Advisors tell EPA to act on plastic pollution to benefit kids’ health

The US EPA Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) summarized the science on plastic pollution and children's health and made recommendations to the Agency that are a wake-up call on the health impacts of plastic pollution.  The majority of committee members found “…the science is clear that plastic pollution can harm children’s health and raise risks of … Continue reading Advisors tell EPA to act on plastic pollution to benefit kids’ health

UCSF EaRTH Center furthers environmental health at NIEHS annual meeting

NIH-funded environmental health centers from 18 states are gathered in Lexington, Kentucky this week for their annual meeting to further science and public health research. The Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers, a consortium of 26 centers including the UCSF EaRTH Center, are collaborating with colleagues and sharing the latest science despite the government shutdown that … Continue reading UCSF EaRTH Center furthers environmental health at NIEHS annual meeting

MAHA plan fails to recommend real solutions to rising chronic disease

The new MAHA action plan provides evidence that industry stepped in and said, ‘not while we are in charge.’ What’s telling is not only what’s in the report, but what has been removed from the report, including any effort to address corporate capture of regulatory agencies by the chemical industry. In some places, the MAHA … Continue reading MAHA plan fails to recommend real solutions to rising chronic disease

Exposure to chemical dyes in clothing increases risk of gestational diabetes

Exposure to chemical dyes found in textiles increases the risk of gestational diabetes, especially among pregnant women carrying male fetuses, according to researchers at UC San Francisco. The study is also one of the first to find that racial discrimination increases risk of gestational diabetes. People can be exposed to aromatic amines, which are found … Continue reading Exposure to chemical dyes in clothing increases risk of gestational diabetes

New Center to End Corporate Harm launches

Health-harming products including fossil fuels, plastics, petrochemicals, tobacco, alcohol and ultra-processed foods are contributing to a rise in chronic disease Industries that produce health-harming products have waged a decades-long assault on science and regulations designed to protect health, ultimately rigging rules in their favor, say scientists behind a new Center to End Corporate Harm at … Continue reading New Center to End Corporate Harm launches

Experts urge new administration to adopt guiding principles

To protect health, the Trump administration must cut ties to polluting industries and ensure scientific integrity in decision-making, scientists say. Chronic disease, including cancer, diabetes, and neurological disease, is on the rise, in part driven by exposures to health-harming chemicals from fossil fuels and plastics according to scientists from the UC San Francisco Program on … Continue reading Experts urge new administration to adopt guiding principles

Makers of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ covered up the dangers

Widely used in clothing, household products and food, they resist breaking down in the environment The chemical industry took a page out of the tobacco playbook when they discovered and suppressed their knowledge of health harms caused by exposure to PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), according to an analysis of previously secret industry documents by … Continue reading Makers of PFAS ‘forever chemicals’ covered up the dangers