Feature Channels: Pollution

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Released: 22-Jul-2021 8:55 AM EDT
2 in 1 Face Mask Against Dust and Virus – Chula Health Innovation in the New Normal
Chulalongkorn University

Chula’s Faculty of Engineering joins hands with PTT to develop a 2 in1 face mask, an innovation that protects against PM2.5 dust particles and COVID-19 virus that can be reused more than 15 times, helps reduce waste, is pollution-free, and will be available for sale soon.

Released: 21-Jul-2021 2:35 PM EDT
New Study Confirms Relationship Between Toxic Pollution, Climate Risks to Human Health
University of Notre Dame

In a first-of-its-kind study that combines assessments of the risks of toxic emissions, nontoxic emissions and people’s vulnerability to them, Notre Dame researchers found a strong and statistically significant relationship between the spatial distribution of global climate risk and toxic pollution.

   
Released: 20-Jul-2021 3:20 PM EDT
COVID-19 Shutdowns Reveal Racial Disparities in Exposure to Air Pollution
George Washington University

A new GW study of COVID-19 shutdowns in the United States reveals pronounced disparities in air pollution — with disenfranchised, minority neighborhoods still experiencing more exposure to a harmful air pollutant compared to wealthier, white communities.

Released: 16-Jul-2021 2:20 PM EDT
Wildfire Smoke Exposure Linked to Increased Risk of Contracting COVID-19
Desert Research Institute (DRI)

Wildfire smoke may greatly increase susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to new research from the Center for Genomic Medicine at the Desert Research Institute (DRI), Washoe County Health District (WCHD), and Renown Health (Renown) in Reno, Nev.

   
Released: 15-Jul-2021 8:55 AM EDT
Chula Successfully Converts Carbon Dioxide to Methanol – Reduces Global Warming, and Adds Value to the Circular Economy
Chulalongkorn University

An Engineering professor, Chulalongkorn University has successfully converted carbon dioxide to methanol via a thermochemical method that consumes less energy and provides more yield, providing an alternative solution to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and stimulate the circular economy.

Released: 14-Jul-2021 3:35 PM EDT
Chemistry Discovery Could Remove Micropollutants from Environment
U.S. ARMY Research Laboratory

Army-funded research identified a new chemistry approach that could remove micropollutants from the environment.

Released: 13-Jul-2021 12:40 PM EDT
University of Portsmouth becomes the first non-US partner of a new project to tackle plastic pollution in the USA
University of Portsmouth

The University of Portsmouth is now a key member of a collaborative effort funded by the United States Department of Energy (DOE) and industry to tackle the growing global crisis of plastic waste.

Released: 12-Jul-2021 11:50 AM EDT
Just 25 mega-cities produce 52% of the world's urban greenhouse gas emissions
Frontiers

In 2015, 170 countries worldwide adopted the Paris Agreement, with the goal limiting the average global temperature increase to 1.5°C.

Released: 8-Jul-2021 11:50 AM EDT
How air pollution changed during COVID-19 in Park City, Utah
University of Utah

Throughout the pandemic, air sensors watched during lockdowns as air pollution fell in residential and commercial areas, and then as pollution rose again with reopenings. The changing levels, the researchers found, which behaved differently in residential and commercial parts of the city, show where pollution is coming from and how it might change in the future under different policies.

7-Jul-2021 4:05 AM EDT
Dealing with Global Carbon Debt
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

IIASA researchers and international colleagues are calling for immediate action to establish responsibility for carbon debt by implementing carbon removal obligations.

Released: 6-Jul-2021 7:05 PM EDT
Empowering a Neighborhood to Breathe Easy
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Companies like Purple Air and IQAir, with air pollution sensors that cost under $300, have brought air quality monitoring to the masses. But when Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientist Tom Kirchstetter looked at Purple Air’s map last year during wildfire season, he noticed a big hole in Richmond, a city of 110,000 to the north of Berkeley.

Released: 6-Jul-2021 2:45 PM EDT
Long-term urban emissions data show a decrease in high-income countries
Institute of Physics (IOP) Publishing

A new study shows how urbanisation has influenced anthropogenic CO2 and air pollutant emissions across all world regions, by making use of the latest developments in the Emissions Database for Global Atmospheric Research (EDGAR, https://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/) developed by the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission.

Released: 6-Jul-2021 12:45 PM EDT
Light pollution has complex effects on animal vision
University of Exeter

Changes in the colour and intensity of light pollution over the past few decades result in complex and unpredictable effects on animal vision, new research shows.

Released: 2-Jul-2021 4:20 PM EDT
Microbes in cow stomachs can break down plastic
Frontiers

Plastic is notoriously hard to break down, but researchers in Austria have found that bacteria from a cow's rumen - one of the four compartments of its stomach - can digest certain types of the ubiquitous material, representing a sustainable way to reduce plastic litter.

Released: 1-Jul-2021 2:55 PM EDT
Rethinking Plastics
University of Delaware

In a new issue of Science, devoted to the plastics problem, University of Delaware researchers LaShanda Korley and Thomas Epps, III, join collaborators in calling for new approaches to plastics design, production and use, with the goal of keeping plastics out of landfills and waterways, reusing the valuable resources they represent indefinitely in a “circular” plastics economy.

Released: 29-Jun-2021 1:00 PM EDT
Increased Use of Household Fireworks Creates a Public Health Hazard, UCI Study Finds
University of California, Irvine

Irvine, Calif., June 29, 2021 – Fireworks are synonymous in the United States with the celebration of Independence Day and other special events, but the colorful displays have caused a growing risk to public safety in recent years, according to a study by environmental health researchers at the University of California, Irvine.

Released: 29-Jun-2021 11:00 AM EDT
Turning Plastic into Foam to Combat Pollution
American Institute of Physics (AIP)

In Physics of Fluids, researchers have developed a method to turn biodegradable plastic knives, spoons, and forks into a foam that can be used as insulation in walls or in flotation devices. The investigators placed the cutlery into a chamber filled with carbon dioxide. As pressure increased, the gas dissolved into the plastic. When they suddenly released the pressure in the chamber, the carbon dioxide expanded within the plastic, creating foaming.

25-Jun-2021 2:50 PM EDT
Air Pollution From Wildfires Impacts Ability to Observe Birds
University of Washington

Researchers from the University of Washington provide a first look at the probability of observing common birds as air pollution worsens during wildfire seasons. They found that smoke affected the ability to detect more than a third of the bird species studied in Washington state over a four-year period. Sometimes smoke made it harder to observe birds, while other species were actually easier to detect when smoke was present.

Released: 24-Jun-2021 11:15 AM EDT
PIRE Research Connects Air Pollution to Worst Taiwanese Drought in Nearly 60 Years
University at Albany, State University of New York

The study, published in the Journal of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, analyzed 13 years of satellite and surface to better understand how aerosols impact cloud lifecycle and precipitation during the autumn months over northern Taiwan.

Released: 24-Jun-2021 10:00 AM EDT
Pandemic Air Quality Affected By Weather, Not Just Lockdowns
Washington University in St. Louis

Using a diverse set of tools, the lab of Randall Martin shows how the pandemic did – or didn’t – affect levels of particulate matter during COVID lockdowns.

Released: 23-Jun-2021 8:05 AM EDT
Molybdenum Limits Microbes’ Ability to Remove Harmful Nitrate from Soil
Department of Energy, Office of Science

The Oak Ridge Reservation is contaminated with acidic, high-nitrate-and high-metal substances. Microbes in this environment can use molybdenum to remove nitrate, but the low concentration of molybdenum at Oak Ridge limits how much nitrate the microbes can remove. Two studies examine why molybdenum is limited and the mechanisms some microbes use to survive these conditions.

22-Jun-2021 9:00 AM EDT
New UN Report Calls For Urgent Help For World’s Oceans
University of Portsmouth

A new United Nations report calls for an urgent change in the way the world’s oceans are managed.

Released: 21-Jun-2021 3:40 PM EDT
Modeling A Circular Economy For Electronic Waste
University of Pittsburgh

Think about how many different pieces of technology the average household has purchased in the last decade.

Released: 17-Jun-2021 5:05 AM EDT
Detoxifiers From The Landfill
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Bacteria from an Indian landfill could help eliminate contaminated chemicals. The focus is on pesticides such as lindane or brominated flame retardants, which accumulate in nature and in food chains. Researchers at Empa and Eawag used these bacteria to generate enzymes that can break down these dangerous chemicals.

10-Jun-2021 11:25 AM EDT
Ozone pollution has increased in Antarctica
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have analyzed more than 25 years of Antarctic data, finding that ozone concentrations near the ground arose from both natural and human-related sources.

10-Jun-2021 11:30 AM EDT
Urbanization drives antibiotic resistance on microplastics in Chinese river
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Researchers reporting in Environmental Science & Technology have analyzed antibiotic-resistance genes (ARGs) on five types of microplastics at different locations along the Beilun River in China, finding much higher abundances in urban than rural regions.

Released: 15-Jun-2021 12:40 PM EDT
Air pollution exposure during pregnancy may boost babies' obesity risk
University of Colorado Boulder

Women exposed to higher levels of air pollution during pregnancy have babies who grow unusually fast in the first months after birth, putting on excess fat that puts them at risk of obesity and related diseases later in life, new CU Boulder research shows.

Released: 15-Jun-2021 11:05 AM EDT
New Study Shows High Mercury Levels in Indigenous Latin American Women
Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI)

Women in three Latin American countries who rely on fish for protein and live in proximity to gold mining activity have been found to have elevated mercury levels, according to a new study, Mercury Exposure of Women in Four Latin American Gold Mining Countries. The study was conducted by the International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) together with Biodiversity Research Institute.

   
Released: 14-Jun-2021 3:25 PM EDT
New research finds 1M deaths in 2017 attributable to fossil fuel combustion
Washington University in St. Louis

Comprehensive evaluation of source sector, fuel contributions to the PM2.5 disease burden analyzed across over 200 countries

   
Released: 14-Jun-2021 2:30 PM EDT
Free Online Video Series Open to the Public ‘Understanding Harmful Algal Blooms in Florida’
Florida Atlantic University

The free online series of short videos are designed to provide basic, jargon-free scientific information on harmful algal blooms: what they are; where they live and grow; and causes, impacts, and potential mitigation of blooms. The series is directed toward resource managers and decision-makers as well as the general public.

Released: 14-Jun-2021 4:05 AM EDT
Trees, Plants and Soil Could Help Cities Cut Their Carbon Footprints — When Used Smartly
Aalto University

Carbon footprint declarations are used in construction to ease product selection for low carbon building, but these standards don’t yet exist for green elements like soil, bushes and plants. A new study led by Aalto University is the first to map out how green infrastructure can be a resource for cities on the path to carbon neutrality.

Released: 11-Jun-2021 5:20 PM EDT
Combating Maritime Litter
Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon

Plastic bottles drifting in the sea; bags in the stomachs of turtles; Covid-19 masks dancing in the surf: few images are as unpleasant to look at as those that show the contamination of our oceans.

Released: 10-Jun-2021 4:40 PM EDT
'Vegan spider silk' provides sustainable alternative to single-use plastics
University of Cambridge

Researchers have created a plant-based, sustainable, scalable material that could replace single-use plastics in many consumer products.

Released: 8-Jun-2021 10:20 AM EDT
What will happen to the COVID-19 plexiglass barriers?
Iowa State University

Iowa State students, faculty and staff are planning for what will happen to the approximately 500 plexiglass barriers that were erected to protect public health during the COVID-19 pandemic.

   
Released: 8-Jun-2021 7:05 AM EDT
Saving the climate with solar fuel
Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology

Produced in a sustainable way, synthetic fuels contribute to switching mobility to renewable energy and to achieving the climate goals in road traffic. In the mobility demonstrator "move" Empa researchers are investigating the production of synthetic methane from an energy, technical and economic perspective – a project with global potential.

Released: 3-Jun-2021 9:05 PM EDT
If Countries Implement Paris Pledges with Cuts to Aerosols, Millions of Lives can be Saved
University of California San Diego

Aerosol reductions that would take place as countries meet climate goals could contribute to global cooling and prevent more than one million annual premature deaths over a decade, according to a new study from the University of California San Diego.

   
Released: 3-Jun-2021 1:30 PM EDT
Novel Research Will Track Lead Residues Across Four Continents
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

Abby Kinchy, a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, will seek to learn how can people try to reduce the harms caused by lead in the soil of their communities with the support of a Scholars Award from the National Science Foundation (NSF).

28-May-2021 11:30 AM EDT
Mapping intermittent methane emissions across the Permian Basin
American Chemical Society (ACS)

Researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters have conducted an extensive airborne campaign with imaging spectrometers and identified large methane sources across the Permian Basin area.

Released: 1-Jun-2021 11:55 AM EDT
The price is right: Modeling economic growth in a zero-emission society
Tokyo University of Science

Pollution from manufacturing is now widespread, affecting all regions in the world, with serious ecological, economic, and political consequences.

Released: 1-Jun-2021 11:50 AM EDT
Greenhouse gas emissions from reservoirs higher than previously expected
Washington State University

A new study in Global Biogeochemical Cycles shows per-area greenhouse gas emissions from the world's water reservoirs are around 29% higher than suggested by previous studies, but that practical measures could be taken to help reduce that impact.

Released: 28-May-2021 1:10 PM EDT
Plastic in Galapagos seawater, beaches and animals
University of Exeter

Plastic pollution has been found in seawater, on beaches and inside marine animals at the Galapagos Islands.

Released: 27-May-2021 12:05 PM EDT
Research News Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins Medicine
Johns Hopkins Medicine

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine Media Relations is focused on disseminating current, accurate and useful information to the public via the media. As part of that effort, we are distributing our “COVID-19 Tip Sheet: Story Ideas from Johns Hopkins” every other Wednesday.

25-May-2021 6:05 AM EDT
Mitigating emissions in the livestock production sector
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)

A new study shows that emission intensity per unit of animal protein produced has decreased globally over the past two decades due to greater production efficiency, raising questions around the extent to which methane emissions will change in the future and how we can better manage their negative impacts.

Released: 24-May-2021 4:30 PM EDT
Surge in Nitrogen Has Turned Sargassum into the World’s Largest Harmful Algal Bloom
Florida Atlantic University

Scientists have discovered dramatic changes in the chemistry and composition of Sargassum, floating brown seaweed, transforming this vibrant living organism into a toxic “dead zone.” Results suggest that increased nitrogen availability from natural and anthropogenic sources, including sewage, is supporting blooms of Sargassum and turning a critical nursery habitat into harmful algal blooms with catastrophic impacts on coastal ecosystems, economies, and human health. Globally, harmful algal blooms are related to increased nutrient pollution.

Released: 24-May-2021 3:20 PM EDT
Corn ethanol reduces carbon footprint, greenhouse gases
Argonne National Laboratory

Research shows that the use of corn ethanol reduces the carbon footprint and diminishes greenhouse gases.

20-May-2021 12:45 PM EDT
Researchers Find Greenland Glacial Meltwaters Rich in Mercury
Florida State University

New research from Florida State University shows that concentrations of the toxic element mercury in rivers and fjords connected to the Greenland Ice Sheet are comparable to rivers in industrial China, an unexpected finding that is raising questions about the effects of glacial melting in an area that is a major exporter of seafood. 

18-May-2021 2:55 PM EDT
In Utero Exposure to Tiny Pollution Particles in the Air Is Linked to Asthma in Preschoolers, Study Shows
Mount Sinai Health System

Women who were highly exposed to ultra-fine particles in air pollution during their pregnancy were more likely to have children who developed asthma, according to a study published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine in May. This is the first time asthma has been linked with prenatal exposure to this type of air pollution, which is named for its tiny size and which is not regulated or routinely monitored in the United States.

Released: 20-May-2021 2:30 PM EDT
Epigenetic mechanism can explain how chemicals in plastic may cause lower IQ levels
Uppsala University

The chemical bisphenol F (found in plastics) can induce changes in a gene that is vital for neurological development. This discovery was made by researchers at the universities of Uppsala and Karlstad, Sweden.



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