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Many So-Called Experts Will Owe RFK Jr. An Apology in 4 Years
Earlier this month, NBC News posted a story titled, “Fluoride once again scrutinized for possible effect on children’s brains.” The second I finished scanning the headline, my very first thought in the form of a question to myself was: “By the end of the Trump administration, how many experts, Democrats, pundits, journalists and celebrities, are going to owe Robert F. Kennedy Jr. an apology?”
In November, just days before President Donald Trump’s victory, Kennedy warned that “On January 20, the Trump White House will advise all U.S. water systems to remove fluoride from public water. Fluoride is an industrial waste associated with arthritis, bone fractures, bone cancer, IQ loss, neurodevelopmental disorders, and thyroid disease.”
For years, Kennedy has been warning about fluoride in our water, and for years, countless “experts,” reporters, and politicians have called his warnings “controversial,” “junk science” and “crazy.” But…not anymore.
Going back to the report from NBC, we have this: “The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday … found a statistically significant association between higher fluoride exposure and lower children’s IQ scores,” with scientists pointing to “a decrease of 1.63 IQ points in children” exposed.
Wow. If Kennedy is correct about the danger of fluoride with regard to IQ loss — and he clearly is — what else is he correct about with regard to his other warnings pertaining to fluoride? Or for that matter, every other health issue he has been rightfully waving a red flag about for the last few decades?
After Years of Concerns Raised by Scientists, EU Has Banned Bisphenol A From Contact With Food
The European Union regulation banning the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in materials that come into contact with food officially took effect on Jan. 20, in an attempt to minimize exposure to the harmful endocrine disruptor The European Union has officially banned Bisphenol A from all contact with food products as of Monday. This endocrine disruptor, commonly found in cans, food containers and water bottles, has been linked to the potential contamination of food.
The new regulations extend to the use of BPA in the manufacture of glue, rubbers, ion exchange resins, plastics, printing inks, silicone, varnishes, and coatings that may come into contact with food. Given the widespread presence of BPA in these materials, its ban marks a critical step in reducing significant sources of exposure.
“Bisphenol A has been on the list of substances of very high concern under the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, or REACH, the EU’s flagship chemicals legislation, since 2006 for its reproductive toxicity, and since 2017 for its endocrine disrupting properties for human health,” explains Sandra Jen, Head of the Health and Chemicals Programme at Health and Environment Alliance, or HEAL. “It is associated with health problems such as breast cancer, neurobehavioural disorders and diabetes,” she adds.
This ban follows the European Food Safety Authority’s 2023 opinion, which determined that dietary exposure to BPA poses a health risk to consumers of all ages. BPA has already been banned in products intended for infants and young children, such as baby bottles, since 2011.
Ultra-Processed Food? Forever Chemicals? Declining Birth Rates? What’s Behind Rising Cancer in the Under-50s?
In 2022, around 16% of the 20 million people with cancer worldwide were under 50. Cancer has always been markedly more of an older person’s disease, says Lynn Turner, director of research at Worldwide Cancer Research. But between 1990 and 2019, the incidence of the disease in under-50s rose by 79%, according to research published in the British Medical Journal in 2023. That short timeframe means the rise cannot be explained by genetic factors, according to Tracey Woodruff, director of the University of California, San Francisco’s program on reproductive health and the environment. Many of these “early-onset” cases are happening in wealthier countries, says Kathryn Bradbury, senior research fellow at the University of Auckland’s School of Population Health.
The rates are striking because younger populations are mainly non-smokers, says Mary Beth Terry, a professor of epidemiology at Columbia University. About two-thirds of cancers in under-50s occur in women, she adds. In 2024, Cancer Research U.K. and several other organisations funded a research project called Prospect looking into the global rise in colorectal cancer in under-50s.
The trend is particularly concerning in England, where rates seem to be rising faster than anywhere else in the world except for New Zealand, Chile and Puerto Rico. Prospect will investigate a variety of risk factors, including poor diet. One aspect of diet that is a concern is the high consumption of processed meat, which is a “Group 1” carcinogen, meaning there is sufficient evidence to conclude it causes the disease in humans. The term “processed” describes meats that have been salted, smoked, fermented or cured to boost their flavor and longevity — for example, ham and bacon.
Processed meats are high in compounds called nitrates and nitrites, which preserve them for longer. When these compounds get broken down in the body, they can damage cells in the bowel, according to Sophia Lowes, senior health information manager at Cancer Research U.K.
Sugary Drinks Caused Some 2.2 Million Type 2 Diabetes Cases in 2020
In 2020, consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages caused an estimated 2.2 million new cases of Type 2 diabetes globally, according to new research published in Nature Medicine. In the study, researchers assessed data from 184 countries to estimate global cases of Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease attributable to sugar-sweetened beverage intake. In addition to cases of Type 2 diabetes, researchers estimated that 1.2 million new cases of cardiovascular disease were caused by drinking such beverages.
The study looked at how cases varied across different demographics. On average globally, the burden of sugar-sweetened beverage intake was higher among men than women, as well as among younger adults, higher-educated adults and those in urban areas.
The burden of disease differed across world regions. Sugary drinks contributed to the highest burdens of disease in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa, the study found. In sub-Saharan Africa, sugar-sweetened beverages were a factor in about 21% of all new diabetes cases in 2020; in Latin America and the Caribbean, they “contributed to nearly 24% of new diabetes cases and more than 11% of new cases of cardiovascular disease,” a press release reported.
‘Suffering the ConSeQuences’: Why Maine Banned Sewage Sludge Spreading and How Farmers Are Adjusting
As New York regulators consider a plan to increase the amount of human sewage sludge used on farm fields as fertilizer, another state has banned the practice altogether. When tests in the state of Maine showed dozens of farms and hundreds of drinking water wells were poisoned by forever chemicals, the state banned the use of biosolids. Sue Hunter says to stay in farming, you have to love farming. That is why she stays on her farm in Unity, Maine.
“It’s a beautiful piece of land,” said Hunter. “It used to be an old potato field. As a kid, I used to pick potatoes on this field.” Hunter met her husband, Alan, not far from the farm. The two met while she was milking cows on her uncle’s dairy farm. They were married for 39 years and bought the current farm in 2008, the year before Alan was diagnosed with cancer. Alan died in 2015. The loss was just the first blow. “That’s what angers me,” said Hunter. “Is they knew about it.”
“It” refers to the forever chemicals — PFAS, from industrial contaminants Hunter says were in the sewage sludge that they spread on their fields as fertilizer. “The state came to us and said that, you know, this is free fertilizer,” she said. “We’re going to spread it for you. It’s not going to do anything to you. And here we are now.” Hunter grew organic hay and sold it to a neighboring farmer, whose dairy was shut down by the state of Maine because of PFAS in his milk. Two-thirds of the 100 tillable acres of land on her farm are contaminated with forever chemicals and no longer farmable. “We are the ones who are suffering the consequences,” said Hunter.
EU Supermarkets Could Soon Sell Larvae Powder
Yellow mealworm powder could soon be a part of EU supermarket offerings as the European Commission has authorized the marketing of the product, according to media reports. UV-treated larvae powder of Tenebrio molitor, popularly known as yellow mealworms, will join the list of EU novel foods, which already includes migratory locust meal, lesser mealworms, and house crickets.
The authorization will come into effect twenty days after the announcement is published in the official journal of the European Union. Initially, French company Nutri’Earth will have permission to place the yellow grub meal on the market.
However, this is subject to subsequent applicants obtaining authorization for the novel food, the online publication www.eunews.it reported. More than five years ago, the French company applied to Brussels for authorization.
