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Young Teen Girls Immediately Hit With ‘Explosion’ of Sexually Explicit Messages and Photos When They Sign up for Social Media
After seeing how truly terrible social media is for young teen girls — and the level of abuse they endure from strangers who want to groom them and worse — Raul Torrez felt there was only one way to fix things: by dragging executives from Meta into court to hold them accountable. “There needs to be a reexamination of the algorithmic features that serve predators the kinds of vulnerable children that we know are currently on the platforms,” Torrez, the attorney general of New Mexico, told me.
Pushed by Torrez, the state of New Mexico is currently in the middle of a courtroom trial that accuses Mark Zuckerberg’s companies — including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — of exposing kids to the “twin dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm” through messages, “sextortion” schemes and human trafficking.
One ex-Meta executive, Arturo Béjar, caused major waves with his testimony in the case.
“The product is very good at connecting people with interests, and if your interest is little girls, it will be really good at connecting you with little girls,” he testified. Béjar alleged that his own underage daughter was bombarded by predators sending messages and nude photos.
Potentially Toxic ‘Forever Chemicals’ May Harm Kids During Critical Period for Bone Development
The “forever chemicals” known as PFAS are increasingly known to potentially pose many threats, the latest of which may be child bone health, according to a new study.
Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are a class of about 15,000 synthetic chemicals commonly used in products such as clothing, nonstick cookware, firefighting foams, food packaging, carpets, cleaning products, paints, and stain and water repellents. These compounds do not break down in the environment and can easily migrate into the air, dust, food and soil, also contaminating nearly half the drinking water in the United States.
Notably, PFAS accumulate in our bodies and have been found in the blood of people of all ages, including newborns. “After you’re born, you start to accrue bone density, and you do it really rapidly through adolescence,” said Dr. Jessie Buckley, first author of the small study published Tuesday in the Journal of the Endocrine Society. “Then after around age 20 or so, you have reached all the bone density you’ll ever get, and it’s all downhill after that.”
“We found that PFAS chemical exposure in children tended to be related to lower bone strength when they’re young teens,” added Buckley, professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. “This was particularly true for one chemical, PFOA. It didn’t really matter when the exposure happened; it was consistently related to lower bone density, particularly in their forearm.”
Pesticide Exposure Before and During Pregnancy Affects Newborn Health
Women exposed to agricultural pesticides — even before becoming pregnant — may be at greater risk of having newborns with poorer health outcomes, according to a new study from the University of Arizona. The research, published in the Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, analysed pesticide use registries and birth certificate data from across Arizona between 2006 and 2020. It is one of the first studies to examine how exposure to specific pesticide ingredients during the preconception period and throughout pregnancy affects newborn health.
Researchers focused on Apgar scores, a standard measure of newborn health taken five minutes after birth. The score assesses heart rate, breathing, muscle tone, and other vital signs, and is strongly correlated with long-term health outcomes through childhood. The study found that exposure to several commonly used pesticides was associated with significantly increased odds of low Apgar scores, with the risk more than doubled in some cases.
Significantly, the research identified the preconception period — the 90 days before pregnancy — as a particularly sensitive window for exposure to certain chemicals. This suggests that a woman’s environmental exposures before she even knows she is pregnant may affect her future child’s health.
Early Life Stress Linked to Long-Lasting Digestive Issues
Early life stress may lead to digestive issues later in life, driven by changes in the gut and sympathetic nervous systems, according to a new study published in the journal Gastroenterology.
“Our research shows that these stressors can have a real impact on a child’s development and may influence gut issues long-term. Understanding the mechanisms involved can help us to create more targeted treatments,” said study author Kara Margolis, director of the NYU Pain Research Center and professor of molecular pathobiology at NYU College of Dentistry and pediatrics and cell biology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine.
Emotional neglect and other adverse experiences early in life can have a profound impact on a child’s development. Research shows that early life stress, both during pregnancy and after birth, may shape how the brain forms and is linked to a higher likelihood of developing mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.
Problematic Social Media Use Predicts Higher Depressive Symptoms in Adolescents Under 16
Problematic use of social media — characterized by loss of control and compulsive engagement — may significantly increase depressive symptoms in adolescents under the age of 16, according to a new study led by researchers at Miguel Hernández University of Elche (UMH), Spain.
The findings, published in Scientific Reports, show that the relationship between social media use and depressive symptoms changes with age. While higher levels of use are associated with greater depressive symptoms in younger adolescents, this association weakens progressively and disappears around the age of 16.
The study was conducted by researchers María Blanquer-Cortés, Estefanía Estévez, J. Francisco Estévez-García, and Daniel Lloret-Irles. Using longitudinal data from 2,121 secondary school students in the Valencian Community, the team examined how different aspects of social media use influence the evolution of depressive symptoms over time. Participants completed the same questionnaire twice, with a one-year interval.
“Our results indicate that the real risk is not simply the time adolescents spend on social media,” explains study leader Daniel Lloret-Irles. “The key factor is what we call problematic social media use, when young people lose control over their online behavior and feel a strong need to stay connected.”
Beloved Toy Faces Crackdown After One Child’s Death, Thousands of ER Visits
New federal safety rules for water bead toys are now in effect, prompting officials to urge U.S. parents to immediately review what is in their homes after thousands of children were sent to emergency rooms. The regulations follow an estimated 6,300 water bead-related ER cases in recent years and are aimed at reducing the risk of choking, internal blockages and toxic exposure among young children.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) finalized a new federal safety standard for water bead toys in December 2025, following mounting evidence that the products pose a serious risk to young children if swallowed, inhaled or inserted into the nose or ears. The rule took effect on March 12, 2026.
From 2017 to 2022, an estimated 6,300 water bead — related ingestion injuries were treated in U.S. emergency departments, according to the CPSC. The agency has also cited at least one reported death, involving a 10‑month‑old girl in 2023, after a water bead was ingested and caused internal blockage.
