Feature Channels: Environmental Health

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Against the recommendation of the environmental, public health and even the electric power industry, this week the Environmental Protection Agency issued final rules to roll back regulations on mercury and toxic air emissions from our nation’s coal and oil-fired power plants. To justify taking such action, says the American Thoracic Society, the EPA ignored years of precedent – used by both Republican and Democratic Administrations – determining how the agency conducts cost benefit analysis of environmental regulations.

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Measures to slow the spread of the coronavirus have reduced the demand for fuel and slashed oil prices. Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), the chief long-term cause of climate warming, have slid perhaps by one-fifth and pollution is down, but can we expect COVID-19 to create lasting change in reversing global warming?

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Researchers at the McKelvey School of Engineering spent two weeks in India cooking with local residents. They found that soot wasn't the only worrisome byproduct of traditional cookstoves; organic carbons are causing problems, too.

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On April 20th, 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history when the BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) well released millions of gallons of oil into the waters along the coast. Nancy Kinner, professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of New Hampshire, and an internationally recognized oil spill expert, is available to offer insight into cleanup efforts, lessons learned, and new dispersant research and their potential use in future oil spills.

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People who live in urban areas with higher levels of air pollution may score lower on thinking and memory tests and may also lose cognitive skills faster over time, or it is possible they also may not, according to a study published in the April 8, 2020, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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In a first-of-its-kind study, University of Notre Dame investigated the long-term effects of that momentous eco-celebration, studying how the event and the weather that day affected people’s attitudes toward conservation and their health years later.

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By: Anna Prentiss | Published: April 8, 2020 | 12:44 pm | SHARE: As people around the world isolate in their homes to prevent the spread of COVID-19, research indicates there may be some positive environmental outcomes.Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor Jeff Chanton from the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Science (EOAS) said data show significant decreases in air pollution since January 2020.

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The world has been hit hard by coronavirus, and health services and authorities everywhere are struggling to reduce the spread, combat the disease and protect the population.

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Robert Laumbach, a Rutgers occupational and an environmental medicine expert, and associate professor at the Rutgers School of Public Health’s Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI), discusses the dangers of DIY cleaning products and how the public can safely make their own.

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ROLLA, Mo. – The day before the federal government issued new recommendations that Americans wear cloth face coverings to help slow the spread of the coronavirus, a researcher at Missouri University of Science and Technology decided to test a few common household materials – pillowcases, scarves, furnace filters – “out of curiosity.

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Surgical masks may help prevent infected people from making others sick with seasonal viruses, including coronaviruses, according to new research that could help settle a fierce debate spanning clinical and cultural norms.

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Media are invited to attend and ask questions at this Virtual Press Conference with a Newswise Live Expert Panel to discuss the COVID-19 crisis.

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Blogs look at the immediate and long-term impacts on the Gulf’s coastal soils

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The Trump Administration’s decision to roll back emission and mileage standards for cars and trucks is bad for respiratory health.

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A new study led by the University of Delaware’s Pinki Mondal recommends that in addition to using large swaths of coarse satellite data to evaluate forests on a national scale, it is important for countries to prioritize areas such as national parks and wildlife refuges and use finer scale data in those protected areas to make sure that they are maintaining their health and are being reported on accurately.

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The pioneering requirement may be insufficient to incentivize significant reductions in energy use by owners of residential and office buildings, according to the study.

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Researchers have discovered how two-dimensional nanoscale cages trap some noble gases. These cages can trap atoms of argon, krypton, and xenon at above freezing temperatures. Noble gases are hard to trap using other methods because they condense at temperatures far below freezing.

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Following reports of the Environmental Protection Agency’s move to implement broad changes that would relax environmental rules, the American Thoracic Society expressed disappointment with the plan.

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COVID-19 Update, the Relief Package, Coronavirus Origins, 2020 Election: Newswise Live Expert Panel for March 26, 2020

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More than 2000 renewable energy facilities are built in areas of environmental significance and threaten the natural habitats of plant and animal species across the globe.

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A study from the University of Surrey has provided a comprehensive guide on which tree species are best for combatting air pollution that originates from our roads - along with suggestions for how to plant these green barriers to get the best results.

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Researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology have shown that when waste is burned or buried, it can be a source of antibiotic-resistance genes in the air.

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In ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology, researchers report that a single pharmaceutical manufacturing facility could be influencing the water quality of one of Europe’s most important rivers.

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Today, the National Institutes of Health will launch a new website with important educational resources for Coronavirus workers dealing with the spread of COVID-19. The initiative got underway after Congress passed a supplemental appropriation of $10 million on March 6.

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A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has achieved a major technological breakthrough by converting waste rubber tyres into super-light aerogels that have a wide range of applications. This is the first time that aerogels are made from waste rubber tyres. The new rubber aerogels demonstrate remarkable properties – they are extremely light, highly absorbent, very durable, and they are also very efficient at trapping heat and sound.

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New research in ACS Nano describes a way to make flexible temporary electronic displays from fish scales.

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Below please find links to new coronavirus-related content published today in Annals of Internal Medicine. All coronavirus-related content published in Annals of Internal Medicine is free to the public.

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Tens of thousands of reservoir and dam systems are being operated in communities across the United States, ensuring access to reliable sources of water. That access, however, isn’t a guarantee. Altered rainfall patterns driven by global warming, increased urbanization, and growing populations are setting up parallel increases in demand for water and energy. Sustainable approaches to managing these systems are a critical part of the solution. To that end, mechanical engineers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute are developing a better understanding of how water and sediment flow through reservoirs and dams, in the hopes of making that process closer to earth’s natural dynamics. Their work is being supported by a National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) grant.

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Heat stress from extreme heat and humidity will annually affect areas now home to 1.2 billion people by 2100, assuming current greenhouse gas emissions, according to a Rutgers study. That’s more than four times the number of people affected today, and more than 12 times the number who would have been affected without industrial era global warming.

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Pollution alters the human gut microbiome in ways that may boost risk of diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease and other chronic illnesses, according to a new study. Ozone is particularly harmful, the researchers found.

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Using data from NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory-2, researchers found connections between the population density of cities and how much carbon dioxide they produce per person.