EDC Science Weekly, Jan. 7 – 12, 2022

Post author:HEEDS
Post published:January 12, 2022
Post category:EDC Science Weekly

A summary of articles on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) added to PubMed this week.

Contents: Events, Methods/Tools/Screening, Commentaries/Conference Summaries, Reviews, Human Health Studies, Laboratory Studies, Exposure/Environment Studies

Events

Lecture Jan. 13: Rosalind J. Wright on Disentangling effects of social stress, chemicals, and nutrition in disease programming: Embracing the promise of exposomics (PRHE/EaRTH Center, WSPEHSU)

Webinar Jan. 25: The role of epidemiology in risk assessment: A case study of five ortho-phthalates (EDC Strategies Partnership)

Webinar Jan. 27: Environmental Health Impacts of Synthetic Turf and Safer Alternatives (CHE)

Methods/Tools/Screening

Towards a paradigm shift in environmental health decision-making: a case study of oxybenzone.

Scientific Opinion of the Scientific Panel on Plant Protection Products and their Residues (PPR Panel) on testing and interpretation of comparative in vitro metabolism studies.

Integrating in vitro metabolomics with a 96-well high-throughput screening platform.

A 10-step framework for use of read-across (RAX) in next generation risk assessment (NGRA) for cosmetics safety assessment.

Single enrichment systems possibly underestimate both exposures and biological effects of organic pollutants from drinking water.

The hormetic response of heart rate of fish embryos to contaminants – Implications for research and policy.

A tiered approach to population-based in vitro testing for cardiotoxicity: Balancing estimates of potency and variability.

Estimating the no-observed-adverse-effect-level (NOAEL) of hormetic dose-response relationships in meta-data evaluations.

Commentaries/Conference Summaries

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure: time to focus on preconception workplace reproductive health.

Should Paraben Mix Be Removed from The European Baseline Series.

Thyroid cancer in the era of endocrine disrupting compounds.

Carryover insecticide exposure reduces bee reproduction across years.

Reviews

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Integrated Genomic and Bioinformatics Approaches to Identify Molecular Links between Endocrine Disruptors and Adverse Outcomes.

EDC-induced mechanisms of immunotoxicity: a systematic review.

An introduction to the sources, fate, occurrence and effects of endocrine disrupting chemicals released into the environment.

Signaling Proteins That Regulate Spermatogenesis Are the Emerging Target of Toxicant-Induced Male Reproductive Dysfunction.

Current understandings and perspectives of petroleum hydrocarbons in Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease: a global concern.

Evidence-based hormonal, mutational, and endocrine-disrupting chemical-induced zebrafish as an alternative model to study PCOS condition similar to mammalian PCOS model.

Human Biomonitoring of Selected Hazardous Compounds in Portugal: Part I-Lessons Learned on Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Metals, Metalloids, and Pesticides.

BPA/Phenols

The Impact of Bisphenol A on Thyroid Function in Neonates and Children: A Systematic Review of the Literature.

Overlooked environmental risks deriving from aqueous transformation of bisphenol alternatives: Integration of chemical and toxicological insights.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Prevalence and Implications of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in Settled Dust.

PFAS fate and destruction mechanisms during thermal treatment: a comprehensive review.

Flame Retardants

Analysis of brominated flame retardants in the aquatic environment: a review.

Pesticides

Oxidative Stress and Metabolism: A Mechanistic Insight for Glyphosate Toxicology.

Membrane polarization in non-neuronal cells as a potential mechanism of metabolic disruption by depolarizing insecticides.

Occurrence, toxic effects, and mitigation of pesticides as emerging environmental pollutants using robust nanomaterials – A review.

Pesticide Research on Environmental and Human Exposure and Risks in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Systematic Literature Review.

Environmental Distribution, Metabolic Fate, and Degradation Mechanism of Chlorpyrifos: Recent and Future Perspectives.

Potentially Toxic Elements

Advances on the Influence of Methylmercury Exposure during Neurodevelopment.

Impact of Heavy Metal Toxicity on the Gut Microbiota and Its Relationship with Metabolites and Future Probiotics Strategy: a Review.

The Relationship Between Preeclampsia and Arsenic Concentration in the Peripheral Blood.

Exposure to Heavy Metals and Allergic Outcomes in Children: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Microplastics

How to Build a Microplastics-Free Environment: Strategies for Microplastics Degradation and Plastics Recycling.

Meta-analysis reveals differential impacts of microplastics on soil biota.

Microplastic effects on soil system parameters: a meta-analysis study.

Environmental risks of polymer materials from disposable face masks linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Occurrence of microplastics (MPs) in the gastrointestinal tract of fishes: A global systematic review and meta-analysis and meta-regression.

Current status of microplastics pollution in the aquatic environment, interaction with other pollutants, and effects on aquatic organisms.

A Mini-Review of Strategies for Quantifying Anthropogenic Activities in Microplastic Studies in Aquatic Environments.

A Review of the Migration and Transformation of Microplastics in Inland Water Systems.

Miscellaneous

Mitochondrial Dysfunction as a Hallmark of Environmental Injury.

Chronic kidney disease of unknown etiology in India: a comparative study with Mesoamerican and Sri Lankan nephropathy.

Nanobioremediation: A sustainable approach for the removal of toxic pollutants from the environment.

Novel synthesis methods and applications of MXene-based nanomaterials (MBNs) for hazardous pollutants degradation: Future perspectives.

The Other Side of the Coin: May Androgens Have a Role in Breast Cancer Risk?

Human Health Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Marine pollutant exposures and human milk extracellular vesicle-microRNAs in a mother-infant cohort from the Faroe Islands.

Phthalates

Phthalate’s multiple hormonal effects and their supplementary dietary regulation scheme of health risks for children.

Prenatal phthalate exposure in relation to placental corticotropin releasing hormone (pCRH) in the CANDLE cohort.

Mediation by hormone concentrations on the associations between repeated measures of phthalate mixture exposure and timing of delivery.

Longitudinal changes in oxidative stress and early renal injury in children exposed to DEHP and melamine in the 2011 Taiwan food scandal.

Screening the incidence of diabetogensis with urinary phthalate in Saudi subjects.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Association of urinary triclosan, methyl triclosan, triclocarban, and 2,4-dichlorophenol levels with anthropometric and demographic parameters in children and adolescents in 2020 (case study: Kerman, Iran).

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Circulating MicroRNAs, Polychlorinated Biphenyls, and Environmental Liver Disease in the Anniston Community Health Survey.

Dietary Acid Load, Serum Polychlorinated Biphenyl Levels, and Mortality Following Breast Cancer in the Long Island Breast Cancer Study Project.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Mixed effects of perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances exposure on cognitive function among people over 60 years old from NHANES.

Pesticides

Use of metabolomics in refining the effect of an organic food intervention on biomarkers of exposure to pesticides and biomarkers of oxidative damage in primary school children in Cyprus: A cluster-randomized cross-over trial.

Prenatal exposure to organophosphate pesticides and risk-taking behaviors in early adulthood.

Carbamate pesticides exposure and delayed physical development at the age of seven: Evidence from the SMBCS study.

Residential proximity to crops and agricultural pesticide use and cause-specific mortality: A prospective census-based cohort study in the Netherlands.

Influence of GSTM1, T1 genes polymorphisms on oxidative stress and liver enzymes in rural and urban pesticides-exposed workers.

Potentially Toxic Elements

Early Pregnancy Exposure to Rare Earth Elements and Risk of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus: A Nested Case-Control Study.

Influence of combined exposure levels of total arsenic and inorganic arsenic on arsenic methylation capacity among university students: findings from Bayesian kernel machine regression analysis.

A metabolome-wide association study of in utero metal and trace element exposures with cord blood metabolome profile: Findings from the Boston Birth Cohort.

Association Between Essential and Non-essential Metals, Body Composition, and Metabolic Syndrome in Adults.

Attention deficit among preschool and school-aged children living near former metal-processing plants in Romania.

Arsenic exposure from drinking water and endothelial dysfunction in Bangladeshi adolescents.

Comparative Assessment of Blood Metal/metalloid levels, Clinical Heterogeneity, and Disease Severity in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Patients.

Trace Element Changes in the Plasma of Autism Spectrum Disorder Children and the Positive Correlation Between Chromium and Vanadium.

Geospatial Distributions of Lead Levels Found in Human Hair and Preterm Birth in San Francisco Neighborhoods.

Mercury is present in neurons and oligodendrocytes in regions of the brain affected by Parkinson’s disease and co-localises with Lewy bodies.

Association between Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay-Measured Kidney Injury Markers and Urinary Cadmium Levels in Chronic Kidney Disease.

Prenatal Metal Exposures and Infants’ Developmental Outcomes in a Navajo Population.

Air Pollution

Structural Racism as an Environmental Justice Issue: A Multilevel Analysis of the State Racism Index and Environmental Health Risk from Air Toxics.

Machine learning approaches to characterize the obesogenic urban exposome.

Exposure to PM2.5 during Pregnancy and Fetal Growth in Eastern Massachusetts, USA.

Joint effect of particulate matter and cigarette smoke on women’s sex hormones.

Does air pollution increase child mortality? Evidence from 58 developing countries.

Early life exposure to indoor air pollutants and the risk of neurodevelopmental delays: The Japan Environment and Children’s Study.

The impact of PM2.5 on children’s blood pressure growth curves: A prospective cohort study.

Maternal and Childhood Ambient Air Pollution Exposure and Mental Health Symptoms and Psychomotor Development in Children: An Australian Population-Based Longitudinal Study.

Long-term exposure to low ambient air pollution concentrations and mortality among 28 million people: results from seven large European cohorts within the ELAPSE project.

Robust relationship between ambient air pollution and infant mortality in India.

Short-term exposure to fine particulate matter and its constituents may affect renal function via oxidative stress: A longitudinal panel study.

Human Serum Albumin Cys34 Adducts in Newborn Dried Blood Spots: Associations With Air Pollution Exposure During Pregnancy.

Prenatal air pollution exposure and neonatal health.

COVID-19 and Air Pollution: A Spatial Analysis of Particulate Matter Concentration and Pandemic-Associated Mortality in the US.

Early life environmental factors associated with autism spectrum disorder symptoms in children at age 2 years: A birth cohort study.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

Grandmothers’ endocrine disruption during pregnancy, low birth weight, and preterm birth in third generation. [DES]

Like mother, like daughter, like granddaughter… Transgenerational ignorance engendered by a defective reproductive health technology. [DES]

Miscellaneous

Exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon-induced oxidative stress in Shiraz, Iran: urinary levels, health risk assessment and mediation effect of MDA on the risk of metabolic syndromes.

Females with impaired ovarian function could be vulnerable to environmental pollutants: identification via next-generation sequencing of the vaginal microbiome.

Urinary Phytoestrogen Levels Are Associated with Female Hormonal Cancers: An Analysis of NHANES Data From 1999 to 2010.

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Pesticide toxicity towards microalgae increases with environmental mixture complexity.

The interaction of DNMT1 and DNMT3A epigenetic enzymes with phthalates and perfluoroalkyl substances: an in silico approach.

Cardiac physiology and metabolic gene expression during late organogenesis among F. heteroclitus embryo families from crosses between pollution-sensitive and -resistant parents.

Ovine fetal testis stage-specific sensitivity to environmental chemical mixtures.

Inflammation of Gill Epithelia in Fish Causes Increased Permeation of Petrogenic Polar Organic Chemicals via Disruption of Tight Junctions.

Identification of emerging organic pollutants from solid waste incinerations by FT-ICR-MS and GC/Q-TOF-MS and their potential toxicities.

BPA/Phenols

Bisphenol S exposure induces cytotoxicity in mouse Leydig cells.

MAIT cell activation is reduced by direct and microbiota-mediated exposure to bisphenols.

Multi- and transgenerational biochemical effects of low-dose exposure to bisphenol A and 4-nonylphenol on testicular interstitial (Leydig) cells.

Does ( -)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate protects the neurotoxicity induced by bisphenol A in vivo?

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Exploration of binding mechanism of triclosan towards cancer markers using molecular docking and molecular dynamics.

Triclosan induced zebrafish immunotoxicity by targeting miR-19a and its gene socs3b to activate IL-6/STAT3 signaling pathway.

Microbial enzymes induce colitis by reactivating triclosan in the mouse gastrointestinal tract.

PPARγ Regulates Triclosan Induced Placental Dysfunction.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Toxicity Assessment of 91-Day Repeated Inhalation Exposure to an Indoor School Air Mixture of PCBs.

Ortho-substituted PCB 153: effects in CHO-K1 cells.

Unraveling the differential impact of PAHs and dioxin-like compounds on AKR1C3 reveals the EGFR extracellular domain as a critical determinant of the AHR response.

Long-term orally exposure of dioxins affects antigen-specific antibody production in mice.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Characterization of Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances Present in Commercial Anti-fog Products and Their In Vitro Adipogenic Activity.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate aggravates CCl4-induced hepatic fibrosis via HMGB1/TLR4/Smad signaling.

GenX in water: Interactions and self-assembly.

Flame Retardants

TBBPA and its alternative TCBPA induced ROS-dependent mitochondria-mediated apoptosis in the liver of Rana nigromaculata.

Tetrabromobisphenol A Disturbs Brain Development in Both Thyroid Hormone-Dependent and -Independent Manners in Xenopus laevis.

Implications of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARY) with the intersection of organophosphate flame retardants and diet-induced obesity in adult mice.

Potential involvement of the microbiota-gut-brain axis in the neurotoxicity of triphenyl phosphate (TPhP) in the marine medaka (Oryzias melastigma) larvae.

Organotins

Therapeutic Effects of Hydrogen Gas Inhalation on Trimethyltin-Induced Neurotoxicity and Cognitive Impairment in the C57BL/6 Mice Model.

Pesticides

Subacute toxicity of chlorpyrifos on histopathological damages, antioxidant activity, and pro-inflammatory cytokines in the rat model.

Patterns of cardio-respiratory motor outputs during acute and subacute exposure to chlorpyrifos in an ex-vivo in situ preparation in rats.

Pterostilbene Alleviates Chlorpyrifos-Induced Damage During Porcine Oocyte Maturation.

Does the dose make the poison? Neurotoxic insecticides impair predator orientation and reproduction even at low concentrations.

Can a mixture of agrochemicals (glyphosate, chlorpyrifos and chlorothalonil) mask the perception of an individual chemical? A hidden trap underlying ecological risk.

Histopathological, Immunohistochemical, And Molecular Alterations In Brain Tissue And Submandibular Salivary Gland Of Atrazine-Induced Toxicity In Male Rats.

Comparative assessment on the probable mechanisms underlying the hepatorenal toxicity of commercial imidacloprid and hexaflumuron formulations in rats.

Permethrin inhibits tube formation and viability of endothelial cells.

Does roundup affect zinc functions in a bivalve mollusk in ex vivo exposure?

Alterations in hematological parameters and the structure of peripheral erythrocytes in Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) exposed to profenofos.

Enantioselective toxic effects of mefentrifluconazole in the liver of adult zebrafish (Danio rerio) based on transcription level and metabolomic profile.

Searching beyond the streetlight: Neonicotinoid exposure alters the neurogenomic state of worker honey bees.

Novaluron Has Detrimental Effects on Sperm Functions.

Potentially Toxic Elements

In vitro toxic interaction of arsenic and hyperglycemia in mitochondria: an important implication of increased vulnerability in pre-diabetics.

Whole life exposure to low dose cadmium alters diet-induced NAFLD.

Apoptosis, rather than neurogenesis, induces significant hippocampal-dependent learning and memory impairment in chronic low Cd²⁺ exposure.

Effects of whole-life exposure to low-dose cadmium with post-weaning high-fat diet on offspring testes in a male mouse model.

Multigenerational study of life history traits, bioaccumulation, and molecular responses of Pseudodiaptomus annandalei to cadmium.

Targeting oxidative stress, apoptosis, and autophagy by galangin mitigates cadmium-induced renal damage: Role of SIRT1/Nrf2 and AMPK/mTOR pathways.

Protective Effect of Lactobacillus sporogenes against Arsenic-Induced Hematological Alterations in Male Albino Wistar Rats.

m6A demethylation of cytidine deaminase APOBEC3B mRNA orchestrates arsenic-induced mutagenesis.

DNA Damage and Proteomic Profile Changes in Rat Salivary Glands After Chronic Exposure to Inorganic Mercury.

Microplastics

Porous microplastics enhance polychlorinated biphenyls-induced thyroid disruption in juvenile Japanese flounder (Paralichthys olivaceus).

Maternal exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics during gestation and lactation induces hepatic and testicular toxicity in male mouse offspring.

Polystyrene nano/microplastics induce microbiota dysbiosis, oxidative damage, and innate immune disruption in zebrafish.

Microplastics exposure causes oxidative stress and microbiota dysbiosis in planarian Dugesia japonica.

Environmental hazard of polypropylene microplastics from disposable medical masks: acute toxicity towards Daphnia magna and current knowledge on other polypropylene microplastics.

Air Pollution

Exposure to environmentally relevant concentrations of ambient fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) depletes the ovarian follicle reserve and causes sex-dependent cardiovascular changes in apolipoprotein E null mice.

DNA damage, serum metabolomic alteration and carcinogenic risk associated with low-level air pollution.

Subacute Inhalation of Ultrafine Particulate Matter Triggers Inflammation Without Altering Amyloid Beta Load in 5xFAD mice.

Occurrence and in vitro toxicity of organic compounds in urban background PM_2.5.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

Developmental toxicity and neurotoxicity assessment of R-, S-, and RS-propylene glycol enantiomers in zebrafish (Danio rerio) larvae.

Miscellaneous

Food-chain length determines the level of phenanthrene bioaccumulation in corals.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Perinatal Environmental Health Education Intervention to Reduce Exposure to Endocrine Disruptors: The PREVED Project.

Biomonitoring of exposure to Great Lakes contaminants among licensed anglers and Burmese refugees in Western New York: Toxic metals and persistent organic pollutants, 2010-2015.

BPA/Phthalates/Parabens

Presence of parabens, phenols and phthalates in paired maternal serum, urine and amniotic fluid.

Bisphenol A Release from Dental Composites and Resin-Modified Glass Ionomers under Two Polymerization Conditions.

Phthalates

Occurrence and dietary exposure risks of phthalate esters in food in the typical valley city Xi’an, Northwest China.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Association between dietary quality indices and serum polychlorinated biphenyls and organochlorine pesticides levels among Lebanese adults.

Using highly stabilized digestate and digestate-derived ammonium sulphate to replace synthetic fertilizers: The effects on soil, environment, and crop production.

Atmospheric concentration, spatial variations, and source identification of persistent organic pollutants in urban and semi-urban areas using passive air samplers in Bursa, Turkey.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Demographic, life-style and physiological determinants of serum per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) concentrations in a national cross-sectional survey of Swedish adolescents.

Increased levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) during Hurricane Dorian on the east coast of Florida.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the Three-North Shelter Forest in northern China: First survey on the effects of forests on the behavior of PFAS.

Co-occurrence and correlations of PFASs and chlorinated volatile organic compounds (cVOCs) in subsurface in a fluorochemical industrial park: Laboratory and field investigations.

Three-dimensional spatial distribution of legacy and novel poly/perfluoroalkyl substances in the Tibetan Plateau soil: Implications for transport and sources.

Shift in the distribution and fate of perfluoroalkyl acids by sluice gates in the multi-environment media of rivers.

Bioaccumulation of polyfluoroalkyl substances in the Lake Huron aquatic food web.

Green sorption media for the removal of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from water.

Anthropogenic Drivers of Variation in Concentrations of Perfluoroalkyl Substances in Otters (Lutra lutra) from England and Wales.

Flame Retardants

Organophosphate esters in surface waters of Shandong Peninsula in eastern China: Levels, profile, source, spatial distribution, and partitioning.

Organotins

Mexican paradise under threat: The impact of antifouling biocides along the Yucatán Peninsula.

Pesticides

Quantitative analysis of organophosphate pesticides and dialkylphosphates in duplicate diet samples to identify potential sources of measured urinary dialkylphosphates in Japanese women.

Does pH variation influence the toxicity of organic contaminants in estuarine sediments? Effects of Irgarol on nematode assemblages.

Potentially Toxic Elements

Contribution of household drinking water intake to arsenic and lead exposure among Uruguayan schoolchildren.

Heavy metal pollution and associated health risk assessment of urban dust in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The Mediterranean limpet Patella caerulea (Gastropoda, Mollusca) to assess marine ecotoxicological risk: a case study of Tunisian coasts contaminated by metals.

Evidence that Pacific tuna mercury levels are driven by marine methylmercury production and anthropogenic inputs.

Microbial diversity in intensively farmed lake sediment contaminated by heavy metals and identification of microbial taxa bioindicators of environmental quality.

Genetic interpretation and health risk assessment of arsenic in Hetao Plain of inner Mongolia, China.

Mechanism of arsenic enrichment and mobilization in groundwater from southeastern Bangladesh: Water quality and preliminary health risks assessment.

Impacts of heavy metal pollution on the ionomes and transcriptomes of Western mosquitofish (Gambusia affinis).

Environmental risk of (heavy) metal release from urns into cemetery soils.

Heavy metals from heavy land use? Spatio-temporal patterns of urban runoff metal loads.

Microplastics

Microplastics in the abyss: a first investigation into sediments at 2443-m depth (Toulon, France).

Environmental fate of microplastics in the world’s third-largest river: Basin-wide investigation and microplastic community analysis.

Oxidative stress responses of microplastic-contaminated Gambusia affinis obtained from the Brantas River in East Java, Indonesia.

Microplastics variability in subsurface water from Arctic to Antarctic.

Microplastics and nanoplastics science: collecting and characterizing airborne microplastics in fine particulate matter.

Pharmaceuticals/Personal Care Products

High concentrations of pharmaceuticals emerging as a threat to Himalayan water sustainability.

Pharmaceutical residues in digested sewage sludge: Occurrence, seasonal variation and risk assessment for soil.

Hazardous drugs (NIOSH’s list-group 1) in healthcare settings: Also a hazard for the environment?

Gone with the flow – Assessment of personal care products in Portuguese rivers.

Total Release of 21 Indicator Pharmaceuticals Listed by the Swedish Medical Products Agency from Wastewater Treatment Plants to Surface Water Bodies in the 1.3 Million Populated County Skåne (Scania), Sweden.

Miscellaneous

The analysis and probabilistic health risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in cereal products.

Distributions and potential sources of traditional and emerging polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in sediments from the lower reach of the Yangtze River, China.

Comprehensively screening of citric acid ester (CAE) plasticizers in Chinese foodstuffs, and the food-based assessment of human exposure risk of CAEs.

Appraisal of groundwater contamination from surface spills of fluids associated with hydraulic fracturing operations.

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This list is not meant to be exhaustive, and generally does not include studies on detection, remediation, or treatment of EDCs. Note that journal publication dates may be different from dates added to PubMed. To see the searchable archives, please email me at sar…@gmail.com and ask to join the EDC Science Weekly group EDC_re…@googlegroups.com. Archives are at https://groups.google.com/d/forum/edc_research or online at https://heeds.org/category/edc-science-weekly/. Compiled by Sarah Howard, Diabetes and Environment Program and HEEDS at Commonweal.

If you enjoy this newsletter, please feel free to donate here! Thank you!

EHN EHN

Endocrine-disrupting chemicals: hazards and opportunities (ECHO) course
by Sarah Howard on October 31, 2024 at 2:50 pm
This course focuses on the chemical, biological, and societal challenges of endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) and new opportunities for moving forward. ECHO is a two-week intensive bootcamp-style career development course for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and professionals in the field. It is held at Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Lou Guillette Jr. Memorial Symposium
by Sarah Howard on October 22, 2024 at 1:30 pm
On March 14-15, 2025, HEEDS is hosting the Lou Guillette Jr. Memorial Symposium on endocrine disrupting science at the University of Florida. It will celebrate the life and legacy of Dr. Guillette, gather together his trainees and colleagues, and focus on the research topics that Lou made famous. Information here.
Webinar: The overturning of Chevron deference: impacts on environmental health decision making
by Sarah Howard on October 17, 2024 at 4:21 pm
In this Nov. 13 webinar, legal experts will discuss the implications of the overturning of Chevron deference and its profound impact on science, public health and decision-making. Sponsored by CHE and UCSF's EaRTH Center.

EHN EHN

Ultra-processed foods and plastic packaging make for the ultimate toxic pair, scientists say
by Katherine McMahon,Sarah Howard on October 25, 2024 at 10:37 am
A recent paper published in Globalization and Health explores the relationship between ultra-processed foods (UPFs), plastic packaging, and their combined threat to public health. “Consumers do not have the power to solve a problem of this scale, and thus it is the responsibility of policymakers to ensure that transitions away from unhealthy, unsustainable foods are accompanied by structural measures that support demand and access to healthy foods.”
Microplastic exposure linked to reduced sperm quality in humans
by Katherine McMahon,Sarah Howard on October 23, 2024 at 4:29 pm
Exposure to microplastics is associated with a decrease in sperm concentration, motility, and shape, according to a new study published in The Lancet. “The identification of non-stick pan coating material PTFE as a particularly hazardous microplastic for male fertility underscores the importance of targeted interventions to reduce exposure to this and similar substances.”
Exposure to PFAS in ski wax may be linked to high cholesterol
by Katherine McMahon,Sarah Howard on October 16, 2024 at 7:42 pm
According to a new study published in Environmental Research, skiers and snowboarders may face health risks from their exposure to PFAS via ski wax, which can contain up to 100% PFAS by mass. “Interventions to remove PFAS from fluorinated wax could decrease direct exposure to skiers and reduce PFAS release into the environment.”

EHN EHN

Stricter toxic chemical rules reduce Californians’ exposures
by Kristina Marusic on October 31, 2024 at 11:25 am
Californians have lower levels of toxic chemicals linked to cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm in their bodies than people in the rest of the country, according to a new study. The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives and conducted by researchers at Silent Spring Institute, a nonprofit scientific research organization, and the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley), looked at nationwide data on the levels of 37 toxic chemicals in people’s blood before and after California introduced its stringent regulations. It found that for 18 of these chemicals, Californians have lower levels in their bodies than the rest of the country.
EPA dismissed data on the neurotoxicity of common insecticides
by Katherine McMahon,Sarah Howard on October 30, 2024 at 5:56 pm
A recent paper in Frontiers in Toxicology examined research submitted by industry to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on the neurotoxicity of neonicotinoids - the most widely used class of insecticides in the U.S. and worldwide - and found that the data was evaluated improperly by the agency. Why this matters: Neonicotinoids are widely used not only for commercial agriculture but also for more personal uses like home gardens and in some flea and tick treatments for pets. Humans are regularly exposed to neonicotinoids – which are structurally similar to nicotine – through the environment, food and water. Neonicotinoids’ popularity partly comes from the belief that their harmful effects are mostly limited to insects, but studies like this one demonstrate that mammals may also be harmed by the chemicals, and highlight the urgent need for stronger regulations around their use.
Pesticide regulations ignore critical threats to insect health and ecosystems
by EHN Curators on October 30, 2024 at 10:26 am
In a study revealing regulatory gaps, researchers found that pesticides impact insect behavior and survival at non-lethal doses, especially in warmer temperatures, calling into question the effectiveness of current pesticide safety protocols. Dave Goulson writes for The Conversation.