Feature Channels: Environmental Health

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Beneficial bacteria in reused poultry litter can reduce Salmonella levels

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A new study from the University of Georgia has shown that exposure to a now-banned flame retardant can alter the genetic code in sperm, leading to major health defects in children of exposed parents.

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An international team of researchers led by McMaster University has found that while higher heat and humidity can slow the spread of COVID-19, longer hours of sunlight are associated with a higher incidence of the disease, in a sign that sunny days can tempt more people out even if this means a higher risk of infection.

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With a one-year National Science Foundation grant, David Ray and Diana Moreno Santillán are investigating how bats adapted to the virus.

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Research found that pet ownership improves health in some instances, but increases risk in others.

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The American Thoracic Society is extremely concerned with today’s announcement about changes in how the EPA evaluates the costs and benefits of environmental policy. While the details of economic analysis of environmental regulations are complex, the guiding principle is remarkably simple: compare all the costs and benefits of agency actions. The proposed changes in how costs and benefits are evaluated will sufficiently degrade the credibility of economic analysis conducted at the EPA to the point that it is no longer able to function as an objective policy analysis tool.

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The Society for Risk Analysis (SRA), the world’s leading authority on risk sciences and its applications, is hosting a webinar on Thursday, June 11 at 11 a.m. ET to discuss the latest research on aerosol transmission of COVID-19.

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The June 4, 2020, issue of the weekly Johns Hopkins Medicine research newsletter on topics NOT related to COVID19. Stories this week: study shows pollutant may be more hazardous than previously thought; psilocybin tampers the brain's ego center; and getting urban youth to wear bike helmets.

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The Chapman University National COVID-19 and Mental Health Survey provides an in-depth look at the experiences of 4,149 adults living in the United States.

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Researchers report that the Asian tiger mosquito, Aedes albopictus, has become more abundant across Illinois in the past three decades. Its spread is problematic, as the mosquito can transmit diseases - like chikungunya or dengue fever - to humans.

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Shifting continental plates in Eastern Africa has the potential to release significant amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, according to new research by an international team of scientists including the University of Alberta’s Claire Currie, a professor in the Department of Physics.

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Detecting the presence of harmful manmade chemicals known PFAS in water and samples may soon be possible using a portable field device.

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Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure may cause menopause to occur two years earlier in women, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

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Researchers investigate ‘PCB-like’ chemicals made by Mother Nature

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Employers across the UK could face legal action from employees who return to work and contract the COVID-19 virus, a leading health and safety expert has warned.

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Man’s best friend may also be man’s best bet for figuring out how environmental chemicals could impact our health.

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June 1 is the start of hurricane season in the Atlantic, with flooding often the most damaging effect of tropical storms. Now, in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, researchers study water quality impacts of two recent hurricanes in North Carolina and suggest interventions to protect susceptible areas.

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Researchers took a novel approach to tracking the virus that causes COVID-19 that promises to be cost effective and ensure privacy by using a method that surveils for the virus in a local's untreated wastewater facilities.

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Preventing airborne transmission of Covid-19 should be the next front of the battle against the virus, argue experts from the University of Surrey.

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The Notre Dame study showed that students reported increased mindfulness towards the environment after performing ecological attachment tasks like contemplating nature, or practicing environmental preservation tasks like recycling and limiting electricity usage.

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WASHINGTON, DC (May 27. 2020) – The George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH) today announced a new grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to study the impact of COVID-19 social distancing measures on the air quality in cities around the world. The project, which NASA announced earlier this month, will evaluate how air pollution has changed after schools and business shut down in order to contain the spread of the virus.

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Concerns about environmental and health risks of some fluorinated carbon compounds have prompted manufacturers to develop substitutes, but these replacements are increasingly coming under fire themselves. Scientists have been studying how widely these chemicals have contaminated the environment.

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The commercialization of a Cornell-created antimicrobial coating technology that keeps surfaces clean by extending the life of chlorine-based disinfectants – by days and even weeks – is being fast-tracked to determine how well it can combat COVID-19.

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• In an analysis of blood and urine samples from 46,748 US adults, elevated levels of 7 environmental chemicals were associated with markers of kidney disease.

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Using exhaust gas measurements taken from the roadside, a team from the University of York and Empa was able to prove the "Dieselgate" scandal has led to positive results. The forced retrofitting of thousands of VW diesel engines saves the environment throughout Europe considerable amounts of Nitrogen oxide (NOx).

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Until recently, researchers have not inspected the interplay between three common chemicals found in drinking water. Research from the McKelvey School of Engineering at Washington University in St. Louis has found they all affect each other and a closer look is needed.

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Salt Lake County, Utah’s air pollution is at times the worst in the United States. Underserved neighborhoods—and their schools—experience the highest concentrations. A new study utilized nearly 200 PM 2.5 sensors through the Air Quality and U network and revealed persistent social inequalities in Salt Lake County schools.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in remote work on an unprecedented scale. Elizabeth Lyons, an assistant professor of management at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy, predicts this sudden transition to virtual will create a "new normal" in the world of work.

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The Environmental Protection Agency’s Safer Choice program approved eight cleaning product ingredients submitted by the American Cleaning Institute (ACI) for inclusion in its Safer Chemical Ingredients List (SCIL). The decision marks the first time Safer Choice has approved a SCIL submission by a non-manufacturer.

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Plastic is indispensable to us, especially for protecting our health, which is why globally we have been facing huge challenges to reduce plastic waste while maintaining our existing lifestyles.

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As society prepares to reopen indoor spaces and ease back into some sense of normalcy during the COVID-19 pandemic, a team of researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory is launching a study of the risk of airborne transmission of viruses within buildings and how to mitigate those risks.

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Elevated blood levels of toxic chemicals found in pesticides, nonstick cookware, and fire retardants have been tied to an increased risk for celiac disease in young people, new research shows.

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Levels of two major air pollutants have been drastically reduced since lockdowns began in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, but a secondary pollutant - ground-level ozone - has increased in China, according to new research.

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Newswise Live Expert Panel for May 7, 2020: Food Security, Supply Chains, Meat Shortages

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Scientists have identified a new mechanism for the breakdown of the building blocks of cell membranes. The mechanism is based on autoxidation from the interaction of oxygen and hydroxyl free radicals and the subsequent chain reaction between hydroxyl radicals and the Criegee intermediates that form from atmospheric ozone.

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Similar to how a smoke detector sounds off an alarm, certain genes sense when a virus enters the body, alerting of an intruder and triggering an immune response in most mammals.

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The combination of higher exposure to air pollution and pre-existing health disparities is contributing to higher mortality among minority populations during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to experts at Cincinnati Children's.

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Alex Perkins and Kyle Bibby are looking at short-term forecasts of potential infection and are monitoring spread of the coronavirus in wastewater.

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The latest data modeling projections by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health scientists estimate that, nationally, new COVID-19 cases and deaths will rebound in late May, as states ease stay-at-home orders and social contacts increase. By June 1, one projection scenario gives median estimates of 43,353 cases per day and 1,841 deaths per day in the United States. A second scenario with a greater progressive loosening of restrictions projects median estimates of 63,330 cases per day and 2,443 deaths per day by June 1.

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Environmental biologists at the University of Stirling have warned that the potential spread of COVID-19 via sewage "must not be neglected" in the battle to protect human health.

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Using ORNL’s now-decommissioned Titan supercomputer, a team of researchers estimated the combined consequences of many different extreme climate events at the county level, a unique approach that provided unprecedented regional and national climate projections that identified the areas most likely to face climate-related challenges.

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Research from the University of Sheffield and the University of Bath has discovered how a common pathogen is able to infect both cattle and humans

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The amount of farmland around the world that will need to be irrigated in order to feed an estimated global population of 9 billion people by 2050 could be up to several billion acres, far higher than scientists currently project, according to new research.

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Will our clean air last after COVID-19? UCLA study says it’s possible. Achieving net-zero emissions in California by 2050 can prevent thousands of deaths annually — in every community — researchers say

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University of Washington researchers have discovered that the abundance of tiny microplastic contaminants in Pacific oysters from the Salish Sea is much lower than previously thought.

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A new study shows that achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement will require a deep reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions, ideally by around 40% to 50% by 2030.