The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has proposed a new rule making it mandatory for companies to notify the agency about new chemical ingredients they determined are safe for use in food.

For Amazon fish, oxygen now comes with microplastics.

One year after negotiations for a global plastics treaty collapsed in Geneva, a new document has been released to revive the process.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) hasn’t reevaluated Omaha, Nebraska, Superfund cleanup rules in 17 years, despite evidence that low lead exposure harms children and adults.

Utilities serving thousands of Texans exceed legal limits for radium.

The hearing exposed wounds around the legacy of uranium mining on Navajo communities, as well as fresh concerns about in situ recovery.

The stations can become “underground saunas” in the summer. An $800,000 pilot study could help lower temperatures.

The Pittsburgh region suffers from elevated cases of asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions. When wildfires degrade the air, the population is more vulnerable.

As the Great Salt Lake dips down toward historic lows, a new network of air quality monitors is taking shape to help measure dust.

Data center developers can use nondisclosure agreements and shell companies to shield the details of their deals from the public; even state officials also say they need more transparency from the industry.

Researchers find microplastics can persist in compost, leaching into agricultural soils.

Lawsuits that let private groups pursue polluters face new legal challenges from conservative activists, Elon Musk's xAI, and the Trump administration.

DuPont and related companies will pay $2.5 billion for environmental damage from "forever chemicals" at three industrial sites, including two in South Jersey. 3M agreed to pay up to $450 million.

The tech giant is investing in the natural-gas-burning power plant as part of a huge data center in Texas, even as it pledges to honor climate commitments.

Emails reveal how Pennsylvania officials worked behind the scenes to clear the way for projects in Upper Merion Township.

A key zone of the Pacific Ocean is already at record warmth. See how rising sea temperatures could impact global weather.

In a recent study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers examined whether American dietary guidelines designed to promote optimal nutrition during pregnancy also helped minimize exposure to toxic chemicals.

In short:

• Pregnant women who more closely followed the United States Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) had lower exposure levels to some phthalates, bisphenols, and organophosphate esters (a class of chemical flame retardants and plasticizers).
• However, closely following DGA recommendations was also associated with higher exposure to some insecticides, parabens, and benzophenones.
• Overall, a diet that meets protein, whole grain, vegetable, and fruit needs - dietary patterns that are generally associated with a lower consumption of processed and packaged foods - may reduce exposure to many toxic chemicals.

Key quote:

“Although updated recommendations can help on the individual level, given the widespread exposure to many known reproductive and developmental toxicants, efforts should ultimately focus on reducing these contaminants throughout the food supply.”

Why this matters:

Exposure to toxic chemicals has been shown to result in pregnancy complications and harm to babies’ neurodevelopment, growth, and cognitive, metabolic and reproductive health, resulting in long-term and potentially severe outcomes. While studies such as this show that lifestyle choices like diet can influence chemical exposure, the increasing use of synthetic chemicals and plastic throughout the modern food system introduces opportunities for contamination from initial processing to preparation for a wide variety of foods. Research has shown that regulatory and policy interventions are more effective, more consistent, and have a more widespread impact than strategies that put the burden on individual consumers to protect themselves.

Related EHN coverage:

• Minimizing food contact with plastics may help rapidly decrease exposure to some toxic chemicals, study finds
• Vitamins and essential minerals may help minimize the impacts of endocrine disrupting chemicals

More resources:

• SafetyNEST provides resources on how to reduce environmental exposures while pregnant and at home.
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Reducing Prenatal Exposure to Toxic Environmental Agents

Pacyga, D. et al. (2026). Dietary guidelines adherence and pregnancy exposure to 10 classes of priority chemicals: an observational study in the Environmental influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition

Sewer sludge, called biosolids, is used as inexpensive fertilizer on Indiana's farms, but PFAS contamination is not tracked in Indiana.

A $2 billion lawsuit for defense base contamination against the U.S. chemical manufacturer is heard in court for the first time.

A new report found that working veteran underground coal miners in central Appalachia are suffering from black lung at the highest rates in nearly 50 years.