Big win in California: paraquat is being phased out. The science has been clear for years — now policy is catching up. 🌱 More details on the ban here: https://www.thenewlede.org/2026/08/california-phasing-out-paraquat-parkinsons-disease/
Dimitri Abrahamsson
@dimiabrams.bsky.social
Chemistry and Computer Science | Assistant Professor at UCSF | Passionate about Judo and brain health
New UCSF research offers clues into how #PFAS may disrupt placental function and and contribute to adverse pregnancy outcomes.. Read more on the PRHE blog. ⬇️
New clues on how PFAS may disrupt placental function
A new study from UC San Francisco, published yesterday in Environmental Science & Technology, provides clues to how PFAS may contribute to pregnancy complications and adverse developmental outcomes. Forever chemicals such as PFOA and other PFAS contaminate drinking water supplies across the United States, are detected in the blood of nearly all pregnant women, and … Continue reading New clues on how PFAS may disrupt placental function
prheucsf.blog
Makes me feel a lot better about starting my emails with ‘Hey’
Merriam-Webster@merriam-webster.com · 7mo ago‘Hey’ came before ‘hi,’ and ‘hi' came before ‘hello.’ ‘Hi’ is most likely a variant of ‘hey.’ ‘Hello’ is not related to either. Goodbye.
‘Hey’ came before ‘hi,’ and ‘hi' came before ‘hello.’ ‘Hi’ is most likely a variant of ‘hey.’ ‘Hello’ is not related to either. Goodbye.
You've heard of the pesticides chlorpyrifos and malathion, but have you heard of naled? Dept. of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Science at UCSF Robinson Lab postdoc Lin Li, MD, PhD, explains how naled might affect placental health in our latest blog post. ⬇️
Common pesticides may disrupt placental health
Pregnancy depends on a healthy placenta, but how environmental chemicals affect placental development is still poorly understood. Growing evidence suggests that exposure to common pesticides may increase the risk of pregnancy complications. In our new study examining pregnancy risks from pesticides, one pesticide stood out: naled. You might not have heard of naled – an … Continue reading Common pesticides may disrupt placental health
prheucsf.blog
"Give me the strength to be as confident as Reviewer 2 when he rejects a paper outside his area of expertise."
Yes 👏 Revoking science makes it go away. Everyone know that. ground.news/article/trum...
Trump revokes EPA finding that greenhouse gases endanger public health
President Donald Trump has reversed a key Obama-era scientific ruling that underpins all federal actions on curbing planet-warming gases.
ground.news
Yes, increasing the speed of risk evaluations is known to produce better environmental and health outcomes. We should also do that for drugs. We should speed up the release of experimental drugs and cut all the clinical trials. What could possibly go wrong? 🙄
C&EN (Chemical & Engineering News)@cenmag.bsky.social · 9mo agoRepublicans and Democrats are at loggerheads on draft legislation that Republicans are promoting—and that the chemical industry is backing—to accelerate the pace of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s review of new substances before they enter commerce. cen.acs.org/policy/legis... #chemsky 🧪
If the chemical lobby gets its way, people will be exposed to a lot more harmful chemicals and more people will get sick and die. https://prheucsf.blog/2026/01/21/the-chemical-lobby-is-trying-to-weaken-the-law-that-protects-people-from-toxic-chemicals/
The chemical lobby is trying to weaken the law that protects people from toxic chemicals
Toxic chemicals and pollutants are contributing to a rise in chronic disease including cancer, Parkinson’s, diabetes, heart disease, autism, and infertility. Yet, the chemical lobby is trying to rewrite the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), the one law designed to protect people from harmful chemicals. If they are successful, it could result in significantly higher … Continue reading The chemical lobby is trying to weaken the law that protects people from toxic chemicals
prheucsf.blog
Scientists were frustrated by a piece in the Guardian earlier this week that seemed to call into question the science on microplastics in the body. I wrote about why researchers are certain microplastics are in the human body -- and what we still don't know: www.washingtonpost.com/climate-envi...
A scientist questioned new microplastics findings. Then other researchers fired back.
A prominent scientist criticized microplastics research methods. Others are defending the work.
washingtonpost.com
All of these can be true at the same time: - The high-profile study likely has some critical limitations. - The current analytical instruments and methods are not sensitive enough. - The Dow Chemicals scientist in the article has a substantial conflict of interest that was not acknowledged.
Damian Carrington@dpcarrington.bsky.social · 9mo ago‘A bombshell’: doubt cast on discoveries of #microplastics throughout human body, from brain to blood, arteries to testes Exclusive: Some scientists say many detections are most likely error, with one high-profile study called a ‘joke’ Story by me www.theguardian.com/environment/...
And then he said: "How are we going to fix the reproducibility crisis in science if we only publish novel findings?"
Bisphenols, pesticides, phthalates, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) chemicals in the global food system are linked to a host of health problems. cen.acs.org/food/food-in... #chemsky 🧪
Chemicals in food system cause nearly $3 trillion in annual damage: Report
Trillions are spent on the environmental and health impacts, such as treating diseases linked to certain chemicals and removing them from the water supply
cen.acs.org
If the Trump administration understands the dangers of poisoning the public with fentanyl, then they must also understand the dangers of poisoning people with toxic chemicals. This type of logic cuts both ways. www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...
DESIGNATING FENTANYL AS A WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1. Purpose and
whitehouse.gov
You can't make America healthy if you weaken rules designed to protect people from toxic chemicals and pollution. EPA needs to stop working for polluters and start protecting health. https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/13/climate/maha-moms-epa-lee-zeldin.html
MAHA Moms Are Angry at the E.P.A. Lee Zeldin Is Trying to Win Them Back.
A split is emerging within Trump’s base as health activists accuse Mr. Zeldin of leading the agency to prioritize chemical industry interests over public health.
nytimes.com
Draft legislation is circulating in Congress right now that weakens the Toxic Substances Control Act. It's what the chemical lobby has spent millions of dollars trying to achieve - and if they get what they want, more people will be exposed to more harmful chemicals and more will get sick.
webinar Thurs. Dec. 11: Corporate influence on science in a shifting political landscape www.healthandenvironment.org/che-webinars...
Corporate influence on science in a shifting political landscape
Extensive empirical research demonstrates that financial conflicts of interest (study sponsorship and study authors with a financial conflict of interest from industries that have a stake in the...
healthandenvironment.org
San Francisco is taking on ultra-processed food companies for "using deceptive marketing techniques to target children ... to consume their products while knowing that overconsumption of the foods could lead to poor health outcomes..." #ultraprocessedfood abc7news.com/post/san-fra...
San Francisco files 1st-of-its-kind lawsuit against largest ultraprocessed food manufacturers
Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, General Mills, Kellogg, and Kraft Heinz are some of the 10 major corporations being sued by San Francisco, which is arguing they unfairly marketed ultraprocessed foods and products...
abc7news.com
Objective truths are still out there. It’s just harder than ever to know what they look like. What’s Up With That? [StarTalk video: 15min] www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4I_...
How to Tell What’s Real Online
YouTube video by StarTalk
youtube.com
"This is what corporate capture looks like." - Dimitri Abrahamsson EPA is supposed to protect people from toxic chemicals like D4, not give them a pass.
Dimitri Abrahamsson@dimiabrams.bsky.social · 10mo agoAt EPA’s D4 meeting today: - Most reviewers industry affiliated - Most EPA scientists in sync with industry - EU, UK, Canada: “D4 very persistent and very bioaccumulatative” - EPA: “maybe persistent but not bioaccumulative” This is what corporate capture looks like www.youtube.com/live/eTZ9rjV...
At EPA’s D4 meeting today: - Most reviewers industry affiliated - Most EPA scientists in sync with industry - EU, UK, Canada: “D4 very persistent and very bioaccumulatative” - EPA: “maybe persistent but not bioaccumulative” This is what corporate capture looks like www.youtube.com/live/eTZ9rjV...
Day 1 12/02 - Peer Review of the Draft Risk Evaluation for Octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane (D4)
YouTube video by uvideoonline
youtube.com
Never forget. What terrorism did. Never forget. Those who perished. Those who ran towards danger to help.
I'm excited to share our new scientific adventure with Benny Chefetz, Evyatar Ben Mordechay, and Moshe Shenker to study the metabolism of pharmaceuticals in plants and humans. We’re grateful to BSF for their support and excited to deepen the collaboration between UCSF and HUJI through this research.
We thank the Reviewers for their helpful suggestions
👇My interview in @newscientist.com on how corporations' control your health - and what we can do about it. Plus, I have weird blue hair in the illustration, so it is worth checking out just to see that. www.newscientist.com/article/2481...
Do corporations actually have more control over your health than you?
From the food on supermarket shelves to the air we breathe, large companies exert a greater impact on our health than we might realise, argues health scientist Tracey Woodruff
newscientist.com
"You can’t protect children from harmful chemicals while gutting EPA, cutting funding to NIEHS, and rolling back or eliminating environmental rules that protect people from toxic exposures." @traceywoodruff.bsky.social
Statement on Make America Healthy Again Commission report
Dr. Tracey J. Woodruff, PhD, professor and director of the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment and the Center to End Corporate Harm at UCSF issued the following statement upon release o...
prheucsf.blog
Now we know that if a study is funded by the meat industry, it is 4 times more likely to conclude that red meat has positive or benign effects on cardiovascular disease risk. NIH should fund nutrition scientists so they can stop working for the food industry. ajcn.nutrition.org/article/S000...
Industry study sponsorship and conflicts of interest on the effect of unprocessed red meat on cardiovascular disease risk: a systematic review of clinical trials
Experimental research on the link between unprocessed red meat and cardiovascular disease risk is inconsistent and may differ according to the financial interests of red meat industry sponsors.
ajcn.nutrition.org
"Eliminating the science will not make the harms go away." @traceywoodruff.bsky.social @epw.senate.gov
