Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and its derivatives have been found in levels exceeding EU thresholds in some outdoor textiles, leather goods and ski waxes, according to a recent analysis of everyday consumer items. Better quality control in the processing and manufacture of goods coated with the substances is among the recommendations to reduce human exposure to these toxic chemicals. More:
Science for Environment Policy

The River Po is Italy’s longest river. Some areas of the Po basin are densely populated and the river has suffered pollution from municipal wastewater discharges, stormwater runoff, sewer overflows, agricultural runoff and industrial waste discharges. More:
Science for Environment Policy

PCBs were once used in electrical gear, paints and flame retardants, but were banned from the 1970s because of their toxic effect in humans and animals. However the manmade chemicals have persisted in the environment, and are accumulating in top predators. The study finds Europe's cetaceans have levels of PCBs that are among the highest found in on the oceans. More:
BBC
PCB pollution continues to impact populations of orcas and other dolphins in European waters (Scientific report)

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has banned the use of three perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in food packaging. The chemicals in question are used as grease-proofing agents for pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and other food containers. More:
Chemistry World
Indirect Food Additives: Paper and Paperboard Components (US FDA rule)

New research supported in part by NIEHS indicates that exposure to common environmental pollutants that persist in the environment, such as DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), may diminish infants’ immune response to the tuberculosis (TB) vaccine known as bacillus Calmette–Guerin (BCG). More: 

• Persistent pollutants linked to poor vaccine response - Environmental Factor
• A Birth Cohort Study of Maternal and Infant Serum PCB-153 and DDE Concentrations and Responses to Infant Tuberculosis Vaccination (Scientific article)

Santa’s reindeer have come and gone in their annual Christmas journey over the North, but reindeer — and many other Arctic animals and people — may face health impacts from toxic flame retardants that are banned, but still present, in Canada. More:
Nunatsiaq Online
Arctic Reindeer Poo Acts as Flame Retardant
Characterizing the distribution of selected PBDEs in soil, moss and reindeer dung at Ny-Ålesund of the Arctic (Research article)

Dr. Joseph Braun, assistant professor of epidemiology at Brown University, conducted an observational study that found that some children born in the Cincinnati area downstream from an industrial dumping site have more fat as young children if their mothers had high levels of the chemical perfluorooctanoic acid in their blood during pregnancy. More:
Public Radio International
Prenatal perfluoroalkyl substance exposure and child adiposity at 8 years of age (Research article)

A pineapple pesticide that made its way into milk in Hawaii also made its way into men's brains, and those men were more likely to develop Parkinson's disease, a study finds. It's the latest in a very long series of studies linking various pesticides to Parkinson's, which is caused by the loss of certain brain cells. More:
NBC News
Midlife milk consumption and substantia nigra neuron density at death (Research article)

The varied hormones in our bodies exert their effects by attaching to specific receptors. Once this attachment is established, a hormone initiates a unique, complex chain of events that regulate our body's development and function. Think of each hormone as a member of an orchestra that is performing a demanding, perpetual symphonic work. Hormone disrupters are chemicals that interfere with this delicate process. More:
www.timesfreepress.com

A study of men from the Faroe Islands finds that high DDT and PCB exposure during adolescence and adulthood is associated with abnormal chromosomes in sperm . More:
Environmental Health News
Sperm Aneuploidy in Faroese Men with Lifetime Exposure to Dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) and Polychlorinated Biphenyl (PCB) Pollutants (Research article)

A pesticide known as "DDT's cousin" is still being used in the United States, despite evidence of its toxic effects. The EPA acknowledged that even though it had not fully addressed all of the ecological and human health risk concerns regarding endosulfan, it had taken a number of mitigation measures to make its use safer. More:
New America Media
Endosulfan Phase-out (US EPA)

Manufacturers use fluorinated compounds in popcorn bags so the paper in the bag doesn’t quickly degrade after contacting the butter in the popcorn. Recently, Denmark's largest retailer unveiled fluorinated-free microwave popcorn. More:
Environmental Health News

PCBs, short for polychlorinated biphenyls, now seem to be a byproduct of certain pigment production. In recent years researchers have found that some paints, clothing, newspapers and magazines contain forms of the chemicals, usually a specific compound called PCB-11. More:
Environmental Health News

What if, instead of choosing between fire safety or health, you could have both? Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin (UT) published their discovery of a flame retardant that is nontoxic and won’t accumulate over time in the bodies of people who come in contact with it. More:
Newsweek
Boston Globe
Bioinspired Catecholic Flame Retardant Nanocoating for Flexible Polyurethane Foams (Research article)

Every day thousands of people make decisions that affect the chemical market. Most decisions are about the costs, availability, and performance of products; few involve consideration of human health or the environment. If the consumer market offers an important opportunity for promoting safer chemical production and consumption systems, the amount of chemical information in the market must expand, and the number of products that take health and environment into account must increase. More:
Green Biz

Chemical exposures, along with stress, diet, and exercise, play a complicated role in the timing of pubertal development. More:
Environmental Health Perspectives
Brominated Flame Retardants and Other Persistent Organohalogenated Compounds in Relation to Timing of Puberty in a Longitudinal Study of Girls (Research article)

A United Nations group will soon begin investigating whether to include a toxic chemical, linked to a contamination case involving the RAAF Base in Williamtown, on a global list potentially banning its use. The chemical perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) is a component of firefighting foam which was used at Defence Force and fire service bases around Australia for decades. More:
ABC Net - Australia

A study investigated how concentrations of POPs in breast milk vary worldwide by reviewing studies published between 1995 and 2011. They found that levels of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins in breast milk are higher in Europe and North America, whereas pesticides are more prevalent in Africa and Asia. More:
Science for Environment Policy
Spatial and temporal trends of the Stockholm Convention POPs in mothers’ milk — a global review (Research article)

Pesticide use in homes may increase the risk of children developing leukemia or lymphoma, a new report suggests. Researchers combined data from 16 earlier studies that had compared pesticide exposure between children who developed leukemia or lymphoma and those who did not. More:
CNN
Residential Exposure to Pesticide During Childhood and Childhood Cancers: A Meta-Analysis (Research article)

Chemistry is having “an innovation crisis”, according to John Warner, co-author of the 12 Principles of Green Chemistry. “We need to ask if the way we’re training future scientists is fitting the need of society.” “Instead of enacting another law that bans or regulates a chemical or a molecule that has a toxic or environmentally destructive effect, we need to think about how we invent a product that doesn’t have that effect”, he said. More:
The Guardian