#toxic

www.dutchnews.nl

One-third of drinking water supplies contain high levels of PFAS

Water companies have called for PFAS chemicals to be banned in pesticides after a study showed that one-third of people are exposed to high levels of the “forever chemicals” in drinking water. An analysis by Greenpeace of every postcode in the Netherlands showed that the water in 32% of areas contains PFAS levels that are at least 1.5 times the recommended safe level. The environmental inspection agency ILT blames the increased use of trifluoroacetic acid in pesticides by agricultural sectors such as potato farming, which has almost doubled in the last two years. The ILT says two tonnes of the chemical end up in the water supply per year. The highest concentrations are in the provinces of Noord-Holland, Zuid-Holland and Zeeland, with towns such as Zaandam, Purmerend and IJmuiden recording 14.3 nanograms per litre. PFAS is a collective label for thousands of highly stable chemical compounds that are used extensively in packaging, liquid chemicals and products such as waterproof clothing and non-stick cooking pans. They are attractive to industry because they are extremely durable, but prolonged exposure increases the risk of cancer, immune system problems, low fertility and damage to unborn babies. High blood levels A recent study by the...

www.medicaldaily.com

Three Days After a New Calf Tattoo, a 29-Year-Old Man Landed in the ER with Toxic Shock Syndrome

A 29-year-old man arrived at an emergency department with two days of fever and diarrhea. His blood pressure was 89/54 mmHg, his heart rate was 130 beats per minute, and his temperature was 39.1°C, about 102.4°F. Doctors spotted one telling detail: purple, bruise-like spots clustered around a tattoo on his calf that had been done three days earlier. Blood cultures and spinal fluid tests came back negative. Instead, a molecular test on a small piece of skin from the tattoo detected Staphylococcus aureus and the gene for toxic shock syndrome toxin-1, or TSST-1. That confirmed staphylococcal toxic shock syndrome, a rare, toxin-driven illness that can damage multiple organs and can be fatal. The discoloration around his tattoo was purpura, caused by tiny areas of bleeding under the skin. Clinicians and microbiologists affiliated with Aix-Marseille University in France reported the case in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases. It was published online May 20 and included in the journal's September 2026 volume. Doctors First Suspected Meningitis His first blood tests showed a body in distress. C-reactive protein, a marker of inflammation, was 336 mg/L. His kidneys were injured, his platelet count was low, and his liver was not working normally. Suspecting...

www.insurancebusinessmag.com

Ohio Security chases Bio-Lab for toxic chemical plant fallout

Ohio Security Insurance Company wants its money back after a chemical fire at Bio-Lab's Conyers, Georgia facility sent toxic fallout onto a nearby commercial property it insured. The Liberty Mutual subsidiary filed a federal complaint on September 17, 2026 in the Northern District of Georgia, targeting Bio-Lab, Inc., KIK Custom Products Inc., and KIK International LLC. The suit is a subrogation action - meaning the insurer paid its policyholder's claim and is now chasing the parties it says caused the loss. At the center of the claim is the September 29, 2024 fire at Bio-Lab's chemical plant at 1700 Covington Highway in Conyers - an incident the complaint says forced approximately 17,000 people to evacuate and prompted shelter-in-place advisories covering around 90,000 residents across the Atlanta metro area. The insurer's policyholder, Olympic Two LLC, owns two commercial rental properties at 1317 and 1319 Olympic Court SW in Conyers, less than a mile from the Bio-Lab plant. According to the complaint, smoke, soot, chlorine gas, chemical residue, and other corrosive substances drifted from the burning facility and settled on those buildings, corroding metal roofing and wall systems, damaging HVAC equipment, gutters, and other building components. Ohio Security says it has paid...

www.newswise.com

Scientists discover why high levels of the amino acid cysteine are toxic to cells

Cysteine is one of the main building blocks that cells use to make proteins. But this amino acid is a double-edged sword—too much cysteine is toxic to the cell. Cells therefore keep free cysteine levels to a minimum, converting most of the amino acid into the antioxidant glutathione. Now, a new paper explains why cysteine is so toxic at high concentrations. The findings, published in Nature Metabolism, show that cysteine can pry iron from ferritin, the protein complex that normally keeps the metal safely locked away, flooding the cell with iron that accumulates in the mitochondria, leading to cell death. These results resolve a longstanding question in basic biology, and offer the first comprehensive explanation for why cells may have evolved to expend significant energy packaging cysteine into glutathione. “Throughout evolution, our cells preferred glutathione as their primary redox molecule,” says Kivanç Birsoy, head of the Laboratory of Metabolic Regulation and Genetics at Rockefeller. “If cells had relied on cysteine instead, it would have been catastrophic for mitochondria. We now know that keeping free cysteine low was nature’s way of protecting the cell’s energy generator.” An evolutionary mystery Cysteine presents cells with something of a biochemical dilemma. On one hand,...

theclimatewatch.com

Ten lions found dead in Tanzania wildlife reserve suspected of poisoning

Tanzania’s lion population faces threats from habitat loss and poaching as authorities investigate the suspected poisoning of 10 lions in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. Ten lions found dead in a wildlife reserve in Tanzania are suspected to have been poisoned, according to wildlife officials. The animals were discovered on Friday in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, home to pastoral tribal communities that raise cattle. It is also one of the most visited tourist destinations in the country. “Preliminary findings suggest the animals may have died after ingesting poison,” a statement from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said, adding that the authority has launched a full investigation “to determine the cause of the incident and identify those responsible.” Large animals are under threat across East Africa, in places where they frequently come into conflict with humans. An investigation is underway in neighboring Kenya, where over the summer, 18 elephants died from suspected poisoning. Police have arrested four people. According to Kenya’s Wildlife Service, preliminary tests showed the elephants may have ingested cyanide. Tomato farmers in the Amboseli region are known to use banned pesticides on their crops. But growers deny using cyanide. Tanzania is home to Africa’s largest lion population, about half...

www.sciencealert.com

150,000 Tons of Radioactive Waste Were Dumped in The Atlantic. Decades Later, It's Visibly Oozing.

The second half of the 20th century was something of a golden age for nuclear technology. Following the atomic devastation of WWII, the world found new, more benign uses for radioactive decay. Power plants, medical treatments, scientific research, and industry all blossomed under a benevolent nuclear glow. But with the nuclear revolution came a significant problem – what to do with all the thousands of tons of radioactive waste generated in the excitement. For Europe, the solution was relatively simple. There was a perfectly good seafloor at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean that, as far as the authorities were concerned, no one important was using. So, between 1949 and 1982, that's where it went – more than 200,000 barrels of low-level radioactive waste, totaling more than 150,000 tons, mostly dumped at depths between 3,000 and 5,000 meters (9,840 and 16,400 feet). For decades, no one really knew what had become of them. Now, scientists have descended to the wreckage in a crewed submersible to investigate – and found many of the barrels corroded and degraded, their contents spilling across the seafloor. Surprisingly, this isn't necessarily a subversion of the original plan. Radioactive waste categorized as low-level, or LLW, doesn't...

hollywoodciak.blogspot.com

Film 2478 - Obsession

Intro : On Niamh's birthday we went out for lunch to celebrate her. After that, on the bus to town, Debbi was saying that she wanted to go ...

www.malaymail.com

Indonesia deploys 54,000 personnel, 64 aircraft but struggles to contain fires as toxic haze chokes Malaysia

PONTIANAK, Sept 21 — Dozens of planes and thousands of personnel fighting huge forest fires in Indonesia are struggling to contain them, authorities said Monday, while neighbouring Malaysia stepped up efforts to combat toxic haze. “From the air to the ground, all forces continue to move. Everything is being done to extinguish the fires, reduce the impact of the smoke, and, most importantly, protect the public from the threat of forest and land fires,” said Indonesian Cabinet Secretary Teddy Indra Wijaya. The government has deployed 64 aircraft and 54,000 personnel to the islands of Borneo and Sumatra since last month to try and put out the fires by water bombing, said the cabinet secretary. But “the vast size of the territory and the challenging conditions of peatlands pose serious difficulties in dealing with forest and land fires in various regions”, he added. The hazardous smoke emanating from the fires has blanketed parts of the country as well as Malaysia and Singapore for weeks. In West Kalimantan province, one of the worst-affected areas located on Borneo island, the disaster mitigation agency said the varied depths of the fires burning inside peat soils were making the task of putting them out difficult...

www.bangordailynews.com

Juniper Ridge wants to treat its toxic runoff 20 miles away

The operators of the Juniper Ridge Landfill alarmed environmental and community groups earlier this month with plans to move a proposed PFAS treatment system to an offsite location, requiring the facility to truck its toxic runoff 20 miles away. The treatment system is a key requirement for approval of a 61-acre expansion permit that environmental organizations and abutters are currently fighting in court. Opponents of the expansion learned of the plan to truck leachate from the landfill in Old Town and Alton to the Pine Tree Landfill in Hampden through a document filed in court and with state regulators by the company that runs Juniper Ridge. Leachate is the contaminated liquid formed when water runs through waste, extracting harmful chemicals including PFAS. “If it’s not on site, that brings into question new environmental and public health concerns because you’re transporting massive amounts of leachate 20 miles south,” said Nora Bosworth, a lawyer for the Conservation Law Foundation, one of the groups opposing the expansion. “And you’re marching forward with a licensing process for an expansion that is huge and conditioned on a safeguard — the PFAS treatment system — that the public and DEP do not have information to analyze.”...

www.upworthy.com

People who got out of toxic relationships share the red flag they wish they'd taken seriously from the start

"If it feels weird, IT IS WEIRD." People who got out of bad relationships share the one thing they noticed early and wish they hadn't explained away.

www.straitstimes.com

Ten lions found dead in suspected poisoning case at Tanzania wildlife reserve

DAR ES SALAAM – Ten lions were found dead in Tanzania’s Ngorongoro wildlife reserve this week and preliminary findings suggest that they may have been poisoned, the area’s management authority said on Sept 20. The deaths raise concerns over the conservation of lions in one of Africa’s most renowned wildlife ecosystems. Poisoning has been a recurring threat to large carnivores across parts of East Africa, often linked to conflicts between predators and livestock owners. The dead lions were discovered on Sept 18 in the Ndutu area of Endulen Ward in Arusha region, the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority said in a statement released late on Sept 19. “Preliminary findings suggest the animals may have died after ingesting poison,” it said, adding that it had launched an investigation to determine the cause and identify those responsible. The Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northern Tanzania, is one of the country’s leading tourism attractions. It is home to a wide range of wildlife, including lions, elephants, buffaloes and endangered black rhinos. In August, police arrested four suspects in an investigation into the deaths of 18 elephants across the border in Kenya. REUTERS...