicals Within Us  –  National Geographic
• Comparative Exposure Assessment Using Silicone Passive Samplers Indicates That Domestic Dogs Are Sentinels To Support Human Health Research (Research abstract)
• Silicone Pet Tags Associate Tris(1,3-dichloro-2-isopropyl) Phosphate Exposures with Feline Hyperthyroidism (Research abstract)
• Detection of herbicides in the urine of pet dogs following home lawn chemical application (Research abstract)

The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection has officially published its adoption of stringent, health-based drinking water standards for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), chemicals that are extremely persistent in the environment and have been linked to various health problems in people. More:

• New Jersey Adopts Strict Drinking Water Standards for PFOA and PFOS  –  ASPE Pipeline
• Affirming national leadership role, New Jersey publishes formal stringent drinking water standards for PFOA and PFOS  –  N.J. Department of Environmental Protection

The challenge was to identify the new compound. Because the company didn’t reveal the chemistry of the replacement — in fact had kept its details purposefully obscured on the grounds that it was confidential business information — the scientists had to resort to expensive, painstaking detective work to figure out what chemical the company was now using and whether they were releasing it into the environment. More:

• New PFAS Chemical Contamination Discovered in New Jersey  –  The Intercept
• New Teflon Toxin Causes Cancer in Lab Animals  –  The Intercept
• Nontargeted mass-spectral detection of chloroperfluoropolyether carboxylates in New Jersey soils (Research abstract)
• Developmental toxicity of perfluorononanoic acid in mice  –  (Research abstract)
• Filling gaps in science exposes gaps in chemical regulation  –  (Research summary)

Their latest win came in March, when the EU executive vowed “to address the unnecessary and unwanted use of chemicals” in products. The announcement was part of the Circular Economy Action Plan, known as the bloc’s masterplan for safer, longer lasting, and recyclable products. More:

• Old Flames: The Quest to ban toxic retardants heats up  –  META
• Flame Retardants May Create Deadlier Fires  –  Scientific American
• Halogenated flame retardants do the fire safety benefits justify the risks (Research article)
• Toxic Loophole Recycling Hazardous Waste into New Products  –  (Report's executive summary) IPEN

Infectious disease experts, scientists, and doctors have warned about the potential for a pandemic for years. Similar to those who cautioned us about a disease like COVID-19, leading public health experts, scientists, and doctors today warn us that exposure to toxic chemicals is contributing to rates of chronic illnesses. And many of these illnesses worsen the impacts of COVID-19. More:

• Listen to experts and tackle the toxic chemical crisis contributing to chronic disease  –  The Hill
• Confronting the chemicals that are worsening COVID-19  –  EHN
• PFAS: A Nonstick Nightmare  –  Toxic Free Future
• EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (Scientific review)
• Detection of Poly- and Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFASs) in U.S. Drinking Water Linked to Industrial Sites, Military Fire Training Areas, and Wastewater Treatment Plants (Research article)

First, there was DDT. Then came BPA. The latest chemical acronym to become a household name is PFAS, short for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. The chemicals in this class are valued as strong surfactants and for their ability to repel water, grease, and stains. Among other uses, PFAS are added to paper products designed to hold hot, greasy foods. A recent study in Environmental Health Perspectives delves into how such foods might contribute to people’s exposures to PFAS. More:

• PFAS in Food Packaging- A Hot, Greasy Exposure  –  EHP
• Dietary Habits Related to Food Packaging and Population Exposure to PFASs (Research article)

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a class of synthetic compounds used in a variety of industrial processes and found in dozens of household items. Previous studies have linked the toxins with a variety of health problems, including cancer and high cholesterol. Winds can carry PFAS pollution several miles away from manufacturing facilities, according to a new study. More:

• Wind can carry PFAS pollution miles away from manufacturing facilities  –  UPI
• Elevated PFAS levels found in tap water in major U.S. cities  –  UPI
• Evidence of Air Dispersion: HFPO–DA and PFOA in Ohio and West Virginia Surface Water and Soil near a Fluoropolymer Production Facility (Research abstract)

The foams, dubbed aqueous film-forming foam (AFFF), were a boon to firefighters. Special perfluorinated chemicals gave AFFF unique hydrophobic and surfactant properties, allowing it to rapidly seal over burning fuel and prevent reignition once a blaze had been extinguished. By the 1970s, AFFF was in use at most military bases, airports, refineries, and many civilian fire departments around the world. More:

• PFAS-free firefighting foams: Are they safer?  –  EHN
• PFAS Contamination of Drinking Water Far More Prevalent Than Previously Reported  –  EWG
• Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances (PFAS) Factsheet  –  US CDC
• Exposure to Perfluoroalkyl Substances in a Cohort of Women Firefighters and Office Workers in San Francisco (Research abstract)

Substances used for air conditioning in almost all new cars are building up in the environment and may pose a threat to human health, researchers say. More:

• Ozone layer: Concern grows over threat from replacement chemicals  –  BBC
• Per and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)  –  US FDA
• Toxicological Profile- Perfluoroalkyls  –  US ATSDR

It seems like everyone knows someone with a sensitivity to gluten — a protein mixture found in cereal grains, like wheat and barley. A third of all Americans say they avoid products with gluten in them, and grocery store shelves are overflowing with gluten-free products that didn’t exist a decade ago. More:

• Can’t eat gluten? Pesticides and nonstick pans might have something to do with it, study says  –  Grist
• PFAS, explained (Video)
• EPA Finds Replacements for Toxic “Teflon” Chemicals Toxic  –  NRDC
• That chocolate cake won’t last forever, but the chemicals in it might  –  Grist
• Celiac disease linked to common chemical pollutants  –  Science Daily
• Persistent organic pollutant exposure and celiac disease: A pilot study (Research article)

Manila, Philippines—Environmental rights group EcoWaste Coalition is calling on the government to revamp the country’s recycling protocols after an international study found the presence of highly toxic chemicals in some toys made of recycled plastics, particularly those from electronic waste (e-waste). More:

• EcoWaste to govt, industry: Remove toxic chemicals in recycled plastic toys  –  Inquirer
• Some Plastics Can Poison Children  –  IPEN
• Detection of high PBDD/Fs levels and dioxin-like activity in toys using a combination of GC-HRMS, rat-based and human-based DR CALUX® reporter gene assays (Research article)

When you buy a pair of blue jeans, you probably don’t think about the harm they might cause to people or the environment. But synthetic dyes and other chemicals used to manufacture jeans and other clothing can make workers sick and pollute waterways, particularly in manufacturing regions in Asia, where heavy metals like cadmium, chromium and lead have been found in water and sediment outside of textile industrial parks. More:

• Products we use every day are full of harmful chemicals. Can green chemistry lead to safer alternatives?  –  Ensia
• In search of safe replacements for harmful chemicals used in cookware, carpets, clothing, cosmetics and more  –  Ensia
• Rethink how chemical hazards are tested  –  Nature
• From one hazardous chemical to another: How to end regrettable substitution  –  CIEL

• Better living through Green Chemistry  –  Ensia
• 12 Principles of Green Chemistry  –  American Chemical Society
• Green Chemistry & Commerce Council (GC3)  –  GC3
• Levi Strauss & Co. Driving Adoption of Green Chemistry (Report) –  Berkeley Haas

• GreenScreen® for Safer Chemicals  –  Clean Production Action
• Chemical Footprint  –  Clean Production Action
• Know Better Chemistry  –  ChemFORWARD

Researchers from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe) and the University of Glasgow, UK, have identified a microbe in malaria mosquitoes that is capable of blocking transmission of the disease from the insects to people. More:

• Icipe scientists discover malaria transmission-blocking microbe in mosquitoes  –  Icipe
• A microsporidian impairs Plasmodium falciparum transmission in Anopheles arabiensis mosquitoes (Research article)

Long-term exposure to air pollution increases the danger associated with four of the biggest Covid-19 mortality risks: diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease and asthma. It also can make the immune system overreact, exaggerating the inflammatory response to common pathogens. And everyday hormone-disrupting chemicals could affect our immune system’s defenses against infections. More:

• The toxic chemicals in our homes could increase Covid-19 threat  –  The Guardian
• EDC-2: The Endocrine Society's Second Scientific Statement on Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals (Scientific statement)
• Immunomodulatory effects of synthetic endocrine disrupting chemicals on the development and functions of human immune cells (Review article)
• Delayed discovery, dissemination, and decisions on intervention in environmental health: a case study on immunotoxicity of perfluorinated alkylate substances (Research article)
• Serum Vaccine Antibody Concentrations in Children Exposed to Perfluorinated Compounds (Research article)

New data suggest that commercial incineration of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) doesn’t break down these hardy chemicals. Instead, it spreads them into surrounding areas. More:

• Incineration may spread, not break down PFAS  –  C&EN
• A guide to the PFAS found in our environment  –  C&EN

We can't do anything about getting older except age with grace and tolerate the excesses of youth (as long as they honor social distancing). Health problems, however, are another thing, because they may have causes that can be prevented and/or treated. More:

• Confronting the chemicals that are worsening COVID-19  –  EHN
• An Introduction to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (video)  –  The Endocrine Society

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals masquerade as hormones. These insidious contaminants increase the diseases that cause the underlying conditions that result in susceptibility to COVID-19. Hormones determine our development, and our behavior—all at tiny concentrations. Hormone-impersonating chemicals can rob us of otherwise healthy lives. More:

• Endocrine-disrupting chemicals weaken us in our COVID-19 battle: Linda S. Birnbaum, Jerrold J. Heindel  –  EHN
• Advances in epigenetics link genetics to the environment and disease (Review article)

Female firefighters in San Francisco have higher concentrations of certain cancer-linked chemicals in their blood than women in other occupations, according to the first study to investigate how women in the profession are exposed to chemicals in the line of duty. Chemicals called PFAS were found in high levels in the first study of female firefighter health. More:

• Female firefighters exposed to cancer-linked chemicals  –  The Mercury News
• Women Firefighters Biomonitoring Collaborative  –  WWBC