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First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It's Still Incomplete

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Thursday, March 14, 2024

First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It’s Still IncompleteA massive new dataset highlights more than 4,200 plastic chemicals linked to health and environmental risks. But scientists say there are still large gaps in the scientific understanding of plastic ingredientsBy Katherine BourzacCredit: Richard Drury/Getty ImagesPlastics are inescapable. That soda bottle or disposable razor or even the coating on your mattress may expose you to hundreds of different chemicals, some of which scientists know very little about. Scientists are now a step closer to handling this complexity. On Thursday the PlastChem Project, a group of researchers in Norway and Switzerland, announced that it had identified more than 16,000 chemicals in plastic products in the first comprehensive database of all known plastic chemicals. The database, accompanied by a report, sorts the chemicals by their known environmental and health effects—a bank of information the PlastChem team hopes will inform governmental regulations, as well as international negotiations for a treaty to curb plastic use and production.“It’s a dynamite report,” says Miriam Diamond, who studies chemical contaminants at the University of Toronto and was not involved in the research. The new database brings together information from scientific papers and seven datasets that detail different chemicals, says Martin Wagner, PlastChem’s project lead and a biologist who studies plastics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. It took his team about a year to compile and sort through all the data. A 2023 report from the United Nations Environment Program had previously estimated there are more than 13,000 chemicals associated with plastics. The new database expands this to a degree that shocks even scientists who study these issues. “Sixteen thousand chemicals—oh, my God,” Diamond says.In addition to the sheer volume of chemicals, “the striking thing for us is that at least 25 percent of these are chemicals of concern,” Wagner says. The researchers zeroed in on more than 4,200 of the chemicals in the database that they flagged for several qualities: the chemicals’ tendency to persist without degrading, ability to build up in the human body or other organisms, mobility through the environment and toxicity.On supporting science journalismIf you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.The chemical complexity of plastics has posed challenges in fully understanding their health and environmental effects—about 10,000 of the chemicals in the new database did not have sufficient information to determine their potential risks. But for some of them, there is strong evidence of health risks. Phthalates—used in coatings and flooring materials to make them thin and flexible—disrupt the reproductive system, Diamond says. Her research has also shown that exposure to phthalates in household dust in a child’s first year of life is linked with increased risk of asthma at age five. Bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), are another group of plastic chemicals that are well-known for disrupting the body’s hormonal regulation. And then there are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, which have been linked with cancer risk and immune system problems.Wagner says he was surprised to learn about the risks associated with melamine. This material is used to make bowls and other dinnerware; it’s also combined with bamboo and other natural organic materials to make plastic alternatives. Melamine is classified as a carcinogen by the European Union and has been detected in drinking water, yet it is widely used. The chemical also readily moves through the environment, and it’s highly resistant to degradation.The report also highlights the continued presence of chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), that have been banned in plastics under the U.N.’s 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which went into effect in 2004.The health problems linked to plastic chemicals are a significant burden on society, Wagner says. A study published in January estimated that the annual health-related costs attributable to exposure to four types of plastic chemicals—including phthalates, bisphenols, PFASs and flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)—cost $250 billion per year in the U.S., about 1.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Exposure to these chemicals is associated with health problems, including developmental disorders, cancer, diabetes and infertility. “It sounds very scary and frustrating,” Wagner says. “But there are opportunities here to put plastics on a safe and sustainable pathway so that we don’t have to pay all these costs.”The PlastChem report recommends a few solutions. First, more information is needed on the 10,000 plastic chemicals that are insufficiently studied. “We urgently need some action on filling those data gaps,” Wagner says. This could take decades even with ample scientific funding. The report’s authors recommend prioritizing research on understudied chemicals based on the size of the market for them. The authors also push for a regulatory approach called “no data, no market,” which would put the onus on companies to provide toxicity data about chemicals before they can sell products that contain them.Wagner and the PlastChem team also recommend simplifying plastic recipes. There are about 3,000 chemicals used as dyes, for instance. This list could be streamlined to reduce potential health and environmental impacts. Simplifying plastics’ chemical footprint would also make it easier to recycle them. And the report calls for more transparency about what’s in plastics. Currently scientists must perform an intensive chemical analysis to find out what ingredients are in a given plastic product, what their concentrations are and whether they pose risks.In an e-mail to Scientific American, Matt Seaholm, CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, an industry trade group, took issue with the premise of the report. “Plastic as a material continues to offer safety, protection and efficiency while also being able to be reused and recycled,” Seaholm wrote. “Chemicals are chemicals and policies should be developed that are applicable to all of them. Trying to focus exclusively on ‘plastics chemicals’ risks redundancy and tunnel vision in policy.”Global plastic recycling rates are as low as 9 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Only 15 percent of plastic waste is collected for recycling, but 40 percent is discarded from the recycling process because of its low quality. If this continues, plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems could triple from nine million to 14 million metric tons in 2016 to 23 million to 37 million by 2040.And as the PlastChem report highlights, scientists believe there is too little information in what is in all this plastic. “We don’t have enough research on plastic chemicals,” says Christopher Reddy, a marine geochemist who studies plastic pollution at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and was not involved with the report. “As we move forward, we need to identify the safest and most sustainable plastics and be strategic in the way we choose which polymers and which additives we need.”The PlastChem team hopes the database will provide guidance to policymakers heading into the next round of negotiations for an international plastics treaty that is overseen by the U.N. Environment Program’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. Delegates at the meeting will discuss ways to limit plastic pollution by focusing on the entire life cycle of plastics: ways to regulate how they are designed and manufactured, as well as how to ensure that they are recycled. The High-Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, led by Norway and Rwanda, is pushing to ban or restrict production of problematic plastics and develop sustainability criteria, among other goals. The chemical industry has been pushing back on these efforts, asserting that the focus should be on recycling, not production. Scientists who study the plastic waste problem and environmental groups highlight that recycling is insufficient because of low rates, the inability to recycle some plastics and the fact that all the chemicals in plastic mean products made from recycled materials are of lower quality. The treaty negotiations will be held in Ottawa in April and may be finalized at the end of this year at a meeting in Busan, South Korea.“There’s a need for governments to act, and they have the opportunity to do it now,” Wagner says. “We need a systemic political solution.”

A massive new dataset highlights more than 4,200 plastic chemicals linked to health and environmental risks. But scientists say there are still large gaps in the scientific understanding of plastic ingredients

First Comprehensive Plastics Database Tallies Staggering 16,000 Chemicals—And It’s Still Incomplete

A massive new dataset highlights more than 4,200 plastic chemicals linked to health and environmental risks. But scientists say there are still large gaps in the scientific understanding of plastic ingredients

By Katherine Bourzac

Common household plastic items balanced in a stack on a plain gray surface with a beige wall backdrop

Credit:

Richard Drury/Getty Images

Plastics are inescapable. That soda bottle or disposable razor or even the coating on your mattress may expose you to hundreds of different chemicals, some of which scientists know very little about. Scientists are now a step closer to handling this complexity. On Thursday the PlastChem Project, a group of researchers in Norway and Switzerland, announced that it had identified more than 16,000 chemicals in plastic products in the first comprehensive database of all known plastic chemicals. The database, accompanied by a report, sorts the chemicals by their known environmental and health effects—a bank of information the PlastChem team hopes will inform governmental regulations, as well as international negotiations for a treaty to curb plastic use and production.

“It’s a dynamite report,” says Miriam Diamond, who studies chemical contaminants at the University of Toronto and was not involved in the research. The new database brings together information from scientific papers and seven datasets that detail different chemicals, says Martin Wagner, PlastChem’s project lead and a biologist who studies plastics at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology. It took his team about a year to compile and sort through all the data. A 2023 report from the United Nations Environment Program had previously estimated there are more than 13,000 chemicals associated with plastics. The new database expands this to a degree that shocks even scientists who study these issues. “Sixteen thousand chemicals—oh, my God,” Diamond says.

In addition to the sheer volume of chemicals, “the striking thing for us is that at least 25 percent of these are chemicals of concern,” Wagner says. The researchers zeroed in on more than 4,200 of the chemicals in the database that they flagged for several qualities: the chemicals’ tendency to persist without degrading, ability to build up in the human body or other organisms, mobility through the environment and toxicity.

On supporting science journalism

If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.

The chemical complexity of plastics has posed challenges in fully understanding their health and environmental effects—about 10,000 of the chemicals in the new database did not have sufficient information to determine their potential risks. But for some of them, there is strong evidence of health risks. Phthalates—used in coatings and flooring materials to make them thin and flexible—disrupt the reproductive system, Diamond says. Her research has also shown that exposure to phthalates in household dust in a child’s first year of life is linked with increased risk of asthma at age five. Bisphenols, including bisphenol A (BPA), are another group of plastic chemicals that are well-known for disrupting the body’s hormonal regulation. And then there are perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFASs, which have been linked with cancer risk and immune system problems.

Wagner says he was surprised to learn about the risks associated with melamine. This material is used to make bowls and other dinnerware; it’s also combined with bamboo and other natural organic materials to make plastic alternatives. Melamine is classified as a carcinogen by the European Union and has been detected in drinking water, yet it is widely used. The chemical also readily moves through the environment, and it’s highly resistant to degradation.

The report also highlights the continued presence of chemicals, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), that have been banned in plastics under the U.N.’s 2001 Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, which went into effect in 2004.

The health problems linked to plastic chemicals are a significant burden on society, Wagner says. A study published in January estimated that the annual health-related costs attributable to exposure to four types of plastic chemicals—including phthalates, bisphenols, PFASs and flame-retardant chemicals called polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)—cost $250 billion per year in the U.S., about 1.2 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product. Exposure to these chemicals is associated with health problems, including developmental disorders, cancer, diabetes and infertility. “It sounds very scary and frustrating,” Wagner says. “But there are opportunities here to put plastics on a safe and sustainable pathway so that we don’t have to pay all these costs.”

The PlastChem report recommends a few solutions. First, more information is needed on the 10,000 plastic chemicals that are insufficiently studied. “We urgently need some action on filling those data gaps,” Wagner says. This could take decades even with ample scientific funding. The report’s authors recommend prioritizing research on understudied chemicals based on the size of the market for them. The authors also push for a regulatory approach called “no data, no market,” which would put the onus on companies to provide toxicity data about chemicals before they can sell products that contain them.

Wagner and the PlastChem team also recommend simplifying plastic recipes. There are about 3,000 chemicals used as dyes, for instance. This list could be streamlined to reduce potential health and environmental impacts. Simplifying plastics’ chemical footprint would also make it easier to recycle them. And the report calls for more transparency about what’s in plastics. Currently scientists must perform an intensive chemical analysis to find out what ingredients are in a given plastic product, what their concentrations are and whether they pose risks.

In an e-mail to Scientific American, Matt Seaholm, CEO of the Plastics Industry Association, an industry trade group, took issue with the premise of the report. “Plastic as a material continues to offer safety, protection and efficiency while also being able to be reused and recycled,” Seaholm wrote. “Chemicals are chemicals and policies should be developed that are applicable to all of them. Trying to focus exclusively on ‘plastics chemicals’ risks redundancy and tunnel vision in policy.”

Global plastic recycling rates are as low as 9 percent, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development. Only 15 percent of plastic waste is collected for recycling, but 40 percent is discarded from the recycling process because of its low quality. If this continues, plastic pollution in aquatic ecosystems could triple from nine million to 14 million metric tons in 2016 to 23 million to 37 million by 2040.

And as the PlastChem report highlights, scientists believe there is too little information in what is in all this plastic. “We don’t have enough research on plastic chemicals,” says Christopher Reddy, a marine geochemist who studies plastic pollution at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and was not involved with the report. “As we move forward, we need to identify the safest and most sustainable plastics and be strategic in the way we choose which polymers and which additives we need.”

The PlastChem team hopes the database will provide guidance to policymakers heading into the next round of negotiations for an international plastics treaty that is overseen by the U.N. Environment Program’s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution. Delegates at the meeting will discuss ways to limit plastic pollution by focusing on the entire life cycle of plastics: ways to regulate how they are designed and manufactured, as well as how to ensure that they are recycled. The High-Ambition Coalition to End Plastic Pollution, led by Norway and Rwanda, is pushing to ban or restrict production of problematic plastics and develop sustainability criteria, among other goals. The chemical industry has been pushing back on these efforts, asserting that the focus should be on recycling, not production. Scientists who study the plastic waste problem and environmental groups highlight that recycling is insufficient because of low rates, the inability to recycle some plastics and the fact that all the chemicals in plastic mean products made from recycled materials are of lower quality. The treaty negotiations will be held in Ottawa in April and may be finalized at the end of this year at a meeting in Busan, South Korea.

“There’s a need for governments to act, and they have the opportunity to do it now,” Wagner says. “We need a systemic political solution.”

Read the full story here.
Photos courtesy of

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Exoplanet atmospheres are a key to habitability

The habitable zone of a planet might be key to whether life can survive there. But so are exoplanet atmospheres, scientists say. The post Exoplanet atmospheres are a key to habitability first appeared on EarthSky.

Artist’s concept of exoplanet GJ 9827 d. It might be a steam world, with lots of water vapor in its atmosphere. Astronomers say exoplanet atmospheres are a key to whether or not life could survive on a planet. Image via NASA/ ESA/ Leah Hustak (STScI)/ Ralf Crawford (STScI)/ University of Montreal. Scientists focus on the habitable zone (where liquid water might exist) when they are gauging whether an exoplanet could be habitable. But exoplanet atmospheres are also key to whether a planet can maintain stable, life-supporting conditions. For life to persist on a planet, the environment must be stable. A planet’s surface, oceans and atmosphere can work together to regulate the system. By Morgan Underwood, Rice University EarthSky isn’t powered by billionaires. We’re powered by you.Support EarthSky’s 2025 Donation Campaign and help keep science accessible. Exoplanet atmospheres are a key to habitability When astronomers search for planets that could host liquid water on their surface, they start by looking at a star’s habitable zone. Water is a key ingredient for life, and on a planet too close to its star, water on its surface may boil. Too far, and it could freeze. This zone marks the region in-between. But being in this sweet spot doesn’t automatically mean a planet is hospitable to life. Other factors, like whether a planet is geologically active or has processes that regulate gases in its atmosphere, play a role. The habitable zone provides a useful guide to search for signs of life on exoplanets, or planets outside our solar system orbiting other stars. But what’s in these planets’ atmospheres holds the next clue about whether liquid water – and possibly life – exists beyond Earth. The greenhouse effect On Earth, the greenhouse effect, caused by gases like carbon dioxide and water vapor, keeps the planet warm enough for liquid water and life as we know it. Without an atmosphere, Earth’s surface temperature would average around 0 degrees Fahrenheit (-18 C), far below the freezing point of water. The boundaries of the habitable zone are defined by how much of a greenhouse effect is necessary to maintain the surface temperatures that allow for liquid water to persist. It’s a balance between sunlight and atmospheric warming. Many planetary scientists, including me, are seeking to understand if the processes responsible for regulating Earth’s climate are operating on other habitable-zone worlds. We use what we know about Earth’s geology and climate to predict how these processes might appear elsewhere. That is where my geoscience expertise comes in. Picturing the habitable zone of a solar system analog, with Venus- and Mars-like planets outside of the “just right” temperature zone. Image via NASA. Why the habitable zone? The habitable zone is a simple and powerful idea, and for good reason. It provides a starting point, directing astronomers to where they might expect to find planets with liquid water. But without needing to know every detail about the planet’s atmosphere or history. Its definition is partially informed by what scientists know about Earth’s rocky neighbors. Mars, which lies just outside the outer edge of the habitable zone, shows clear evidence of ancient rivers and lakes where liquid water once flowed. Similarly, Venus is currently too close to the sun to be within the habitable zone. Yet, some geochemical evidence and modeling studies suggest Venus may have had water in its past. Though how much and for how long remains uncertain. These examples show that while the habitable zone is not a perfect predictor of habitability, it provides a useful starting point. How to have a stable environment What the habitable zone doesn’t do is determine whether a planet can sustain habitable conditions over long periods of time. On Earth, a stable climate allowed life to emerge and persist. Liquid water could remain on the surface, giving slow chemical reactions enough time to build the molecules of life. This let early ecosystems develop resilience to change, which reinforced habitability. Life emerged on Earth, but continued to reshape the environments it evolved in, making them more conducive to life. This stability likely unfolded over hundreds of millions of years, as the planet’s surface, oceans and atmosphere worked together as part of a slow but powerful system to regulate Earth’s temperature. Recycling inorganic carbon A key part of this system is how Earth recycles inorganic carbon between the atmosphere, surface and oceans over the course of millions of years. Inorganic carbon refers to carbon bound in atmospheric gases, dissolved in seawater or locked in minerals, rather than biological material. This part of the carbon cycle acts like a natural thermostat. When volcanoes release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the carbon dioxide molecules trap heat and warm the planet. As temperatures rise, rain and weathering draw carbon out of the air and store it in rocks and oceans. If the planet cools, this process slows down. This allows carbon dioxide, a warming greenhouse gas, to build up in the atmosphere again. This part of the carbon cycle has helped Earth recover from past ice ages and avoid runaway warming. Even as the sun has gradually brightened, this cycle has contributed to keeping temperatures on Earth within a range where liquid water and life can persist for long spans of time. Similar cycles in exoplanet atmospheres? Now, scientists are asking whether similar geological processes might operate on other planets. And if so, how they might detect them. For example, if researchers could observe enough rocky planets in their stars’ habitable zones, they could look for a pattern connecting the amount of sunlight a planet receives and how much carbon dioxide is in its atmosphere. Finding such a pattern may hint that the same kind of carbon-cycling process could be operating elsewhere. The mix of gases in a planet’s atmosphere is shaped by what’s happening on or below its surface. One study shows that measuring atmospheric carbon dioxide in a number of rocky planets could reveal whether their surfaces are broken into a number of moving plates, like Earth’s, or if their crusts are more rigid. On Earth, these shifting plates drive volcanism and rock weathering, which are key to carbon cycling. Simulation of what space telescopes, like the Habitable Worlds Observatory, will capture when looking at distant solar systems. Image via STScI/ NASA GSFC. Keeping an eye on distant exoplanet atmospheres The next step will be toward gaining a population-level perspective of planets in their stars’ habitable zones. By analyzing atmospheric data from many rocky planets, researchers can look for trends that reveal the influence of underlying planetary processes, such as the carbon cycle. Scientists could then compare these patterns with a planet’s position in the habitable zone. Doing so would allow them to test whether the zone accurately predicts where habitable conditions are possible, or whether some planets maintain conditions suitable for liquid water beyond the zone’s edges. This kind of approach is especially important given the diversity of exoplanets. Many exoplanets fall into categories that don’t exist in our solar system. These include super Earths and mini Neptunes. Others orbit stars smaller and cooler than the sun. NASA’s Habitable Worlds Observatory The datasets needed to explore and understand this diversity are just on the horizon. NASA’s upcoming Habitable Worlds Observatory will be the first space telescope designed specifically to search for signs of habitability and life on planets orbiting other stars. It will directly image Earth-sized planets around sunlike stars to study their atmospheres in detail. Instruments on the observatory will analyze starlight passing through these atmospheres to detect gases like carbon dioxide, methane, water vapor and oxygen. As starlight filters through a planet’s atmosphere, different molecules absorb specific wavelengths of light, leaving behind a chemical fingerprint that reveals which gases are present. These compounds offer insight into the processes shaping these worlds. The Habitable Worlds Observatory is under active scientific and engineering development, with a potential launch targeted for the 2030s. Combined with today’s telescopes, which are increasingly capable of observing atmospheres of Earth-sized worlds, scientists may soon be able to determine whether the same planetary processes that regulate Earth’s climate are common throughout the galaxy, or uniquely our own. NASA’s planned Habitable Worlds Observatory will look for exoplanets that could potentially host life. Morgan Underwood, Ph.D. Candidate in Earth, Environmental and Planetary Sciences, Rice University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. Bottom line: The habitable zone of a planet might be key to whether life can survive there. But so are exoplanet atmospheres, scientists say.The post Exoplanet atmospheres are a key to habitability first appeared on EarthSky.

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Some California landfills are on fire and leaking methane. Newly proposed rules could make them safer

California is considering adopting new rules to better identify and more quickly to respond to dangerous methane leaks and underground fires at landfills statewide.

A vast canyon of buried garbage has been smoldering inside a landfill in the Santa Clarita Valley, inducing geysers of liquid waste onto the surface and noxious fumes into the air.In the Inland Empire, several fires have broken out on the surface of another landfill. In the San Fernando Valley, an elementary school has occasionally canceled recess due to toxic gases emanating from rain-soaked, rotting garbage from a nearby landfill. And, in the San Francisco Bay Area, burrowing rodents may be digging into entombed trash at a landfill-turned-park, unloosing explosive levels of methane.These are just a few of the treacherous episodes that have recently transpired at landfills in California, subjecting the state’s waste management industry to growing scrutiny by residents and regulators.Landfill emissions — produced by decaying food, paper and other organic waste — are a major source of planet-warming greenhouse gases and harmful air pollution statewide. But mismanagement, aging equipment and inadequate oversight have worsened this pollution in recent years, according to environmental regulators and policy experts.This week, the California Air Resources Board will vote on adopting a new slate of requirements to better identify and more quickly respond to methane leaks and disastrous underground fires at large landfills statewide.The proposal calls for using satellites, drones and other new technologies to more comprehensively investigate methane leaks. It also would require landfill operators to take corrective action within a few days of finding methane leaks or detecting elevated temperatures within their pollution control systems.In recent years, state regulators have pinpointed at least two landfills in Southern California experiencing “rare” underground landfill fires — largely uncontrollable disasters that have burned troves of buried garbage and released toxic fumes into the air. More recently, a new state satellite program has detected 17 methane plumes from nine landfills between July and October, potentially leaking the flammable gas into unwanted areas and contributing to climate change.Proponents of the proposed rule say the added oversight could help reduce California’s second-largest source of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that warms the atmosphere much more than carbon dioxide. It could also bring relief to hundreds of thousands of people who live nearby landfills and may be exposed to toxic pollutants like hydrogen sulfide or benzene.“Curbing methane emissions is a relatively quick and cost-effective way to reduce the greenhouse pollution that’s wreaking havoc with our climate,” said Bill Magavern, policy director at the Coalition for Clean Air. “But [we’ve] also been involved in updating and strengthening the rule because we’re seeing the community impacts of leaking landfills, particularly at places like Chiquita Canyon, where we have a landfill fire that is making people in the community sick.”Nearly 200 landfills statewide would be subject to the proposed requirements — 48 are privately owned and 140 are government-owned.Many landfill operators oppose the rule, saying the new requirements would saddle the industry with an untenable workload and millions of dollars each year in added costs. These costs could be passed on to residents, whose garbage fees have already risen significantly in recent years.Sacramento County officials, who operate the Kiefer Landfill, said the proposed protocols were not feasible. “As a public landfill, Kiefer cannot quickly adapt to regulatory shifts of this magnitude, and these increased costs would ultimately burden the community it serves,” Sacramento County officials wrote in a Nov. 10 letter to the state Air Resources Board.The vast majority of landfills are already required to monitor for leaks and operate a gas collection system — a network of wells that extend deep into the layers of buried waste to capture and destroy methane.A hot messChiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic has become the poster child for the issues plaguing California’s waste management system.A blistering-hot chemical reaction began inside the landfill’s main canyon in May 2022, roasting garbage in a roughly 30-acre area.Starting in April 2023, residents of Castaic and nearby Val Verde began to take notice. They called in thousands of odor complaints to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, with many citing headaches, nausea, nosebleeds and difficulty breathing.Later that year, state regulators learned that the landfill’s temperatures had risen above 200 degrees, melting plastic pipes used to collect landfill gases. An air district inspector also witnessed geysers of liquid waste bursting onto the surface and white smoke venting from large cracks spreading across the reaction area.Air sampling found elevated levels of lung-aggravating sulfur pollutants and cancer-causing benzene. Air samples in 2023 detected benzene concentrations more than eight times higher than the state’s short-term health limit at Hasley Canyon Park, which abuts Live Oak Elementary School, alarming local parents.“I personally have transferred my children to different schools further away,” said Jennifer Elkins, a Val Verde resident whose children attended Live Oak. “I spend three hours a day driving my kids to and from school. The commute has been a sacrifice, but it’s also been well worth it, because I know my children are breathing cleaner air, and I have seen their health improve.”The landfill, owned by Texas-based Waste Connections, installed new heat-resistant equipment to extract liquid waste in an attempt to reduce broiling temperatures. It also installed a large covering over the affected area to suppress odors. It permanently closed and ceased accepting waste this year.Still, the reaction area has tripled in size and could consume the entire 160-acre canyon for many more years. During other underground landfill fires, elevated temperatures have persisted for more than a decade.The issue is, once these broiling temperatures start consuming landfill waste, there’s little that landfill operators can do to snuff them out.The fumes from Chiquita Canyon have pushed some longtime residents to consider moving. After more than 25 years in Val Verde, Abigail DeSesa is contemplating starting anew somewhere else.“This is our life’s investment — our forever home that we were building for retirement and on the verge of paying off,” DeSesa said. “And we may have to start over.”“I don’t know that I can outlast it,” DeSesa added.Chiquita Canyon is not alone.Earlier this year, the South Coast air district learned about another fiery chemical reaction brewing inside El Sobrante Landfill in Corona. In August, Waste Management, the landfill’s owner and operator, acknowledged there was a two-acre “area of concern” where landfill staff had observed temperatures climbing above 200 degrees. Riverside County inspectors also found several fires had ignited on the landfill’s surface in recent years, according to public records.Environmental advocates fear that many more landfills may be on the precipice of these largely unmanageable disasters.According to an analysis by California Communities Against Toxics, there are 18 landfills in California that have had prolonged heat signatures detected by NASA’s Fire Information for Resource Management System, an online tool using satellite instruments to detect fires and thermal anomalies.At least 11 of these landfills requested and received permission from either federal or local environmental regulators to continue operating with higher temperatures than currently allowed, according to public records obtained by the environmental organization.These regulatory exemptions are part of the problem, said Jane Williams, the group’s executive director.“We have 11 landfills across California that have been granted waivers by the government to basically ‘hot rod’ the landfill,” Williams said. “We would really like EPA and state agencies to stop granting landfill waivers. It’s a permission slip to speed in a school zone.”Under newly proposed revisions to state rules, operators must be more transparent in disclosing the temperatures in their gas collection systems. If operators detect elevated temperatures, they must take action to minimize the amount of oxygen in the landfill.While these rule changes might be coming too late to fix the issues near Chiquita Canyon, locals hope it will help others who live in the orbit of the nearly 200 other large landfills in California that could be subject to these rules.“While there’s still a fight here to try to address the concerns at Chiquita Canyon Landfill, we know that there’s an opportunity to really prevent this kind of disaster from happening anywhere else in our state,” said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo.Dangerous leaksMeanwhile, many other landfills are releasing unsafe amounts of methane, an odorless gas produced by bacteria that break down organic waste.These emissions present two critical issues.First, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas — capable of warming the atmosphere 80 times more than the same amount of carbon dioxide over 20 years. Following California’s large dairy and livestock operations, landfills emit the second-most methane statewide.Second, methane is the primary constituent in natural gas. It can ignite or explode at certain concentrations, presenting a serious safety risk in the event of uncontrolled releases. Several times over the last few years, regulators have detected potentially explosive concentrations in the air and shallow soil near several landfills.Under current landfill regulations, operators are required to monitor for excessive methane leaks four times a year. Many operators hire contractors to walk across accessible portions of the landfill with a handheld leak-monitoring device, an approach that some environmental advocates say is unreliable.In addition, some areas of the landfill are not screened for methane leaks if operators consider them to be unsafe to walk across, due to, for example, steep hills or ongoing construction activities.“Landfills have to monitor surface emissions, but they do that in a very inefficient way, using outdated technology,” Magavern said.Starting this past summer, California has partnered with the nonprofit organization Carbon Mapper to use satellites to detect methane leaks, and already has found 17 coming from landfills. In one case, researchers saw a large methane plume appear to emanate from Newby Island Landfill in San José and drift into a nearby residential neighborhood.Although the state has notified these landfill operators, it currently cannot require them to repair leaks detected via satellite. That would change under the proposed amendments to the state’s landfill regulations. Operators would also have to use state-approved technology to routinely scan portions of their landfills they deem inaccessible.The proposed amendments seek to prevent the most common causes of methane emissions. A series of surveys of landfill operators found 43% of leaks in recent years were caused by one or more of a facility’s gas collection wells being offline at the time.The new rules would require that such wells can only be offline for up to five days at a time for repairs. Operators would also be required to install gas collection systems within six months of when garbage is first placed in a new part of a landfill — rather than the 18-month time frame currently allowed.In addition, landfills would be forced to take actions to fix a leak within three days of detection, rather than 10 days. In theory, that should help reduce the risk of leaks from things like cracks in landfill covers (typically a layer of soil or plastic covering) and damaged components of gas collection systems — two other major sources of leaks that landfill operators have reported.The amended landfill rules could collectively cost private companies and local governments $12 million annually.Some say that’s well worth the cost.A contingent of residents who live near Chiquita Canyon Landfill are flying to Sacramento to attend the state Air Resources Board meeting. They are expected to testify on how the fire and landfill emissions have unraveled the fabric of the semi-rural community.Elkins, the Val Verde resident, appreciated the area’s natural beauty — picturesque hillsides, wildlife and opportunities for stargazing without bright city lights. However, now her family hardly spends any time outdoors due to the noxious odors.Some of her neighbors have moved away, but Elkins and many other longtime locals cannot, no matter how they fear for their health and safety. “The homes are not selling,” she said. “Other homes sit vacant, and community members are paying two mortgages just to get away. And for many of us, it would be financial suicide to move away and start over somewhere new.”

Chemicals
Climate
CO2

New Texas petrochemical facilities are mostly in low income areas, communities of color, study finds

Researchers evaluated the neighborhoods around 89 proposed or expanding petrochemical facilities across the state using a screening tool from the EPA.

Environment Researchers evaluated the neighborhoods around 89 proposed or expanding petrochemical facilities across the state using a screening tool from the EPA. David J. Phillip/APThis aerial photo shows the TPC petrochemical plant near downtown Houston, background, on Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)A recent report from Texas Southern University found that new and expanding petrochemical facilities in Texas are overwhelmingly located in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color. Researchers evaluated the neighborhoods around 89 proposed or expanding petrochemical facilities across the state using a screening tool from the Environmental Protection Agency. They looked at air pollution and proximity to other "hazardous facilities" in the areas. Data related to the race, education, income level and languages within the areas was also collected. Sign up for the Hello, Houston! daily newsletter to get local reports like this delivered directly to your inbox. "The communities that are on the fenceline are getting pollution and they also are getting poverty," said Robert Bullard, one of the study's authors. "And also, if you look at the infrastructures within those neighborhoods that have these facilities, they are of poor quality." The report found that 9 in 10 of the facilities are located in counties with "higher demographic vulnerability" – meaning they had more people of color, more low-income residents, or both, compared to the state and national averages. Over half of the new facilities were slated to be built in communities that have a higher proportion of people of color than the national average. Meanwhile, 30% of the facilities were slated to be built in areas with a poverty rate higher than the national average. "Segregation and racial redlining actually segregated pollution, and it segregated people," Bullard said. The analysis also found that the proposed facilities were being built in areas that are already struggling with air pollution. About 1 in 5 of the proposed facilities are located within the top 10% of areas nationwide with the highest amount of particulate matter pollution, and 46% of the new facilities are slated to be built within the top 10% of communities across the country with the highest amount of air toxins. The facilities were concentrated in 9% of Texas counties, with nearly half of them located in Harris County or Jefferson County.

Chemicals
Education
Pollution

Georgia moves to regulate ‘forever chemicals’ PFAS in drinking water

Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division has proposed new drinking water rules that would strictly limit two PFAS “forever chemicals,” PFOA and PFOS, by 2027, mirroring narrowed federal standards while leaving communities and utilities to grapple with the high cost of filtration.

Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division has proposed new drinking water rules that would strictly limit two PFAS “forever chemicals,” PFOA and PFOS, by 2027, mirroring narrowed federal standards while leaving communities and utilities to grapple with the high cost of filtration.

Chemicals
Water

Lead water pipes are a primary contributor to lead exposure in children, study says

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, OH and Grand Rapids, MI. In short: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.Key quote:“These findings suggest that replacing LSLs is an effective public health strategy to eliminate this important source of [lead] exposure.”Why this matters: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 in comparison to areas with lower exposures. 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.Related EHN coverage:Federal housing programs linked to lower levels of lead exposureUS lead pipe replacements stoke concerns about plastic and environmental injusticeMore resources:LISTEN: Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcastSabah Usmani on making cities healthy and justNsilo Berry on making buildings healthierDiana Hernández on housing and healthTornero-Velez, Rogelio et al. for Environmental Science and Technology vol. 59, 43. Oct. 21, 2025

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, OH and Grand Rapids, MI. In short: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.Key quote:“These findings suggest that replacing LSLs is an effective public health strategy to eliminate this important source of [lead] exposure.”Why this matters: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 in comparison to areas with lower exposures. 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.Related EHN coverage:Federal housing programs linked to lower levels of lead exposureUS lead pipe replacements stoke concerns about plastic and environmental injusticeMore resources:LISTEN: Agents of Change in Environmental Justice podcastSabah Usmani on making cities healthy and justNsilo Berry on making buildings healthierDiana Hernández on housing and healthTornero-Velez, Rogelio et al. for Environmental Science and Technology vol. 59, 43. Oct. 21, 2025

Chemicals
Health
Science

Suggested Viewing

The Story of Plastic

A searing expose uncovering the ugly truth behind the global plastic pollution crisis. Striking footage shot over three continents illustrates the ongoing catastrophe: fields full of garbage, veritable mountains of trash; rivers and seas clogged with waste; and skies choked with poisons from plastic production and recycling processes with no end in sight. Original animations, interviews with experts and activists, and never-before-filmed scenes reveal the disastrous consequences of the plastic flood around the world – and the global movement rising up in response.

Chemicals
Pollution
Crisis

Lead in the Land

Lead in the Land is a documentary focusing on the harsh reality and far-reaching effects of lead poisoning, an invisible and insidious threat afflicting thousands of children in the United States. The film sheds light on the circumstances around lead poisoning, examining its causes, effects and potential solutions.

Chemicals
Social Justice
Health

Bag It

Bag It examines our society’s use and abuse of plastic. The theme of the film focuses on plastic as it relates to our society’s throw away mentality, our culture of convenience, and our over consumption of throwaway products and packaging—things that we use one time and then, without another thought, we throw them away. Bag It offers a candid view of the disturbing realities of our culture. And, it suggests concrete solutions to our plastic addiction. The film will raise public awareness on the many issues related to plastic and inspire change, both on the individual level and on the public policy level.

Chemicals
Waste
Culture

928 The Threat Continues...

Since the 1950s deadly nuclear fallout has threatened millions of Americans from nuclear fallout carried east in the atmosphere across the United States, from the Nevada Test Site. “928 The Threat Continues...” tells the story of massive contamination from concentrated nuclear fallout that rained down during heavy storms, on communities and major cities for 40 years. Hundreds of thousands of cancer cases and deaths were the result. The Atomic Energy Commission and the Department of Energy knew the truth, but covered it up. Multiple generations may still face the long-term affects. Through current interviews with scientific experts and surviving victims across the country, plus footage from historic interviews with victims, whistle-blower scientists and journalists, we tell the devastating story of those affected by the deadly radioactive fallout. In Act 3, obscure government videos from US government websites reveal that the threat of cancer death to Americans from Nevada Test Site contamination continues even today! NTS has been renamed, the Nevada National Security Site or NNSS. Presidential administrations from Harry Truman to the present day have kept the highly contaminated former Nevada Test Site operating. Donald Trump while in office ordered the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy to start testing newly designed battlefield nuclear weapons at the NNSS despite the existence of The Non-Proliferation Treaty – 1970. Not withstanding the treaty, the extremely reckless aboveground testing area at the NNSS called Big Explosives Experimental Facility or B.E.E.F. tests non-nuclear bombs that send tons of highly contaminated nuclear dirt 10,000 feet into the atmosphere where the winds carry it east. It needs to be stopped now! The film asks viewers to inform their congressman and vote.

Chemicals
Crisis
Government

Sprayed

An exploration of what happens when whole communities get exposed to toxins: Naled sprayed on Miami residents to fight Zika virus, Agent Orange sprayed on the Vietcong, and release of GMO mosquitoes in Brazil with pyriproxyfen added to drinking water to fight dengue. What are the results for nature and humanity? We meet Agent Orange survivors at Vietnamese detoxification and rehabilitation centers, parents of babies born with microcephaly from Zika virus, and Florida residents dealing with efforts to kill mosquitoes carrying Zika virus. Perspectives of doctors, scientists, and politicians are balanced with voices of ordinary citizens and victims to explore concerns about the potential impact on current and future generations.

Chemicals
Health
Science

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