Our health is deeply connected to the health of our environment. Eco Health News brings together the latest research, reporting, and practical insights on how air, water, food, and consumer products influence well-being – and how everyday choices can help reduce exposure to harmful chemicals.
Here you’ll find stories about toxic ingredients, endocrine disruptors, and forever chemicals (PFAS) that persist in our homes and ecosystems, along with coverage of climate-related health risks, microplastics, and emerging science on environmental disease prevention. We also highlight solutions – from safer product design and green innovations to fragrance-free living, clean indoor air, and eco-friendly habits that protect both people and the planet.
Whether you’re learning how to live more sustainably, reduce chemical exposure, or understand the health impacts of pollution, Eco Health News helps you stay informed and empowered in making choices that support a healthier, cleaner world.
1. Toxic Chemicals & Endocrine Disruptors
Focus: PFAS (“forever chemicals”), BPA (Bisphenol A), phthalates, and other endocrine-disrupting or carcinogenic substances in products and the environment.
Examples:
- The Science on Benzene Keeps Getting Scarier. Industry Remains in Denial
- Plastics, pesticides and pills: how chemical exposures affect sperm health
- How to reduce your exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in plastics, tinned food and even paper receipts
- Childhood leukemia linked to PFAS exposure
- More than 900 common chemicals linked to breast cancer risk: Study
- “Forever Chemicals” Called PFAS Show Up in Your Food, Clothes, and Home
- Gender differences exist in the effects of “forever chemicals” – EHN
- Forever chemicals can penetrate skin from personal care products – EHN
- Reusable period products found to contain harmful PFAS chemicals – EHN
- Scientists call for removal of over 4,200 “chemicals of concern” from plastics – EHN
- Chemicals in Baby Products Linked to Premature Birth – Newsweek
- Toxic chemicals in everyday products may help explain rising rates of autism – EHN
- Chemicals in scented products linked to disrupted metabolism – EHN
- Report finds everyday toxic chemicals drive cancer, dementia, and fertility decline worldwide – EHN
- Health experts rally for ‘call to arms’ to protect children from toxic chemicals
- https://endocrinenews.endocrine.org/the-root-of-the-problem-warning-consumers-about-edcs-from-the-laboratory-bench/
2. Microplastics, Nanoplastics & Plastic Pollution
Focus: plastics in food, water, air, and ecosystems, and their health effects.
Examples:
- Microplastics Are the Not-So-Secret Ingredient in Marine Snow
- ‘Nanoplastics’ Could Be Worse Than Microplastics and We Know Almost Nothing About Them
- Billions of pounds of microplastics are entering the oceans every year. Researchers are trying to understand their impact.
- Scientists find about a quarter million invisible nanoplastic particles in a liter of bottled water
- As the world swims in plastic, some offer an answer: Ban the toxic two
- https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2024-01-18/health-costs-of-plastics-run-250-billion-a-year
- Microplastics cause brain blood vessel blockages in mice
- Microplastics found in penises could link to erectile dysfunction – EHN
- Microplastics may disrupt blood flow in the brain, study finds – EHN
- Baby bottle companies sued for hiding microplastic dangers – EHN
- Cleaning sponges release vast amounts of microplastics monthly – EHN
- Marine microbes are not equipped to break down plastic pollution – EHN
- How a microplastics researcher avoids plastic in daily life – EHN
- Running plastic dishes through the dishwasher adds millions of microplastics to wastewater each year – EHN
- Study finds indoor air laced with microplastics we breathe by the tens of thousands – EHN
- Microplastics spread from household waste to soils, animals, and human food chains – EHN
- Plastic particles may be quietly sabotaging your hormones and fertility – EHN
- https://www.earth.com/news/ai-shows-how-microplastics-are-harming-global-soil-and-agriculture/
- Plastic pollution may be accelerating global warming by disrupting Earth’s carbon cycles – EHN
- Starch-based bioplastics may carry hidden health risks, new research shows – EHN
- https://www.newsweek.com/plastic-rocks-pollution-geology-discovered-map-1851193
- https://www.wired.com/story/oh-good-hurricanes-are-now-made-of-microplastics/
- https://www.ehn.org/plastic-pollution-can-t-be-solved-by-recycling-2670456314.html
- https://www.consumerreports.org/health/food-contaminants/the-plastic-chemicals-hiding-in-your-food-a7358224781/
- Nanoplastics linked to lower fertility in couples – EHN
3. Climate Change & Planetary Health
Focus: global warming, extreme weather, ocean changes, ecosystem disruption, and their human health consequences.
Examples:
- Global heating will pass 1.5C threshold this year, top ex-Nasa scientist says
- 2023 smashes record for world’s hottest year by huge margin
- ‘Astounding’ ocean temperatures in 2023 intensified extreme weather, data shows
- Heatwave blankets the globe, raising climate concerns
- Antarctica experiences unprecedented midwinter heat wave
- Ocean warming accelerates, driven by energy imbalance and reduced reflectivity
- Hotter summers could kill millions in Europe by 2100
- Scientists debate whether key Atlantic Ocean current is weakening
- Warming climate puts over 3,500 animal species at risk of extinction – The Daily Climate
- Plastic pollution may be accelerating global warming by disrupting Earth’s carbon cycles – EHN
- Shifting seasons expose how climate change and pollution are rewriting nature’s calendar – EHN
- https://www.eenews.net/articles/cop28-could-spur-wave-of-climate-lawsuits/
- The International Court of Justice just made it harder for countries to ignore the climate crisis – EHN
- https://www.dailyclimate.org/philippines-calls-for-action-on-climate-justice-as-disasters-intensify-2670730864.html
4. Human Health Impacts
Focus: diseases, fertility, metabolism, neurotoxicity, and chronic illness linked to pollution exposure.
Examples:
- Chemicals in everyday products may play a hidden role in declining fertility
- Brain cell aging linked to common pesticide exposure
- Long-term air pollution exposure increases risk of deep vein blood clots
- Pollution linked to stress-driven weight gain, study finds
- Rising kidney stones in children linked to processed foods and climate shifts
- Children exposed to dirty air early in life face poorer teen health, UK study finds – EHN
- Traces of pharmaceuticals are contaminating rivers and oceans worldwide – EHN
- Plastic chemicals are more numerable and less regulated than previously thought – The Daily Climate
- https://insideclimatenews.org/news/20122023/dereliction-of-beauty-warning-black-women-about-dangerous-products/
5. Policy, Justice & Corporate Accountability
Focus: regulation, litigation, inequities, and community impacts.
Examples:
- ‘Forever chemicals’ were everywhere in 2023. Expect more litigation in 2024
- Chemical company faces lawsuit over PFAS pollution in West Virginia river
- Trump plans fossil fuel push that could harm Black communities
- For One Environmentalist, Warning Black Women About Dangerous Beauty Products Allows Them to Own Their Health
- Philippines calls for action on climate justice as disasters intensify
- The International Court of Justice just made it harder for countries to ignore the climate crisis – EHN
- Big Meat just can’t quit antibiotics
6. Emerging Research, Innovation & Solutions
Focus: studies, monitoring, and sustainable approaches to mitigate eco-health threats.
Examples: