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Lead Water Pipes Are a Primary Contributor to Lead Exposure in Children, Study Says
Environmental Health News reported:
A recent study published in Environmental Science and Technology found a strong association between the presence of lead service lines (LSLs) and children’s elevated blood lead levels in Cincinnati, Ohio and Grand Rapids, Michigan. While many factors can contribute to lead exposure, the prevalence of lead pipes was a stronger predictor of elevated lead levels than standard risk predictors used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD).
For both cities, the prevalence of lead pipes was linked to the percentage of housing built before the 1950s, highlighting that lead pipes are more commonly found in older homes. “These findings suggest that replacing LSLs is an effective public health strategy to eliminate this important source of [lead] exposure.”
Lead is an incredibly toxic chemical that’s been linked to cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment, damage to the reproductive and nervous systems, and more. While significant progress has been made in reducing the average blood lead levels in the U.S. over time, hotspots of elevated exposure still remain.
Communities that suffer from higher lead levels are often faced with multiple potential sources of exposure, which is commonly paired with significant economic and social inequality. Because the results of this study point to lead service lines as key contributors to lead exposures, the authors emphasize that federal programs that fund the replacement of these pipes are an effective and meaningful strategy for protecting public health.
As Infant Botulism Cases Climb to 31, Recalled ByHeart Baby Formula Is Still on Some Store Shelves
As cases of potentially deadly botulism in babies who drank ByHeart infant formula continue to grow, state officials say they are still finding the recalled product on some store shelves. Meanwhile the company reported late Wednesday that laboratory tests confirmed that some samples of formula were contaminated with the type of bacteria that has sickened more than 30 babies in the outbreak.
Tests by an independent food safety laboratory found Clostridium botulinum, a bacterium that produces toxins that can lead to potentially life threatening illness in babies younger than 1, the company said on its website. ByHeart officials said they notified the U.S. Food and Drug Administration of the findings but did not specify how many samples were tested or how many were positive.
“We are working to investigate the facts, conduct ongoing testing to identify the source, and ensure this does not happen to families again,” ByHeart said on its website.
HHS Finalizes Report on Gender-Affirming Care for Youth, Medical Groups Push Back
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final version of its report on pediatric gender-affirming care on Wednesday, claiming it found “medical dangers posed to children,” which is receiving pushback from medical groups.
The report alleged that gender-affirming care — including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and gender-affirming surgeries — caused significant, long-term damage.
It comes after HHS published in May an early version of what it referred to as a “comprehensive review” of transgender care for children and teens, in which it called for a broader use of psychotherapy for young people with gender dysphoria rather than gender-affirming medical interventions.
The HHS referred to the final version of the report as “peer-reviewed,” but some of those who reviewed the contents are researchers who have spoken against gender affirming care.
Teens Seek Mental-Health Help From Chatbots. That’s Dangerous, Says New Study.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
Teens regularly turn to generative-AI chatbots in search of mental-health support. A new report says this is one of the most dangerous uses of the technology. Artificial intelligence can miss critical warning signs and fail to detect psychiatric emergencies, yet because the chatbots show competence in some areas, teens might assume they are reliable for mental-health support, the study found.
The child-advocacy nonprofit Common Sense Media and Stanford Medicine’s Brainstorm Lab for Mental Health Innovation teamed up to test how well four leading AI chatbots — OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Anthropic’s Claude, Google’s Gemini and Meta AI — handled mental-health conversations with researchers posing as teens.
All of the platforms often failed to recognize signs of mental-health conditions, including descriptions of hallucinations, paranoid thinking, disordered-eating behaviors, manic symptoms, self-harm and depressive symptoms. The platforms continued to offer general advice rather than directing teens to urgent professional help.
Texas Measles Outbreak May Have Spurred Parents to Vaccinate Infants Before CDC Responded
Early uptake of the measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine rose rapidly in Texas infants after the start of the state’s measles outbreak in January, even before the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) urged vaccination for this age-group, researchers note in JAMA Network Open. Scientists from Truveta, a company that provides electronic health record data, identified Texas infants with clinic visits at two to four, four to six, and six to 11 months old from 2019 to April 2025 (regular care).
The team also analyzed data on MMR or MMRV (MMR plus varicella, or chickenpox) vaccines given from 182 days to 24 months of age. For each month, they calculated the proportion of measles vaccinations administered early (at six to 11 months) among 82,949 children who received regular care and, among them, the 66,749 vaccinated with at least one dose before age two years from January 2024 to April 2025.
This year, the U.S. has recorded the largest number of measles cases since elimination was declared in 2000, at more than 1,700. On March 7, in response to the growing West Texas outbreak, the CDC issued a Health Alert Network recommending early vaccination for infants living in or traveling to affected counties. The outbreak was declared over in August.
Ultra-Processed Food Linked to Harm in Every Major Human Organ, Study Finds
Ultra-processed food (UPF) is linked to harm in every major organ system of the human body and poses a seismic threat to global health, according to the world’s largest review. UPF is also rapidly displacing fresh food in the diets of children and adults on every continent, and is associated with an increased risk of a dozen health conditions, including obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease and depression.
The sharp rise in UPF intake worldwide is being spurred by profit-driven corporations using a range of aggressive tactics to drive consumption, skewer scientific debate and prevent regulation, the review of evidence suggests.
The findings, from a series of three papers published in the Lancet, come as millions of people increasingly consume UPF such as ready meals, cereals, protein bars, fizzy drinks and fast food.
In the U.K. and U.S., more than half the average diet now consists of UPF. For some, especially people who are younger, poorer or from disadvantaged areas, a diet comprising as much as 80% UPF is typical.
