Air and water pollution expert able to discuss health risks in the wake of natural disasters
University of Alabama at Birmingham
The world’s wood products — all the paper, lumber, furniture and more — offset just 1 percent of annual global carbon emissions by locking away carbon in woody forms, according to new University of Wisconsin–Madison research.
Irvine, Calif., July 1, 2019 – The nations that have signed agreements to stabilize the global mean temperature by 2050 will fail to meet their goals unless existing fossil fuel-burning infrastructure around the world is retired early, according to a study – published today in Nature – by researchers at the University of California, Irvine and other institutions.
When ozone and skin oils meet, the resulting reaction may help remove ozone from an indoor environment, but it can also produce a personal cloud of pollutants that affects indoor air quality.
Air quality samples collected near the Aliso Canyon natural gas storage facility during the 2015 blowout that led to the largest-known human-caused release of methane in U.S. history showed elevated levels of pollutants known or suspected to be associated with serious health problems
Imagine if your printer had an “unprint” button that used pulses of light to remove toner, curbing environmental impacts compared with conventional paper recycling. A Rutgers-led team has created a new way to unprint paper that, unlike laser-based methods, can work with the standard, coated paper used in home and office printers. The new method uses pulses of light from a xenon lamp, and can erase black, blue, red and green toners without damaging the paper, according to a study in the Journal of Cleaner Production.
A new study soon to appear in the Journal of Public Health suggests that air pollution and living in apartment buildings may be associated with an increased risk for dangerous conditions like heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
World Trade Center (WTC) responders with prostate cancer showed signs that exposure to dust from the World Trade Center site had activated chronic inflammation in their prostates, which may have contributed to their cancer, according to a study by Mount Sinai researchers in Molecular Cancer Research in June.
Ecologists from the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science are forecasting a large Chesapeake Bay "dead zone" in 2019 due to well-above-average river flows associated with increased rainfall in the watershed since last fall.
New insights about how to understand and ultimately control the chemistry of ignition behavior and pollutant formation have been discovered in research led by Sandia National Laboratories. The discovery eventually will lead to cleaner, more efficient internal combustion engines.“Our findings will allow the design of new fuels and improved combustion strategies,” said Nils Hansen, Sandia researcher and lead author of the research.
Emissions of methane from the industrial sector have been vastly underestimated, researchers from Cornell University and Environmental Defense Fund have found.
For years, routine testing has shown that watersheds of the Mahaulepu Valley and Waikomo Stream in southeast Kauai frequently contain high counts of potentially pathogenic fecal indicator bacteria (FIB). To better understand the cause of the high FIB counts, the DOH commissioned a study by Berkeley Lab microbial ecologists Gary Andersen and Eric Dubinsky. After using a powerful microbial detection tool called the PhyloChip, the scientists concluded that most of the past monitoring results were false positives.
Commonly used in non-stick and protective coatings, lubricants and aviation fire-fighting foams, PFAS does not break down readily in the environment. Tests by the US FDA has detected PFAS and other "forever chemicals" contamination of food. The new polymer is a breakthrough in absorbing and removing toxic PFAS.
A team from Cornell University associate professor Max Zhang’s lab will work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the next year on a machine learning model designed to predict fossil fuel emissions. The project was a winning entry in the EPA-sponsored EmPOWER Air Data Challenge.
Even a short stay for travelers in cities with high levels of air pollution leads to breathing problems that can take at least a week from which to recover, a new study shows.
Researchers from UBC Okanagan have determined motorists tended to give cyclists wearing high-visibility vests more room on the road, compared to cyclists without high-visibility clothing.
A new University at Buffalo study based on levels before, during and after the Beijing Olympics reveals how air pollution affects the human body at the level of metabolites. Researchers found that 69 metabolites changed significantly when air pollution changed.
Indiana University researchers have synthesized a powerful new molecule to trap chloride salts. The technology has the potential to reduce the seepage of this pollutant into freshwater systems, which is a threat to drinkable water across the globe.
Fewer deaths and serious illnesses have occurred in the U.S. over the past decade as a result of cleaner air, according to a new report focusing on the two most potent air pollutants: fine particle (PM2.5) and ground-level ozone (O3). However, these improvements are almost entirely due to reductions in PM2.5 pollution.
A relatively simple process could help turn the tide of climate change while also turning a healthy profit. That's one of the hopeful visions outlined in a new Stanford-led paper that highlights a seemingly counterintuitive solution: converting one greenhouse gas into another.
Permeable pavements are one of many tools in sustainable urban development. Others include rain gardens, cisterns and green roofs. UF/IFAS encourages designers, builders and governments to use the entire urban sustainability development toolbox, said Eban Bean, an assistant professor of agricultural and biological engineering.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), seven million people worldwide die as a consequence of air pollution every year.
In a unique experimental setup, Swiss researchers have investigated the effect of exhaust particles from aircraft turbine engines on human lung cells. The cells reacted most strongly to particles emitted during ground idling. The study also showed that the cytotoxic effect is only to some extent comparable to that of particles from gasoline and diesel engines.
An enormous volcanic eruption on Iceland in 1783-84 did not cause an extreme summer heat wave in Europe. But, as Benjamin Franklin speculated, the eruption triggered an unusually cold winter, according to a Rutgers-led study. The study, in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, will help improve predictions of how the climate will respond to future high-latitude volcanic eruptions.
If you’ve ever wished for a quieter commute, you may be in luck: The low-emission electric vehicles of tomorrow are expected to lower noise pollution as well as air pollution. The prospect of a future powered by environmentally friendly electric vehicles is leading experts to consider the benefits -- and the risks -- of quieter traffic. Two acoustics experts, Klaus Genuit and Rene Weinandy, will present their work studying acoustic vehicle alerting systems, or AVAS, at the 177th ASA Meeting, May 13-17.
To better understand the environmental impact of the American shipping industry, a new computer model connects everything from the chemical intricacies of diesel exhaust to the geography and economics of our truck-dependent shipping infrastructure.
An international study involving researchers from the University of Granada (UGR), Spain, and the University of Krakow (Poland) has found that Spain's current regulations on light pollution are inadequate
Diana Aga's research examines how sewage treatment systems help — or don’t help — to eliminate antimicrobial drugs and their remnants, called residues, from wastewater before it’s discharged into rivers and lakes.
New research in Nature Communications reports that immediate, dramatic cuts in carbon emissions – aggressive enough to meet the Paris Climate Agreement – are economically sound if human health benefits are factored in.
A team of researchers at Berkeley Lab has designed a recyclable plastic that, like a Lego playset, can be disassembled into its constituent parts at the molecular level, and then reassembled into a different shape, texture, and color again and again without loss of performance or quality.
Biodegradable and compostable plastic bags are still capable of carrying full loads of shopping after being exposed in the natural environment for three years, a new study shows.
Ocean acidification could have serious consequences for the millions of people globally whose lives depend on coastal protection
In-soil placement of phosphorus can decrease phosphorus loss in snowmelt runoff
Study by Huntsman Cancer Institute researchers finds air pollution put childhood cancer survivor at an increased risk for hospitalization
ROCHESTER, Minn. — A national organization focused on reducing health care's impact on the environment has recognized Mayo Clinic campuses in Arizona, Florida and Rochester, as well as Mayo Clinic Health System sites in Wisconsin, for their environmental sustainability efforts.
Air pollution from diesel engines may worsen allergy-induced lung impairment more when tiny particles are filtered from the exhaust than when they are not, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.
About 4 million children worldwide develop asthma each year because of inhaling nitrogen dioxide air pollution, according to a study published today by researchers at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health (Milken Institute SPH). The study, based on data from 2010 to 2015, estimates that 64 percent of these new cases of asthma occur in urban areas. The study is the first to quantify the worldwide burden of new pediatric asthma cases linked to traffic-related nitrogen dioxide by using a method that takes into account high exposures to this pollutant that occur near busy roads.
New research from The Ohio State University has shown that combining natural rubber with bioplastic in a novel way results in a much stronger replacement for plastic, one that is already capturing the interest of companies looking to shrink their environmental footprints.
Antioxidants such as vitamin C could help reduce harmful effects from hexavalent chromium, according to a new study performed with human cells. The contaminant, which is often produced by industrial processes, was featured in the biographical movie Erin Brockovich.
Measurements of hazardous air pollutant concentrations near operational sites have generally failed to capture levels above standard health benchmarks; yet, the majority of studies continue to find poor health outcomes increasing as distance from these operations decreases.
Sandia National Laboratories ecologist Jennifer Payne is one of two Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioners in New Mexico, a title held by only 150 people in the country. With an eye for vegetation, she helps protect lands and upholds labs commitments to protecting the environment.
In a first-of-its-kind analysis, Amherst College economics professor Katharine Sims and colleagues found that when land protection in New England increased, employment rates also rose modestly over the next five-year period even when controlling for other associated factors.
A new method for reconstructing changes in nitrogen sources over time has enabled scientists to connect excess nutrients in the coastal waters of West Maui, Hawaii, to a sewage treatment facility that injects treated wastewater into the ground.
Human-caused pollution spurs the production of climate-changing particles known as secondary organic aerosols much more than previously thought. Researchers made the finding by analyzing air samples that were captured aboard a research aircraft as it zig-zagged between pristine air over the Amazon rainforest and polluted air over the city of Manaus.
Scientists at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology have published new research highlighting artificial light at night as a contributing factor. They've ranked metropolitan areas where, due to a combination of light pollution and geography, birds are at the greatest risk of becoming attracted to and disoriented by lights and crashing into buildings. The research was published today in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. It combines satellite data showing light pollution levels with weather radar measuring bird migration density.
Dietary intake of two fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6, may have opposite effects on the severity of asthma in children and may also play opposite roles in modifying their response to indoor air pollution, according to new research published online in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.