blog posts

• Temple researchers hope to remove PFAS, microplastics with sustainable treatment method

  Feb 2, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: WHYY-TV/WHYY-FM (Philadelphia), 1/20/26

  'Scientists from Temple University's College of Engineering are researching whether the use of air bubbles can remove toxic chemicals from surface water before it makes its way to people's taps. The goal is to remove harmful PFAS chemicals and microplastics at the same time, and with sustainability in mind. The current mainstay for removing PFAS is effective, but also energy-intensive.' 

  The foam-based technology being studied at Temple can avoid the use of toxic chemicals and is more energy efficient than current PFAS removal methods. See the Temple University press release for additional information.
  
  

• Microplastics are undermining the ocean’s ability to absorb carbon

  Jan 30, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Oceanographic, 1/6/26

  'New research suggests microplastics are disrupting the ocean’s natural ability to absorb carbon dioxide by interfering with marine life and carbon cycles, potentially weakening one of Earth’s most important defences against climate change.' See https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hazmp.2025.100032 to read the referenced study.

• More microplastics found in rural woodland than city centre - experts warn of potential health risks

  Jan 27, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Euro News, 1/13/26

  'New research from the University of Leeds warns that tiny plastic fragments have been found in greater quantities in rural environments than urban locations. Scientists say trees and other vegetation are capturing microplastic particles from the atmosphere and depositing them in woodlands.

  Published in the journal Environmental Pollution, the three-month study detected up to 500 microscopic particles of plastic per square meter per day in an area of woodland – almost twice as many as collected in a major city centre.'

• Air pollution might harm children’s eye health

  Jan 22, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Science News Explores, 1/7/26

  'Polluted air is bad for your lungs. That dirty air might also be why many kids need glasses, new data show. This observation comes from a study of vision in about 30,000 school-age children. Kids had better eyesight when air pollution levels were lower, scientists found.'

  See https://doi.org/10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf279. 

• New technology eliminates “forever chemicals” with record-breaking speed and efficiency

  Jan 16, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: ScienceDaily, 12/25/25

  'A new eco-friendly technology can capture and destroy PFAS, the dangerous “forever chemicals” found worldwide in water. The material works hundreds to thousands of times faster and more efficiently than current filters, even in river water, tap water, and wastewater. After trapping the chemicals, the system safely breaks them down and refreshes itself for reuse. It’s a rare one-two punch against pollution: fast cleanup and sustainable destruction.' 

  The technology was developed by researchers at Rice University. Their results were recently published in Advanced Materials.

  NOTE: Sustainability in the News will not be published on Monday, January 19, in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, but will return on 1/20/26.

• Toxic substances in PET bottles scrutinized by researchers

  Jan 15, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Packaging Dive, 1/6/26

  'PET bottles — both virgin and recycled — contain a dozen leachable plastic additives and at least a dozen more hazardous chemicals that were not intentionally added, according to a small study published in late 2025. The findings add to a growing body of research on chemical leaching from plastics and come as new rules requiring recycled material boost demand for recycled PET. The analysis, published in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Environmental Science: Processes and Impacts journal, found that virgin and recycled products can leach chemicals that have been linked to cancer, endocrine disruption and reproductive problems. The study did not, for the most part, quantify levels of the chemicals.'  

• Tiny Fiddler crabs are hoovering up and breaking down microplastics, study finds

  Jan 13, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: EuroNews, 1/2/26

  'A new study, published in the journal Global Change Biology, tracked a population of Fiddler crabs – which grow no bigger than the width of a Post-It note – in a highly polluted mangrove forest on the north coast of Colombia. Here, years of urban and agricultural expansion have degraded the mangrove systems, resulting in some of the highest levels of plastic contamination reported anywhere in the world. Despite this, researchers found that the arthropods were “thriving” and are able to ingest and break down large quantities of small plastic particles in the sediment. With the reputation of being an “ecosystem engineer”, these crabs can break down plastics within days, acting much faster than sunlight and waves...Researchers warn that the fiddler crab’s fascinating ability may come at a cost – potentially releasing harmful nanoplastics into their tissues and subsequently into the food chain.'

• New method for removing PFAS from groundwater

  Jan 12, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: University of Minnesota, 12/17/25

  A new study led by researchers from Brown University, the University of Minnesota, Jacobs Engineering, Arq Inc., and the U.S. Navy demonstrates a potential solution to the challenge of mitigating PFAS in real-world situations. Specifically, researchers wanted to see whether a specially-engineered, ultra-fine carbon material called colloidal carbon product (CCP) could be injected underground to trap PFAS in groundwater. 

• Microplastics Are Leaking Invisible Chemical Clouds Into Rivers and Oceans

  Jan 9, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: SciTech Daily, 12/14/25

  Scientists have found that microplastics drifting through rivers, lakes, and oceans steadily release a wide range of dissolved organic chemicals into the water. These chemicals change over time, with sunlight playing a major role in how they form and break down. The research offers the most detailed molecular-scale look so far at how microplastic-derived dissolved organic matter, known as MPs DOM, develops and changes in natural aquatic environments. 

• 8 Million Tons of Plastic Tornadoes Are Churning in Our Oceans, Scientists Say

  Jan 8, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Popular Mechanics, 12/16/25

  In a new study published in the journal Chaos, scientists Larry Pratt and Irina Rypina from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts turned to 3D modeling to understand how microplastics move in chaotic environments like the ocean. Because oceans are so vast, gathering sampling data isn’t an option. So the researchers delved deep into modeling how tiny particles move in a 3D fluid, and found that microplastics tend to eventually form an “idealized eddy” (circular current) that closely resembles a kind of closed-loop tornado of ecological destruction. 

• The perfect polymer? Plant-based plastic is fully saltwater degradable and leaves behind zero microplastics

  Jan 2, 2026 9:00 am

  Source: Phys.org, 12/17/25

  In a study published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan report a new type of plastic made from plant cellulose, the world's most abundant organic compound. The new plastic is strong, flexible, and capable of rapid decomposition in natural environments, setting it apart from other plastics marketed as biodegradable. 

• Factory Farms in Iowa Generate 110 Billion Pounds of Manure Per Year. No One Tracks Where It's Going.

  Dec 30, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Inside Climate News, 12/4/25

  Manure management planning could prevent fertilizer pollution. But an antiquated system isn’t doing enough to track manure, a former state employee says.

• Supposedly “safer” substitutes for BPA continue to drive metabolic disease globally

  Dec 29, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Environmental Health News, 12/5/25

  A recent analysis published by Science of The Total Environment found that exposure to bisphenol chemicals — including BPA and its replacements BPS and BPF — were responsible for over 127 million cases of obesity, type 2 diabetes, and metabolic syndrome globally in 2024. 

• Microplastics have widely varying effects on soil

  Dec 23, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Eos, 10/29/25

  As global plastic production has ballooned, small fragments of plastic have infiltrated rivers, sea ice, and even our brains. When the minuscule fibers and shards seep into soils, they change how the soil interacts with water, according to a new study. The study, published in Vadose Zone Journal, measured water retention and conductivity in soils from three regions of Germany with and without four different microplastics. The researchers found that a plastic concentration of just 0.4% by mass can change how quickly water flows through soil, depending on both the type of plastic and the type of soil. The altered hydraulic properties likely result from the hydrophobic nature of plastic and the microplastic particles changing the arrangement of individual soil granules, the authors said.

• Plastic pollution is worsened by warming climate and must be stemmed, researchers warn

  Dec 22, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Imperial College London, 11/27/25

  A new review from Imperial academics, published in Frontiers in Science, is calling for urgent action to avoid irreversible ecological damage by stemming the tide of microplastics entering the environment. Climate change conditions turn plastics into more mobile, persistent, and hazardous pollutants. This is done by speeding up plastic breakdown into microplastics - microscopic fragments of plastic - spreading them considerable distances, and increasing exposure and impact within the environment. The authors urge eliminating non-essential single-use plastics (which account for 35% of production), limiting virgin plastic production, and creating international standards for making plastics reusable and recyclable.

• Wetland plant-fungus combo cleans up ‘forever chemicals’ in a pilot study

  Dec 15, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: American Chemical Society, 10/14/25

  Wetlands act as nature’s kidneys: They trap sediments, absorb excess nutrients and turn pollutants into less harmful substances. Now, the list of pollutants wetland plants can remove includes per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). From a greenhouse study, researchers in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology report that moisture-loving yellow flag irises and fungi on their roots are a promising combination for PFAS removal. As part of a constructed wetland, this pair could effectively treat contaminated wastewater.

• Switching to electric stoves can dramatically cut indoor air pollution

  Dec 12, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Stanford University, 12/2/25

  For millions of Americans, staying indoors offers little protection from dangerous air pollution, according to a new Stanford University-led study. The paper, published Dec. 2 in PNAS Nexus, reveals that gas and propane stoves expose people to substantial amounts of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant linked to health problems that include asthma, obstructive pulmonary disease, preterm birth, diabetes, and lung cancer. Replacing gas stoves with electric reduces nitrogen dioxide exposure by over a quarter on average across the U.S. and by half for the heaviest stove users, according to the findings. Previous studies have measured nitrogen dioxide pollution from gas stoves, but this is the first study to measure exposure to nitrogen dioxide outdoors and indoors nationally.

• New York City bill aims to ban toxic ‘forever chemicals’ in firefighting gear

  Dec 11, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The Guardian, 12/2/25

  A new bill proposed in the New York city council would ban the use of toxic Pfas "forever chemicals" in protective gear worn by the city’s 11,000 firefighters. The New York fire department is the nation's largest firefighting force, and approval of the legislation would mark a major win for advocates who are pushing for safer "turnout gear" alternatives across the US. Massachusetts and Connecticut last year became the first states to ban the use of Pfas in turnout gear, and Illinois enacted a ban this year.

• Microplastics in brains, bloodstreams: I-Team investigates contamination, efforts to measure risks

  Dec 8, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: ABC7 Chicago, 12/3/25

  Politicians, advocacy groups, and governors, including Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, are calling on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to jump start a water monitoring program to track the microplastics in drinking water.

• To study how PFAS moves in the air, MPCA turns to pine needles

  Nov 28, 2025 4:15 pm

  Source: Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, 11/5/25

  Volunteers across all of Minnesota’s 87 counties have been busy carefully plucking pine needles from coniferous trees in their neighborhoods and collecting them in plastic bags. Why? They’re gathering clues about how PFAS move through the air so the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) can better understand how to protect Minnesotans from PFAS pollution. Air monitoring equipment can detect PFAS in the air, but it has limitations. It requires a fenced-in area with electricity, trained staff to operate the monitoring equipment, and expensive analysis only available at a few laboratories. Pine needles, on the other hand, become a natural and much less expensive way to gather data.

• Space pollution levels in the atmosphere are rocketing

  Nov 27, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 11/18/25

  As more rockets and satellites in low Earth orbit burn up in the atmosphere at the end of their lives, the amount of introduced vapors and particulate matter there is dramatically rising. A new study under review in Advances in Space Research calculates just how much waste this traffic is injecting into Earth’s upper atmosphere. The results show that last year, the mass of metals introduced to the atmosphere by human activity annually nearly doubled from the levels seen from 2015 to 2020. For 24 different elements, this influx now contributes more mass than natural sources. Both records are on track to be shattered this year.

• Required PFAS testing at Minnesota WWTFs

  Nov 26, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: BioCycle, 11/18/25

  On September 1, 2025, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) began requiring all wastewater treatment facilities (WWTF) intending to apply biosolids to agricultural land or used for reclamation projects to collect at least one representative sample of their biosolids and test it for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) each year using draft EPA Method 1633A. The results from this sample must be received prior to biosolids being applied to land. 

• Deadly in Small Doses: New Research Shows the Lethal Effects of Ingested Plastic on Marine Animals

  Nov 25, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Inside Climate News, 11/17/25

  Ingesting just six pieces of rubber—each smaller than a pea—can all but seal a seabird’s fate, leaving it with a 90 percent chance of death. A 300-pound adult green sea turtle has about a 50 percent chance of survival after swallowing two golf balls’ worth of plastic bags and food wrappers. Gulping down less than a soccer ball’s volume of fishing line or nets is enough to kill nearly all sea lions, seals, dolphins and porpoises.

  These are just some of the fatal thresholds marine wildlife face when plastic ends up inside their bodies, according to a new analysis by scientists from the Ocean Conservancy, an international marine conservation nonprofit. In a study released Monday, researchers outline the amount of swallowed debris it takes to block an animal’s gut, tear its digestive tract or force its intestines to twist. 

• Microplastics hit male arteries hard

  Nov 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of California - Riverside, 11/18/25

  A mouse study led by University of California, Riverside biomedical scientists suggests that everyday exposure to microplastics — tiny fragments shed from packaging, clothing, and countless plastic products — may accelerate the development of atherosclerosis, the artery-clogging process that leads to heart attacks and strokes. The harmful effects were seen only in male mice, offering new clues about how microplastics may affect cardiovascular health in humans.

• Tracking down the hidden pollutants that make wildlife sick

  Nov 19, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Knowable Magazine, 10/13/25

  A new technique for detecting unknown and unlooked-for chemicals is revealing dozens of contaminants in alligators, sea lions and condors 

• Pesticides used near farm communities tied to rare but deadly childhood cancer

  Nov 18, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The New Lede, 10/16/25

  Previous studies have found an association between some pesticides and neuroblastoma, but this is the first to examine links between prenatal exposure from specific sprayed pesticides near the home and the disease.

• Analysis suggests cigarette butts are a source of antibiotic-resistance genes

  Nov 17, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Inside Precision Medicine, 10/27/25

  Cigarette butts may pose a risk to the health of smokers and nonsmokers alike by acting as genetic pools of microbial antibiotic resistance, researchers report. With estimated annual cigarette consumption reaching nine trillion this year, the findings suggest that discarded butts present both a major health and environmental issue. The study, in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that cigarette butts were significant reservoirs and amplifiers of antibiotic resistance genes, which can drive the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens.

• Wetlands help remedy agricultural pollution. Some Illinois farmers are installing new ones.

  Nov 14, 2025 3:00 pm

  Source: Inside Climate News, 10/23/25

  Farmers trying to minimize nitrate running off their fields and contaminating water are partnering with the Wetlands Initiative to build “smart wetlands.”

• Even low PFAS in drinking water raise blood levels, California study shows

  Nov 12, 2025 11:45 am

  News Medical, 11/2/25

  In a recent article in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, researchers examined blood chemical levels in adults exposed to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) through public drinking water systems. Their findings suggest that even in areas without industrial PFAS manufacturing, people can be significantly exposed to these “forever chemicals” through contaminated drinking water, requiring ongoing monitoring.

• Plastic smog alert: New published research from 5 gyres reveals a single laundromat emits more than 7 trillion microfibers into the air each year

  Nov 11, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The 5 Gyres Institute, 11/5/25

  New research from The 5 Gyres Institute identifying commercial dryers as a major source of airborne microfiber pollution was published today in Environmental Research Communications. According to the published article, a single laundromat releases up to 7.2 trillion microfibers into the air each year. When scaled city-wide, emissions could reach 1.1 quadrillion microfibers annually, underscoring the need for targeted mitigation strategies that address these emissions at the source.

• This reaction turns Teflon into toothpaste’s key ingredient

  Nov 10, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 10/27/25

  In the past year, several research groups have reported methods for upcycling PTFE, better known by its brand name, Teflon, into useful chemicals. The latest work in this area comes from chemists led by Roly J. Armstrong at Newcastle University and Erli Lu and Dominik J. Kubicki at the University of Birmingham. The team developed a process that transforms PTFE into sodium fluoride and amorphous carbon (J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2025, DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5c14052). The chemists use a ball mill to grind chunks of sodium metal together with PTFE in what’s known as a mechanochemical reaction. Because the reaction uses no solvents and has no by-products, it’s environmentally friendly and has 100% atom economy. Other PTFE-upcycling reactions that have been reported to date use organic solvents or complex catalysts, or they create by-products. 

• New research reveals what’s really hiding in bottled water

  Nov 3, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Concordia University, 10/6/2025

  A chance encounter with plastic waste on a tropical beach sparked a deep investigation into what those fragments mean for human health. The research reveals that bottled water isn’t as pure as it seems—each sip may contain invisible microplastics that can slip through the body’s defenses and lodge in vital organs. These tiny pollutants are linked to inflammation, hormonal disruption, and even neurological damage, yet remain dangerously understudied.

• EU adopts rules to curb plastic pellet pollution

  Oct 31, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Le Monde, 10/23/25

  The European Parliament on Thursday, October 23, definitively adopted rules clamping down on pollution from the tiny pellets that constitute the building blocks of most plastic products. The text introduces new rules to hold handling and transport firms accountable for spills of the lentil-sized pellets, called nurdles, which are used in everything from car bumpers to salad bowls. 

• Recovering arsenic from wastewater sludge

  Oct 30, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 10/17/25

  Arsenic is a potent carcinogen and one of the world’s most dangerous drinking-water contaminants, particularly in South Asia, where millions are exposed through groundwater. Removing the toxin from groundwater helps protect public health but leaves behind sludge laced with arsenic, which is expensive and hazardous to dispose of properly. Researchers in Denmark have now found a way to turn that toxic waste into something valuable: high-purity elemental arsenic, a material in growing demand for green electronics and batteries (Sci. Adv. 2025, DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adz5816).

• Why The Search Is On For PFAS-Free Batteries

  Oct 28, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Forbes, 10/22/25

  The demand for Lithium-ion batteries might be on the rise, but how many of us are aware they contain harmful PFAS compounds, otherwise known as “forever chemicals”? The use of such compounds is obviously not good for the environment, and the search is now on for alternative compounds, which can be used in the next generation of batteries.

• How microplastic pollution is boosting antimicrobial resistance

  Oct 27, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 10/17/25

  Excessive microplastics contamination could be fuelling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), already a spiralling problem worldwide, a new research report reveals. The report, published in The Journal of Hazardous Materials, finds that plastics act as a platform for biofilms – communities of bacteria and other microbes that cling to their surfaces. These biofilms can help accelerate the spread of drug resistance by creating a protective barrier that blocks the entry of antibiotics into the microbes, and helps resistance genes to transmit more easily within the biofilm community.

• The invisible chemical in the air that could be raising Parkinson’s risk

  Oct 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: American Academy of Neurology, 10/3/25

  A massive nationwide study has linked long-term exposure to the industrial chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) with a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease in older adults. Researchers examined over 1.1 million people, finding that those living in areas with the highest outdoor TCE levels faced a 10% greater risk of developing Parkinson’s.

• Scientists find hidden brain damage behind dementia

  Oct 23, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, 10/6/25

  A University of New Mexico scientist is revealing what might be one of the most overlooked causes of dementia — damage in the brain’s tiny blood vessels. Dr. Elaine Bearer has created a new way to classify these changes, showing that many people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s also suffer from vascular damage that quietly destroys brain tissue. Even more surprising, she’s finding microplastics inside the brain that appear linked to inflammation and memory loss. 

• The invisible plastic threat you can finally see

  Oct 22, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Universitaet Stuttgart. 9/10/25

  Researchers in Germany and Australia have created a simple but powerful tool to detect nanoplastics—tiny, invisible particles that can slip through skin and even the blood-brain barrier. Using an "optical sieve" test strip viewed under a regular microscope, these particles reveal themselves through striking color changes.

• Biochar’s secret power could change clean water forever

  Oct 20, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Shenyang Agricultural University, 9/26/25

  Scientists found that biochar doesn’t just capture pollutants, it actively destroys them using direct electron transfer. This newly recognized ability accounts for up to 40% of its cleaning power and remains effective through repeated use. The discovery opens the door to cheaper, greener, and more efficient water treatment methods worldwide.

• First comprehensive review of plastic pollution in the Amazon reveals contamination poses urgent health risks

  Oct 17, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Phys.org, 10/1/25

  In a study published in the journal Ambio, researchers examined 52 peer-reviewed scientific papers on plastic found in the Amazon since 2000, particularly in fauna, fish, sediment and water. More than 90% of the research was concentrated in Brazil along the main Amazon River channel, and the most frequently reported microplastic fragment size was less than five millimeters. The findings make for troubling reading. Plastic contamination is not limited to a few spots; it's widespread across the basin. The review found plastic fragments and litter in the water, river sediments, and among plants and wildlife, including birds, fish and mammals. The most alarming discovery was the threat to human health. Researchers found that two-thirds (66%) of the studied animals (mostly fish) that contain plastic are regular food sources for local communities. This high level of contamination puts many people at risk of ingesting plastic fragments, especially microfragments.

• Microplastics in the placenta linked to increased risk of miscarriage

  Oct 15, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Environmental Health News, 10/3/25

  In a recent study published by eBioMedicine, researchers found that women with higher levels of microplastics in their placenta were at an increased risk of experiencing spontaneous miscarriage in the first trimester. 

• Microplastics found to change gut microbiome in first human-sample study

  Oct 14, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: EurekAlert, 10/6/25

  New research presented at UEG Week 2025 shows that microplastics – plastic particles smaller than 5mm commonly found in the environment – can alter the human gut microbiome, with some changes resembling patterns linked to depression and colorectal cancer. 

• Advocates raise alarm over Pfas pollution from datacenters amid AI boom

  Oct 13, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The Guardian, 10/4/25

  Advocates are particularly concerned over the use by datacenters of PFAS gas, or f-gas, which can be potent greenhouse gases, and may mean datacenters’ climate impact is worse than previously thought. Other f-gases turn into a type of dangerous compound that is rapidly accumulating across the globe. Two kinds of cooling systems are used to prevent the semiconductors and other electronic equipment stored in datacenters from overheating. Water cooling systems require huge volumes of water, and chemicals like nitrates, disinfectants, azoles and other compounds are potentially added and discharged in the environment. Many centers are now switching to a “two phase” system that uses f-gas as a refrigerant coolant that is run through copper tubing. In this scenario, f-gas is not intentionally released during use, though there may be leaks, and it must be disposed of at the end of its life.

• Scientists just found out forever chemicals are shockingly acidic

  Oct 6, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University at Buffalo, 9/13/25

  Scientists have uncovered that “forever chemicals” like PFAS are even more acidic than anyone realized, meaning they dissolve and spread in water with alarming ease. Using a cutting-edge method combining NMR spectroscopy and computer modeling, researchers showed that the acidity of notorious compounds like PFOA and GenX had been vastly underestimated—sometimes by factors of a thousand.

• New and simple detection method for nanoplastics

  Oct 3, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Stuttgart, 9/8/25

  A joint team from the University of Stuttgart in Germany and the University of Melbourne in Australia has developed a new method for the straightforward analysis of tiny nanoplastic particles in environmental samples. One needs only an ordinary optical microscope and a newly developed test strip—the optical sieve. The research results have now been published in “Nature Photonics” (doi: 10.1038/s41566-025-01733-x).

• Phthalates in everyday products may fuel breast cancer, new study warns

  Sep 30, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: U.S. Right to Know, 9/5/25

  Common chemicals in plastics, personal care products, and food packaging may drive the onset, growth, and spread of breast cancer—the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, new research suggests. The findings, published this month [September 2025] in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, suggest phthalates hijack the body’s hormone systems, activate cancer-promoting genes, and make tumors easier to form. and harder to treat. The study raises new questions about the safety of chemicals that millions of Americans encounter every day in air, food, and water.   

• The chronic risks from single-use plastic water bottles are dangerously understudied, new Concordia research shows

  Sep 29, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Concordia University, 9/9/25

  In a paper published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials, Sarah Sajedi and colleagues from Concordia University look at the science around the health risks posed by single-use plastic water bottles. They are serious, Sajedi says, and seriously understudied. In her review of over 140 scientific articles, Sajedi writes that individuals on average ingest between 39,000 and 52,000 microplastic particles per year, and bottled water users consume 90,000 more particles than tap water consumers. Once inside the body, these small plastics can cross biological boundaries, enter the bloodstream and reach vital organs. This can lead to chronic inflammation, oxidative stress on cells, hormonal disruption, impaired reproduction, neurological damage and various kinds of cancer. However, the long-term effects remain poorly understood due to a lack of widespread testing and standardized methods of measurement and detection.

• New maps show how risk from ‘forever chemicals’ varies

  Sep 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The Conversation, 9/4/25

  To better understand the ways people are being exposed to PFAS, researchers examined four exposure pathways – drinking water contamination, food contamination, recreational exposure and industrial emissions, such as from Superfund sites, airports, military bases and manufacturing plants – across three Great Lakes states: Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. The interactive map and online dashboard that they created lets residents look up their communities’ known PFAS exposure risks and calculate their own risks. The results also offer insights for people across the U.S. who share similar environments, dietary choices and lifestyles.

• Slow burn: The vital need for benign flame retardants

  Sep 18, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 9/3/25

  Flame retardants slow the spread of fires but they can have serious, unintended human health and environmental impacts. Inadequate toxicity testing and inconsistent regulations make it difficult to keep potentially harmful fire-resisting chemicals out of products. Researchers in industry and academia are trying to develop safer chemistries and working on next-generation biobased flame retardants.