Prop.65 Clearinghouse
NEWS
FYI Column: July 2022
AIR,
AIR QUALITY,
CHEMICALS OF INTEREST,
FYI COLUMN,
PESTICIDES,
PESTICIDES/HERBICIDES/FUNGICIDES,
POLLUTION,
PRODUCTS OF INTEREST,
PROPOSITION 65,
WATER,
WATER QUALITY
By FIONA SMITH
August 16, 2022
Here is a roundup of recent news articles that may be of interest to Prop. 65 Clearinghouse readers.
Air Pollution
There's an overlooked source of air pollution—the toxic particles coming off of car tires are responsible for more particulate pollution than car tailpipes, according to the Guardian.
And another source of overlooked air pollution—Harvard University researchers have issued a study cataloging the toxic chemicals released by gas stoves, including low levels of benzene, according to MarketWatch.
Turns out actor Miles Teller, who stars in the new movie Top Gun Maverick, really got into his role. After feeling ill during filming, he had his blood tested, and it detected, among other things, jet fuel, as he recounts to late night host Seth Myers, writes Bar Stool Sports.
Teller may now qualify to buy one of these Prop. 65 shirts.
Food
The FDA has recently moved to set limits for lead in juice, according to the Environmental Defense Fund.
More on lead—Hello Kitty is not so cute to this writer for The Takeout who has an article about lead in candy and in particular, finding a Prop. 65 warning for lead in some Hello Kitty-branded marshmallows.
Cracking the case on free-range eggs—a study shows that close to 90 percent of free-range eggs it sampled from around the world exceed European Union (EU) limits for dioxins and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), according to the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
Potassium bromate—a carcinogen listed under Prop. 65—which can be used to help bake bread, is banned in many countries, but not in the United States, writes the McGill Office for Science and Safety.
Fermented foods naturally contain the chemical ethyl carbamate—categorized as a probable human carcinogen by the International Agency for Research on Cancer—and researchers have issued a study that looks at the mechanism that leads to the formation of ethyl carbamate, according to Phsy.org.
The risk of developing colon cancer from eating processed meats is covered by the Daily Express while the Daily Mail covers recent studies about the link between a fish-heavy diet and melanoma as well as the link between milk consumption and prostate cancer.
Healthline also writes about the recent study linking consumption of certain fish to a higher melanoma risk, with scientists speculating it could be due to toxins such as PCB's, dioxins, arsenic and mercury found in fish.
Food Packaging
Researchers have released a new database of more than 3,000 chemicals that can leak into food packaging, as covered by ChemEurope.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration denied a petition by several environmental and public health groups to ban phthalates in food packaging, according to Earthjustice.
Personal Care Products
A study looking at hair care products used by Black women concludes that parabens in the products are increasing breast cancer risk among Black women, according to Insider.com.
There is a petition drive in the United Kingdom to ban another chemical found in hair relaxers used by Black women—lye or sodium hydroxide—over concern it also raises breast cancer risk writes Stylist.
Pesticides
Nothing to see here—television news station KOBI in Oregon writes that Bayer objected to their request to have a camera in the courtroom to film proceedings in one of the numerous lawsuits around the country claiming that glyphosate caused an individual's cancer.
The state of New York is considering banning the use of glyphosate on state property, according to News10.
The wrangling over whether to ban the organophosphate pesticide chlorpyrifos is not over yet, writes Environmental Working Group, which details efforts by the agricultural industry to get the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to reverse its recent chlorpyrifos ban.
Meanwhile, hundreds of nonprofit groups and Indigenous people have signed a letter urging the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to drop its cooperation agreement with the agribusiness trade group CropLife International over concern it is impeding efforts to ban toxic pesticides, writes Beyond Pesticides.
The pesticide levels in fruits and vegetables sold within the EU are on the rise despite EU pledges to cut those levels, according to the Daily Express.
PFAS
PFAS stressing you out? Well yes, especially if you're a woman, with research showing that PFAS is linked to higher blood pressure in females, writes the Washington Post.
With new regulations on PFAS coming at the federal level, businesses should prepare for an increase in Prop. 65 actions related to PFAS, writes Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton in the National Law Review.
A bill in California that would bar the manufacture or sale of any product with intentionally added PFAS is progressing through the Legislature, writes Black Voice News.
There is growing pressure to remove PFAS from food packaging, writes the Associated Press.
Environmental Health News has a deep dive into what is known about PFAS in food packaging.
The group Toxin Free USA has sued Burt's Bees over the presence of PFAS in their products, writes Legal Newsline.
Products
Washington State has moved closer to cracking down on toxic chemicals, with the release of a report that will trigger regulations to restrict organohalogen flame retardants (OFRs) in foam mats and casings for electronics such as televisions, bisphenols in thermal paper and drink can linings, phthalates in vinyl (PVC) flooring and fragrances used in beauty and personal care products and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEs) in laundry detergents, writes Toxic Free Future.
A stink over fragrance is afoot in Taiwan, with an advocacy group pushing the government to restrict levels of formaldehyde, phthalates and other toxic chemicals from fragrance diffusers, writes the Taipei Times.
A few months back a North Carolina school district ordered clear backpacks for its high schoolers, only to find Prop. 65 warnings on the backpacks. Now its plan is to auction off the backpacks to recoup the close to $450,000 they spent, writes WCCB Charlotte.
Water Pollution
The Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has issued a report ranking the top 100 companies for water pollution, as covered by 24/7 Wall Street.
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