Feature Channels: Environmental Health

• share
• favorite_border

Wayne State University has received a five-year, approximately $11.3 million award from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) of the National Institutes of Health to create a new Superfund Research Program, the “Center for Leadership in Environmental Awareness and Research (CLEAR).” The Center will be dedicated to understanding and mitigating adverse birth outcomes and serious developmental health problems that have been associated with urban environmental exposure to volatile organic chemcials (VOCs), a special class of pollutant found in the subsurface of post-industrial cities like Detroit.

• share
• favorite_border

RICHLAND, Wash.—The dangers of inhaling smoke are well established. Many people do their best to avoid breathing it in. But what about when the smoke comes to you?As wildfires burn in record numbers, their smoke can infiltrate homes, creeping through cracks and imperfect seals to find its way into our fragile lungs. That’s why buildings scientist Chrissi Antonopoulos, from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, is sharing the most up-to-date advice on how to protect you and your family from wildfire smoke when indoors.

• share
• favorite_border

The latest research and expert commentary on pain management.

• share
• favorite_border

A new study has revealed that exposure to pollutants from petroleum refineries has a strong link to stroke rates across the Southern United States.

• share
• favorite_border

Elevated levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were associated with higher total cholesterol and non-HDL cholesterol in GenX Exposure Study participants’ blood. The effects were more pronounced in older people.

• share
• favorite_border

A pioneering scheme to help reduce illegal waste dumping and increase plastic recycling in South Africa has begun, under the guidance of experts from the University of Portsmouth.

• share
• favorite_border

The latest research on plants brought to you by Newswise.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

IIASA researchers actively contribute to the development of citizen science and have recently published a primer aimed at both established and aspiring practitioners of this approach to highlight key issues and how to address them.

• share
• favorite_border

RUDN ecologists with colleagues from Ecole Nationale Supérieure Agronomique (Algeria) and France compared several systems of land cultivation in terms of the harmful effects of pesticides on human health. The authors named which methods are the safest and which harm a person the most.

• share
• favorite_border

Urban gardeners can reduce lead contamination in foods like lettuce by following some gardening best practices

• share
• favorite_border

Taking research to the next step, a new study shows that Roundup® weed killer may have new dangers

• share
• favorite_border

Nanoplastics often find their way into the soil and water. But they can also float in the air. Now, researchers have developed a sensor that detects airborne nanoplastics and reports their type of plastic and sizes using carbon dot films. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2022.

• share
• favorite_border

The latest research and expert commentary on the monkeypox outbreak.

• share
• favorite_border

The hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants in air conditioners and other cooling devices are potent greenhouse gases. Today, scientists report a prototype that uses a novel solid barocaloric material. It could someday replace existing “A/Cs”. They will present their results at ACS Fall 2022.

• share
• favorite_border

The impact of environmental conditions on the dynamic structures of RNAs in living cells has been revealed by innovative technology developed by researchers at the John Innes Centre.

• share
• favorite_border

In the face of climate change, breadfruit soon might come to a dinner plate near you. While researchers predict that climate change will have an adverse effect on most staple crops, including rice, corn and soybeans, a new Northwestern University study finds that breadfruit — a starchy tree fruit native to the Pacific islands — will be relatively unaffected.

• share
• favorite_border

Consuming methylmercury-contaminated fish poses a hazard to human health. New research published in Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry may help environmental resource management officials predict which regions are likely to have fish with high concentrations of this toxin, without the need for extensive testing.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

Seafaring drones on Lake Superior will soon allow a team of Cornell University scientists to examine fresh details about the abundance and distribution of forage fish – species, such as zooplankton and shrimp, which provide nourishment for sportier marine species higher on the food chain.

• share
• favorite_border

Researchers from the Gulf Long-term Follow-up Study (GuLF STUDY) found that workers involved in cleaning up the nation’s largest oil spill were 60% more likely than those who did not work on the cleanup to be diagnosed with asthma or experience asthma symptoms one to three years after the spill.

• share
• favorite_border

Notre Dame researchers sought to investigate whether and to what degree early childhood educational outcomes are affected by childhood lead exposure and whether racial residential segregation has a compounding effect.

• share
• favorite_border

Berkeley Lab scientists first identified thirdhand smoke as a potential health hazard a decade ago. Their newest study shows that concentrations of toxic chemicals lingering in indoor environments where cigarettes have been smoked can exceed safety guidelines, meaning that non-smokers can be exposed to health risks by living in contaminated spaces.

• share
• favorite_border

Could the design of a hospital or a school affect the germs that can spread within it? UNC Charlotte bioinformatics professor Anthony Fodor is part of a team seeking to find out. He is among the group of researchers undertaking an effort to better understand and improve the microbial communities of where people live, work and play.

• share
• favorite_border

ROCHESTER, Minn. — Mayo Clinic locations in Arizona, Florida and Rochester, and Mayo Clinic Health System locations in Eau Claire and La Crosse, Wisconsin, have been recognized for their sustainability initiatives by Practice Greenhealth. This national organization recognizes health care organizations committed to continuous improvement in sustainability practices and programs.

• share
• favorite_border

• share
• favorite_border

A UC San Diego-led program that monitors wastewater for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 and which has effectively predicted subsequent surges in COVID-19 cases in San Diego has been expanded to detect the presence of monkeypox.

• share
• favorite_border

Just when it seemed like we could sit back and breathe a sigh of relief from declining COVID-19 rates in Nevada, another virus started making headlines: Monkeypox. Local COVID cases have been on a downward trajectory for more than a month. But a wastewater surveillance program led by UNLV Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine professor and infectious disease expert Edwin Oh has started tracking monkeypox,making Southern Nevada among the first few metropolitan areas nationwide to begin searching the sewers for the emerging virus.

• share
• favorite_border

Dust from all over the world is landing in the Sierra Nevada mountains carrying microbes that are toxic to both plants and humans.

• share
• favorite_border

Health professionals could better communicate the health effects of climate change by using information that promotes action rather than confusion, according to a recent article by a University of Oregon researcher.

• share
• favorite_border

Below are some of the latest articles that have been added to the Food Science channel on Newswise, a free source for journalists.

• share
• favorite_border

A survey from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine (AASM) reveals that most Americans (69%) have lost sleep due to environmental worries. Notably, one-half of those aged 18-24 claim to always, almost always or often lose sleep compared to 10% of Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation.

• share
• favorite_border

From fecal bacteria to blue-green algae to red tides, Southwest Florida’s water quality has declined as its population has increased. Multiple lines of evidence from a multi-year microbial source tracking study points to septic systems as a contributing source for this decline. The study is one of few to connect downstream harmful algal blooms with nutrient loading from upstream septic systems. These water quality issues are caused by aging septic systems installed in high densities in areas with shallow water tables. Septic systems may actually be sitting in groundwater during certain times of the year, which means that they cannot function properly.

• share
• favorite_border

Um acúmulo de produtos químicos, poluentes, micróbios e partículas ambientais pode estar vivendo dentro de cada um de nós, adquiridos do ar que respiramos, dos alimentos que comemos, dos produtos que tocamos e da água que bebemos.

• share
• favorite_border

来自空气、食物、产品和水中的环境化学物质、污染物、微生物和微粒可能会蓄积在我们每个人的体内。这些有时有害的暴露物会与我们的基因发生相互作用，从而引发疾病。妙佑医疗国际个体化医学中心的研究人员正在研究终生环境暴露（称为暴露组），并评估对这些暴露产生的生物反应。

• share
• favorite_border

Dentro de cada uno de nosotros puede existir una acumulación de sustancias químicas y contaminantes del ambiente, de microbios y de partículas adquiridas del aire que respiramos, de los alimentos que comemos, de los productos que tocamos y del agua que bebemos.

• share
• favorite_border

As the United States and the world continue to battle COVID-19 and other zoonotic diseases, a group of scientists and experts from New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia will convene for a Regional One Health Consortium Conference at Rutgers University. Participants will consist of scientists who will share data and expertise on how to address a variety of topics and diseases affecting the health of humans, animals and the environment across the region, including ticks and tick-borne diseases, mosquitoes, rabies, and bird flu.