Feature Channels: Environmental Health

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31-Oct-2022 10:05 AM EDT
Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution May Increase Kidney Disease Risk
American Society of Nephrology (ASN)

Among adults with normal kidney function, exposure to higher concentrations of components of air pollution was linked with higher risks of later developing chronic kidney disease.

Newswise: Fire in the Amazon Is Associated More with Agricultural Burning and Deforestation Than with Drought
Released: 4-Nov-2022 3:35 PM EDT
Fire in the Amazon Is Associated More with Agricultural Burning and Deforestation Than with Drought
Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP)

A Brazilian study shows that the number of fires detected in the entire Amazon region between 2003 and 2020 was influenced more by uncontrolled human use of fire than by drought.

Released: 4-Nov-2022 1:40 PM EDT
Flint Water Crisis Affected Timing of Pediatric Lead Testing but Not Quantity, Study Finds
University of Kansas

The word “plumber” comes from the Latin word for the metal “lead.”

   
Released: 3-Nov-2022 5:00 PM EDT
Low-Cost Air Quality Sensors Deliver Insights on Environmental Injustice
University at Albany, State University of New York

Networks of low-cost air quality sensors are able to detect temporary peaks and “hot spots” in air pollution and could be a better tool for tracking short-term changes in air quality in communities than regulatory sensors. Monitoring fine-scale, real-time changes in air pollution could support efforts to protect public health.

   
Released: 3-Nov-2022 10:45 AM EDT
60% of home ‘compostable’ plastic doesn’t fully break down, ending up in our soil
Frontiers

In a UK-wide study, researchers found that 60% of home-compostable plastics do not fully disintegrate in home compost bins, and inevitably end up in our soil.

Newswise: UCLA Awarded a $21 Million Grant to Study the Health Impacts of the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak
Released: 2-Nov-2022 4:50 PM EDT
UCLA Awarded a $21 Million Grant to Study the Health Impacts of the Aliso Canyon Gas Leak
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

A team of UCLA researchers has been awarded $20,993,333 by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to conduct the Aliso Canyon Disaster Health Research Study.

   
Released: 2-Nov-2022 9:55 AM EDT
New 3D model shows how cadmium exposure may affect heart development
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Researchers have developed a three-dimensional model that shows how exposure to cadmium might lead to congenital heart disease.

   
27-Oct-2022 12:45 PM EDT
New Tool for Estimating People’s Total Exposure to Potentially Harmful Chemicals Is Developed
Mount Sinai Health System

A novel metric that estimates our “burden,” or cumulative exposure, to a family of thousands of synthetic chemicals that we encounter in everyday life with potentially adverse health impacts, has been created by a team of researchers at Mount Sinai.

Newswise: Chula Develops Model of Sustainable Food Waste Management
Released: 28-Oct-2022 8:55 AM EDT
Chula Develops Model of Sustainable Food Waste Management
Chulalongkorn University

Sustainability is possible everywhere, even in the food that we leave behind. Associate Professor Dr. Nuta Supakata, Deputy Program Director and lecturer of the Environmental Science Department, Faculty of Science, presented research findings from the “Nonthaburi Municipality or Nakhon Non Model of Sustainable Food Waste Management”.

Released: 27-Oct-2022 3:15 PM EDT
Study Shows Hazardous Herbicide Chemical Goes Airborne
Washington University in St. Louis

New research from the lab of Kimberly Parker at the McKelvey School of Engineering shows that amines, sometimes used as an additive in herbicides, can enter the atmosphere, where they pose risks for human health and alter the atmosphere.

   
21-Oct-2022 3:05 PM EDT
Does Traffic-Related Air Pollution Increase Risk of Dementia?
American Academy of Neurology (AAN)

Higher exposure to a certain type of traffic-related air pollution called particulate matter may be linked to an increased risk of dementia, according to a meta-analysis published in the October 26, 2022, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. Researchers specifically looked at fine particulate matter, PM2.5, which consists of pollutant particles of less than 2.5 microns in diameter suspended in air. The meta-analysis included all available studies on air pollution and risk of dementia.

Released: 26-Oct-2022 2:35 PM EDT
UCI Study Finds 53 Percent Jump in E-Waste Greenhouse Gas Emissions Between 2014, 2020
University of California, Irvine

Greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere from electronic devices and their associated electronic waste increased by 53 percent between 2014 and 2020, including 580 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 alone, according to University of California, Irvine researchers.

Released: 26-Oct-2022 1:00 PM EDT
International Scientists Says Earth Is ‘Unequivocally’ in Midst of Climate Emergency
Oregon State University

An international coalition of researchers says in a report published today that the Earth’s vital signs have worsened to the point that “humanity is unequivocally facing a climate emergency.”

Newswise: Vitamin D deficiency linked to premature death
Released: 26-Oct-2022 7:40 AM EDT
Vitamin D deficiency linked to premature death
University of South Australia

Now, new research from the University of South Australia gives strong evidence that vitamin D deficiency is associated with premature death, prompting calls for people to follow healthy vitamin D level guidelines.

Released: 25-Oct-2022 8:10 AM EDT
Environmental Exposures Key to Neurologic Disease
American Neurological Association (ANA)

The Presidential Symposium at the ongoing American Neurological Association 147th Annual Meeting outlined major risks to neurological health from environmental exposures to pesticides, air pollution, synthetic materials, and more — now emerging as a major research area in neuroscience.

   
18-Oct-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Physicians call on health care organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
American College of Physicians (ACP)

In a new commentary published in Annals of Internal Medicine, authors from Lahey Hospital and Medical Center, Beth Israel Lahey Health, Tufts University of School of Medicine and Case Western Reserve University offer strategies for healthcare organizations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and outline potential strategy tradeoffs to consider toward this goal. They say health care has a moral imperative to reduce its emissions and environmental footprint and force transformation across all other sectors it touches.

18-Oct-2022 2:05 PM EDT
ACP says policies needed to improve environmental health
American College of Physicians (ACP)

Environmental pollutants can seriously harm human health, says the American College of Physicians (ACP) in a new position paper published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine, Environmental Health: A Position Paper From the American College of Physicians.

Released: 24-Oct-2022 4:30 PM EDT
A New Approach, Not Currently Described by the Clean Air Act, Could Eliminate Air Pollution Disparities
University of Washington

A team led by researchers at the University of Washington compared three potential strategies for reducing fine particulate matter pollution disparities across the contiguous U.S.

Released: 24-Oct-2022 2:55 PM EDT
Unintended consequences: analyzing interventions on mercury use and emissions in artisanal gold mining
Ritsumeikan University

Mercury is a unique element that has found a myriad of scientific and practical applications throughout the centuries.

Newswise: Wendy Purcell Joins the Rutgers School of Public Health
Released: 24-Oct-2022 12:05 PM EDT
Wendy Purcell Joins the Rutgers School of Public Health
Rutgers School of Public Health

Wendy Purcell, PhD, FRSA, has joined the Rutgers School of Public Health as a professor in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health and Justice.

Released: 20-Oct-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Radon Exposure Significantly Affected by Behaviour and Socio-Economic Factors, Study Finds
University of Calgary

A new multi-disciplinary study including researchers at the University of Calgary shows that people who act quickly to test for and mitigate radon gas in their homes are at a much lower risk of developing lung cancer long-term.

Released: 20-Oct-2022 3:25 PM EDT
Leaks from gas stoves can create potentially hazardous indoor benzene concentrations
PSE Healthy Energy

The natural gas piped into millions of California homes for heating and cooking contains elevated levels of carcinogens and hazardous air pollutants, according to new research from the nonprofit energy science and policy research institute PSE Healthy Energy.

Released: 20-Oct-2022 8:05 AM EDT
Alligators Exposed to PFAS Show Autoimmune Effects
North Carolina State University

A recent study of alligators in the Cape Fear River found the animals had elevated levels of 14 different per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in their blood serum, as well as clinical and genetic indicators of immune system effects.

Newswise: UCLA-led study finds California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires
Released: 17-Oct-2022 10:05 AM EDT
UCLA-led study finds California’s greenhouse gas reductions could be wiped out by 2020 wildfires
UCLA Fielding School of Public Health

A new analysis led by researchers with the University of California has found the 2020 wildfires in the state, the most disastrous wildfire year on record, put twice as much greenhouse gas emissions into the Earth’s atmosphere as the total reduction in such pollutants in California between 2003-2019.

Newswise: Hair straightening chemicals associated with higher uterine cancer risk
Released: 17-Oct-2022 9:35 AM EDT
Hair straightening chemicals associated with higher uterine cancer risk
National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS)

Women who used chemical hair straightening products were at higher risk for uterine cancer compared to women who did not report using these products, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health. The researchers found no associations with uterine cancer for other hair products that the women reported using, including hair dyes, bleach, highlights, or perms.

Released: 17-Oct-2022 8:05 AM EDT
An Environmental Wake-Up Call for Neurology
American Neurological Association (ANA)

The Presidential Symposium at the American Neurological Association’s 2022 Annual Meeting (ANA2022) in Chicago will shine a spotlight on the role of environmental exposures — air pollution, pesticides, microplastics, and more — in diseases like dementias and developmental disorders.

   
Released: 14-Oct-2022 3:55 PM EDT
Cancer deaths in Italy: environmental pollution plays an important role
Universita di Bologna

Today, cancer represents the second leading cause of death in the world after cardiovascular diseases. In the last decades of cancer research, lifestyle - especially physical inactivity, poor diet, obesity, alcoholism, and smoking - and random or genetic factors have been identified as major causes in the development of tumors.

Released: 13-Oct-2022 1:05 PM EDT
Fast-food rubbish solution in sustainable seaweed-based wrapper
Flinders University

Flinders University materials researchers and pioneering German biomaterials developer one • fıve are using seaweed extracts to develop next-generation biopolymer coating materials that could solve packaging waste dilemmas for the fast-food industry.

   
Newswise: BGSU researcher helps create process to decompose plastic on demand
13-Oct-2022 8:30 AM EDT
BGSU researcher helps create process to decompose plastic on demand
Bowling Green State University

The plastic, made from a chemical found in the extract of a vanilla bean, degrades when exposed to a specific wavelength of light

Released: 13-Oct-2022 8:00 AM EDT
Dynamics and transformations of urban soils
American Society of Agronomy (ASA), Crop Science Society of America (CSSA), Soil Science Society of America (SSSA)

Symposium will present information that will inform decision makers to support safe urban food production, treatment of urban pollutants, protection of water resources, improvement of environmental health, and human well-being

Released: 12-Oct-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Assumptions about the lethality of air pollution in India may be exaggerated
University of Toronto

India has among the highest levels of air pollution in the world, and nearly every Indian lives in areas with fine particulate matter levels well above PM2.5 — the level considered safe by the World Health Organization (WHO).

   
Released: 12-Oct-2022 2:15 AM EDT
Making pharmacy more sustainable
University of the Basque Country

In the article published in the prestigious scientific journal Science, a group of international researchers, including Gorka Orive, Doctor of Pharmacy and researcher in the UPV/EHU’s NanoBioCel group, and Unax Lertxundi of the Bioaraba Institute for Health Research, have issued a warning about the increase in pharmaceutical contamination.

Newswise:Video Embedded allen-coral-atlas-at-asu-launches-improved-tool-to-uncover-reef-threats-and-support-conservation-measures
VIDEO
Released: 11-Oct-2022 6:40 PM EDT
Allen Coral Atlas at ASU launches improved tool to uncover reef threats and support conservation measures
Arizona State University (ASU)

The loss of coral reefs is a serious threat to the health of marine ecosystems around the world.

Released: 11-Oct-2022 6:05 PM EDT
Greener trucking would benefit disadvantaged Californians more than greener buildings
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., Oct. 11, 2022 – As Californians work toward a publicly stated goal of carbon neutrality by 2045, residents of the Golden State stand to reap such additional benefits as cleaner air, widespread improvements in public health and related cost savings, according to researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

Newswise:  4 Ways the CSU Promotes Fire Safety
Released: 10-Oct-2022 5:05 PM EDT
4 Ways the CSU Promotes Fire Safety
California State University (CSU) Chancellor's Office

October 9th kicked off the National Fire Protection Association's 100th annual Fire Prevention Week. This year's campaign, “Fire won't wait. Plan your escape," aims to raise awareness around how individuals can keep themselves safe in the event of a fire. In time for this long-running observance, we looked at ways the CSU is working to protect its students, faculty, staff and community in the midst of fires.

Released: 10-Oct-2022 2:20 PM EDT
Positive childhood experiences of blue spaces linked to better adult well-being
University of Exeter

New research based on data from 18 countries concludes that adults with better mental health are more likely to report having spent time playing in and around coastal and inland waters, such as rivers and lakes (also known collectively as blue spaces) as children. The finding was replicated in each of the countries studied.

   
Newswise: Making the invisible water crisis visible
Released: 6-Oct-2022 2:05 PM EDT
Making the invisible water crisis visible
Universiteit Utrecht, Faculteit Geowetenschappen

While achieving the United Nations (UN) ambitious Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) for wastewater treatment would cause substantial improvements in global water quality, severe water quality issues would contain to persist in some world regions.

Newswise: As Winters Warm, Nutrient Pollution Threatens 40% of U.S.
Released: 6-Oct-2022 1:05 PM EDT
As Winters Warm, Nutrient Pollution Threatens 40% of U.S.
University of Vermont

Scientists are ringing alarm bells about a significant new threat to U.S. water quality: as winters warm due to climate change, they are unleashing large amounts of nutrient pollution into lakes, rivers, and streams. The first-of-its-kind national study finds that previously frozen winter nutrient pollution—unlocked by rising winter temperatures and rainfall—is putting water quality at risk in 40% of the contiguous U.S., including over 40 states.

   
Released: 5-Oct-2022 12:05 PM EDT
Particle radioactivity linked to pollution-associated heart attack and stroke death
American Heart Association (AHA)

Particle radioactivity, a characteristic of air pollution that reflects the colorless, odorless gas radon found in fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, enhances PM2.5 toxicity and increases risk of death from cardiovascular disease, especially from heart attack or stroke, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access, peer-reviewed journal of the American Heart Association.

Released: 4-Oct-2022 6:00 PM EDT
A Need to Consistently Characterize Aerosol Research Associated with E-cigarettes Is Featured in New Issue of ToxSci
Society of Toxicology

Other featured research in October 2022 issue involves an exploration of a pharmacokinetic model for quantifying the mother-to-child transfer of environmental chemicals and how febuxostat may increase the risk for cardiovascular events by dysregulating calcium dynamics.

Released: 3-Oct-2022 2:45 PM EDT
Study links prenatal phthalate exposure to reduced childhood lung function
N/A

A study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal), a centre supported by the ”la Caixa” Foundation, has found that exposure to phthalates in the womb is associated with reduced lung function during childhood.

Released: 30-Sep-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Special Issue of AJPH Illuminates Lead Risks Throughout U.S., Prevention Steps
American Public Health Association (APHA)

National studies about lead exposures are featured in a special supplement of the American Journal of Public Health in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which show the widespread impact of lead contamination in drinking water, in game meat and exposure to lead from firearms.

Released: 27-Sep-2022 4:05 PM EDT
Lead safety guidance lacking for urban farmers in many major US cities
American Geophysical Union (AGU)

Urban gardens and farms are on the rise in the U.S., but urban soils are sometimes contaminated from legacy pollution and industrial use.

Released: 27-Sep-2022 2:10 PM EDT
The latest research and expert commentary on guns and violence
Newswise

Here are some of the latest articles that have been posted in the Guns and Violence channel on Newswise.

       
Released: 26-Sep-2022 5:05 PM EDT
Event: American U. Commemorates Clean Water Act’s 50th Anniversary With Symposium, Film
American University

The Clean Water Act Symposium features discussions about the effect of climate change on water and pollution and the premier screening of film Upstream, Downriver. The event organized by American University’s Center for Environmental Policy and Center for Environmental Filmmaking, in partnership with American Rivers and the Clean Water for All Coalition, will bring together national and international environmental experts to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Clean Water Act. The film tells the story of the Clean Water Act and its value to the nation.

Released: 23-Sep-2022 11:05 AM EDT
Study findings suggest association between exposure to air pollution -- particularly in the first 5 years of life -- and alterations in brain structure
N/A

A study published in the journal Environmental Pollution has found an association, in children aged 9‑12, between exposure to air pollutants in the womb and during the first 8.5 years of life and alterations in white matter structural connectivity in the brain.

22-Sep-2022 3:05 PM EDT
Ancient Maya cities were dangerously contaminated with mercury
Frontiers

A new review shows that the soil in the cities of the ancient Maya are heavily polluted with mercury. As vessels filled with liquid mercury and objects painted with cinnabar have been found at many Maya sites, the authors conclude that the Maya were heavy users of mercury and mercury-containing products. This resulted in severe and dangerous pollution in their day, which still persists even now.



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