Tag: safety

An Embarrassing Mistake May Have Skewed Microplastics Research All Along

Earth’s worrying pall of microplastics—recorded by scientists practically everywhere, across our planet’s oceans, aloft in clouds above Mount Fuji, burrowed into human brains, and even in the testicles of our poor damn dogs—might be modestly less apocalyptic than previously thought.

Researchers at the University of Michigan (U-M) have identified a surprising and arguably mildly embarrassing error that might be contributing to dramatic overestimates of microplastics content across multiple studies: flecks of debris shed by the standard latex and nitrile gloves that scientists typically use in the lab. Tiny soap-like salts, called stearates, coat these gloves as remnants of the manufacturing process, according to the new U-M study, where they can rub off, creating thousands of false positives per square millimeter (or about one-thousandth of a square inch).

The U-M team replicated a common test surface for microplastics work to evaluate how seven different types of disposable lab gloves could muddy the final microplastics count in each case.

“The type of contact we tried to mimic touches upon all varieties of microplastics research,” according to a statement from the study’s lead author Madeline Clough, a recent doctoral graduate at U-M. “If you are contacting a sample with a gloved hand,” Clough said, “you’re likely imparting these stearates that could overestimate your results.”

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RFK Jr. Announces Investigation Into Removing Microplastics From the Human Body

The federal government will spend $144 million to investigate microplastics and figure out how to remove them from human bodies, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and other officials announced on April 2.

The program—Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics (STOMP)—is tasked with measuring, researching, and removing microplastics and nanoplastics from humans.

Tests reveal that microplastics, or small pieces of plastic, have been found in many people and have been associated with health problems. Ingestion can occur through consumption of food and water, as well as contact with the air.

“We are not dealing with a distant or theoretical risk,” Kennedy said during a news conference in Washington. “We are dealing with a measurable and growing presence inside the human body.”

However, officials said more data are needed, including ways to safely remove the microplastics.

“We cannot treat what we cannot measure,” Kennedy said. “We cannot regulate what we don’t understand.”

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USDA Issues Public Health Alert Over Chicken Nuggets Sold in Walmart

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a public health alert for frozen chicken nuggets sold by Oklahoma-based Dorada Foods as the products could be contaminated with “unsafe levels of lead,” the agency said in an April 1 announcement.

The warning is applicable to ready-to-eat chicken nuggets sold by the company in 29-oz. plastic bags under the name “Great Value Fully Cooked Dino Shaped Chicken Breast Nuggets.” The item, manufactured on Feb. 10, comes with the lot code 0416DPO1215 and has a “Best If Used By” date of Feb. 10, 2027, FSIS said.

The products were shipped and sold at Walmart locations across the United States. Great Value is a primary private-label brand of Walmart.

“Lead is especially dangerous for pregnant women, infants, and young children because it can harm developing brains and nervous systems, sometimes causing lasting problems. There is no safe amount of lead exposure,” FSIS warned.

“Guidelines from the Food and Drug Administration provide an interim reference level (IRL) of 2.2 micrograms. The amount of lead found in these nuggets could be as much as five times higher than this IRL for children. Health experts also say these nuggets may be a risk for women who are pregnant or who could become pregnant.”

In a January 2025 post, the Food and Drug Administration warned that lead toxicity can affect people of any age and health status.

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America’s Half-Trillion-Dollar Sewage Problem

Beneath city streets and suburban neighborhoods, a vast network of pipes and wastewater treatment systems is reaching the end of its life. This subterranean infrastructure is already suffering tens of thousands of failures per year, while exposing millions of Americans to contamination risks.

Utilities, plumbing experts, and environmentalists warn that the scope of the problem has expanded rapidly in recent years. As of 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that $630 billion in wastewater infrastructure investment would be needed to repair and replace deteriorating systems. At the same time, extreme weather events and growing populations were putting additional strain on America’s aging pipes.

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), in its 2025 report card, gave U.S. wastewater infrastructure a D-plus, which the group largely attributed to a lack of funding to meet the needs of communities with failing systems.

Meanwhile, average utility prices for wastewater consumers increased from $35 per month to nearly $65 per month between 2010 and 2020, ASCE researchers found. Even still, they said, rising utility prices aren’t “keeping pace with the growing costs for utilities to provide routine operation and maintenance.”

Paradoxically, as household water and sewer bills increased more than 24 percent between 2020 and 2025, wastewater infrastructure renewal and replacement rates for large-scale projects actually decreased over the past decade, from 3 percent to 2 percent, according to the ASCE analysis.

The scope of the problem becomes clearer when considering the sheer volume of sanitary sewer overflows. As of April 2025, the EPA estimated there were between 23,000 and 75,000 overflow incidents per year, and that didn’t include sewage that backed up into buildings or residential homes.

Some of the reasons for these spills included blockages, line breaks, design defects, and overloaded treatment systems.

A spokesperson for the EPA told The Epoch Times that the agency is “committed to accelerating investments in water infrastructure by stewarding federal funding appropriated by Congress.”

Recent funding highlights from 2025 include the Clean Water State Revolving Fund and Water Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act, which committed $13 billion for infrastructure improvements in communities across the nation, according to the EPA spokesperson.

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FDA Warns of Deaths Linked to Drug It Wants Removed From Market

The Food and Drug Administration said in a March 31 alert that it has learned of eight deaths linked to a drug called avacopan that is used to treat blood vessel inflammation.

A review of studies, documents from avacopan manufacturer Amgen, and reports to the FDA’s adverse event reporting system resulted in the identification of 76 cases of drug-induced liver injury “with reasonable evidence of a causal association with avacopan use,” the FDA said in a drug safety alert.

Fifty-four of the cases led to hospitalization, and eight ended in death.

Some of the cases involved a syndrome that features the destruction of bile ducts in the liver, which can lead to permanent liver damage.

“Patients should contact their health care professional immediately if they develop any signs or symptoms that may indicate liver injury, such as: feeling more tired than usual; nausea; vomiting; unusual itching; light-colored stools; yellowing of skin or eyes; dark urine; swelling in the stomach or abdomen; or pain in the right upper abdomen,” the FDA stated. “Patients should talk to their health care professional about the safety risks associated with Tavneos and whether to continue therapy or switch to alternative treatments.”

Avacopan, also known as Tavneos, was approved by the FDA in 2021 for the treatment of severe active anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody-associated vasculitis, or blood vessel inflammation.

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FDA Recalls Aphrodisiac Chocolates Containing Viagra Ingredients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has issued a recall for two chocolate products sold by a California adult novelty store, Gold Lion Aphrodisiac Chocolate and ilum Male Sexual Enhancement Chocolate, after discovering they contain high levels of the active ingredients found in prescription medications like Viagra and Cialis. Consuming these chocolates could lead to a life-threatening drop in blood pressure, especially for men with heart conditions who take nitrates.

Why it matters

The recall highlights the risks of purchasing unregulated sexual enhancement products that may contain undisclosed and potentially harmful pharmaceutical ingredients. Consumers should be wary of any over-the-counter products making claims about improving sexual performance, as they may contain dangerous adulterants.

The details

According to the FDA, the recalled chocolates were found to contain sildenafil, the active ingredient in Viagra, and tadalafil, the active ingredient in Cialis. These prescription drug components can interact dangerously with nitrates, potentially causing a severe and sudden drop in blood pressure that could be life-threatening. The chocolates were sold by Gear Isle, an adult novelty store in California, under the names Gold Lion Aphrodisiac Chocolate and ilum Male Sexual Enhancement Chocolate.

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EPA Failed to Warn Public of Pesticide Cancer Risks Even When Agency Found High Risk

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has routinely failed to put cancer warnings on pesticide products even when its own assessments have found a high risk of those products causing cancer, according to two new analyses released today by the Center for Food Safety and the Center for Biological Diversity.

The Center for Food Safety analyzed the level of risk the EPA permitted for both currently approved and legacy pesticide active ingredients.

The analysis found that pesticides have been allowed on the market with a cancer risk as high as 1 in every 100 people exposed, a far greater level than the EPA’s benchmark of a 1 in a million chance of developing cancer.

Over the last 40 years, the EPA has approved 200 active ingredients that are “likely” or “possible” carcinogens.

The Center for Biological Diversity analysis examined pesticide product labels for all currently approved pesticide products. The EPA has instituted cancer warnings on only 69 of 4,919 pesticide labels (1.4%) containing an active ingredient that the agency has designated a “likely” human carcinogen.

And the agency has instituted cancer warnings on just 242 of the 22,147 pesticide labels (1.1%) that contain an ingredient the agency has designated as a “possible” human carcinogen.

“It’s bad enough that the EPA approves cancer-causing pesticides,” said Bill Freese, science director at the Center for Food Safety.

“But if the agency is going to allow such chemicals to be freely sold at Home Depot, Wal-Mart and farm-supply stores, the very least the EPA must do is require a clear cancer warning on the label. Warnings save lives by incentivizing users to wear protective equipment that reduces risk.”

“It’s dumbfounding that the EPA has failed to require any cancer warning on thousands of pesticide products sold to the public that the agency itself has linked to cancer,” said Lori Ann Burd, environmental health program director at the Center for Biological Diversity.

“Why should anyone have confidence in the EPA’s ability to keep tabs on the pesticide industry and protect us all from harmful poisons when it won’t even compel companies to put long-term health warnings on pesticides it knows are really dangerous?”

These new analyses come before the April 27 oral arguments in the Supreme Court case Monsanto Company v. John L. Durnell.

Monsanto, since acquired by Bayer, is seeking substantial immunity from future lawsuits brought by Americans who used glyphosate-based products like Roundup and contracted rare cancers that numerous studies have linked to the pesticide.

The case hinges on whether the EPA has sole authority to implement pesticide label warnings.

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Cameras capture truckers unable to read road signs, answer basic questions during Florida crackdown

Fox News cameras were embedded with federal safety officials in North Florida, where a ride-along captured troubling encounters with truck drivers who couldn’t read road signs or communicate in English.

Shocking video showed investigators taking numerous truckers out of service for safety violations, with some drivers unable to read basic road signs or communicate in English.

During one encounter, a Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) trooper asked a trucker how well he spoke English, to which he replied in Spanish.

When asked if the trucker could speak any English, he replied, “No.”

Troopers said that up to half of truckers at some Florida weigh stations cannot meet English proficiency requirements.

“I try to concentrate on the [signs] they have to read,” said FHP master trooper Craig Lents. “If you are going down the road at 70 miles per hour, and you see that sign, you only see it for a split second.”

In another encounter caught on video, a trooper asked a trucker what a road sign meant.

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Sean Duffy Says Biden Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg Allowed Trucking Schools to SELF-CERTIFY

Trump Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said during a cabinet meeting today that Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg allowed trucking schools to ‘self-certify.’ He compared it to the ‘Quality Learing Center’ in Minneoplis.

If this is accurate, it would go a long way in explaining the sudden rash of fatalities involving immigrant drivers on American highways.

In the video below, Duffy says:

“If you can’t understand road signs, if you can’t communicate with law enforcement, when you’re pulled over and communicate what’s on your rig, huge problem.”

“But the last administration, Mr. President, they let truck driving schools self-certify. They were qualified to train truck drivers. And so this is like the learing center, where you could pay $800 and uh, you’d get a certificate that you had passed a CDL driving school, and they have no skills, they don’t have the knowledge and they haven’t gone through any of the testing.”

“And then they get licenses and they’re killing Americans on our roads.”

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GMO Wheat Sprayed With Chemical 166 Times More Toxic Than Glyphosate

A new report from Friends of the Earth raises alarm over the U.S. government’s recent approval of HB4 genetically engineered or GMO wheat, warning that it could pose serious risks to public health, the environment and U.S. farmers’ livelihoods, while offering no proven benefit.

The approval of HB4 wheat marks a critical turning point: after decades of public opposition and trade concerns that kept GMO wheat off U.S. fields, consumers now face the prospect of herbicide-tolerant wheat entering the food system.

However, it is not currently being grown commercially in the U.S.

Friends of the Earth is calling on companies and consumers to reject HB4 GMO wheat before it enters the market.

Developed by the Argentine biotechnology firm Bioceres Crop Solutions, HB4 wheat is engineered to tolerate the toxic herbicide glufosinate ammonium.

Glufosinate is banned in the European Union because it poses risks to human health. It is also linked to negative impacts on soil and ecosystem health.

“GMO wheat poses high risks with no clear benefits. It threatens farmers, consumers, and ecosystems,” said Dana Perls, senior program manager at Friends of the Earth.

“Companies and consumers should reject genetically engineered wheat and support proven, sustainable solutions. Organic farming and traditional breeding protect climate, biodiversity, and food security — without toxic trade-offs.”

The report unpacks the regulatory gaps, health implications, environmental concerns and trade risks at stake.

Key findings include:

We’ve been here before — and it failed

HB4 wheat is not innovation; it is a repetition of a well-documented failure — the chemical-dependent model introduced with Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” crops in the 1990s.

GMO crops have driven massive increases in herbicide use, spawned herbicide-resistant superweeds and trapped farmers on a costly pesticide treadmill.

Glufosinate-tolerant corn and soy are already following the same path. HB4 wheat would extend this failed, toxic system to a global staple food — deepening chemical dependence, increasing costs for farmers and compounding environmental damage.

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