Microplastics in Bottled Water At Least 10 Times Worse Than Once Thought

Pure, natural spring water, just as nature intended. Well, not exactly. Bottled water has long been marketed as a safer alternative to what comes out of the tap—if it doesn’t come straight from a mountain spring, it’s at least purified and chemical free. But a new study by scientists at Columbia University and Rutgers University … Read more

13 Ways the World Got Better in 2023

As in most years, much of the media focus in 2023 was on the myriad crises people all over the world faced, from horrific wars in Eastern Europe and the Middle East to devastating natural disasters (many climate-change-related) in Turkey, Southeast Africa, Hawaii, Canada, and more. At the end of this long year, though, it’s … Read more

There’s Almost No Research on the Health Impact of Plastic Chemicals in the Global South

This story was produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s Ocean Reporting Network. Some 13,000 chemicals are associated with plastic production, of which only 7,000 or so have been investigated for their health and environmental impacts. Nearly half of those studied have elements deemed hazardous to human health, but the research—spanning 50 years, multiple languages, … Read more