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Rare Cancer Fears Grip OC Community as School Shuts Down Pesticide Use
A California school district is freezing pesticide use as parents in an affluent Orange County community demand answers over a string of rare childhood cancer cases.
The Capistrano Unified School District announced Wednesday that it is imposing a 60-day pause on routine landscape chemicals, including herbicides and pesticide spray applications used for weed control, while officials review the products currently approved for use. The move comes after hundreds of residents packed a Ladera Ranch community meeting, calling for answers about a reported cluster of rare cancers affecting children connected to the neighborhood.
Since 2007, about nine children tied to the Ladera Ranch community have been diagnosed with Ewing sarcoma, a rare cancer that primarily affects children and young adults. Many families and advocates believe the official count does not capture the full scope of the crisis. Health officials have said no environmental cause has been identified.
Occupational Exposure to Pesticides Linked to Higher Risk of ALS, Study Finds
People who are exposed to pesticides as part of their occupation have a higher risk of contracting amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a fatal neurodegenerative disorder, according to a new study. In the systematic review, published on Aug. 4 in the Occupational & Environmental Medicine journal, researchers analyzed eight studies conducted between 1990 and 2025 that estimated the risk of ALS following occupational pesticide exposure.
Any occupational exposure to pesticides was found to be associated with a 60 percent higher odds of ALS compared to unexposed individuals, the review said. ALS risk for people exposed to herbicides was identified as “slightly greater” than when exposed to insecticides or fungicides, according to the study.
Men had two times the risk of developing ALS after exposure compared to their male counterparts without exposure. However, no such increased risk was found between women exposed to pesticides and unexposed females. According to a November 2024 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, ALS is a disease that affects nerve cells in the body, causing these cells to stop working and die.
Wildfire Smoke Is a Growing Danger to Unborn Babies, Study Finds
Amid a summer when wildfire smoke has often filled the skies, a new study is adding to the body of research about the growing impact of fire-fueled air pollution, this time raising the alarm about prenatal health. Wildfire pollution has become an increasing proportion of the pollution that pregnant mothers and their unborn babies are exposed to, according to a study published Friday.
The new study by University of Maryland researchers found that out of the air pollution unborn babies are exposed to, the share of exposure to wildfire-generated microscopic air pollution more than doubled between 2003 and 2019. The study did not discuss specific health outcomes for the prenatal exposure and births it analyzed, but previous studies have suggested that fine-particulate-matter pollution, known as PM 2.5, caused by wildfires can be more harmful than other forms of air pollution.
Studies have linked wildfire smoke to poor pregnancy outcomes and a variety of early-childhood health issues. The particles are small enough to enter the lungs and bloodstream, and they have also been linked to lung damage, respiratory disease and cancers.
Could The Air You Breathe Be Triggering Painful Arthritis Flares?
A published today in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases suggests exposure to fine particle air pollution may trigger flare-ups. People with rheumatoid arthritis exposed to higher levels of fine particle air pollution — known as PM2.5 — had more active disease and a greater risk of painful flare-ups.
A team led by Sung Cheol Jung of the Seoul National University College of Medicine in South Korea followed more than 1,000 patients over four years, comparing air pollution levels with disease activity recorded during more than 12,000 outpatient visits. Of six major air pollutants, fine particle matter showed the strongest link to worsening symptoms. The increased risk was especially noticeable after more than two weeks of higher exposure. These tiny particles can travel from the lungs into the bloodstream where they may trigger harmful molecules that can lead to cellular stress, DNA damage and inflammation, researchers said.
They said more studies are needed to determine whether improving air quality can reduce rheumatoid arthritis activity. But based on these findings, the authors recommend people with rheumatoid arthritis avoid prolonged exposure to poor air quality, especially when PM2.5 levels are high.
Ohio Should Treat the Threat of Radioactive Fracking Waste Like the Emergency That It Is
Ohio Capital Journal reported:
Southeastern Ohio has a serious problem underground. Now that problem is reaching the surface and threatening our drinking water. As a petroleum geologist, my job is to understand the rock layers deep underground and how fluids move through them.
In Washington County, Ohio, toxic, radioactive waste from failed fracking waste disposal wells is surfacing where it should never be — near homes, farms, natural gas wells, streams, and schools. State leaders need to treat this like the emergency it is.
Fracking wastewater is not ordinary water. It carries heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and radioactive material — not things that people, animals, plants, or waterways should be exposed to. Safely injecting it underground requires rock that is deep, porous, and sealed off from drinking water and the surface. This means a reservoir with room for the waste, a trap to keep it enclosed, and a seal that ensures it cannot escape.
In Washington County, those basic conditions do not appear to exist, and the consequences are now measurable. The evidence indicates there are fractures allowing the injected wastewater to flow up into shallower layers and to the surface.
‘Forever Chemicals’ Are on Indiana’s Farmlands. Here’s How They Got There
Sewage sludge may not sound like anything useful, but farmers in Indiana, and across the U.S., use it as a cost-effective form of fertilizer on their fields. The sludge, typically collected and dried at wastewater treatment plants, is known as biosolids when used for agricultural purposes, and is regulated in Indiana under a set of permits meant to protect public health and the natural environment.
Indiana places safeguards on where the sludge can be applied and what crops are suitable for its use, as well as limits on the concentrations of certain pollutants contained in the product. One notable omission of safeguards, however, are what environmental advocates call “forever chemicals” or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, often called PFAS for short.
The synthetic chemicals got their nickname due to the strong bond formed by some of the molecules that make them up. These carbon-fluorine bonds resist degradation, meaning PFAS stay in the environment for decades or longer.
Every Body of Water in England Polluted With Toxic Chemicals, Report Shows
A stark new assessment has revealed that a mere 14 per cent of England’s rivers, lakes, and coastal waters are currently in good ecological health. The findings come from the Environment Agency’s first update in six years, conducted under retained EU legislation governing water quality.
This comprehensive evaluation scrutinised 4,658 of the country’s rivers, lakes, estuaries, canals, and coastal waters, measuring their health against a range of standards including wildlife populations, overall water quality, and the condition of physical habitats.
The report indicates that just 14.3 per cent of surface water bodies achieved an overall good ecological status in 2025, with widespread issues attributed to sewage spills, agricultural nutrient runoff, and pollutants emanating from urban areas and roads, such as litter, petrol, and garden pesticides. Alarmingly, only 15 per cent of rivers meet or exceed good ecological status, according to the figures. They also reveal England’s water bodies are falling far short of the government target to restore 75 percent to good ecological status by 2027.
