Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies (HEEDS)

The Cultural and Political Moment for Toxins Research A longstanding push for urgent action on environmental toxins is landing in an unprecedented time in American politics.

For decades, researchers warned about chemicals harming children's health. Few listened. Now Kennedy's in the Trump admin, championing similar concerns. Birnbaum calls it a "dance with the devil", risky, but an opportunity too significant to ignore.

Air pollution, even at low levels, may heighten breast cancer risk Women who live in areas with more air pollution may face a higher risk of developing breast cancer, according to a new, large-scale study.

Air pollution, even at low levels, may heighten breast cancer risk, via US Right to Know
usrtk.org/healthwire/a...

Picture of a gold course: groomed, green grass with a sand pit and a stand of trees in the background. Wispy clouds in the sky above.

The EPA just approved the pesticide cyclobutrifluram for golf courses, lawns, cotton, soybeans, and lettuce. It's another #ForeverChemical — one of a group called #PFAS.

Despite the vast agency furloughs, the pesticide office remains open for business.

Read on ➡️ bit.ly/47qlFKO

Close up of a Chiricahua leopard frog. The frog is bright green with stripes on its legs and spots on its back. It is in a body of water, surrounded by small, dot-like aquatic plants.

Did you know that more than 1 billion pounds of pesticides are used in the US every year?

And they don't just disappear. They pollute the air, water, and soil long after they're applied.

Tell the EPA to ban #pesticides that other countries already consider too dangerous to use ➡️ bit.ly/4otOUCz

Plasticizers linked to changes in kidney function A nation-wide study of U.S. adults published in the Annals of Medicine found that markers of exposure to phthalate plasticizers were associated with changes in kidney function. In short:Due to regulat...

Plasticizers linked to changes in kidney function
www.ehn.org/plasticizers...
#phthalates #endocrinedisruptors

Please join Beyond Plastics Science Director @trishavv.bsky.social, @amizota.bsky.social
of Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health, and Ryan Babadi of @toxicfreefuture.bsky.social on Nov. 12 for a free webinar about toxic chemicals in plastics.

www.beyondplastics.org/events/toxic...

DYK that this Thursday, 10/9 is Children's Environmental Health (CEH) Day? Don't have plans yet?? Check out our partner network's CEH Day celebratory activities on their website below. The day's events are co-sponsored by R2 PEHSU!!
nyscheck.org/cehday/

Scientists Completed a Toxicity Report on This Forever Chemical. The EPA Hasn’t Released It. Agency scientists found that PFNA could cause developmental, liver and reproductive harms. Their final report was ready in mid-April, according to an internal document reviewed by ProPublica, but the ...

NEW An EPA report found that PFNA, a chemical in the drinking water of some 26M people, interferes with development and likely causes liver problems & male reproductive harms. The report was done in April, scientists told me. But the agency hasn't released it

www.propublica.org/article/epa-...

RFK Jr. promised to take on plastic. Now he's part of an administration embracing it. Plastic is everywhere—including in us.

BOBBY JR. DOESN'T CARE ABOUT TOXINS

Many microplastics are carcinogens and endocrine disrupters

"One researcher told NPR that she’d had a federal grant canceled on the very same day RFK Jr. had favorably cited her work on microplastics in seafood in a speech."

www.motherjones.com/environment/...

Prenatal exposure to arsenic in drinking water and type 1 diabetes in a nationwide population-based cohort of Danish children Exposure to inorganic arsenic during pregnancy has been associated with immune dysregulation and shifts in leukocyte subpopulations critically involve…

Prenatal exposure to arsenic in drinking water associated with an increased risk of #type1diabetes, even at low exposure levels, and especially in children born at above average birth weight. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

HEAL’s new report, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘍𝘈𝘚 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘴𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘥: 𝘈 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸, was commissioned by HEAL from Milieu Consulting. It provides a 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲𝗻 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗱𝗱𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗣𝗙𝗔𝗦 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

📰➡️ ow.ly/fZSJ50X01UX

Oil and gas industry linked to thousands of yearly US deaths and preterm births, study finds By Shannon Kelleher Air pollution from oil and gas activities is responsible for an estimated 91,000 deaths and over 10,000 premature births in the US each year, according to a new study that examine...

Over half of US counties lack a single federally-monitored air quality station, with more than 50 million Americans living in “air quality monitoring deserts.”

@stoptoxics.bsky.social @cleanairclub.bsky.social @cleanaircatf.bsky.social
www.thenewlede.org/2025/08/oil-...

Father of Minneapolis shooting victim speaks out. And, CDC announces new leadership The father of a boy killed in the Minneapolis church shooting speaks out on how he wants his son to be remembered. And, a new acting CDC director has been announced.

NPR's Selena Simmons-Duffin reports that Jim O'Neill (acting director of CDC) thinks that "FDA should put medicines in the market and let consumers assume the risks."

So, basically do for drugs what we are doing for toxic chemicals. Guess what, it's a bad idea for both.

www.npr.org/2025/08/29/g...

Fossil Fuel and Petrochemical Lobbyists Overrun Plastics Treaty Negotiations - Center for International Environmental Law At least 234 fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists registered to participate in the final scheduled round of plastics treaty negotiations (INC-5.2).

The fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists attending the plastics treaty negotiations outnumber the combined diplomatic delegations of all 27 European Union nations and the EU combined... www.ciel.org/news/inc-5-2... #plasticstreaty

New report calls plastics a “grave” danger to health as nations negotiate treaty By Brian Bienkowski Plastics are a “grave” danger to humans and the planet, responsible for an estimated $1.5 trillion annually in health-related costs, and nations need to center human health as th...

Plastics pose a “grave” threat to human health, costing society $1.5 trillion a year, warns a new @thelancet.com report.

Scientists urge negotiators in Geneva to center health in the global plastics treaty.

@bostoncollege.bsky.social @sejorg.bsky.social
www.thenewlede.org/2025/08/lanc...

Exclusive: Trump administration memo urges countries to reject plastic production caps in UN Treaty The United States has sent letters to at least a handful of countries urging them to reject the goal of a global pact that includes limits on plastic production and plastic chemical additives at the start of U.N. plastic treaty talks in Geneva, according to a memo and communications seen by Reuters.

to absolutely nobody’s surprise, the US is defending the interests of the petrochemical bloc

The July issue of our endocrine disruptor news is published! ehsciences.activehosted.com/index.php?ac...

Volcanic environments and thyroid disruption – A review focused on As, Hg, and Co The purpose of this review is to explore the link between volcanic environments and thyroid disruption, with focus on the role played by As, Hg, and C…

TIL that volcanoes are endocrine disruptors
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

YouTube video by Environmental Working Group (EWG) Is Bayer losing the Roundup fight? | Carey Gillam reports

A Georgia jury recently awarded $2 billion to a cancer patient who claimed #Roundup was to blame.

Now Bayer is pushing the US Supreme Court to help it block further lawsuits.

Watch our full breakdown video📽️:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4l_O...

Exploring overlooked bisphenol exposure sources through a comprehensive 7-day investigation using time-activity diaries and urinary biomonitoring Bisphenols (BPs), widely used in polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, are associated with potential health risks, yet many exposure sources remain…

Study links bisphenol exposure to both well-known and "previously underexplored sources, including ointments, medical plasters, sheer tights, wallpapering, vinyl flooring installation, crop cultivation, and food preparation with gloves."
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Clothing dye raises diabetes risk in pregnant women By Brian Bienkowski Pregnant women exposed to a harmful clothing dye have a higher risk for gestational diabetes when they are carrying a male fetus, according to a new study.

🚨 A new @ucsfhealth.bsky.social study finds pregnant women exposed to a toxic clothing dye called o-anisidine are more likely to develop gestational diabetes, especially when carrying a male fetus.

@sejorg.bsky.social @ceh.org
www.thenewlede.org/2025/06/clot...

FDA must fix food packaging rules for MAHA to matter, scientists say By Brian Bienkowski A grim assessment of children’s health released by the Trump administration last month that pointed to several types of chemicals as contributors to chronic disease has scientist...

“Where are they falling short in their testing? The answer is everywhere,” said Jerry Heindel, director of @heeds.bsky.social.

Scientists say the FDA must fix food packaging rules for #MAHA to have a real impact.
www.thenewlede.org/2025/06/fda-...

A Chapter Closes at Environmental Health Perspectives | Environmental Health Perspectives | Vol. 133, No. 6

It's a sad day for science.
A Chapter Closes at Environmental Health Perspectives.
ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/10.1289/...

Environmental Health Research at EPA: What’s happening at ORD? EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) conducts research and provides scientific information to support Agency decisions. ORD operates at eleven facilities across the US and is also...

Webinar today at 2pm ET!
Environmental Health Research at EPA: What’s happening at ORD?
www.healthandenvironment.org/che-webinars...

Is Fake Grass Safe? A Manufacturer Sues to Stop a Discussion.

"Scientists who collected and analyzed water from the Mediterranean Sea... found that artificial turf fibers made up more than 15 percent of larger plastic particles in their samples." The environmental problems with fake grass: www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/c...

Diabetes from plastics: Role of endocrine disruptors in β-cell physiology

"there is sufficient evidence to suggest that bisphenols, a group of common chemicals found in plastics, may contribute to an increased risk of obesity and diabetes in human cohorts."

Article by Dr. Angel Nadal @anadaln.bsky.social

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

One week from today! Learn about the corporate secrets in the UCSF Industry Documents Library and how you can use the library in your research.

Register at: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

📣 Exciting News!
Registration and abstract submission are now OPEN for the 12th EYES Annual Meeting in Milan, Italy

🙌 Present your research and grow as a clinician / scientist among this vibrant community

🗓️ Abstract submission deadline: 6 July

🔗 Register ow.ly/JjY150VXEOS

@ese-eyes.bsky.social

Legally binding reduction targets for primary plastics production: A necessity to end plastic pollution Reducing primary plastics production (PPP) is crucial to mitigating environmental and health impacts. Setting effective reduction targets requires further research to avoid underestimating socio-econo...

Legally binding reduction targets for primary plastics production: A necessity to end plastic pollution www.cell.com/one-earth/fu...

Want to learn how we can hold health harming corporations to account? Join us 12pm PT, Thursday May 29 to hear about the work of the @UCSF Center to End Corporate Harm