If passed, the law would make California the first state to protect pregnant consumers from toxic lead in daily supplements

• A California Assembly committee just advanced a first-of-its-kind bill to ban lead in prenatal vitamins sold in the state.

• A recent study found 90% of tested prenatal vitamins contained lead, which can harm a babys development.

• The proposed law would require manufacturers to meet the strictest lead limits starting in 2027.
  

California is one step closer to becoming the first state in the U.S. to ban prenatal vitamins that contain leada toxic metal known to harm developing babies.

A bill recently advanced by the California Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee would prohibit the sale of prenatal supplements containing more than 0.5 micrograms of lead per daily serving.

That threshold aligns with the strictest public health recommendations and is aimed at protecting pregnant people and their babies from unnecessary exposure to a dangerous contaminant.

Any exposure to lead during pregnancy is dangerous there is no safe level, Susan Little, the Environmental Working Groups (EWGs) California legislative director said in a news release.

Even trace amounts can interfere with a babys brain development, raising the risk of lifelong health and learning problems. Its unacceptable that pregnant people are unknowingly exposed to toxic metals in the very supplements they take to protect their health.

Lead in vitamins? It's more common than you think

While lead in vitamins might sound surprising, a recent study by the EWG and Unleaded Kids found that more than 9 out of 10 prenatal vitamins tested contained detectable levels of lead. Some even exceeded Californias maximum allowable dose level, which is set to warn consumers of reproductive harm under Proposition 65.

Prenatal vitamins are typically taken daily for months or even years. Even low levels of lead exposure over time can be dangerous, especially during pregnancy.

Lead has been linked to a range of developmental issues in children, including learning difficulties, lower IQ, and behavioral problems. And because lead can cross the placenta, babies are exposed in the womblong before their first breath.

What's in the billand why it matters

If passed, the new California law would require all prenatal vitamins sold in the state to meet the 0.5 microgram-per-day lead limit by January 1, 2027. This includes products sold both online and in stores. Manufacturers would be prohibited from selling non-compliant products or even advertising them to California consumers.

Unlike prescription drugs, dietary supplements in the U.S. are not tightly regulated by the FDA before they hit the market. That leaves consumers largely in the dark about whats actually in the vitamins they rely on.

Pregnant people have a right to know exactly what theyre putting in their bodies, Bernadette Del Chiaro, EWGs senior vice president for California, said in the news release.

SB 646 brings long-overdue transparency to the supplement industry and puts California once again at the forefront of protecting maternal and infant health.

Whats next

The bill still needs to be approved by other legislative committees and both chambers of Californias legislature before it can be signed into law. If successful, it could set a national precedentand spark broader efforts to clean up the supplement industry.

In the meantime, experts advise consumers to research brands carefully and look for independent testing results when choosing prenatal vitamins.

Severe weather and rising costs blamed for the increase

By Truman Lewis of ConsumerAffairs

• Illinois homeowners face an average 27% premium spike as State Farm cites severe weather and rising costs.

• Governor Pritzker blasts the hike as unfair, alleging out-of-state losses are being shifted onto Illinois policyholders.

• State Farm insists Illinois premiums reflect only in-state risk, as extreme storms increasingly hammer the Midwest.

You might think that storm-ravaged states like Texas, Florida and California would be hit with the biggest insurance rate hikes. But State Farm is rolling out steep insurance premium hikes for Illinois homeowners, igniting a political and consumer backlash over rising costs and accusations of unfair pricing practices.

The Illinois-based insurer said it will raise homeowners insurance rates in the state by an average of 27%, citing a surge in severe weather events and escalating costs to rebuild homes.

The rate increase will take effect July 15 for new customers and August 15 for renewals. Alongside higher premiums, State Farm will now require homeowners to carry at least a 1% wind and hail deductible. Customers who dont select this option will automatically be billed at that level.

Hail damage second only to Texas

State Farm said in filings with the Illinois Department of Insurance (IDOI) that Illinois ranks second only to Texas in hail damage, driving substantial catastrophe losses.

Over the past 15 years, the insurer said Illinois catastrophe losses exceeded its annual catastrophe provision in 13 years, signaling persistent underwriting pressure. In 2024, State Farm said it paid out $1.26 in claims for every $1 it collected in premiums from Illinois homeowners, blaming rising costs of labor and building materials for worsening results.

The cost of covering Illinois homeowners losses is exceeding the premiums were earning an indication we need to adjust prices, the company said in a statement.

The rate hike has provoked fierce criticism from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, who labeled State Farms increases unfair and arbitrary. Pritzker claimed the insurers catastrophe loss calculations are inconsistent with the IDOIs own analysis and accused State Farm of passing along out-of-state losses to Illinois consumers.

Hard-working Illinoisans should not be paying more to protect beach houses in Florida, Pritzker said, calling on state lawmakers to pursue legislation during the upcoming veto session to curb what he termed severe and unnecessary rate hikes.

State Farm pushed back, maintaining that its Illinois premiums reflect only Illinois-specific risk, not losses from wildfires, hurricanes, or earthquakes elsewhere. The insurer reported $1.9 billion in direct premium earned and $1.77 billion in direct losses in Illinois last year, producing a 93.3% direct loss ratio well above its closest competitors. State Farm insures roughly one-third of Illinois homeowners.

IDOI, meanwhile, expressed concern over State Farms rate filing, saying it has repeatedly requested more details to verify whether the companys proposed hikes are based purely on Illinois experience. They have repeatedly refused to provide the requested information, the agency said.

Central U.S. is being hard-hit

State Farms move reflects a broader trend of severe convective storms battering the central U.S., causing billions of dollars in damage even if such events dont generate national headlines like hurricanes. Meteorologists warn that warming weather patterns are contributing to more intense storms outside traditional tornado seasons.

The Illinois hike is not an isolated move for State Farm. Earlier this year, the insurer secured approval for a 17% homeowners rate increase in California following devastating Los Angeles wildfires and later sought to raise that request to 30%. Nationally, State Farm reported a $3.5 billion underwriting loss in its homeowners and commercial multiple perils business for 2024.

The neighborhood gossip site is hoping to fill the news holes around the country

• More than 3,200 U.S. newspapers have folded in 20 years, creating news deserts and fueling misinformation.

• Big Tech platforms disrupted ad revenue and control how news is seen online, leaving local outlets vulnerable.

• Nextdoor partners with over 3,500 local publishers, hoping to drive traffic and engagement through local headlines.

Local news in America is in crisis. Over the past two decades, more than 3,200 print newspapers have shuttered, leaving millions of Americans living in so-called news deserts without reliable local coverage.

One in six U.S. residents now has limited or no access to local journalism, a void that researchers say leads to lower voter turnout, heightened polarization, increased government spending, and the spread of health misinformation.

The situation could get worse if the Trump administration succeeds in cutting off funding to National Public Radio (NPR), whose local stations are among the few or only remaining local news outlets in many smaller cities.

The collapse of local journalism has been hastened by technology giants like Google and Meta, whose dominance of the digital advertising market has siphoned away the revenue that once sustained newsrooms. Readers, meanwhile, have increasingly turned to "aggregators" like Google News or Apple News instead of subscribing directly to news outlets. They don't originate news coverage and usually don't have anything to contribute locally.

Social platforms such as Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) have also made it harder for publishers to reach audiences by deprioritizing news content in user feeds.

Artificial intelligence (AI) may soon make matters worse if it can vacuum up enough local information from other sources to repackage for consumers wondering what's going on in their town.

A different path

Amid the turmoil, Nextdoor Holdings Inc. the neighborhood-focused social network is pursuing a different path. Unlike other tech platforms that prioritize keeping users within their walled gardens, Nextdoor announced on Tuesday a partnership with more than 3,500 local publishers.

Nextdoor aims to distribute local news headlines directly within its app, which boasts 46 million weekly users. A carousel of local stories now greets users as soon as they open Nextdoor.

Were sending traffic out versus keeping everything inside the walled garden, Nextdoor CEO Nirav Tolia said. While acknowledging that this approach might not always deliver the smoothest user experience particularly when readers encounter paywalls Tolia maintained that supporting local publishers is part of Nextdoors broader mission.

Though publishers arent paid to share content on the platform, some are seeing benefits. One local publisher said he was seeing traffic bumps of up to 12 percent thanks to Nextdoors referrals.

For local news outlets already on the brink, any new distribution channel is a welcome lifeline. But as publishers know all too well, tech platforms can change course overnight, leaving traffic and livelihoods hanging in the balance.

The surprising report offers a hopeful outlook for future consumer prices

By Mark Huffman of ConsumerAffairs

• The Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand was flat in June, following a 0.3% rise in May and a 0.3% drop in April.
  

• A 0.3% increase in goods prices offset a 0.1% decrease in services prices for the month.
  

• The core PPI (excluding food, energy, and trade services) remained unchanged in June but rose 2.5% year-over-year.
  

Tuesdays release of the Consumer Price Index showed a one-month 0.3% increase in the prices consumers paid in June. But Wednesdays release of the Producer Price Index was something of a surprise, showing inflation largely disappeared at the wholesale level last month.

Thats significant for consumers because it suggests there is little pressure to push consumer prices up in the near future, despite concerns about tariffs.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today that wholesale inflation, as measured by the Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand, was unchanged in June on a seasonally adjusted basis. The reading follows a 0.3% increase in May and a 0.3% decline in April, pointing to a cooling yet uneven inflationary trend in the producer market.

Over the past 12 months, the PPI rose 2.3%, a moderate increase that may offer the Federal Reserve some reassurance as it gauges future interest rate policy.

Goods offset weakness in services

The flat monthly PPI reading in June masks underlying movement in its two primary components: goods and services. Prices for final demand goods climbed 0.3% in June, the sharpest gain since February, led by a 0.3% rise in core goods, excluding food and energy. Energy and food prices also ticked upward by 0.6% and 0.2%, respectively.

Some price increases included:

• Communication and related equipment: up 0.8%
  

• Gasoline and electric power: higher
  

• Poultry and meat products: slightly higher
  

However, some categories saw steep declines. The price of eggs plunged by 21.8%, and materials such as natural gas liquids and thermoplastic resins also dropped.

On the services side, the index declined by 0.1%, a reversal from Mays 0.4% gain. The decline was primarily due to:

• A 4.1% decrease in traveler accommodation services

• Lower prices in automobile retailing, deposit services, airfare, and food and alcohol wholesaling

Economic outlook

The PPI report adds to a growing body of evidence that inflationary pressures at the wholesale level are stabilizing. With services pricing showing some signs of softness and goods prices rebounding modestly, analysts say the Federal Reserve is likely to maintain a cautious stance in its policy decisions.

While data in the PPI are encouraging, its retail prices that will affect consumers. Economists will now turn their attention to the CPI and other macroeconomic data for further clues on the direction of inflation and interest rates in the second half of the year.