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California Bill Targets Toxic Chemicals in Disposable Diapers
A new bill in California aims to prevent diaper manufacturers from concealing toxic chemicals that may be present in their products. Current rules surrounding business confidentiality largely shield companies from having to report on chemicals other than those known to be a significant health risk.
But California Assembly Bill 1901 would require them to publicly disclose all intentionally added ingredients, as well as each ingredient’s specific reason for being in the diaper by January 1, 2028 for any diapers manufactured, sold or distributed in the state. A year later, companies would be required to print this information on all product packaging.
“As a new dad, I have a new appreciation for how important it is for parents to make informed decisions when it comes to the health and wellness of their children,” said Marc Berman, a Democratic member of California’s State Assembly and the author of the bill.
How a Patchwork of State Laws Leaves Children Unevenly Protected From Toxic Chemicals
When my older son was two years old, our family moved to a small city that boasts a reputation as politically and environmentally progressive. It is located in a state that not long ago shifted from “red” to “blue.” So I was taken aback when, that first May, ChemLawn trucks and landscapers clustered in the streets, spraying weedkiller from backpack containers, thick hoses, and even a tractor, leaving little white flags planted in the bright green golf course-like grass and a strong chemical odor in the air. This included not only neighbors’ yards but the massive lawn of the retirement home that occupied a full square block, just yards from the elementary school my children would attend.
I was surprised and concerned — and, after my son was diagnosed with asthma a few years later, alarmed. As an environmental health lawyer and professor, I knew that children are especially vulnerable to toxic exposures. Their cells are dividing rapidly, they breathe more air relative to their body weight than adults, and their immature organs are unable to excrete and detoxify harmful substances as well as adults’. Even low-level toxic exposures can cause them long-term or even permanent harm.
Herbicides are linked with asthma exacerbation and onset, Parkinson’s disease, reproductive problems, and more. When sprayed, they can drift through the air and be inhaled. They can also be absorbed through the skin (and ingested, in the case of food).
Meta Heads to Trial Over Alleged Social Media Addiction, Risks to Children
Social media giant Meta is heading to court in a case brought by a group of state attorneys general who claim the company designed its social media platforms to be addictive and misled the public about potential risks.
The trial is expected to begin with opening statements on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California in Oakland after the two sides went through the jury selection process last week and Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers turned down Meta’s request for the case to be dismissed. The trial is expected to last four to six weeks, with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to testify.
Attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey first filed the lawsuit in 2023 after a multistate investigation into the impact of Facebook and Instagram on young users. They argue that the platforms were designed to be addictive and that the company downplayed the potential impact on young people, while also alleging Meta violated federal law when it collected personal information from children.
Beauty Tutorials in Social Media Increase Use of Hormone-Disrupting Products by Teens
Personal care products are among the largest everyday sources of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and high schoolers who follow social media influencers or watch beauty tutorials seem to use considerably more of them, according to Rutgers researchers.
In a Rutgers-led study published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, researchers conducted a survey of product usage among 143 students at Princeton High School in New Jersey. They found that more time on social media and greater engagement with beauty-related content predicted more usage.
After researchers accounted for gender, grade, race, ethnicity and parents’ education, they found students who followed influencers with product lines reported using 30% more products in the previous 24 hours. Those who watched hair or beauty tutorials used 40% more.
It was a novel finding that researchers on the study team credited a pair of then-high school students, Gabrielle Kaputa and Vita Moss-Wang, who helped design and conduct the survey and suggested it include questions about social media usage.
New Mexico’s Attorney General Pushes New Social Media Safety Laws After $900M Court Victory Over Meta
New Mexico’s attorney general is mounting a full-court press against technology companies to improve their child safety measures, capitalizing on a landmark win in court against Meta earlier this year. Raúl Torrez is working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills he says will strengthen consumer protections and child safety online. The legislation, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, will build on the state’s case against the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram.
A jury found in March that the company misled its users about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. The social media giant was fined nearly $1bn as a result of the case.
The trial was the first to hold Meta liable for harmful acts committed on its platforms. It followed a 2023 Guardian investigation that exposed how Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking. Torrez is pursuing additional lawsuits, including a second case against Meta and one against an AI company whose chatbot has become a source of emotional attachment for children.
48% of Teenagers Say Social Media Is Bad for People Their Age
When researchers at the University of Michigan began following a group of 12-year-olds in 2018, the iPhone was eleven years old and TikTok had just launched in the US market. By the time those young people reached their late teens in 2025, the study that tracked them had become one of the most consequential pieces of research in youth mental health.
Published in Pediatrics Open Science in August 2026, it followed more than 1,000 participants over seven years, measuring social media use and mental health symptoms through annual surveys every year of that journey. The findings are specific, peer-reviewed, and difficult to dismiss.
Young people who spent more than six hours a day on social media had more than twice the odds of experiencing anxiety — and more than three times the odds of experiencing suicidal thoughts — compared with those who used social media for less than one hour a day. Not three times worse in a lab. Three times worse in real young people’s real lives, tracked over seven years.
