EDC Science Weekly, Apr. 28 – May 4, 2023

Post author:HEEDS
Post published:May 4, 2023
Post category:EDC Science Weekly

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

Highlights: Nanoplastics can cross the blood-brain barrier; PFAS linked to shorter breastfeeding duration and to lower IQ; Phthalates in NICU linked to worse fine motor skills in infants; Plastics chemicals and diabetes.

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

Events

Webinar May 4 (today!): Will the Global Plastics Treaty Address Toxic Chemicals? [The Collaborative for Health and Environment, CHE]

Webinar May 17: Reducing Breast Cancer Risk by Eliminating Parabens and Phthalates [EDC Strategies Partnership]

Webinar May 23: Industry Influence and Scientists: Protecting Scientific Integrity [CHE]

Webinar June 13: CHE Café: Science, Storytelling & A New War on Cancer

Regulations/Policy

Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals and Persistent Organic Pollutants in Infant Formulas and Baby Food: Legislation and Risk Assessments.

Science calls for ambitious European pesticide policies.

The 2021 European Union report on pesticide residues in food.

A Path to a Reduction in Micro and Nanoplastics Pollution.

Identifying Toxic Consumer Products: A Novel Data Set Reveals Air Emissions of Potent Carcinogens, Reproductive Toxicants, and Developmental Toxicants [see related article in EHN,

Toxic exposures accumulate in more than 100 categories of consumer products: Study]

Methods/Tools/Screening

A novel equal frequency sampling of factor levels (EFSFL) method is applied to identify the dominant factor inducing the combined toxicities of 13 factors.

Integrative toxicogenomics: Advancing precision medicine and toxicology through artificial intelligence and OMICs technology.

Methodology for risk-based monitoring of contaminants in food – A case study in cereals and fish.

A review of statistical strategies to integrate biomarkers of chemical exposure with biomarkers of effect applied in omic-scale environmental epidemiology.

A Human Cell-based Assay to Assess the Induction of Vasculature Formation for Non-genotoxic Carcinogenicity Testing Purposes: A Pilot Study.

A high-throughput metabolomics in vitro platform for the characterization of hepatotoxicity.

Salmonid pituitary cells as a test system for identifying endocrine disrupting compounds.

Commentaries

Commentary: Fish and the thyroid: A Janus Bifrons relationship caused by pollutants and the omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids.

Microplastics that don’t come out in the wash.

Endocrine-disrupting substances: I. Relative risks of PFAS in drinking water.

Reviews

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Exposomics as a tool to investigate differences in health and disease by sex and gender.

Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) and Male Reproductive Health: Challenging the Future with a Double-Edged Sword.

[Chemical pollution, exposome and health in the Canary Islands population: An assessment of the situation.]. [in Spanish]

BPA/Phthalates/Parabens

Endocrine disruptors in plastics alter β-cell physiology and increase the risk of diabetes mellitus. [bisphenols and phthalates]

Human Exposure to Bisphenols, Parabens, and Benzophenones, and Its Relationship with the Inflammatory Response: A Systematic Review.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Breastfeeding as a Vulnerable Function: A Systematic Review of Epidemiological Studies.

Weight of evidence evaluation for chemical-induced immunotoxicity for PFOA and PFOS: findings from an independent panel of experts.

Sources, Fate, and Detection of Dust-Associated Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS): A Review.

Insight into the binding model of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances to proteins and membranes.

Evaluation of the research trends on perfluorinated compounds using bibliometric analysis: knowledge gap and future perspectives.

Pesticides

Widespread use of toxic agrochemicals and pesticides for agricultural products storage in Africa and developing countries: Possible panacea for ecotoxicology and health implications.

The Buzz on Insecticides: A Review of Uses, Molecular Structures, Targets, Adverse Effects, and Alternatives.

Peer review of the pesticide risk assessment of the active substance metiram.

Metals/Metalloids

Effects of Endocrine-Disrupting Heavy Metals on Human Health.

Effects of Non-Essential “Toxic” Trace Elements on Pregnancy Outcomes: A Narrative Overview of Recent Literature Syntheses.

New insights into the role of metal(loid)s in the development of ulcerative colitis: a systematic review.

Potentially toxic elements in the environment – a review of sources, sinks, pathways and mitigation measures.

A systematic review of the health effects of lead exposure from electronic waste in children.

Effects of boron exposure on human reproduction and development

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Plastic packaging-associated chemicals and their hazards – An overview of reviews.

Cellular and Systemic Effects of Micro- and Nanoplastics in Mammals-What We Know So Far.

The degradation of single-use plastics and commercially viable bioplastics in the environment: A review.

Microplastics in soils during the COVID-19 pandemic: Sources, migration and transformations, and remediation technologies.

Effect of Nanomaterials on Gut Microbiota.

Health Effects of Microplastic Exposures: Current Issues and Perspectives in South Korea.

Potential effects of micro- and nanoplastics on phyllosphere microorganisms and their evolutionary and ecological responses.

Residential houses – a major point source of microplastic pollution: insights on the various sources, their transport, transformation, and toxicity behaviour.

Air Pollution

Pollution from fine particulate matter and atherosclerosis: A narrative review.

Human Health Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

From Cohort to Cohort: A Similar Mixture Approach (SMACH) to Evaluate Exposures to a Mixture Leading to Thyroid-Mediated Neurodevelopmental Effects Using NHANES Data.

Phthalates

Dysregulation of steroid metabolome in follicular fluid links phthalate exposure to diminished ovarian reserve of childbearing-age women.

Exposure of preterm neonates receiving total parenteral nutrition to phthalates and its impact on neurodevelopment at the age of 2 months.

Prenatal phthalate exposure and cord blood DNA methylation.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Prenatal Exposure to Metabolism-Disrupting Chemicals, Cord Blood Transcriptome Perturbations, and Birth Weight in a Belgian Birth Cohort. [DDE, PCBs, PFAS]

Associations of prenatal exposure to a mixture of persistent organic pollutants with social traits and cognitive and adaptive function in early childhood: Findings from the EARLI study.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Environmental Exposure to Emerging Alternatives of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in Women Diagnosed with Infertility: A Mixture Analysis. [see related Invited Perspective: Challenges in Evaluating the Effect of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance Mixtures on Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome.]

Association between prenatal and early postnatal exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and IQ score in 7-year-old children from the Odense Child Cohort.

Impact of PFAS exposure on prevalence of immune-mediated diseases in adults in the Czech Republic.

Analysis and distribution of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in decidua and villi placenta explants.

Pesticides

Permethrin-treated baby wraps for the prevention of malaria in children: Protocol for a double-blind, randomized placebo-controlled controlled trial in western Uganda.

Occupational exposure to pesticides as a potential risk factor for epilepsy.

Metals/Metalloids

Arsenic exposure incurs hyperglycemia mediated by oxidative damage in urban adult population: A prospective cohort study with three repeated measures.

Hair mercury is associated with dyslipidemia and cardiovascular risk: An anthropometric, biochemical and genetic cross-sectional study of Amazonian vulnerable populations.

Association between Chronic Environmental Lead (Pb) Exposure and Cytokines in Males and Females of Reproductive Age from Kabwe, Zambia.

Single and combined associations of blood lead and essential metals with serum lipid profiles in community-dwelling adults.

Cadmium-Induced Tubular Dysfunction in Type 2 Diabetes: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Air Pollution

The Impact of Long-Term Air Pollution Exposure on Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus-Related Mortality among U.S. Medicare Beneficiaries.

Association between ambient PM₁ and semen quality: A cross-sectional study of 27,854 men in China.

Association of Long-term exposure to air pollution and residential greenness with lipid profile: Mediating role of inflammation.

Household Air Pollution and Adult Lung Function Change, Respiratory Disease, and Mortality across Eleven Low- and Middle-Income Countries from the PURE Study.

Laboratory Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Pesticides and Parabens Contaminating Aquatic Environment: Acute and Sub-Chronic Toxicity towards Early-Life Stages of Freshwater Fish and Amphibians.

Single and joint toxic effects of thyroid hormone, levothyroxine, and amiodarone on embryo-larval stages of zebrafish (Danio rerio).

BPA/Phenols

Influence of Gut Microbiota on Metabolism of Bisphenol A, a Major Component of Polycarbonate Plastics.

Bisphenol P exposure in C57BL/6 mice caused gut microbiota dysbiosis and induced intestinal barrier disruption via LPS/TLR4/NF-κB signaling pathway.

In vivo effects of low dose prenatal bisphenol A exposure on adiposity in male and female ICR offspring.

Induction of reproductive injury by bisphenol A and the protective effects of cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and protocatechuic acid in rats.

NTS, NTSR1 and ERs in the Pituitary-Gonadal Axis of Cycling and Postnatal Female Rats after BPA Treatment.

Protective Effects of a Red Grape Juice Extract against Bisphenol A-Induced Toxicity in Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells.

Exposure to bisphenol A induces neurotoxicity associated with synaptic and cytoskeletal dysfunction in neuro-2a cells.

Zebrafish (Danio rerio) TRβ- and TTR-based electrochemical biosensors: Construction and application for the evaluation of thyroid-disrupting activity of bisphenols.

Phthalates

Silibinin supplementation ameliorates the toxic effects of butyl benzyl phthalate on porcine oocytes by eliminating oxidative stress and autophagy.

The mechanism of monobutyl phthalate -induced ferroptosis via TNF/IL6/STAT3 signal pathway in TM-3 cells.

Cytotoxic and genotoxic effects of leaking chemicals from serum infusion sets: an in-vitro study.

Di(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate mediates oxidative stress and activates p38MAPK/NF-kB to exacerbate diabetes-induced kidney injury in vitro and in vivo models.

Di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate-induced neurobehavioural transformation is associated with altered glutathione biosynthesis and neurodegeneration in zebrafish brain.

Parabens/Triclosan/Antimicrobials

Discovery of the mechanism of n-propylparaben-promoting the proliferation of human breast adenocarcinoma cells by activating human estrogen receptors via metabolomics analysis.

Long-term percutaneous triclosan exposure induces thyroid damage in mice: Interpretation of toxicity mechanism from metabolic and proteomic perspectives.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Pre- and Postnatal Developmental Exposure to the Polychlorinated Biphenyl Mixture Aroclor 1221 Alters Female Rat Pituitary Gonadotropins and Estrogen Receptor Alpha Levels.

Disruption of the Mouse Liver Epitranscriptome by Long-term Aroclor 1260 Exposure.

Effects of chronic dichlorodiphenyldichloroethylene (DDE) exposure on testosterone production and steroidogenic pathway in male rats.

Fetal and neonatal dioxin exposure causes sex-specific metabolic alterations in mice.

A Realistic Mixture of Persistent Organic Pollutants Affects Zebrafish Development, Behavior, and Specifically Eye Formation by Inhibiting the Condensin I Complex.

Metabolic Consequences of the Water We Drink: A Study Based on Field Evidence and Animal Model Experimentation. [DDT/DDE/DDD]

Alterations of Systemic and Hepatic Metabolic Function Following Exposure to Trans-nonachlor in Low and High Fat Diet Fed Male Sprague Dawley Rats.

Exposure to polychlorinated biphenyls selectively dysregulates endothelial circadian clock and endothelial toxicity.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Persistent oxidative injury and neurobehavioral impairment in male and female adult Nauphoeta cinerea exposed to Perfluorooctanoic acid.

Accumulation and effects of perfluoroalkyl substances in Arabidopsis thaliana in a temperature-dependent manner: an in vitro study.

Flame Retardants

MiR-24-3p/Dio3 axis is essential for BDE47 to induce local thyroid hormone disorder and neurotoxicity.

Effects of TCPP and TCEP exposure on human corneal epithelial cells: Oxidate damage, cell cycle arrest, and pyroptosis.

Pesticides

Imidacloprid and Its Bioactive Metabolite, Desnitro-Imidacloprid, Differentially Affect Ovarian Antral Follicle Growth, Morphology, and Hormone Synthesis In Vitro.

Toxicokinetic and toxicodynamic mixture effects of plant protection products: A case study.

Developmental pyrethroid exposure causes a neurodevelopmental disorder phenotype in mice.

Developmental Neurotoxicity of Difenoconazole in Zebrafish Embryos.

Difenoconazole Exposure Induces Retinoic Acid Signaling Dysregulation and Testicular Injury in Mice Testes.

Low Dose of Carbendazim and Tebuconazole: Accumulation in Tissues and Effects on Hepatic Oxidative Stress in Mice.

Oral Exposure to Epoxiconazole Disturbed the Gut Micro-Environment and Metabolic Profiling in Male Mice.

Targeted Metabolomics of Organophosphate Pesticides and Chemical Warfare Nerve Agent Simulants Using High- and Low-Dose Exposure in Human Liver Microsomes.

The Application of Reference Dose Prediction Model to Human Health Water Quality Criteria and Risk Assessment.

Glyphosate-based formulation affects Tetragonisca angustula worker’s locomotion, behavior and biology.

Coenzyme Q10 treatment and diazinon exposure in parental male rats: effects of the exposure on their neonatal brains.

Effect of chlorpyrifos and its metabolites on skeletal system development of chick embryo.

Adverse effects and potential mechanisms of fluxapyroxad in Xenopus laevis on carbohydrate and lipid metabolism.

Haematological and biochemical toxicity in freshwater fish Clarias gariepinus and Oreochromis niloticus following pulse exposure to atrazine, mancozeb, chlorpyrifos, lambda-cyhalothrin, and their combination.

Metals/Metalloids

Citicoline ameliorates arsenic-induced hepatotoxicity and diabetes in mice by overexpression of VAMP2, PPAR-γ, As3MT, and SIRT3.

Developmental immunotoxicity of maternal exposure to yttrium nitrate on BALB/c offspring mice.

Long-term exposure to arsenic in drinking water leads to myocardial damage by oxidative stress and reduction in NO.

Effects of Inorganic Arsenic on Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus In Vivo: the Roles and Mechanisms of miRNAs.

Computational assessment of the biological response of curcumin to type 2 diabetes mellitus induced by metal exposure.

Gestational cadmium exposure disrupts fetal liver development via repressing estrogen biosynthesis in placental trophoblasts.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

Oral exposure to polystyrene nanoplastics reduced male fertility and even caused male infertility by inducing testicular and sperm toxicities in mice.

Micro- and Nanoplastics Breach the Blood-Brain Barrier (BBB): Biomolecular Corona’s Role Revealed.

Sorbed environmental contaminants increase the harmful effects of microplastics in adult zebrafish, Danio rerio.

Deciphering Gut Microbiome Responses upon Microplastic Exposure via Integrating Metagenomics and Activity-Based Metabolomics.

Polystyrene Microplastics Induce Oxidative Stress in Mouse Hepatocytes in Relation to Their Size.

Deciphering Gut Microbiome Responses upon Microplastic Exposure via Integrating Metagenomics and Activity-Based Metabolomics.

Toxicities of polystyrene microplastics (MPs) and hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD), alone or in combination, to the hepatopancreas of the whiteleg shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei.

Protective Role of Kelulut Honey against Toxicity Effects of Polystyrene Microplastics on Morphology, Hormones, and Sex Steroid Receptor Expression in the Uterus of Rats.

In Vitro Nano-Polystyrene Toxicity: Metabolic Dysfunctions and Cytoprotective Responses of Human Spermatozoa.

Toxicological impacts of microplastics: the effect on the levels of cellular thiols in Mytilus galloprovincialis.

Rhamnetin alleviates polystyrene microplastics-induced testicular damage by restoring biochemical, steroidogenic, hormonal, apoptotic, inflammatory, spermatogenic and histological profile in male albino rats.

Combined exposure of polystyrene microplastics and carbamazepine induced transgenerational effects on the reproduction of Daphnia magna.

Enhanced toxicity of 2,2-bis(chloromethyl) trimethylene bis[bis(2-chloroethyl) phosphate] (V6) by nanopolystyrene particles towards HeLa cells.

Biological effects of polystyrene micro- and nano-plastics on human intestinal organoid-derived epithelial tissue models without and with M cells.

Biochemical and physiological effects of multigenerational exposure to spheric polystyrene microplastics in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Exposure to polystyrene particles causes anxiety-, depression-like behavior and abnormal social behavior in mice.

Miscellaneous

Effects of Decamethylcyclopentasiloxane on Reproductive Systems in Female Rats.

Short-Term Exposure to Benzo(a)Pyrene Causes Disruption of GnRH Network in Zebrafish Embryos.

Long-term exposure to 6-PPD quinone reduces reproductive capacity by enhancing germline apoptosis associated with activation of both DNA damage and cell corpse engulfment in Caenorhabditis elegans.

Exposure/Environment Studies

Numerous Chemicals/Mixtures

Earlier biomarkers in fish evidencing stress responses to metal and organic pollution along the Doce River Basin.

Characterizing the marine mammal exposome by iceberg modeling, linking chemical analysis and in vitro bioassays.

Persistent Organic Pollutants: PCBs, Dioxin, OCPs

Testosterone and persistent organic pollutants in East Greenland male polar bears (Ursus maritimus).

Assessment of PCDD/Fs formation and emission characteristics at a municipal solid waste incinerator for one year.

Exposure and Risk Assessment to Airborne dl-PCBs and Dioxins in the Population Living in the Neighborhood of a Cement Plant: A Pilot Study in the Valencian Region of Spain.

The Spatial Distribution and Potential Risk Assessment of POPs in Farmland around a Typical E-Waste Dismantling Site.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxin/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) contamination in sediments and fish from Msimbazi River in Dar es Salam, Tanzania: patterns, sources, and their exposure to humans.

Perfluoroalkyl Substances

Analytical approaches for screening of per- and poly fluoroalkyl substances in food items: A review of recent advances and improvements.

Estimating historical exposure to perfluoroalkyl acids in Security, Fountain, and Widefield Colorado: use of water-infrastructure blending and toxicokinetic models.

Quantification and characterization of PFASs in suspended particulate matter (SPM) of German rivers using EOF, dTOPA, (non-)target HRMS.

Laboratory-Derived Bioaccumulation Kinetic Parameters for Four Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances in Freshwater Mussels.

Flame Retardants

Organophosphate esters in the seawater of the Bohai Sea: Environmental occurrence, sources and ecological risks.

Occurrence and ecological risk assessment of organophosphate esters in surface water from rivers and lakes in urban Hanoi, Vietnam.

Pesticides

Pesticide residues in bee bread, propolis, beeswax and royal jelly – A review of the literature and dietary risk assessment.

Metals/Metalloids

Levels of Arsenic, Cadmium, and Mercury in Urine of Indigenous People Living Close to Oil Extraction Areas in the Peruvian Amazon.

Early childhood lead exposure is not reflected in adult bone lead: Results of a sub-cohort of African American women in the Cincinnati lead study.

Common weeds as heavy metal bioindicators: a new approach in biomonitoring.

Toxic elements in arctic and sub-arctic brown bears: Blood concentrations of As, Cd, Hg and Pb in relation to diet, age, and human footprint.

Occupational health and safety, metal exposures and multi-exposures health risk in Canadian electronic waste recycling facilities.

Microplastics/Nanomaterials

An Ill Wind? Growing Recognition of Airborne Nano- and Microplastic Exposures.

Evidence of microplastics release from polythene and paper cups exposed to hot and cold: A case study on the compromised kinetics of catalase.

Air Pollution

Fugitive emissions of volatile organic compounds from the pharmaceutical industry in China based on leak detection and repair monitoring, atmospheric prediction, and health risk assessment.

Miscellaneous

Suspended particulate matter-associated environmental corticosteroids in the Pearl River, China: Occurrence, distribution, and partitioning.

Urban runoff mortality syndrome in zooplankton caused by tire wear particles.

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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 and ask to join the EDC Science Weekly group EDC_research@googlegroups.com. The searchable 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 of Healthy Environment and Endocrine Disruptor Strategies (HEEDS), a program of Environmental Health Sciences.

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.