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The death toll from a bitter cold spell in New York City climbed to 18 on Sunday, as many New Yorkers hunkered down at home while others braved the outdoors despite dangerously low wind chills. The most recent fatality was a person found around 9 a.m. Saturday near East Gun Hill Road and Seymour Avenue in the Bronx, a City Hall official said. (Southall and Rashbaum, 2/8)

California state health authorities are warning people to stop foraging wild mushrooms as the death toll from a poisoning outbreak increased to four and as more than three dozen people have been sickened since November. Typically, there are five or fewer mushroom poisoning cases in California each year, according to the state’s public health department. In the most recent outbreak, people between 19 months and 67 years old have been sickened after eating death cap mushrooms, which can resemble mushrooms found in grocery stores. (Holpuch, 2/8)

Residents and advocates gathered Saturday to demand the ban of a chemical that’s used at a Torrance oil refinery and that they say has the potential to cause a mass casualty disaster. Hydrofluoric acid is used in about 40 gasoline refineries across the United States, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. The defense council states that “exposing as little as 1% of a person’s skin to HF (about the size of one’s hand) can lead to death. When inhaled, HF can fatally damage lungs, disrupt heart rhythms, and cause other serious health effects.” (Mendez, 2/7)

North Carolina’s struggle with PFAS contamination underscores the unintended consequences that can follow widespread chemical use — even as Congress is considering overhauling the nation’s foremost chemical safety law. (Atwater, 2/9)

Repairs on a pipe rupture that has sent sewage flowing into the Potomac River northwest of Washington, D.C., will take weeks more to repair because of an unexpected blockage, according to the local water authority. In a release posted on its website Thursday, DC Water, which operates the sewer system, said a video inspection of the pipeline revealed the blockage inside the collapsed sewer line “is far more significant” than originally thought. It said it discovered a large rock dam about 30 feet (9 meters) from the breach in the sewage line, which requires treatment before the current spill can be addressed. (Fields, 2/6)

University of Iowa researchers said they have completed preliminary modeling for breast and prostate cancers, and are about a fourth of the way through a two-year project seeking to shed some light on why Iowa has some of the high cancer rates in the country. (Krebs, 2/5)

Gov. Wes Moore (D), who calls quantum computing a “lighthouse industry” for Maryland, has secured more than $1 billion in funding to help create a local industry hub. (Shepherd and Good, 2/8)

A man in his late 30s says he’s finally ready to speak the words out loud: “I have a gambling problem.” He dials the number for the help line he has seen advertised during countless games. A protective sister calls to find out who is on the other end of the line. Satisfied, she plans to pass the number to her brother, a prolific sports bettor. “It can take over people’s lives,” she tells the sympathetic operator. (Rao, 2/8)

A trial focused on the dangers of child sexual exploitation on social media and whether Meta misrepresented the safety of its platforms is set to start in New Mexico with opening statements Monday. It’s the first stand-alone trial from state prosecutors in a stream of lawsuits against major social media companies, including Meta, over harm to children, and one that is likely to highlight explicit online content and its effects. (Lee, 2/9)

The world’s biggest social media companies face several landmark trials this year that seek to hold them responsible for harms to children who use their platforms. Opening arguments for the first, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, begin this week. Instagram’s parent company Meta and Google’s YouTube will face claims that their platforms deliberately addict and harm children. TikTok and Snap, which were originally named in the lawsuit, settled for undisclosed sums. (Huamani and Ortutay, 2/9)