In a new study, environmental pollutants found in fish were shown to obstruct the human body’s natural defense system to expel harmful toxins. A protein found in cells of nearly all plants and animals, called P-gp, acts as the cell’s bouncer by binding to the foreign chemical and expelling it from the body. More:

• Research Highlight: Pollutants in Fish Inhibit Humans' Natural Defense System - Scripps Institution of Oceanography
• Eating Seafood May Obstruct Natural Human Defense System Mechanism, Here's Why - Science World Report
• Global marine pollutants inhibit P-glycoprotein: Environmental levels, inhibitory effects, and cocrystal structure (Research article)

Skin samples taken from 15 great whites near Dyer Island, off Gansbaai in Western Cape, contained high levels of DDT. More:
www.timeslive.co.za

Also known as C8, because of its eight-carbon molecule, PFOA has been found in drinking water in many places across the United States. Although the chemical was developed and long manufactured in the United States, it’s not just an American problem. PFOA has spread throughout the world. More:
The Intercept

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were found at elevated levels in children that lived in houses and studied in schools built during this period, before PCBs were more thoroughly regulated in the construction industry. Although food is generally a more concentrated source of these toxins, exposure through these environments should be minimised wherever possible. More: 

• Building materials used between 1950 and 1980 in Europe may contribute to PCB air pollution - Science for Environment Policy
• Associations between plasma concentrations of PCB 28 and possible indoor exposure sources in Danish school children and mothers (Research article)

Industrial pollution in people happens long before they take their first sip of water. Most of us encounter chemicals that can cause brain damage, cancer and other serious health problems in a place critical to human development - the mother's womb. More:

• 3 Toxins Found in the Cord Blood of Every One of the 10 Newborns Tested - Environmental Working Group
• Pollution in minority newborns: BPA and other cord blood pollutants (Research article)

Hundreds of residents in the Dutch city of Dordrecht have signaled an interest in getting their blood tested for a chemical used at a former DuPont Co. factory, harking back to a similar survey in the U.S. a decade ago that established a probable link to cancer. More: Bloomberg

More and more women are finding it difficult to get pregnant, with mounting evidence suggesting chemicals used in plasticisers and pesticides are responsible. The consequences are estimated to cost the EU €1.4 billion per year. More:

• Endocrine disruptors’ link to infertility confirmed - EurActiv 
• Chemical Exposure Linked to 1.4 Billion Euros in Women's Health Care Costs - Endocrine Society
• Female Reproductive Disorders, Diseases, and Costs of Exposure to Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in the European Union (Research article)

Chickens foraging on soils containing environmental pollutants can accumulate these chemicals in their tissues and eggs. A study assessed levels of dioxins in eggs produced in Poland, in some cases finding concentrations several times above the safe EU limit. The researchers identified the source as preservative-treated wood in the chicken coop, which they say is a public health risk.  More: 

• Egg consumers may be exposed to dioxinsabove EU limit due to farmyard PCP - Science for Environment Policy
• Pentachlorophenol from an old henhouse as a dioxin source in eggs and related human exposure (Research article)

Where do you stand on the role of academia in training the next generation of chemists: should we favour ‘applied chemistry’ or ‘science for the sake of science’? Both sides have valid points; public funding should not be subsidising private industry, but students should receive practical training to help them get jobs after graduation. Navigating the complex issues around toxicity and waste can be a significant impediment to commercial success of any new technology. More:
Chemistry World

Research has found evidence for recent contamination of Lake Como, northern Italy, with chemicals banned in the EU since the 1970s. Levels of DDT and PCBs in sediment, aquatic microorganisms and fish were examined. The results suggest glacial meltwater as a source for renewed DDT contamination and show recent contamination of fish above safe levels. The findings demonstrate the need for continued monitoring of persistent organic pollutants in European waters. More:

• Lake Como contaminated with chemicals banned in the 1970s - Science for Environment Policy 
• Recent DDT and PCB contamination in the sediment and biota of the Como Bay (Lake Como, Italy) (Research article)

Since California banned flame retardant polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in 2006, levels of these chemicals in the breast milk of San Francisco Bay area women has fallen by nearly 40%. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has deemed PBDEs a concern for children’s health, linking them to behavioural problems following postnatal exposure. More: 

• California Bay area sees 39% drop in PBDEs in breast milk - Chemistry World
• PBDE levels in breast milk are decreasing in California (Research article)

Alternatives assessment involves comparing the advantages and disadvantages of potential substitutes for toxic chemicals. To determine the factors common to a high-quality alternatives assessment framework, researchers identified 20 frameworks and evaluated six core areas: hazard assessment, exposure characterization, life cycle impacts, technical feasibility assessment, economic feasibility assessment, and decision-making processes for reaching conclusions about alternatives. More:

• The Right Tools for the Job: Evaluating Frameworks for Chemical Alternatives Assessment - Environmental Health Perspectives.
• Alternatives Assessment Frameworks: Research Needs for the Informed Substitution of Hazardous Chemicals (Research article).

A new state study suggests the amount of flame retardants found in the breast milk of Northern California women declined significantly over about a decade, possibly as a result of a 2003 state ban on the toxic chemicals. More:
Flame retardant levels drop in breast milk of California women, study finds - The Sacramento Bee
Flame Retardant Levels in California Breast Milk Decreasing - California Department of Toxic Substances Control
PBDE levels in breast milk are decreasing in California (Research article)

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sparked a global scare over a tropical virus outbreak that officials say is worse than last year’s Ebola epidemic. They predict the Zika virus could infect as many as four million people by the end of 2016. More:  Zika Prompts Pleas for DDT - The New American

See also other articles related to Zika:

• All the Ways Humans Try to Kill Mosquitos—and Why We’re Still Losing - Time
• Report says Monsanto-linked pesticide is to blame for microcephaly outbreak - not Zika - Science Alert
• REPORT from Physicians in the Crop-Sprayed Villages regarding Dengue-Zika, microcephaly, and mass-spraying with chemical poisons (PDF document)
• Informe de Medicos de Pueblos Fumigados sobre Dengue-Zika y fumigaciones con venenos químicos - REDUAS (Spanish)

Ever since our early ancestors left the fertile sauna of Africa and headed North, we humans have been searching for ways to fend off sleet and snow and rain and cold. The Inuit once relied on seal and whale intestines to get the job done. Nowadays, we rely on waterproof synthetics. More:
Mother Jones

Regulatory toxicology has begun to embrace new hazard characterisation approaches which could be integrated into regulatory safety assessments. The vision is to fundamentally change the way we assess the safety of chemicals, by superseding traditional animal experiments with a predictive toxicology that is based on a comprehensive understanding of how chemicals can cause adverse effects in humans. More:
European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)

97 % d’aliments contenant des résidus de pesticides ; les enfants exposés à près de 130 polluants chimiques chaque jour ; une industrie partagée entre six multinationales. More:
Le Monde

Fish in today’s oceans contain far lower levels of mercury, DDT and other toxins than at any time in the past four decades, according to a major review by scientists at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla. More:
The San Diego Union Tribune

Polyfluorinated chemicals (PFCs) are hazardous to the environment and human health and ‘widely present’ in a range of leading outdoor brands tested by Greenpeace. More:
The Guardian
Leaving Traces - The hidden hazardous chemicals in outdoor gear (Greenpeace product test 2016 report)

Pioneers in green chemistry are warning that the development of new environmentally friendly, non-toxic chemicals is being hampered by a lack of training in toxicology and environmental mechanisms. Chemists are taught to synthesise molecules without considering their impacts on human health or the environment. More:
Chemistry World