Water Contamination News and Research

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Virginia Tech researchers call for critical review of EPA's secondary standards for drinking water

Changes in drinking water quality in the 21st Century are coming from a myriad of circumstances, and not all are for the best. Top contenders for why water-drinking quality might become suspect to the average consumer include California's drought conditions, the technology of fracking, and the nationwide aging infrastructure of rusty, degrading pipes.

14 Jan 2015

NJIT, Drexel and Rowan join forces to tackle water problems in the region

Water experts at NJIT, Drexel University and Rowan University are joining forces to tackle the increasingly complex challenges affecting water resources in the region, from shrinking supplies, to industrial contamination, to climate change.

13 Nov 2014

New methods for detection of fecal pollution in Norwegian watercourses

The Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, Bioforsk, has tested and implemented a set of methods for the detection of fecal pollution in Norwegian watercourses.

9 Jun 2014

Hot water contamination in hospital taps threatens patient safety

New research finds significantly higher levels of infectious pathogens in water from faucet taps with aerators compared to water from deeper in the plumbing system. Contaminated water poses an increased risk for infection in immunocompromised patients.

22 Jan 2014

European research project to develop new rapid diagnostic devices

Led by the Basque R&D Alliance IK4, 13 organisations in 8 different countries have been conducting research for three years under the European LabOnFoil project to develop new rapid diagnostic devices.

19 Dec 2013

LSDF announces research and development grants to commercialize health-related technologies

The Life Sciences Discovery Fund (LSDF) today announced $1.1 million in five Proof of Concept grants to Washington for-profit and non-profit organizations to foster the translation of health-related products from the laboratory into the commercial marketplace.

19 Dec 2013

Contaminated drinking water breeds low-weight or premature babies

Pregnant women living in areas with contaminated drinking water may be more likely to have babies that are premature or with low birth weights (considered less than 5.5 pounds), according to a study based at Princeton University's Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs.

9 Oct 2013

Peru: Liver cancer affects young people and children who do not have related risk factors

Liver cancer is the sixth most common cancer worldwide and the third most deadly. It mainly affects men over the age of 40, most often with cirrhosis or hepatitis B or C. But in Peru, it also uncharacteristically affects young people, even children, who do not have the identified related risk factors.

5 Sep 2013

SASB releases first set of provisional standards for industries in Health Care sector

The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board, a 501c3 non-profit organization that provides sustainability accounting standards for use by publicly listed corporations in the U.S., today released its first set of provisional standards for industries in the Health Care sector.

31 Jul 2013

Research develop new methods, technologies for reducing deliberate drinking water contamination

An international project has developed a response programme for rapidly restoring the use of drinking water networks following a deliberate contamination event.

6 Jul 2013

PDE model identifies contaminants in water distribution networks

None of us want to experience events like the Camelford water pollution incident in Cornwall, England, in the late eighties, or more recently, the Crestwood, Illinois, water contamination episode in 2009 where accidental pollution of drinking water led to heart-wrenching consequences to consumers, including brain damage, high cancer risk, and even death. In the case of such catastrophes, it is important to have a method to identify and curtail contaminations immediately to minimize impact on the public.

29 Nov 2012

More toilets would help save lives in India

The controversy in India over "a self-evident statement by the rural development minister that India needs toilets more than it does temples ... is a perfect example of the stupidity that too often dominates Indian politics," GlobalPost senior correspondent Jason Overdorf writes in his blog "On India."

8 Oct 2012

First detailed analysis of Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster's global health effects

Radiation from Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster may eventually cause anywhere from 15 to 1,300 deaths and from 24 to 2,500 cases of cancer, mostly in Japan, Stanford researchers have calculated.

18 Jul 2012

Pernix Therapeutics introduces Omeclamox-Pak® for the treatment of H. pylori infection and duodenal ulcer disease

Pernix Therapeutics Holdings, Inc. (NYSE Amex: PTX), a specialty pharmaceutical company, today announced the introduction of Omeclamox-Pak®, a ten-day therapy of omeprazole delayed-release capsules (20 mg), clarithromycin tablets (500 mg) and amoxicillin capsules (500 mg) for the treatment of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection and duodenal ulcer disease (active or one-year history) to eradicate H. pylori in adult patients.

21 May 2012

The Millennium Village Project: a correction

Paul Pronyk, lead author of the Millennium Village paper, releases the following statement about the paper, Pronyk PM, Muniz M, Nemser B, et al, for the Millennium Villages Study Group. The effect of an integrated multisector model for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving child survival in rural sub-Saharan Africa: a non-randomised controlled assessment. Lancet 2012; published online May 8. DOI:10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60207-4.

18 May 2012

FDA decides to strengthen warning labels on oral contraceptive YAZ, Yasmin

The Federal Drug Administration (FDA) has recently decided to strengthen warning labels on the oral contraceptive YAZ and its sister drug Yasmin regarding increased risks of blood clots from using the medications.

17 May 2012

Best and worst mothers worldwide

Right in time for Mother’s day comes a report on the best and worst mothers worldwide. U.S. moms have moved up six places - from 31st to 25th - in the 13th annual Save The Children State of the World's Mothers report. That puts the U.S. right between Belarus and the Czech Republic. Norway is No. 1, just ahead of Iceland and Sweden.

10 May 2012

Scientific American examines relationship between climate change, health

Scientific American examines the interface between climate change and human health, writing, "WHO research suggests that current warming of global average temperatures of just under one degree Celsius is responsible for an additional 150,000 deaths per year, largely due to agricultural failures and diarrheal disease in developing countries.

23 Dec 2011

Abnormal levels of caffeine in water indicate human contamination

Researchers led by Prof. S-bastien Sauv- of the University of Montreal's Department of Chemistry have discovered that traces of caffeine are a useful indicator of the contamination of our water by sewers.

23 Nov 2011

CANARY software can protect nation's water systems from contamination

Americans are used to drinking from the kitchen tap without fear of harm, even though water utilities might be vulnerable to terrorist attacks or natural contaminants.

26 Jul 2011