A 2025 Nature study by researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology explores the scope of plastics. It finds over 4,200 “chemicals of concern” that could be toxic to the aquatic environment or human health out of 16,325 unique chemicals that are present in plastics.

The detached single-family home on a spacious suburban lot has long symbolized American prosperity. But as development sprawls further outward—consuming farmlands, wetlands, and forests—environmental costs climb: Low-density, car-centric housing developments are a key driver of carbon emissions, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

A recent study led by researchers at Macquarie University in Australia has raised concerns about the widespread use of chlorothalonil, a commonly applied fungicide, and its potential to harm insect populations.