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	<channel>
		<title>Conservation news</title>
		<atom:link href="https://news.mongabay.com/feed/?topic=toxicology&#038;type=post" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
		<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/toxicology/</link>
		<description>Environmental science and conservation news</description>
		<lastBuildDate>Sat, 07 Nov 2026 11:26:43 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2020/05/16160320/cropped-mongabay_icon-32x32.png</url>
	<title>News on Toxicology</title>
	<link>https://news.mongabay.com/list/toxicology/</link>
	<width>32</width>
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				<item>
					<title>Rodent-killing baits threaten small wild cats and other wildlife</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Jun 2026 14:29:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/06/18054111/Image_6-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=321399</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Australia, Global, North America, Oceania, South Africa, Southern Africa, United States, and Washington]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Carnivores, Cats, Chemicals, Conservation, Endangered Species, Environment, Health, Mammals, Poisoning, Predators, Rodents, Small Cats, Toxicology, Wildlife, and Wolves]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Cat kills rodent. Cat eats rodent. Cat is exposed to potentially lethal rodenticides. That scenario is increasingly likely for many small wild cat species across the globe, and yet, only a handful of researchers are investigating this underrecognized conservation issue. Thus far, researchers confirmed that one wild cat population has declined from exposure to these [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Cat kills rodent. Cat eats rodent. Cat is exposed to potentially lethal rodenticides. That scenario is increasingly likely for many small wild cat species across the globe, and yet, only a handful of researchers are investigating this underrecognized conservation issue. Thus far, researchers confirmed that one wild cat population has declined from exposure to these poisons. That’s a small bobcat (Lynx rufus) living on Kiawah Island off the South Carolina coast in the U.S., which faces imminent local extinction due to rodenticides. Up until 2019, there was a stable population of these beloved cats, which are considered celebrities there, but that year, three cats died. Among them was a female that bled to death while giving birth. Postmortems revealed concoctions of rodenticides in each of the bobcats’ blood and livers. Over the next four years, there were 12 more victims and the bobcats’ overall survival rate fell to 39%. All tested positive for concentrations of anticoagulant rodenticides; some had been acutely poisoned, said Meghan Keating, a doctoral candidate at South Carolina’s Clemson University. That was a troubling sign for a population that now numbers less than 20 individuals. They are regularly exposed to rodenticides, as rodents (including rats) are a major part of their diet, Keating said. Also troubling is that her team found exposure to not just one, but a cocktail of rodenticides. “We haven&#8217;t had a bobcat test positive for less than two rodenticides,” she told Mongabay. Kiawah Island’s rodenticide-driven bobcat decline may be an outlier, given its&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/06/rodent-killing-baits-threaten-small-wild-cats-and-other-wildlife/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-321399</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>In Tasmania, the mines have closed but the rivers remember</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-tasmania-the-mines-have-closed-but-the-rivers-remember/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-tasmania-the-mines-have-closed-but-the-rivers-remember/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>16 Apr 2026 21:17:55 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Stefan Lovgren]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/04/16164414/4-King-River-drone-2-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=317656</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Australia, Oceania, and Tasmania]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Conservation, Environment, Environmental Law, extractives, Fish, Freshwater, Freshwater Fish, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Mining, Planetary Boundaries, Planetary Health, Poisoning, Pollution, Rivers, Toxicology, Waste, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The King River snakes through some of Tasmania’s most dramatic and diverse landscape, flowing past rainforest, button grass plains and the rugged peaks of the West Coast Range before emptying into a large bay near Strahan, a quiet fishing town. To the casual visitor, the winding stream looks as wild as the lightly settled country [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The King River snakes through some of Tasmania’s most dramatic and diverse landscape, flowing past rainforest, button grass plains and the rugged peaks of the West Coast Range before emptying into a large bay near Strahan, a quiet fishing town. To the casual visitor, the winding stream looks as wild as the lightly settled country around it. But on a February morning, the King’s tea-brown waters flowing past forested banks near the sea were disturbingly silent. The air hummed with large, persistent horseflies and little else. Healthy Tasmanian streams typically teem with aquatic insects, including mayflies, stoneflies and caddisflies, which form the foundation of freshwater food webs. Not here. Along the lower King River, many aquatic species are gone; an enduring effect of copper mining above Queenstown, which sent uncounted tons of mine waste downstream. That pollution originated at Mount Lyell, one of Australia’s largest historic copper mines. Established in the early 1890s, its tailing piles discharged toxic contaminants into the nearby Queen River, a tributary that flows directly into the King. Historic mine workings at Mount Lyell near Queenstown, Tasmania state, Australia, where more than a century of copper mining has left a lasting environmental legacy that continues impacting biodiversity and posing risks to public health. Image by Stefan Lovgren. Although large-scale dumping ended long before the mine was finally closed in 2014, that hidden legacy of pollution remains embedded in river waters, sediments and floodplains. Surveys of aquatic life have repeatedly found that the sensitive species expected in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-tasmania-the-mines-have-closed-but-the-rivers-remember/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/04/in-tasmania-the-mines-have-closed-but-the-rivers-remember/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-317656</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>PNG’s New Ireland coastal waters causing fish deaths, human sickness</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pngs-new-ireland-coastal-waters-causing-fish-deaths-human-sickness/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pngs-new-ireland-coastal-waters-causing-fish-deaths-human-sickness/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Mar 2026 23:58:37 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[John Cannon]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/03/20233533/GVL8903-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=316077</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Oceania and Papua New Guinea]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Climate, Coastal Ecosystems, Conservation, Diseases, Food, Indigenous Peoples, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pollution, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[For several months, the waters around New Ireland province in Papua New Guinea have been causing illness, skin irritation and the death of sea life, according to communities living along the east coast of the island. In December 2025, residents say they began noticing that fish and other marine life were turning up dead along [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[For several months, the waters around New Ireland province in Papua New Guinea have been causing illness, skin irritation and the death of sea life, according to communities living along the east coast of the island. In December 2025, residents say they began noticing that fish and other marine life were turning up dead along the shoreline, according to a coalition that is organizing a relief effort. John Aini, the founder of the Indigenous marine conservation organization Ailan Awareness, who is from New Ireland province, said the flesh of these fish was discolored, the eyes of some had popped out of their sockets and others had visible damage to their brains. New Ireland sits along the northeastern fringes of Papua New Guinea between the Bismarck Sea to the west and the expanse of the Pacific Ocean to the east. The crisis threatens “multiple” communities whose cultures are deeply entwined with the ocean environment, according to a statement from the coalition, and some 750 people have experienced symptoms including burns, respiratory problems and gastrointestinal sickness. Tidal movements also threaten to infiltrate and foul freshwater creeks that are critical sources of drinking water. And yet, the origins of the crisis are a mystery. A map showing the locations of the most affected communities in New Ireland. Image courtesy of Ailan Awareness. “Families can no longer rely on the ocean for food,” Martha Piwas, a community leader from the east coast of New Ireland, said in the statement. “Mothers cannot feed their children&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pngs-new-ireland-coastal-waters-causing-fish-deaths-human-sickness/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/03/pngs-new-ireland-coastal-waters-causing-fish-deaths-human-sickness/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-316077</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic household waste burned as fuel on rise in Global South, risking health</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Feb 2026 18:34:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2026/01/23155841/Image_2-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=313269</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Global, Guatemala, and Latin America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Climate, Conservation, Developing Countries, Environment, Health, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Burning plastic waste for household fuel, or to manage household waste, may be far more prevalent in poor urban areas in developing countries than previously thought, raising serious environmental pollution and public health concerns for individuals, families and communities. That’s according to a new global study that surveyed more than 1,000 “key informants,” including researchers, government workers and community leaders, from cities in 26 countries across the Global South. The researchers found that one-third of respondents are aware of households that are burning plastic, while 16% stated they’ve burned plastic in their own household. Burning plastic “has been integrated into household energy practices in numerous and diverse ways in many urban communities,” the authors write. Bishal Bharadwaj, lead author of the study and a researcher at the University of Calgary, says the issue has been largely overlooked, as it is occurring in marginalized and largely out-of-sight neighborhoods within cities. “The practice is more widespread than we thought,” he says. Bharadwaj published a paper in 2025 outlining how this practice is growing in the Global South, but this new paper adds in-depth data. The current research also comes against a backdrop of experts warning that the regular practice of open burning of plastic represents an “urgent global health issue” as communities increasingly resort to burning plastic as a fuel source and to tackle a rapidly growing plastic waste disposal crisis. Plastic and other waste in a cooking stove in Guatemala. Household burning of plastic raises health concerns due to close and prolonged&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2026/02/plastic-household-waste-burned-as-fuel-on-rise-in-global-south-risking-health/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-313269</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Silent epidemic of chemical pollution’ demands radical regulatory redo, say scientists</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>03 Dec 2025 20:28:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mike Gaworecki]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/12/03085540/Image-3-Pesticide-spray-in-a-field-63313-pixahive-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=310482</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, Global, North America, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Agrochemicals, Agroecology, Animals, Biology, Chemicals, Climate, Conservation, Crops, Diseases, Environment, Food, Food Industry, food security, Global Environmental Crisis, Health, Industrial Agriculture, Industry, Mammals, Oil, Pesticides, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Regulations, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists has issued a stark warning that current toxicology and chemical regulatory regimes are failing to protect public health and the environment from a host of toxins found in pesticides and other petrochemical-based compounds. In an article published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, 43 researchers from five [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An international team of scientists has issued a stark warning that current toxicology and chemical regulatory regimes are failing to protect public health and the environment from a host of toxins found in pesticides and other petrochemical-based compounds. In an article published in November in the peer-reviewed journal Environmental Sciences Europe, 43 researchers from five continents, including leading experts in toxicology, biology, public health and environmental sciences, began by pointing out severe lapses in current regulatory systems for evaluating the safety of products derived from petrochemical byproducts. They note, for example, that the full commercial formulations of common petrochemical-based pesticides used in global agriculture have never been subjected to long-term tests on mammals. They also note that only the active ingredients declared by makers of pesticides and plasticizers (a type of chemical additive used to increase pliability) have been assessed for human health risks. In fact, the full ingredient lists for these commercial chemical compounds are often proprietary — not publicly disclosed by the companies that develop them. And yet, the article’s authors found that these pesticides and plasticizers contain petroleum-based waste and heavy metals such as arsenic that could make them “at least 1000 times more toxic at low environmentally relevant doses than the active ingredients alone under conditions of long-term exposure.” As a result of these regulatory failings, “We are facing a silent epidemic of chemical pollution,” said article co-author Angelika Hilbeck, a biologist at ETH Zürich. “Chronic diseases are surging, biodiversity is collapsing, and public trust in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/12/silent-epidemic-of-chemical-pollution-demands-radical-regulatory-redo-say-scientists/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-310482</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Forever chemical’ contamination could undermine sea otters’ fragile recovery in Canada</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/forever-chemical-contamination-could-undermine-sea-otters-fragile-recovery-in-canada/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/forever-chemical-contamination-could-undermine-sea-otters-fragile-recovery-in-canada/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>21 Nov 2025 18:05:03 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Edward Carver]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Sharon Guynup]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/11/21140214/Sea-otter-morro-bay_13-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=309965</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Canada and North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Mammals, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Poisoning, Pollution, Research, Toxicology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Sea otters living along the coastline of Canada’s British Columbia province carry residues of “forever chemicals” in their bodies, according to a new study,  and those living near dense human populations or shipping lanes are the most heavily impacted. The research was published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, authored principally by scientists at [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Sea otters living along the coastline of Canada’s British Columbia province carry residues of “forever chemicals” in their bodies, according to a new study,  and those living near dense human populations or shipping lanes are the most heavily impacted. The research was published in the journal Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, authored principally by scientists at the University of British Columbia (UBC). While most health research on exposure to long-lived, human-made chemicals — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS — have been human studies, scientists are growing increasingly aware that wildlife are also at risk. It’s now well-established that in humans, PFAS can cause cancer or liver damage, lower immunity, impair fertility and trigger other health problems. This study on sea otters (Enhydra lutris) analyzed tissue samples from 11 animals that had recently died. All carried PFAS in their livers. Forever chemicals were developed and first manufactured in the mid-20th century by 3M and Dupont. They make products stain, water and heat resistant — and can take hundreds or thousands of years to break down. They’re now ubiquitous worldwide, found in everything from human blood and drinking water to soils used to grow food and the marine environment. Sea otters, which live in coastal waters across the North Pacific Ocean, are endangered and their populations are decreasing, according to the IUCN, the global wildlife conservation authority. Numerous threats, from habitat loss to a warming ocean and pollution, could erase progress that has brought the species back from local extinction. Oil&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/11/forever-chemical-contamination-could-undermine-sea-otters-fragile-recovery-in-canada/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-309965</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rare earth mining expands into Laos, threatening entire Mekong River</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Oct 2025 02:17:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/27015457/Laos-rare-earth-mine-leaching-ponds-2025-banner-image-V1-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=308321</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, Thailand, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Critical Minerals, Drinking Water, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Energy Transition, extractives, Fisheries, Freshwater, Governance, Habitat Degradation, Illegal Mining, International Trade, Mining, Pollution, Protected Areas, Rivers, Toxicology, Traditional People, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New data show a recent proliferation of rare earth mines across river basins in Laos, potentially posing a transboundary water pollution threat to Vietnam and the entire Mekong River system. The new findings suggest that Chinese demand for rare earth minerals has led to the industry’s expansion into Laos, even though rare earth mineral extraction is currently illegal there. Research from U.S.-based think tank the Stimson Center has identified 27 rare earth mines that have opened across river basins in Laos since 2022, including seven identified via satellite imagery analysis as having opened this year. Twenty-three of these mines appear to be in protected areas, but it’s unclear whether or not they’re operating with permission from officials. Fifteen of these mines are operating within the Mekong River Basin: 12 on the Nam Khan River and three on the Nam Ngiep River, both of which feed into the Mekong, the roughly 4,900-kilometer (3,000-mile) river that flows from Tibet through Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam before emptying into the South China Sea. The Mekong River Basin is a biodiversity hotspot that sustains the lives of more than 50 million people who rely on it for food, water and livelihoods. Another 10 rare earth mines were identified by the Stimson Center on the Nam Hao and Nam Xan rivers, in the Ma River Basin, where they not only pose a transboundary risk to Vietnam, but also to the Nam Xam National Biodiversity Conservation Area on the border of Laos and Vietnam,&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/rare-earth-mining-expands-into-laos-threatening-entire-mekong-river/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-308321</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>More Thai rivers and downstream communities at risk from Myanmar’s rare earth mines</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/more-thai-rivers-and-downstream-communities-at-risk-from-myanmars-rare-earth-mines/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/more-thai-rivers-and-downstream-communities-at-risk-from-myanmars-rare-earth-mines/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>20 Oct 2025 03:08:56 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Isabel Esterman]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/20024951/WhatsApp-Image-2025-10-08-at-10.22.31-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307939</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Mekong Basin, Myanmar, Southeast Asia, and Thailand]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Critical Minerals, Ecosystems, extractives, Freshwater, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Illegal Mining, Indigenous Peoples, International Trade, Mining, Public Health, Rainforests, Resource Conflict, Rivers, Toxicology, Traditional People, Tropics, Waste, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New satellite data identified 513 sites of rare-earth mining that have cropped up across at least six key tributaries of the Mekong, Salween and Irrawaddy rivers in Myanmar over the past 10 years. These include 40 believed to have opened this year alone, with the total marking a dramatic increase from previous estimates and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[BANGKOK — New satellite data identified 513 sites of rare-earth mining that have cropped up across at least six key tributaries of the Mekong, Salween and Irrawaddy rivers in Myanmar over the past 10 years. These include 40 believed to have opened this year alone, with the total marking a dramatic increase from previous estimates and suggesting the risk of transboundary river pollution is significantly higher than once thought. The new data and analysis from nonprofit think tank the Stimson Center, published Sept. 22, warns that the proliferation of unregulated mining operations in Myanmar, which are already having dire outcomes in northern Thailand’s Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai provinces, could be worse for the region’s rivers than expected. Brian Eyler, director of the Stimson Center’s Southeast Asia program, who conducted research on the river contamination in northern Thailand, said further testing is urgently needed. He urged other countries to begin testing their waterways potentially as far afield as Cambodia and Vietnam, because the potential for acids, heavy metals, arsenic and other toxins linked to mining flowing downstream is now significantly higher than previously reported. This testing, he added, needs to include the water, sediment and surrounding soil from rivers. It was the “sticky mud” that inundated parts of northern Thailand following heavy rainfall that first alerted his team to contamination on the Kok River, which flows into Chiang Mai’s Mae Ai district from Myanmar, before going on to feed into the Mekong River in Chiang Saen district, Chiang Rai. “That’s what’s&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/more-thai-rivers-and-downstream-communities-at-risk-from-myanmars-rare-earth-mines/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/more-thai-rivers-and-downstream-communities-at-risk-from-myanmars-rare-earth-mines/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307939</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Alarming’ levels of toxins found in free-range eggs near dumpsites globally</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/alarming-levels-of-toxins-found-in-free-range-eggs-near-dumpsites-globally/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/alarming-levels-of-toxins-found-in-free-range-eggs-near-dumpsites-globally/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Oct 2025 14:20:04 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/10/15054508/Image_3_Kalasin_Thailand_J_Petrlik_Arnika_IMG_8236-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=307677</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Birds, Chemicals, Conservation, Diseases, E-waste, Environment, Food, food security, Globalization, Health, International Trade, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Regulations, Research, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has found “alarming” levels of toxic chemicals in free-range eggs around the globe. The finding is based on more than a decade of analyses of eggs on five continents, which detected free-range eggs contaminated with globally banned flame retardants, and particularly brominated dioxins, which are toxic to human health and the environment. [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A recent study has found “alarming” levels of toxic chemicals in free-range eggs around the globe. The finding is based on more than a decade of analyses of eggs on five continents, which detected free-range eggs contaminated with globally banned flame retardants, and particularly brominated dioxins, which are toxic to human health and the environment. E-waste sites, dumpsites and waste incinerators are key sources of these pollutants, with eggs tested in their vicinity found to be severely contaminated by chemicals released when plastic waste is burned. Eggs sampled near an e-waste site in Ghana in 2019, for example, had levels of brominated and chlorinated dioxins 200 times higher than the safety standard for food. Intentional production and use of dioxins has been eliminated or severely restricted worldwide under the U.N. Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs). The study, published in the journal Emerging Contaminants, was led by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN), along with the Czech nonprofit Arnika and an international team of scientists. The research was far-reaching, with free-range egg toxicology data gathered in many developing countries, and countries with economies in transition, in Africa, Asia, North and South America and Europe. The findings are extremely concerning, the study authors say, as eggs are an important source of protein in low- and middle-income countries, with the study indicating these toxic chemicals are entering the food chain. “We know from decades of studies that dioxins are some of the most toxic chemicals that we are aware of,” says&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/alarming-levels-of-toxins-found-in-free-range-eggs-near-dumpsites-globally/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/10/alarming-levels-of-toxins-found-in-free-range-eggs-near-dumpsites-globally/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-307677</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Sunscreens protect us but also pose real planetary health concerns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sunscreens-protect-us-but-also-pose-real-planetary-health-concerns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sunscreens-protect-us-but-also-pose-real-planetary-health-concerns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>26 Aug 2025 18:11:46 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/08/22121731/sunscreen-and-seaweed-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=304732</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Biodiversity, Chemicals, Conservation, Coral Reefs, Ecosystems, Environment, Health, Marine, Marine Conservation, Oceans, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Toxicology, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Today’s beach outing is not the same as your grandparents’ beach outing: With intense summer heat waves now the norm due to climate change, and with the ozone layer still not fully healed, people need more and better sun protection when outdoors. Sunscreen offers proven protection from sunburn and skin cancer — but it’s also [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Today’s beach outing is not the same as your grandparents’ beach outing: With intense summer heat waves now the norm due to climate change, and with the ozone layer still not fully healed, people need more and better sun protection when outdoors. Sunscreen offers proven protection from sunburn and skin cancer — but it’s also often comprised of a cocktail of ingredients including chemicals that scientists warn are a growing source of environmental pollution. Much of this concern focuses on a variety of ingredients known as ultraviolet (UV) filters. Sunscreens typically come in two forms: organic (using chemicals to absorb solar radiation), or inorganic (using zinc oxide and titanium oxide to reflect away solar radiation). An estimated 6,000 to 14,000 metric tons of UV filtering chemicals are released annually into coastal regions with coral reefs. And in recent years, scientific evidence of sunscreen chemicals harming sensitive marine ecosystems has accumulated, resulting in a series of local, regional and national bans of some chemical ingredients to protect living reefs. Experts now underline that these concerns go far beyond coral reefs. In a 2025 paper, researchers at Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the U.K. outlined how some sunscreen chemicals impact a host of marine organisms at a molecular, cellular, individual or community level. Studies show that UV filters are linked to effects on enzyme growth, endocrine disruption, reproductive issues and more. UV filters can affect not only coral, but species of seagrass, fish and other marine life. The researchers are calling for an&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sunscreens-protect-us-but-also-pose-real-planetary-health-concerns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/08/sunscreens-protect-us-but-also-pose-real-planetary-health-concerns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-304732</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Open burning of plastic is an escalating public health threat, say experts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>17 Jul 2025 16:19:15 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/16132324/Image_9-1-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302653</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Asia, Central America, Ghana, Guatemala, Malawi, Southeast Asia, and Vietnam]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Carbon Emissions, Climate Change, Conservation, Environment, Fires, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Microplastics, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Recycling, Toxicology, and Waste]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa was a child, her mother sent her to market with a basket woven from grasses. “But now we don&#8217;t do that,” she says, because plastic has taken over most utilitarian purposes in today’s Malawi. “You go and you get a plastic carrier, and they&#8217;re usually not reusable plastics.” In many Malawi communities, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When Tiwonge Mzumara-Gawa was a child, her mother sent her to market with a basket woven from grasses. “But now we don&#8217;t do that,” she says, because plastic has taken over most utilitarian purposes in today’s Malawi. “You go and you get a plastic carrier, and they&#8217;re usually not reusable plastics.” In many Malawi communities, and across poorer nations worldwide, there is no waste collection or proper disposal. Instead, families faced with an onslaught of cheap plastic products — including single-use bags, bottles and diapers — commonly burn the waste in pits beside their homes. With a growing number of developing-world communities living beneath a pall of toxic petrochemical plastic smoke, Mzumara-Gawa is sounding the alarm. Now an ecologist at the Malawi University of Science and Technology and an environmental advocate with the NGO Tearfund, she says the widespread open burning of plastics is taking an increasingly heavy public health and environmental toll that is largely being ignored. Experts warn that many communities are resorting to the burning of plastic waste in households as fuel, while burning by industry to make energy is also becoming common. Add to this the vast volume of plastic waste dumped by the Global North on the Global South — waste that often ends up being incinerated without pollution controls. A dump site in Malaysia, a nation that recently blocked U.S. plastic waste exports. Shipments of plastic products and plastic waste from the Global North to the Global South are creating a flood of plastics&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/open-burning-of-plastic-is-an-escalating-public-health-threat-say-experts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302653</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The world&#8217;s children suffer brunt of wildfire smoke health impacts</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/the-worlds-children-suffer-brunt-of-wildfire-smoke-health-impacts/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/the-worlds-children-suffer-brunt-of-wildfire-smoke-health-impacts/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Jul 2025 15:43:14 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Anna Dulisse]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/07/14152137/masks-on-statues-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=302117</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, carbon, Carbon Emissions, Climate, Climate Change, Climate Justice, Deforestation, Diseases, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fires, Governance, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Health, Impact Of Climate Change, Planetary Health, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Temperatures, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[As record wildfires erupt across Canada this year, with health-threatening smoke drifting into the U.S. and as far away as Europe — and with wildfires in 2024 becoming the leading driver of tropical forest loss for the first time in history — a disturbing childhood statistic requires urgent attention by parents and caregivers across the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[As record wildfires erupt across Canada this year, with health-threatening smoke drifting into the U.S. and as far away as Europe — and with wildfires in 2024 becoming the leading driver of tropical forest loss for the first time in history — a disturbing childhood statistic requires urgent attention by parents and caregivers across the world. Approximately 270,000 children under the age of 5 die each year after breathing in wildfire smoke, according to UNICEF’s Children’s Environmental Health Collaborative. Many more suffer lingering disabilities. And these grim vulnerabilities are only likely to worsen, as global warming makes wildfires more numerous, intense and deadly. The high mortality and injury rates among youth globally are largely due to physiology and exposure: “Children have higher breathing rates, so they inhale more pollutants per hour,” said Ariadna Curto, an environmental epidemiologist and postdoctoral researcher at the Barcelona Institute for Global Health in Spain. “Their airways are smaller and they tend to spend more time outdoors than indoors, so they are vulnerable to the effects of pollution.” Extensive research is lacking on wildfire smoke impacts on this young demographic, but scientists are now amassing an alarming body of evidence delineating physical, developmental and mental health effects. Starting in utero and continuing through adolescence, wildfire smoke exposure is looming as a global children&#8217;s health crisis. Wildfires are increasing in number and intensity across the world, and their smoke is especially threatening children’s health. Image by Brendan O&#8217;Reilly, U.S. Forest Service- Pacific Northwest Region via Wikimedia Commons&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/the-worlds-children-suffer-brunt-of-wildfire-smoke-health-impacts/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/07/the-worlds-children-suffer-brunt-of-wildfire-smoke-health-impacts/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-302117</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Bangladesh continues promotion of biodegradable bags amid battle against polythene</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/bangladesh-continues-promotion-of-biodegradable-bags-amid-battle-against-polythene/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/bangladesh-continues-promotion-of-biodegradable-bags-amid-battle-against-polythene/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Apr 2025 13:45:01 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mohammad Al-Masum Molla]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Abu Siddique]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2025/04/01134157/vegetable-and-plastic-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=296823</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Asia, Bangladesh, and South Asia]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Law Enforcement, Microplastics, Overconsumption, Planetary Health, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Regulations, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On a busy morning in November 2024, a dramatic scene unfolded in a supermarket in Banani, Dhaka. Government officials, armed with security personnel, launched a joint operation to crack down on the widespread use of plastic bags. As the supermarket employees wrapped goods in the familiar crinkling plastic, officers moved in, ready to seize the [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On a busy morning in November 2024, a dramatic scene unfolded in a supermarket in Banani, Dhaka. Government officials, armed with security personnel, launched a joint operation to crack down on the widespread use of plastic bags. As the supermarket employees wrapped goods in the familiar crinkling plastic, officers moved in, ready to seize the items. A clash of voices filled the air. Employees and customers alike protested, arguing that the alternatives were simply too costly and that banning plastic bags would bring significant everyday inconveniences. This moment encapsulated the ongoing struggle Bangladesh has faced since becoming the first country in the world to ban plastic bags in 2002. While the intention — tackling the environmental and health crises caused by plastic waste — was noble, implementing the law has proved to be far more challenging than expected, shows a 2022 study. The groundbreaking law was enforced too loosely over the two decades, allowing plastic bags to gradually creep back into the market. The study mentions that, by 2006, as the government encouraged alternatives like jute and cloth bags, plastic bags had nearly disappeared from major retailers. However, the lack of strict enforcement left a gap that enabled plastic bags to re-emerge, first in large retail outlets and then in local markets. A growing crisis: Plastic waste overwhelms Dhaka A report by World Bank shows that Bangladesh’s per capita plastic consumption in urban areas increased to 9 kilograms (20 pounds) for the year 2020, from 3 kg (6.6 lbs.) in&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2025/04/bangladesh-continues-promotion-of-biodegradable-bags-amid-battle-against-polythene/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-296823</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Thousands of chemicals from food packaging found in humans, a major study reveals</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/thousands-of-chemicals-from-food-packaging-found-in-humans-a-major-study-reveals/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/thousands-of-chemicals-from-food-packaging-found-in-humans-a-major-study-reveals/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Nov 2024 16:00:17 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Rita Aksenfeld]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/25154948/Rita-Aksenfeld-plastics-03-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290589</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Consumption, Environment, Food, Food Industry, Green, Microplastics, Novel Entities, Plastic, Pollution, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[At the end of a long day, you might sit down with friends or family to eat a bowl of hot noodle soup. A savory scent fills the air as you bring the broth to your lips. Whether that meal is homemade udon or canned chicken noodle soup, you will also unwittingly swallow chemicals that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[At the end of a long day, you might sit down with friends or family to eat a bowl of hot noodle soup. A savory scent fills the air as you bring the broth to your lips. Whether that meal is homemade udon or canned chicken noodle soup, you will also unwittingly swallow chemicals that leached into the ingredients from everything they touched on their way to your table. Different types of food packaging contain multiple classes of chemicals that can leach into food. Credit: RISheehan on Wikimedia Commons Food processing equipment, storage containers, packaging, and serving bowls all contain chemicals that can bleed into your food in tiny amounts. When you eat your soup, every noodle, vegetable, and protein picked up these &#8220;food contact chemicals&#8221; along the way. Researchers knew people ingested chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates with their food, but the full scope of this exposure was unclear. To create such a catalogue, a team of public health specialists based in Switzerland compiled the results of three databases of molecules found in the human body, five biomonitoring programs, and hundreds of studies. They found that among the 14,402 known food contact chemicals, 3,601 – more than 25 percent – are present in human blood, urine, hair, umbilical cords, placentas, and breast milk. Eighty of those chemicals cause cancer, decrease fertility, cause birth defects, or are toxic to humans. An additional 59 do not yet have safety information, according to a recent study published in the Journal&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/thousands-of-chemicals-from-food-packaging-found-in-humans-a-major-study-reveals/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290589</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Plastic pollution pushing Earth past all nine planetary boundaries: Report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/plastic-pollution-pushing-earth-past-all-nine-planetary-boundaries-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/plastic-pollution-pushing-earth-past-all-nine-planetary-boundaries-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>25 Nov 2024 15:19:40 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alden Wicker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/25125427/ocg-saving-the-ocean-IminhMpXoCQ-unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290604</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Aerosol Pollution, Air Pollution, Biodiversity, Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Microplastics, Natural Gas, Oil, Overconsumption, Planetary Health, Plastic, Politics, Pollution, Regulations, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[“Plastics pollution exacerbates the impacts of all [nine] planetary boundaries,” warns a report published this month in the journal One Earth in the run-up to what could be the final United Nations summit to hammer out an international treaty addressing the global plastics crisis. That meeting, known as INC-5, in Busan, South Korea, happens from [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[“Plastics pollution exacerbates the impacts of all [nine] planetary boundaries,” warns a report published this month in the journal One Earth in the run-up to what could be the final United Nations summit to hammer out an international treaty addressing the global plastics crisis. That meeting, known as INC-5, in Busan, South Korea, happens from Monday, Nov. 25, to Sunday, Dec. 1. The planetary boundary framework, hypothesized in 2009 and updated several times since then by an international group of scientists, seeks to identify the safe limits of human activity impacting Earth systems. Beyond those safe limits — dubbed the “safe operating space for humanity” — the planet’s natural processes can destabilize, degrade, stop self-regulating or even collapse, creating an extreme and hostile environment for life as we know it. As of this year, human activities have transgressed six of the nine boundaries. The fifth of those limits to be violated, scientists note, was the novel entities boundary, which was determined crossed in 2022. Novel entities encompass human-made chemicals and other synthetic entities added to the natural environment. One of the most pervasive of novel entities today is plastic. Globally, 500 million tons of plastics are produced every year, but only 9% get recycled, says the One Earth research article. Plastics are persistent and don’t break down. And some plastics, along with many of their additives, are toxic to life. Plastic has been found everywhere on Earth — from deepest oceans to high mountains, in clouds and pole to pole.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/plastic-pollution-pushing-earth-past-all-nine-planetary-boundaries-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/plastic-pollution-pushing-earth-past-all-nine-planetary-boundaries-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290604</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>The plastics crisis is now a global human health crisis, experts say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-plastics-crisis-is-now-a-global-human-health-crisis-experts-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-plastics-crisis-is-now-a-global-human-health-crisis-experts-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>19 Nov 2024 18:15:32 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alden Wicker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/19131858/pexels-mumtahina-tanni-1080117-8395838-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290316</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Coal, Conservation, Consumption, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Governance, Health, Microplastics, Natural Gas, Oceans, Oil, Overconsumption, Planetary Health, Plastic, Poisoning, Politics, Pollution, Protests, Public Health, Regulations, Social Justice, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It’s been clear for some time: We’re in the midst of a rapidly escalating global plastics crisis. More than 11 billion metric tons of virgin plastics were produced worldwide from 1950 to 2022. And the rate of production has soared, with at least 71% of all plastics ever made produced in the 21st century. Of [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It’s been clear for some time: We’re in the midst of a rapidly escalating global plastics crisis. More than 11 billion metric tons of virgin plastics were produced worldwide from 1950 to 2022. And the rate of production has soared, with at least 71% of all plastics ever made produced in the 21st century. Of all those billions of tons manufactured, three-quarters were discarded in landfills, open dumps or directly into the environment. Today, our oceans, beaches, rivers, cities and wild places are awash in discarded plastic and synthetic textiles, while microplastics have been detected from pole to pole, on remote mountaintops and in clouds. In view of the tremendous buildup of visible trash, it’s not surprising that the plastics crisis so far has mostly been treated as a problem of poor waste management and consumer choice. Likewise, efforts for a fix have largely focused on recycling and consumer education. But talking about plastic as a litter problem ignores one of the most alarming facets of our plastic addiction: its impacts on human health. Fast-mounting evidence points to microplastics entering the human body and doing internal damage. Likewise, thousands of chemicals that leach out of plastics are finding their way into our bodies (via food wrappers, storage containers, cooking utensils and other routes) with some of those chemicals linked to a range of health impacts, including immune suppression and cancer. In a new report out Nov. 7th in the journal One Earth, an international group of researchers attempted to gather&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-plastics-crisis-is-now-a-global-human-health-crisis-experts-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/the-plastics-crisis-is-now-a-global-human-health-crisis-experts-say/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290316</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>As global fire risk rises, modern homes become toxic plastic traps</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/as-global-fire-risk-rises-modern-homes-become-toxic-plastic-traps/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/as-global-fire-risk-rises-modern-homes-become-toxic-plastic-traps/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>14 Nov 2024 15:45:07 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Alden Wicker]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2024/11/14124450/6_2048px-Hawaii_National_Guard_-_7973719-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=290107</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Cities, Climate Change, Drought, Environment, Environmental Law, Extreme Weather, Fires, Forests, Health, Infrastructure, Planetary Boundaries, Plastic, Public Health, Regulations, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Rob Wilson stood on his home’s back deck in Flagstaff, in the U.S. state of Arizona, as the wildfire approached. All was chaos: Utility trucks rushed through his neighborhood, shutting off gas and electricity. Fire engines wailed and roared by, as police cruisers blared evacuation warnings. But Wilson had prepared for this moment. When he [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Rob Wilson stood on his home’s back deck in Flagstaff, in the U.S. state of Arizona, as the wildfire approached. All was chaos: Utility trucks rushed through his neighborhood, shutting off gas and electricity. Fire engines wailed and roared by, as police cruisers blared evacuation warnings. But Wilson had prepared for this moment. When he purchased this idyllic property abutting Coconino National Forest in 2004, he knew his home was at risk for wildfires. He consulted with buddies at the local fire department and in the building trades, and ran a 4-inch (10-centimeter) pipe from his timber-constructed home to the road to provide for a fire hydrant, and cleared a firebreak around the property. His siding was cement-based, his porch built from fire-resistant tropical hardwood. More importantly, he insulated the home with spray foam insulation, sealing soffit vents so no embers could get in the attic and set his house ablaze. But this wildfire, like many that have ignited in the past decade, was an altogether different beast than what he’d planned for. Wilson’s wife and the family mutt had left hours earlier, towing a loaded horse trailer. Now, a bulldozer booked it through the yard. The operator paused just long enough to yell, &#8220;Get out of here now! It&#8217;s right behind me!&#8221; When Wilson drove away, he took a last look at the house, thinking he wouldn&#8217;t see it again. The home did survive, while his neighbors&#8217; houses burned down to their foundations. But Wilson came to wish his&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/as-global-fire-risk-rises-modern-homes-become-toxic-plastic-traps/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2024/11/as-global-fire-risk-rises-modern-homes-become-toxic-plastic-traps/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-290107</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>North Atlantic orcas reveal the troubling persistence of toxic ocean pollutants</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/north-atlantic-orcas-reveal-the-troubling-persistence-of-toxic-ocean-pollutants/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/north-atlantic-orcas-reveal-the-troubling-persistence-of-toxic-ocean-pollutants/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>27 Nov 2023 14:25:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Kristel Tjandra]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Rhett Butler]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/24234954/nitesh-jain-orca_unsplash-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275880</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic, Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Greenland, and Iceland]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Cetaceans, Mammals, Marine Mammals, Oceans, Pollution, Predators, Top Predators, Toxicology, Water Pollution, and Whales]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny black tops and pure white undersides, the killer whales, or orcas, are the sleekest hunters in the ocean. But being apex predators comes with a great cost. Their bodies absorb the chemical pollutants that build up in the long chain of prey leading to their meals. Now, a recent study in Environmental [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[With their shiny black tops and pure white undersides, the killer whales, or orcas, are the sleekest hunters in the ocean. But being apex predators comes with a great cost. Their bodies absorb the chemical pollutants that build up in the long chain of prey leading to their meals. Now, a recent study in Environmental Science &amp; Technology has shown that what orcas choose to eat could affect their survival more than scientists thought. Every year over the past decade, a team of international marine biologists went to the North Atlantic Ocean to collect samples of killer whales’ blubber—the fat layer beneath their skin. The study, which covered an area spanning the Canadian Arctic, Eastern Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and Norway, was the most comprehensive of its kind. The team&#8217;s analysis of 162 North Atlantic killer whale (Orcinus orca) samples showed a startling level of various chemical pollutants, despite their remote ranges. “These killer whales are pretty much isolated,” said Anaïs Remili, a marine biologist at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and lead author of the study. “They&#8217;re super elusive, and we don&#8217;t really know where they are. They&#8217;re far away from any human settlement.” Anaïs Remili, on an expedition in Iceland, uses an air gun to shoot darts that collect small samples of blubber from orcas. Credit: Anaïs Remili To collect the blubber samples, Remili and her colleagues shot darts fired from an air gun into the orcas’ skin layer. “You have to approach the whales slowly to make sure&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/north-atlantic-orcas-reveal-the-troubling-persistence-of-toxic-ocean-pollutants/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/north-atlantic-orcas-reveal-the-troubling-persistence-of-toxic-ocean-pollutants/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275880</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Are flame retardants about to burn a hole in biodiversity? (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/are-flame-retardants-about-to-burn-a-hole-in-biodiversity-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/are-flame-retardants-about-to-burn-a-hole-in-biodiversity-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>13 Nov 2023 21:28:28 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Marta VenierMichael Wasserman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2023/11/13210417/PF3290_redcolobus_h1-color-balance-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=275341</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa, Congo Basin, Democratic Republic Of Congo, Global, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Apes, Biodiversity, Chemicals, Chimpanzees, Commentary, Conservation, Environment, Great Apes, Mammals, Monkeys, Pollution, Primates, Toxicology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It started with monkey poop. A few years ago we analyzed the feces of wild baboons, chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, and red colobus in Uganda and found unexpectedly high levels of flame retardant chemicals. These chemicals are added to furniture, electronics, vehicles, and other products – how are they ending up in primates living in protected [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It started with monkey poop. A few years ago we analyzed the feces of wild baboons, chimpanzees, red-tailed monkeys, and red colobus in Uganda and found unexpectedly high levels of flame retardant chemicals. These chemicals are added to furniture, electronics, vehicles, and other products – how are they ending up in primates living in protected forests of Africa? Now our colleagues at the Green Science Policy Institute have uncovered further evidence of the astonishingly widespread impact of these chemicals on wildlife. Based on peer-reviewed research, they mapped more than 150 species of wild animals across every continent contaminated with flame retardants. Polluted wildlife includes killer whales, red pandas, chimpanzees and other endangered species. Because flame retardants are not usually bound to the products to which they are added, they inevitably escape into air and on particles and make their way to us and animals, both pets and wildlife. One group of animals that can be particularly affected are primates, like monkeys and apes. They can come into contact with flame retardants through the air they breathe and the food they eat. These flame retardants can travel far and wide, reaching even protected areas, like Kibale National Park, far from large cities or industrial activity. Image of an eastern chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) by Ron Waddington (CC BY-SA 2.0). Kibale, like many other protected tropical forests, is not isolated from human activity: it has active research and tourism camps and is surrounded by villages and agricultural activity, including tea plantations and&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/are-flame-retardants-about-to-burn-a-hole-in-biodiversity-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2023/11/are-flame-retardants-about-to-burn-a-hole-in-biodiversity-commentary/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-275341</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tropical mammals under rising chemical pollution pressure, study warns</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/tropical-mammals-under-rising-chemical-pollution-pressure-study-warns/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/tropical-mammals-under-rising-chemical-pollution-pressure-study-warns/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>02 May 2022 15:08:49 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Sean Mowbray]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/05/02144813/BANNER-1280-x-720-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=255375</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Brazil, Cerrado, Global, and Uganda]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agrochemicals, Animals, Chemicals, Environment, Green, Health, Microplastics, Pesticides, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Toxicology, Waste, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Primates and other tropical wildlife are increasingly being exposed to pesticides pharmaceuticals, plastics, nanoparticles and other synthetic materials, but adverse impacts on these animals have been little studied.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tropical mammals are living in an ever-changing chemical landscape warns a recent study, with wildlife increasingly exposed to an array of plastics, pharmaceuticals, pesticides and nanoparticles. The recent study, published in the journal Biological Conservation, warns that this underrecognized threat requires urgent action. Colin Chapman, a biologist and professor at George Washington University, and his colleagues reviewed the body of scientific literature investigating the scope of the “chemical landscape” inhabited by tropical terrestrial mammals. A recurrent theme: a paucity of studies covering the topic offered only glimpses of the effects of pollutants. “As a society we are intentionally poisoning tropical wildlife,” Chapman told Mongabay. “We don&#8217;t know the effects of it, but we know we&#8217;re poisoning them. We know we&#8217;re poisoning ourselves and despite this knowledge, we&#8217;re not acting.” Research in Brazil&#8217;s Cerrado savanna biome found that lowland tapirs (Tapirus terrestris) accumulate pesticides and heavy metals, causing concern about potential health impacts. Image by Bernard DUPONT via Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0). Living in a chemical world Earlier this year, an international group of researchers centered around the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC) warned that the manufacture, use and disposal of synthetic chemicals — referred to by scientists as novel entities — has passed a crucial and dangerous environmental threshold, threatening “a safe operating space for humanity.” The novel entities pollution problem is just one of nine planetary boundaries — six of which, including climate change, have already seen their safe limits violated by human actions. In 2019, a report by the&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/tropical-mammals-under-rising-chemical-pollution-pressure-study-warns/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/05/tropical-mammals-under-rising-chemical-pollution-pressure-study-warns/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-255375</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Chemical recycling: ‘Green’ plastics solution makes more pollution, says report</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/chemical-recycling-green-plastics-solution-makes-more-pollution-report/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/chemical-recycling-green-plastics-solution-makes-more-pollution-report/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>22 Mar 2022 14:35:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/03/22141206/4-BANNER-IMAGE-1-768x453.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=254011</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Environment, Environmental Law, Environmental Policy, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Health, Microplastics, Oceans, Plastic, Pollution, Public Health, Research, Toxicology, Waste, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[A recently published investigation finds U.S. chemical recycling facilities are making fuel and chemicals, but not new plastics, while generating air pollution and toxic waste. That ‘green tech’ could soon go global.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[A host of cutting-edge plastics processing technologies, known collectively as ‘chemical recycling,’ are releasing large quantities of toxic and hazardous substances into the environment. But the majority — while making fuel and chemicals — are producing no recycled plastic, according to a recent report by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). With over 240 million metric tons of new plastics generated every year, a growing global mountain of plastic waste now threatens to destabilize Earth’s operating system,  potentially closing the habitable window of climate and biogeochemical conditions that human civilizations have relied upon for survival over the past 12,000 years. The United States is one of the world’s top plastic producers, but less than 9% of what it makes is currently recycled, mostly through the established process of mechanical sorting and shredding. Plastic industry representatives claim that so-called cutting edge ‘chemical recycling’ or ‘advanced recycling’ technologies, which use heat or solvents to convert waste plastic into fuels or chemical feedstocks, are the best recycling solution. But environmental groups, including NRDC, have raised concerns over the greenhouse gas emissions and toxic pollution generated by these processes. Over 240 million metric tons of new plastics are generated planetwide every year, but only a small fraction is being recycled. Together with other novel chemical pollutants, plastic waste and its impacts threaten to push Earth outside of the habitable zone for humanity. Image by EFRH on VisualHunt. Chemical recycling creating pollution? The NRDC investigation collated publicly available data in the summer of 2021 from&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/chemical-recycling-green-plastics-solution-makes-more-pollution-report/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/03/chemical-recycling-green-plastics-solution-makes-more-pollution-report/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-254011</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Tiny plastic particles accumulating in river headwaters: Study</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/tiny-plastic-particles-accumulating-in-river-headwaters-study/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/tiny-plastic-particles-accumulating-in-river-headwaters-study/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>10 Feb 2022 21:53:18 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/02/10185044/BANNER-IMAGE-yogurt-cup-768x450.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=252576</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Chemicals, Environment, Global Environmental Crisis, Green, Health, Microplastics, Oceans, Planetary Health, Plastic, Poisoning, Pollution, Research, Rivers, Toxicology, Waste, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Modeling shows microplastics can be trapped in river sediments for up to 7 years posing unknown and unstudied risks to biodiversity and human health.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Tiny fragments of plastic can linger for years in slow flowing streams and rivers, according to the results of a computer modeling study published in Science Advances last month. As tributaries and rivers flow from source to estuary, through rural, urban and industrial landscapes, they have lots of opportunities to pick up plastic fragments and carry them to the ocean, but we still know relatively little about what happens along the way, how long this turbulent journey might take, or what the environmental impacts may be. “There are a lot of physical processes that take place in a stream,” said lead author Jennifer Drummond, a research fellow at the University of Birmingham, UK. Plastic bags litter a river bank in Europe. Photo credit: Ivan Radic on VisualHunt.com Models of microplastic transport that take into account gravitational forces alone predict that very small particles will stay afloat and be carried swiftly to the ocean. But small fragments can also be influenced by the dynamics of water movement at the interface between flowing water and sediment, called the ‘hyporheic’ zone. Plastic particles can be carried downwards from the surface by turbulence, while small variations in pressure can force water into the sediments, depositing microplastics there. These exchanges between flowing water and river sediments are “the piece that was missing,” from previous explanations of microplastic transport, Drummond explained. The researchers modeled the journey of microplastics released from wastewater treatment into rivers of different sizes and flow rates, focusing on the smallest microplastic fragments&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/tiny-plastic-particles-accumulating-in-river-headwaters-study/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
										<wfw:commentRss>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/02/tiny-plastic-particles-accumulating-in-river-headwaters-study/feed/</wfw:commentRss>
					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-252576</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>For pharmaceuticals fouling wastewater and wildlife, solutions exist (commentary)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/for-pharmaceuticals-fouling-wastewater-and-wildlife-solutions-exist-commentary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/for-pharmaceuticals-fouling-wastewater-and-wildlife-solutions-exist-commentary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>18 Jan 2022 23:40:27 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Cate Twining-WardColin Chapman]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Erik Hoffner]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/01/10132424/12-A-salt-marsh-in-Maine-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=251812</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Global and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Commentary, Conservation, Conservation Solutions, Oceans, Pollution, Solutions, Toxicology, Water Pollution, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[When we routinely flush a toilet, the waste is hurled away so quickly that most of us don’t give it a second thought. But that waste, despite our inclination to dismiss its existence, does not in fact, vanish. The disappearance of our waste down the toilet is merely a comforting illusion. In North America, urban [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[When we routinely flush a toilet, the waste is hurled away so quickly that most of us don’t give it a second thought. But that waste, despite our inclination to dismiss its existence, does not in fact, vanish. The disappearance of our waste down the toilet is merely a comforting illusion. In North America, urban wastewater, and the contaminated and polluted water created by human use, require expensive and energy-intensive resources to treat properly. This is an expense that is difficult for developing countries to meet. We are left to wonder: what exactly is in our waste, and where is it going? It is likely not the first thing to come to mind, but our heavy reliance on pharmaceuticals day in and day out has unsettling effects long after we take these drugs. Pharmaceuticals are entering our environment both at sites of production and once they have been excreted. Annually, thousands of tons of biologically active compounds are excreted, and our drug-riddled feces and urine are dumped into the environment as pharmaceuticals are not degraded or removed in most sewage treatment plants. In the US, 60% of this sludge is used as fertilizer for cropland. This means that our ingested pharmaceuticals—there are over 4,000 types used globally—are being spread onto crops. Furthermore, in many places around the world, wastewater cannot be treated. Globally, 20 million hectares of farmland are fertilized with non-treated wastewater, an area slightly smaller than the size of the United Kingdom. In most developing countries, wastewater treatment&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2022/01/for-pharmaceuticals-fouling-wastewater-and-wildlife-solutions-exist-commentary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-251812</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Novel chemical entities: Are we sleepwalking through a planetary boundary?</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/novel-entities-are-we-sleepwalking-through-a-planetary-boundary/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/novel-entities-are-we-sleepwalking-through-a-planetary-boundary/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>23 Sep 2021 12:23:06 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Claire Asher]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/23114206/12-Chernobyl-reminder-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=247451</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Covering the Commons and Planetary Boundaries]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Europe, European Union, Global, India, Russia, and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Air Pollution, Chemicals, Disasters, Environment, Environmental Law, Ethics, Governance, Green, Herbicides, Microplastics, Natural Gas, Nuclear Power, Pesticides, Plastic, Poisoning, Politics, Pollution, Research, Toxicology, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Our pollution of the planet with heavy metals, plastics, industrial chemicals, pesticides and more is pushing Earth systems to the limit, and us closer to crossing a dangerous planetary boundary we don’t understand.]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Hinkley, California, USA, 1952-1966: A Pacific Gas and Electric powerplant releases 1.4 billion liters (370 million gallons) of wastewater laced with carcinogenic chromium-6 into unlined ponds, polluting groundwater for the town’s 2,000 residents, leading to a successful $333 million class-action lawsuit (and an Academy Award-winning movie). Minamata, Japan, 1956: A Chisso chemical factory dumps wastewater contaminated with methylmercury into Minamata Bay. This extremely active and toxic form of mercury, which causes severe neurological damage in adults and developing fetuses, kills 600 people and leaves more than 3,000 with lifelong disabilities. Niagara Falls, New York, USA, 1978: The Hooker Chemical Company improperly disposes of 21,000 tons of hazardous and carcinogenic chemicals, including dioxin, into the Love Canal landfill. It resurfaces in surrounding homes, elevating the risk of miscarriages and birth defects, forcing hundreds of families to relocate. Bhopal, India, 1984: A leak at a Union Carbide India Limited pesticide plant releases 40 tons of deadly methylisocyanate (MIC) gas from a storage tank. More than 20,000 people are killed and hundreds of thousands injured. Over the years, survivors were twice as likely to die of cancer, lung disease or tuberculosis. Pripyat, Ukraine, USSR, 1986: The No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant explodes, releasing more than 6 tons of radioactive material; 28 people die of acute radiation syndrome and thousands more suffer long-term effects. Lingering radiation creates a perpetual 2,600-square-kilometer (1,000-square-mile) human exclusion zone. Flint, Michigan, USA, 2014: The municipality pumps untreated, lead-contaminated river water into municipal tap water, exposing 100,000&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/novel-entities-are-we-sleepwalking-through-a-planetary-boundary/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-247451</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Rio Tinto-owned mine is polluting Malagasy water with uranium and lead, NGOs say</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/rio-tinto-owned-mine-is-polluting-malagasy-water-with-uranium-and-lead-ngos-say/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/rio-tinto-owned-mine-is-polluting-malagasy-water-with-uranium-and-lead-ngos-say/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>01 Sep 2021 15:59:21 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Mongabay.com]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Malavika Vyawhare]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[africa]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/09/01153211/madagascar_3157-768x512.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=246641</guid>

											<reporting-project>
							<![CDATA[Conservation in Madagascar]]>
						</reporting-project>
					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Africa and Madagascar]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Corporations, Drinking Water, Health, Mining, Pollution, Public Health, Toxicology, Water, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Activists have accused British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto of contaminating water sources around its ilmenite mine in Madagascar. At some sites, uranium and lead levels have been recorded at 52 and 40 times respectively the World Health Organization’s safe limits for drinking water. Some 15,000 people in southeastern Madagascar depend on these water sources, a [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Activists have accused British-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto of contaminating water sources around its ilmenite mine in Madagascar. At some sites, uranium and lead levels have been recorded at 52 and 40 times respectively the World Health Organization’s safe limits for drinking water. Some 15,000 people in southeastern Madagascar depend on these water sources, a report by Publish What You Pay (PWYP) Madagascar said. A coalition of NGOs based in the U.K. and Madagascar is demanding that Rio Tinto provide safe drinking water to these communities immediately. QIT Madagascar Minerals (QMM), which is 80% owned by Rio Tinto, said in its responses to the NGOs that it is not polluting the water and that the contamination observed is naturally occurring. Rio Tinto came under fire last year for destroying a 46,000-year-old sacred Indigenous site in Australia. The company pushed back against a years-long campaign by ​​Indigenous people to preserve their heritage as it sought to expand an iron ore mine. It apologized in 2020 after facing a backlash from investors that ultimately led to the resignation of its CEO and two other top executives. A satellite view of the Rio Tinto-owned mine in the Anosy region of Madagascar. At a meeting in August, Mamialisoa Andrianasolo, a representative from the Office National pour l&#8217;Environnement (ONE), Madagascar&#8217;s top environmental regulator, said they needed to proceed with caution on the new claims. The reports we have till now show there is no contamination, Andrianasolo said. The Malagasy government holds the remaining 20% stake in QMM.&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/09/rio-tinto-owned-mine-is-polluting-malagasy-water-with-uranium-and-lead-ngos-say/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-246641</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Climate change isn’t fueling algal blooms the way we think, study shows</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/climate-change-isnt-fueling-algal-blooms-the-way-we-think-study-shows/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/climate-change-isnt-fueling-algal-blooms-the-way-we-think-study-shows/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>15 Jun 2021 14:26:42 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/06/15142207/1280px-Red_tide%EF%BC%BF2017-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=243706</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Arctic Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, Pacific Ocean, and Southern Ocean]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[algae, Animals, Biodiversity, Climate Change, data, Ecosystems, Environment, Eutrophication, Global Environmental Crisis, Marine, Marine Animals, Marine Conservation, Nutrient Pollution, Oceans, Research, Science, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[It started in October 2017. A swarm of microscopic algae called Karenia brevis amassed in the waters off Florida’s southwest coast, turning the ocean a rust-red hue. The algae, which are toxic to most marine life as well as humans, transformed Florida’s sea into a watery graveyard as the bodies of fish, manatees, dolphins and [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[It started in October 2017. A swarm of microscopic algae called Karenia brevis amassed in the waters off Florida’s southwest coast, turning the ocean a rust-red hue. The algae, which are toxic to most marine life as well as humans, transformed Florida’s sea into a watery graveyard as the bodies of fish, manatees, dolphins and turtles washed ashore. The K. brevis didn’t recede until the winter of 2018 and 2019, prompting experts to deem the event, known as a “red tide,” as Florida’s worst in more than a decade. This red tide was one of thousands of harmful algal blooms (HABs) that occurred in the world’s oceans in the past 35 years. HABs tend to be an issue of concern because of the way they kill off marine life, contaminate seafood, and wreak havoc on local economies. While some HABs are known to occur naturally, others are thought to be triggered by an overabundance of nutrients spilling into the ocean from farms and residential land. Some experts also say that climate change is, and will continue, to make algal blooms even worse. But according to the authors of a new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment, there are no global trends that would suggest that climate change is having a uniform impact on HABs throughout the world. “If we could have said that there is a clear global trend and it&#8217;s increasing everywhere, that would have been a real easy one to communicate,” study co-author Henrik Enevoldsen of&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/06/climate-change-isnt-fueling-algal-blooms-the-way-we-think-study-shows/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-243706</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>‘Great concern’ as study finds microplastics in human placentas</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/great-concern-as-study-finds-microplastics-in-human-placentas/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/great-concern-as-study-finds-microplastics-in-human-placentas/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>06 Jan 2021 10:51:53 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Claire Alberts]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Elizabethalberts]]>
					</author>
							<category><![CDATA[Uncategorized]]></category>
										<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2021/01/06094208/35316905264_1c2e80ce9f_k-768x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=238493</guid>

					
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Health, Medicine, Microplastics, Planetary Health, Plastic, Pollution, Research, Science, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Plastic is everywhere — literally everywhere. A growing body of research shows that plastic is not only filling the world’s oceans and wilderness regions, it’s also invading our bodies through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we consume. And now, a new study has shown that microplastics — tiny plastic [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Plastic is everywhere — literally everywhere. A growing body of research shows that plastic is not only filling the world’s oceans and wilderness regions, it’s also invading our bodies through the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we consume. And now, a new study has shown that microplastics — tiny plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters but bigger than 1 micron — are even present inside human placentas, posing a potential risk to fetal health and development. Published this month in Environmental International, the study examined six human placentas from women who experienced healthy pregnancies and births. During delivery, the obstetricians and midwives followed a “plastic-free protocol,” swapping plastic gloves for cotton ones, and not using any plastic equipment or supplies to avoid cross-contamination. The researchers found a total of 12 microplastic fragments in four of the six placentas. Three of these pieces were recognized as polypropylene, a plastic commonly used in food containers and packaging. While the other pieces were harder to identify, they appeared to be plastic bits from “man-made coatings, paints, adhesives, plasters, finger paints, polymers and cosmetics and personal care products,” according to the study. Microplastics found in a freshwater stream in Florida in 2017. Image by Florida Sea Grant / Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0). The effects of microplastics in the human body on health are still largely unknown, but the researchers said it was “a matter of great concern” due to the critical role the placenta plays in fetal development. Lead author&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2021/01/great-concern-as-study-finds-microplastics-in-human-placentas/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-238493</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Field Notes: Mapping condor conservation strategies</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/10/field-notes-mapping-condor-conservation-strategies/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2016/10/field-notes-mapping-condor-conservation-strategies/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>05 Oct 2016 20:55:23 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Elizabeth Devitt]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Glenn Scherer]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="https://imgs.mongabay.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2016/10/01185218/FEATURE-condor-510x512.jpg" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">https://news.mongabay.com/?p=189990</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America and United States]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animals, Biodiversity, Birds, Carnivores, Conservation, Ecology, Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Environment, Extinction, Global Environmental Crisis, Habitat Degradation, Mapping, Toxicology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Vulture populations worldwide are at lethal risk from toxins that accumulate in the carcasses on which they feed — from poisonous painkillers in cattle in India, pesticides that have killed lions preying on cattle in Africa, to hunter’s lead-based ammunition in California’s wildlife. The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), was almost wiped out in the early 1980s, [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Endangered California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), has been protected by US federal law since 1967 and by California state law since 1971. Despite those safeguards, by 1982, there were less than two dozen condors left flying in the wild. It took until 2012 before scientists could prove that lead-based ammunition was the source of the birds’ demise. Photo by Donald Smith Vulture populations worldwide are at lethal risk from toxins that accumulate in the carcasses on which they feed — from poisonous painkillers in cattle in India, pesticides that have killed lions preying on cattle in Africa, to hunter’s lead-based ammunition in California’s wildlife. The California condor (Gymnogyps californianus), was almost wiped out in the early 1980s, with only 22 of the birds left alive in the wild. Poisoning from lead-based ammunition — contained in the carrion they ate — was the leading cause of death for these great gliding birds known for their wingspans stretching out up to nine feet wide. Despite a comeback prompted by an intensive management program, and a partial ban on hunting with lead-based ammunition, routine monitoring shows at least 20 percent of free-flying condors still have blood lead levels high enough to warrant medical treatment, and nearly every bird in the wild will require emergency treatment for lead poisoning before reaching breeding age. Holly Copeland puts a GPS collar on mule deer to map species movements in Wyoming. The population there is declining, but no one is sure why. With data from the collars, migration&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2016/10/field-notes-mapping-condor-conservation-strategies/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-189990</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Inside The Toxic Tour: Not for prime-time Ecuador (PHOTOS)</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/inside-the-toxic-tour-not-for-prime-time-ecuador-photos/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/inside-the-toxic-tour-not-for-prime-time-ecuador-photos/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>12 Jun 2015 15:59:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Bill Hinchberger]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Tiffany Roufs]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2015/06/inside-the-toxic-tour-not-for-prime-time-ecuador-photos/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Ecuador, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Drivers Of Deforestation, Energy, Environment, Forests, Green, Oil, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[Bill Hinchberger with Veronica Goyzueta Welcome to Coca: &#8220;The unavoidable starting point for many of Ecuador&#8217;s most fascinating jungle tours,&#8221; proclaims Lonely Planet. And also the jumping off point for Ecuador&#8217;s Toxic Tour. Photo credit: Bill Hinchberger. It is fitting that our story starts at the Hotel El Auca. Coca`s high-end digs, such as they [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[Bill Hinchberger with Veronica Goyzueta Welcome to Coca: &#8220;The unavoidable starting point for many of Ecuador&#8217;s most fascinating jungle tours,&#8221; proclaims Lonely Planet. And also the jumping off point for Ecuador&#8217;s Toxic Tour. Photo credit: Bill Hinchberger. It is fitting that our story starts at the Hotel El Auca. Coca`s high-end digs, such as they are, began life as the base camp for Texaco workers back in the 1960s. I wait in front of the hotel, watching the chaotic traffic lurch by. Population nearly 50,000, this outpost on Ecuador`s Amazonian frontier is known for its hot, dusty downtown; potholed side streets; and shops full of cut-rate junk echoing a once-rich native culture. Coca: &#8220;unavoidable starting point for many of Ecuador&#8217;s most fascinating jungle tours,&#8221; proclaims Lonely Planet. Diocles Zambrano pulls up in a cab. I hop in and we take off. The Toxic Tour is underway. Along Auca Road: Toxic Tour guide Diocles Zambrano introduces me to a deactivated oil pump, one of the sundry sights on Ecuador&#8217;s petroleum exploitation grid. Photo credit: Bill Hinchberger. A three-hour tour. Maybe a little more. We&#8217;ll stick mostly to the Via El Auca, or Auca Road, main drag to Ecuador`s petroleum exploitation grid – laid down by Texaco decades ago. We`ll pay a visit to the ghosts of drilling past, and present, exploring battered remnants of rainforest first exploited by multinational oil companies and now controlled by Ecuador&#8217;s state-owned Petroamazonas firm. Diocles heads a local NGO, the Ángel Shingre Leadership Network. He fills&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2015/06/inside-the-toxic-tour-not-for-prime-time-ecuador-photos/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-23534</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Local economy ruined by pesticide pollution in the Caribbean</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/local-economy-ruined-by-pesticide-pollution-in-the-caribbean/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/local-economy-ruined-by-pesticide-pollution-in-the-caribbean/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>29 May 2013 14:54:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Martine Valo]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/local-economy-ruined-by-pesticide-pollution-in-the-caribbean/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Caribbean, France, Guadeloupe, and Martinique]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Agriculture, Economics, Environment, Farming, Fish, Fishing, Governance, Green, Health, Human Rights, Islands, Pesticides, Pollution, Poverty, and Toxicology]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[On 15 April more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the port until the government in Paris allocated €2m ($2.6m) in aid, which they are still waiting for. The contamination caused by chlordecone, a persistent organochlorine [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[On 15 April more than 100 fishermen demonstrated in the streets of Fort de France, the main town on Martinique, in the French West Indies. In January they barricaded the port until the government in Paris allocated €2m ($2.6m) in aid, which they are still waiting for. The contamination caused by chlordecone, a persistent organochlorine pesticide, means their spiny lobsters are no longer fit for human consumption. The people of neighboring Guadeloupe are increasingly angry for the same reason. After polluting the soil, the chemical is wreaking havoc out at sea, an environmental disaster that now threatens the whole economy. &#8220;I&#8217;ve been eating pesticide for 30 years so I carry on eating my fish. But what will happen to my grandchildren?&#8221; asks Franck Nétri who has fished off the south-east coast of Guadeloupe all his life. Aged 46, he sees little scope for a change of trade. Yet he knows he has no option: the area where fishing has been banned will soon be extended. In 2010 a government decree placed the offshore limit at 500 meters. It will soon be 900 metres. Chlordecone (aka Kepone) is known to be an endocrine disruptor and was listed as carcinogenic in 1979. The coastline was the last part of the island to be contaminated, as the chemical was gradually washed down by the rivers. Pollution centres on the Basse-Terre area, which specialized in growing bananas for export. As the contamination spread, fishing had to be stopped and freshwater prawn farms closed. The&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/local-economy-ruined-by-pesticide-pollution-in-the-caribbean/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28943</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Scientists discover high mercury levels in Amazon residents, gold-mining to blame</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/scientists-discover-high-mercury-levels-in-amazon-residents-gold-mining-to-blame/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/scientists-discover-high-mercury-levels-in-amazon-residents-gold-mining-to-blame/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>28 May 2013 19:02:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Lacey Avery]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/05/scientists-discover-high-mercury-levels-in-amazon-residents-gold-mining-to-blame/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[Amazon, Latin America, Peru, and South America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Environment, Fish, Fishing, Food, Gold Mining, Green, Health, Illegal Mining, Mercury, Mining, Poisoning, Pollution, Rainforests, Rivers, Science, Threats To Rainforests, Toxicology, Traditional People, and Water Pollution]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[The Madre de Dios region in Peru is recognized for its lush Amazon rainforests, meandering rivers and rich wildlife. But the region is also known for its artisanal gold mining, which employs the use of a harmful neurotoxin. Mercury is burned to extract the pure gold from metal and ore producing dangerous air-borne vapors that [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[The Madre de Dios region in Peru is recognized for its lush Amazon rainforests, meandering rivers and rich wildlife. But the region is also known for its artisanal gold mining, which employs the use of a harmful neurotoxin. Mercury is burned to extract the pure gold from metal and ore producing dangerous air-borne vapors that ultimately settle in nearby rivers. &#8220;Mercury in all forms is a potent neurotoxin affecting the brain, central nervous system and major organs,&#8221; Luis Fernandez, an ecologist and research associate at the Carnegie Institution&#8217;s Department of Global Ecology, told mongabay.com. &#8220;At extremely high exposure levels, mercury has been documented to cause paralysis, insanity, coma and death.&#8221; However, mercury does not typically trigger dramatic immediate health effects, Fernandez continued. Instead it causes slow, insidious damage eventually resulting in reduction of life span and decreased quality of life. Mercury is especially toxic to women of childbearing age, between the ages of 16 and 49. The toxin can be passed to the developing fetus across the placental barrier and cause severe and even permanent neurological damage to the unborn child. Although recognized as a major environmental health contaminant, the dangers of mercury are still actively debated in most mining regions in the Amazon. Luis Fernandez taking water sample. Photo courtesy of: Luis Fernandez. &#8220;Because of the slow nature of the damage done by mercury, combined with the vague symptoms of early exposure, it is common that mercury contamination is overlooked, or, in many cases, actively denied as a real&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/05/scientists-discover-high-mercury-levels-in-amazon-residents-gold-mining-to-blame/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-28944</doi>				</item>
						<item>
					<title>Mercury hurts birds and people: what we can learn from studying our feathered friends</title>
					<link>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/mercury-hurts-birds-and-people-what-we-can-learn-from-studying-our-feathered-friends/</link>
					<comments>https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/mercury-hurts-birds-and-people-what-we-can-learn-from-studying-our-feathered-friends/#respond</comments>
					<pubDate>07 Jan 2013 14:26:00 +0000</pubDate>
											<dc:creator>
							<![CDATA[Jenny R. Isaacs]]>
						</dc:creator>
										<author>
						<![CDATA[Jeremy Hance]]>
					</author>
															<enclosure url="" type="image/jpeg" />
					<guid isPermaLink="false">http://news.mongabaydev.co.uk/2013/01/mercury-hurts-birds-and-people-what-we-can-learn-from-studying-our-feathered-friends/</guid>

					
											<locations>
							<![CDATA[North America]]>
						</locations>
					
											<topic-tags>
							<![CDATA[Animal Behavior, Animal Intelligence, Animals, Birds, Coal, Conservation, Diseases, Energy, Environment, Fossil Fuels, Green, Health, Insects, Interviews, Interviews With Young Scientists, Mercury, Pollution, Science, Toxicology, and Wildlife]]>
						</topic-tags>
					
					
											<description>
							<![CDATA[An interview with Claire Varian-Ramos, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series. Birds aren&#8217;t that different from people. We learn from our parents, just like zebra finches learn songs from their fathers. We are active and noisy during the day, like birds, and we can also be territorial. Also like birds, we [&#8230;]]]>
						</description>
																					<content:encoded>
							<![CDATA[An interview with Claire Varian-Ramos, a part of our on-going Interviews with Young Scientists series. Birds aren&#8217;t that different from people. We learn from our parents, just like zebra finches learn songs from their fathers. We are active and noisy during the day, like birds, and we can also be territorial. Also like birds, we try to attract mates through colorful displays and beautiful songs. Birds are sensitive to pollution in their environment just like we are: harmful elements such as mercury wreak similar havoc on human and bird biology alike. Because our species share so many attributes, studying birds illustrates the connections between them and us. Like humans, birds are creative and their intelligence is among the highest in the non-human world. In fact, according to young avian researcher and life-long naturalist/bird watcher Claire W. Varian-Ramos, being called a &#8220;bird brain&#8221; should be taken as a compliment. For almost two decades she has conducted field work and formal study into the lives of birds and appreciates their adaptability and individuality. She teaches and writes often about birds; her published research draws on both lab and field studies of birds such as belted kingfishers, tree swallows, bald eagles, Eastern bluebirds, zebra finches, red-backed fairy-wrens, bald eagles, Nelson and saltmarsh sparrows. &#8220;Even common species like rock pigeons or house sparrows can be fun to watch and you never know when you are going to see an interesting behavior&#8230; Birds are incredibly intelligent in comparison to most other taxa and I think&hellip;This article was originally published on <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2013/01/mercury-hurts-birds-and-people-what-we-can-learn-from-studying-our-feathered-friends/" data-wpel-link="internal">Mongabay</a>]]>
						</content:encoded>
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					<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
										<doi>https://doi.org/10.66709/news-29801</doi>				</item>
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