Ashley Connors

What Dolly said.

Some good news!

Gotcha. I must have been avoiding the news/internet or something, because I missed that story completely. Totally agree on the absurdity of it all.

I didn’t see this correction when I posted, so yeah, my math was based on your typo.

The original post said million, not billion.

This is less than 1/3 pound per person, so…probably not noticeable.

Given the popularity of Ozempic and similar drugs, I also wonder if this is perhaps an underestimate.

Texas farmers say sewage-based fertilizer tainted with “forever chemicals” poisoned their land and killed their livestock The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years. An untold number of farmers and ranchers across Texas have spread it on their land.

History repeating itself, this time with #PFOS. 🧵

"The fertilizer was promoted as an environmental win-win for years."

www.texastribune.org/2024/12/02/t...

If your business would go bust if you weren't allowed to contaminate local groundwater with arsenic, molybdenum, cobalt, and radium, then maybe, just maybe you don't have a viable business

House declines to override Trump veto of bill to complete water pipeline in southeastern Colorado The vote was 248 in favor of overriding the veto and 177 opposed. It needed the support of two-thirds of those voting to pass.

The House of Representatives has declined to override Trump's veto on a bill to complete a pipeline that would deliver clean, safe drinking water to communities in Southeastern Colorado whose local supply is contaminated with salt, radium & selenium.

🧵
1/5

coloradosun.com/2026/01/08/h...

Use of flame retardants and the dangers of increased fire smoke toxicity to UK firefighters’ health - Fidra ‘The use of certain chemical flame retardants in UK consumer products, including furniture, mattresses, textiles, electronics and building construction materials, increases fire smoke toxicity, posing...

Chemical fire retardants (CFRs) include substances such as PFAS + chemicals linked to hormone disruption + damage to reproductive health. Now, a new report from @fidrango.bsky.social
asks if CFRs are making smoke in fires even more harmful:

www.fidra.org.uk/news/use-of-...

🧵 1/8

Since added flame retardants, e.g., in insulation materials, can account for more than 10% of CO2 equivalents, it is worth considering ways to avoid or replace them in construction.
The current practice of using as many plastics as possible, both in homes and as homes, cannot be sustainable 1/3

I’m a witch of the Discworld variety 🧙🏻‍♀️

Ask your folks if they’re vaccinated. If they’re not, now’s a great time for flu and Covid shots (and pneumococcal if they’re eligible)

My husband did that with Pokémon go and his old phone. It’s a little ridiculous, but if it makes him happy… 🤷🏼‍♀️

Safety. Regulations. Are. Written. In. Blood.

Trump EPA Approves Its First ‘Forever Chemical’ Pesticide The Environmental Protection Agency today approved the highly persistent pesticide cyclobutrifluram for golf courses, lawns, cotton, soybeans and lettuce. The pesticide is a “forever chemical” — one o...

Well, that’s not ideal.

biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press...

A little good news for your feed 🐟

That’s a fantastic sign!

Reason #452 why we should regulate supplements in the same way that we regulate medications:

What a new study reveals about 'forever chemicals,' lead, more in New Orleans-area tap water A new report shows widespread PFAS, lead and other contaminants in tap water drawn from the Mississippi River for New Orleans and neighboring parishes.

What a new study reveals about 'forever chemicals,' lead, more in New Orleans-area tap water. Read the full article by Emily Woodruff (Nola.com) here: www.nola.com/news/environ...

I’m not a nuclear chemist, but I suspect the safe solution to radioactive pollution is NOT dilution.

The article doesn’t say which isotopes are in the radioactive water, or their concentration. The radioisotopes will degrade, but that could take a very long time depending on the half-lives.

For those that haven't spoken with grad students openly lately: we are not okay

We are watching our futures be gutted (in both industry in academia), while becoming 'overeducated' for other jobs too.

Seeing post docs being suddenly dropped, we know that money isn't coming back soon enough...

What? Some good news on a Friday?

Parent Fellowship Notices of Funding Opportunities are up!

F30, F31, F32, F33

grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

These are grant TO THE STUDENTS, not to the institution, so this is just straight-up punishing students for choosing the institution

I don’t know what’s going on with my job yet but I’m an NIH funded scientist and I’ve been waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Here’s my LinkedIn. I’m a human geneticist and computational biologist. I very much want to stay in Seattle for family reasons. Please repost

www.linkedin.com/in/nparmalee

It’s never too late to start masking. It doesn’t matter how many covid infections you’ve had, any infection delayed or prevented is a good thing.

You’re also helping protect others when you mask up. You’re breaking chains of transmission. You’re saving lives.

Regulations are written in blood.

National Science Foundation suspends salary payments, leaving researchers unable to pay their bills An NSF online payment system remained down after the federal funding freeze was lifted, leaving early-career scientists scrambling to pay bills

“If the freeze is not stopped, I might lose my house."

Some NSF-funded postdocs are having trouble paying rent and credit card bills because their salaries were paused this week, even though the federal funding freeze memo was rescinded.

www.statnews.com/2025/01/30/t...

Bravo to Sen. Alsobrooks for her question.

“We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule as Whites because their immune system is better than ours.” — RFK Jr

This is the deadlier version of the racist myth that Black people feel less pain, leading to denied pain meds.

Looks like states are going to have to take the lead on #PFAS regulations