Must-read recap: The New Lede's top stories

PFAS chemicals linked to thyroid cancer, human data suggests; glyphosate cancer findings of "extreme concern"; freeways fracture communities, poison the air and heat the planet.

PFAS chemicals linked to thyroid cancer, human data suggests

Exposure to some per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) may increase thyroid cancer risk, according to a new study.

The analysis, which compared blood samples from 88 people who developed thyroid cancer with samples from people who did not, is the first to document an association between PFAS and thyroid cancer, which had been previously hypothesized. Past research has linked these endocrine-disrupting chemicals to thyroid disease, a condition in which the gland produces too many or too few hormones. The new research adds to a growing list of health problems linked to PFAS, including kidney cancer, testicular cancer, ulcerative colitis, high cholesterol, and hypertension during pregnancy.

The study, which looked at eight different types of so-called “forever chemicals,” found that doubly high levels of perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) in the blood corresponded with a 56% higher risk for thyroid cancer diagnosis. The PFAS chemicals perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), perfluorooctylphosphonic acid (PFOPA), and perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) were also found to be associated with thyroid cancer.

“Although preliminary, this is an important study highlighting the risk of thyroid cancer derived from PFAS contamination of water and soil,” said Luca Chiavato, a professor of endocrinology at the University of Pavia in Italy who was not involved with the study. (Read the rest of the story.)

Glyphosate cancer findings of “extreme concern” as Europe weighs reauthorization of pesticide

European researchers have found new evidence linking popular weed-killing products to cancer at levels currently considered safe.

The study focused on glyphosate, the active ingredient in Roundup herbicide and other brands, and is the latest in a series of studies examining the safety of the world’s most widely used weed-killing chemical.

Notably, the work comes as the European Union is wrestling over whether or not to keep glyphosate products on the market after the current approval expires in December.

The research has not yet been peer reviewed, but was presented last week at an international scientific conference.

“We felt an urgency to present this data, and provide it to policy makers and the public,” said Daniele Mandrioli, director of the Ramazzini Institute in Bologna, Italy, which is overseeing a multi-faceted research program investigating glyphosate impacts called the Global Glyphosate Study.

“This is of extreme concern. We couldn’t sit on this data,” Mandrioli said.

Glyphosate is so widely used that it is ubiquitous in the environment- commonly found in food, water and human urine samples. (Read the rest of the story.)

Postcard from California: Freeways fracture communities, poison the air and heat the planet

(Opinion columns published in The New Lede represent the views of the individual(s) authoring the columns and not necessarily the perspectives of TNL editors.)

In 1957, California opened its first double-decker freeway: The Cypress Street Viaduct, slicing through the heart of West Oakland toward the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. The construction displaced hundreds of Black families and businesses from a neighborhood once known as the Harlem of the West. The freeway’s eight lanes cut off West Oakland from downtown, stifling development and exposing residents to the toxic pollution of 160,000 vehicles a day.

On Oct. 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta earthquake rocked Northern California, collapsing a mile of the freeway’s upper span onto the lower deck. Though first responders feared that hundreds of rush-hour commuters had been crushed, miraculously the death toll was limited to 42. West Oakland residents organized and pushed Caltrans, the state transportation agency, to reroute a new approach to the bridge away from the neighborhood. The Cypress Street Viaduct was replaced by Mandela Parkway, a tree-lined boulevard with walking paths and bike lanes. Dozens of new businesses sprang up and air pollution dropped dramatically.

It shouldn’t take a natural disaster to open our eyes to the damage freeways do to disadvantaged communities.

West Oakland was just one of many lower-income communities of color across the country where residents, lacking the resources and political clout to resist “urban renewal,” were displaced by freeways. A 2021 Los Angeles Times investigation found that during construction of the US Interstate Highway System from the 1950s to the early 1990s, “more than 1 million people were forced from their homes, with many Black neighborhoods bulldozed and replaced with ribbons of asphalt and concrete.” (Read the rest of the opinion column).