The New Lede

Red Hill in Boulder County, Colorado, is known for its rich biodiversity. Now, hundreds of acres could soon be targeted for drone spraying of a chemical herbicide that has raised a host of concerns. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/real...

A new TCU study estimates the EPA’s latest reports capture just 44% of the average concentration of 25 #PFAS chemicals in US drinking water, meaning actual levels could be more than double what regulators report. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/epa-...

A new lawsuit alleges that U.S. regulators are illegally withholding records related to the disbandment of a panel set up to address factory farm pollution. Brian Bienkowski reports via @thenewlede.bsky.social: buff.ly/ggi3CUb

A Colorado community is pushing back against a plan to spray weed killer using drones. “There are a lot of people in our community who are really livid about it,” said Azuraye Wycoff, owner of Yellow Barn Farm. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/real...

NEW: US drinking water could contain double the #PFAS levels currently reported by regulators, according to a study from Texas Christian University. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/epa-...

MAHA Leader: “This has been a terrible EPA.” Watch TNL’s full conversation with Kelly Ryerson about the Trump administration’s long list of broken promises. ⤵️ www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/watc...

MAHA Leader: “It seems [President Trump] has surrounded himself with a literal swamp that he said he was going to drain.” Watch TNL’s full conversation with Kelly Ryerson about the Trump administration’s long list of broken promises. ⤵️ www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/watc...

Maryland is spending millions in taxpayer dollars on technology designed to protect people and water from animal manure pollution, but has wasted money on fruitless projects and shown little evidence the investments work, according to a @foeus.bsky.social report. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/mary...

WATCH: From a new report revealing atrazine pollutes over a quarter of US river miles to sparking clashes between state and federal regulators, here’s a recap of the latest news on the second most used weedkiller in the US.

WATCH: TNL Editor-in-Chief @careygillam.bsky.social presented research on pesticide regulation and farm chemical impacts to the group the Iowa group Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors in a recent webinar titled Cancer, CAFOS and Corporations. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/watc...

Di(isononyl) cyclohexane-1,2-dicarboxylate (DINCH) was originally introduced by plastic manufacturers to replace harmful plastic additives called phthalates. Now, a new @nyulangone.bsky.social study links prenatal exposure to the chemical to lower birth weights. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/plas...

“Forever chemicals” pollute more than 80% of tested US waterways, according to a new study. “The report underscores what is really a much bigger problem than what most people realize,” Tony Spaniola of the Great Lakes #PFAS Action Network said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/pfas...

Opinion: Western wildlands are being needlessly poisoned. Read the full column by G. Robert Brakenridge and Timothy Seastedt. ⤵️ www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/the-...

Opinion: "We along Colorado’s Front Range have been wrestling with our own onslaught, including from the skies, as Colorado officials look to drones to spray the chemicals on public lands," writes G. Robert Brakenridge and Timothy Seastedt. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/the-...

Prenatal exposure to a plasticizer introduced to replace harmful plastic additives is linked to lower birth weights, according to a study led by @nyulangone.bsky.social. For every 10-fold increase in DINCH exposure, newborn birth weight decreased by 27 grams. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/plas...

NEW: If you swam, fished or paddled a lake or river in the US over the past couple of years, there’s a more than 80% chance the water contained toxic “forever chemicals,” says a report from the Environment America Research & Policy Center. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/pfas...

WATCH: TNL's @careygillam.bsky.social joined The Healthy Project Podcast with @coreydionlewis.bsky.social to discuss her recent investigation, which revealed internal documents showing Syngenta withheld important data about the weed killer paraquat from the EPA. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/watc...

As the EPA shrugs, California designates the weed killer atrazine as a cancer risk. “California is rightfully keeping up with the latest scientific evidence linking atrazine to cancer in people,” Nathan Donley of @biologicaldiversity.org said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/as-e...

A new lawsuit seeks answers on the EPA’s abandoned CAFO pollution panel. “We received zero communication explaining what inactive meant or how the agency justified abandoning this process,” Tarah Heinzen of @foodandwater.bsky.social said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/cafo...

“This study adds human data to a growing body of scientific evidence that neonicotinoid insecticides may adversely impact male reproductive health,” said John Meeker, a professor of environmental health sciences at @umich.edu. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/stud...

The EPA is illegally withholding records related to the disbanding of a panel set up by the Biden administration to address water pollution from factory farms, according to a @foodandwater.bsky.social lawsuit filed last week. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/cafo...

A worthless plan: “We found that there were only about 120 watersheds out of over 11,000 that would actually see a reduction in atrazine below … the level EPA has identified would harm aquatic ecosystems,” Nathan Donley of @biologicaldiversity.org said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/epa-...

An EPA plan to reduce the amount of atrazine running off into US rivers, lakes and streams would leave 99% of watersheds contaminated at levels that exceed the agency’s threshold for harm to plants and fish, according to a new @biologicaldiversity.org study.

The EPA’s decision to allow our food to be sprayed with pesticides right before harvest is “outrageous and completely out of line with good science and basic common sense,” Nathan Donley of @biologicaldiversity.org said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/peti...

The EPA and HHS should take a series of actions to address the “serious threat to human and environmental health” posed by existing policies around pesticide residues, a new petition from the @biologicaldiversity.org says. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/peti...

NEW: California illegally spurred a “gold rush in cow manure,” a lawsuit from @foodandwater.bsky.social, @animallegaldefense.bsky.social, @cfstruefood.bsky.social, and the “Defensores” alleges. www.thenewlede.org/2026/10/carb...

WATCH: Farm Bill politics and Iowa’s cancer and pollution crisis Adam Shriver of Farm Action Fund and the host of the Canary in a Cornfield podcast talks to TNL managing editor Brian Bienkowski. ⤵️ www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/watc...

"I don’t want my kids eating strawberries contaminated with chemicals that will stay in their bodies for decades, and I’m thankful @gavinnewsom.bsky.social agrees that families deserve to know what’s being sprayed on their food,” @votenickschultz.bsky.social said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/cali...

“We are arguing that, without any further treatment of this digestate, you have made the situation a lot worse than if you didn’t have the covered anaerobic digester,” @ncstate.bsky.social Professor Viney Aneja said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/manu...

Revealed: Chemical giant Syngenta hid how quickly the weedkiller paraquat could permeate clothing, be absorbed through an applicator’s skin and enter the bloodstream, as well as information demonstrating dire risks to the brain. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/syng...

“EPA’s true goal is to exclude all peer-reviewed studies so they can continue to rely entirely on the registrants and their contract labs, where there has been widespread falsification of data, outright fraud,” @cfstruefood.bsky.social's Bill Freese said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/epa-...

NEW: A pesticide linked to cancer and hormone disruption is polluting a quarter of US river miles. “It’s just an astounding level of contamination from just one pesticide,” Nathan Donley of @biologicaldiversity.org said. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/atra...

A cancer-linked pesticide banned in more than 60 countries around the world contaminates an estimated 25% of river and stream miles in the lower 48 US states, including many waterways used for drinking water, according to a new @biologicaldiversity.org analysis. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/atra...

Revealed: Internal Syngenta emails from 2007 show that sprayers of the weedkiller paraquat had exposure levels that vastly exceeded “acceptable operator exposure levels” (AOEL). “This is bad news whichever way you look at it,” a Syngenta scientist wrote. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/syng...

New study: Ammonia emissions, which can harm a person’s ability to breathe, are more than three times higher when emitted from manure that has been through a digester compared to manure that is directed into storage lagoons or sprayed on fields. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/manu...

The EPA announced it is joining HHS in an interagency memorandum of understanding to “strengthen scientific coordination” and “expand the evidence” for the EPA’s ongoing registration review of the weedkiller glyphosate. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/epa-...

Syngenta's secrets uncovered: A 1988 analysis of paraquat absorption in the urine and blood of people spraying the pesticide over three days found “an unexpected number” of positive urine tests. A number of workers had paraquat in their plasma as well. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/syng...

Revealed: Syngenta hid data showing that its Gramoxone paraquat product “almost immediately” penetrated cotton and other clothing materials, including untreated Tyvek commonly used in protective apparel. www.thenewlede.org/2026/09/syng...