Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a sustainable approach to reduce pesticide use and risks of adverse effects on human health and the environment. However, its adoption by European farmers cannot be based only on mandatory regulation by the European Union, a new study suggests. The research identified four key factors driving IPM adoption; including market forces, policy instruments and farmers’ attitudes to the environment. More:
Science for Environment Policy

A more efficient method for sorting plastic electronics waste containing harmful chemicals is proposed by a new study. The method combines two analytical techniques that together can quickly and accurately detect levels of flame retardants in plastics used by the electronics industry. More:
Science for Environment Policy

A United Nations committee of experts recommended the global elimination of the pesticide pentachlorophenol (PCP), widely used for treatment of wooden utility poles and railroad ties. Scientists cite chemical’s persistence, bioaccumulation, long-range transport, and PCP’s toxic impacts in recommending it being listed in the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. More:
Beyond Pesticides

Switzerland - As glaciers increasingly melt in the wake of climate change, it is not only the landscape that is affected. Thawing glaciers also release many industrial pollutants stored in the ice into the environment. More:
AZO Cleantech
Phys.org - When thawing glaciers release pollutants

Suisse - La fonte des glaciers liée au changement climatique menace de relâcher dans l'environnement des polluants d'origine industrielle qu'ils ont stockés. Une étude soutenue par le Fonds national de la recherche scientifique a analysé le cas des biphényles polychlorés sur une période allant de 1940 à 2002. More:
RTS.ch (French)

NCR Corp. continued to produce carbonless copy paper well after learning a chemical involved in the manufacturing process posed a long-term risk to human health and the vitality of the Fox River, a federal appellate court has found. The company knew long before area paper recyclers did that polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were a problem, the court concluded. More:
www.greenbaypressgazette.com - Wisconsin, USA

BASF ha informado de que se opone a la autorización del uso prolongado del retardante de la llama hexabromociclodecano (HBCD). More:
www.noticierotextil.net (Spanish)

Le ministère délégué chargé de l’Environnement, avec l’appui financier du Fonds pour l’environnement mondial (FEM), a procédé au lancement de la deuxième campagne nationale de collecte et d’élimination des appareils à Polychlorobiphényles (PCB). More:
aufait - Morocco (French)

Four substances have been added in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services 13th Report on Carcinogens, a science-based document that identifies chemical, biological, and physical agents that are considered cancer hazards for people living in the United States. More:
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences - USA

Although no longer manufactured in the United States, polybrominated diphenyl ether (PBDE) flame retardants are still found in imported products as well as in older U.S.-made products; they also persist in the environment. A study suggests that exposure to specific PBDE congeners may be a risk factor for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). More:
Environmental Health Perspectives

Un estudio halla hasta 52 tipos diferentes de plaguicidas en 90 muestras de frutas y verduras; sólo peras y lechugas presentaban hasta 10 sustancias distintas. More:
El Correo (Spanish)

A persistent chemical formerly used in Scotchgard still contaminates most fish in U.S. rivers and the Great Lakes despite a phase-out a dozen years ago, a new federal study shows. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency researchers found perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) in all of the 157 fish sampled from nearshore waters in the five Great Lakes and in 73 percent from 162 rivers. More:
Environmental Health News

INDIANAPOLIS — Federal and state environmental agencies are investigating the discovery of PCB contamination inside a Wal-Mart warehouse that the company shut down last month. Early testing suggests caulking used in the expansion joints of the 50-year-old warehouse's concrete floor and insulated siding could be sources of the PCB. More:
The Republic - Indiana, USA
WBIW.com - Hundreds Of Indianapolis Walmart Warehouse Workers Tested For PCB Exposure

Scientists tested household dust as well as laundry wash-water from 20 homes in the Washington cities of Longview and Vancouver. They also took samples of incoming and outgoing water from two wastewater treatment plants that discharge into the Columbia River. They detected flame retardants in all of those tests. More:
EarthFix - Oregon, USA

Depuis que les études sur les pesticides sont indépendantes (2011), les résultats deviennent éclairants. Le réseau d'action européen contre les pesticides met en garde contre le manque de prise de conscience des risques. More:
France inter (French)

A group of Indian and American researchers have found that some species of bacteria have the potential to decompose residues of commonly used pesticide Hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH), which is now identified as a global pollutant. More:
India Today

Madrid - La decisión de la Organización Mundial de la Salud (OMS) de autorizar un insecticida vetado desde los setenta como recurso último para combatir la malaria en los países pobres ha tenido un precio para la salud, especialmente de los niños, y un grupo de investigadores españoles ha desvelado cuál es. More:
radio intereconomía (Spanish)

Deslauriers Island, Quebec - The gulls that inhabit Deslauriers Island every summer are the most contaminated colony in Canada when it comes to flame retardants, including one compound that has accumulated in their eggs at concentrations up to 44 times higher than elsewhere. More:
Environmental Health News

A number of leading international researchers, amongst others from the National Food Institute, Technical University of Denmark, recommend that fluorochemicals are only used where they are absolutely essential. More:
R&D Magazine

In this review the biostatistical developments since about the year 2000 onwards are discussed, mainly structured for repeated-dose studies, mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, reproductive and ecotoxicological assays. More:
Statistical evaluation of toxicological bioassays – a review (Review article)