Air Pollution News and Research

RSS

Dust Alert sensor to monitor quality of air

Worried that dust from a nearby construction zone will harm your family's health? A new Tel Aviv University tool could either confirm your suspicions or better yet, set your mind at rest.

23 Sep 2009

No unsafe levels of air pollutants or metals detected at schools in Beaver and Erie counties: DEP

Air quality sampling by the state Department of Environmental Protection at schools in Beaver and Erie counties has not detected unsafe levels of air pollutants or metals, Environmental Protection Secretary John Hanger said today.

18 Sep 2009

American Lung Association applauds EPA’s decision to reduce threat from dangerous air pollutant

Today the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Lisa Jackson, announced that the Agency will embark on a formal review of the national air quality standard for ozone, a decision that offers the opportunity to finally protect the health of millions of Americans from the most widespread and one of the most dangerous air pollutants.

17 Sep 2009

Event to highlight diminishing water resources in California

Turfgrass plays an important role in the landscape and has a direct and significant impact on California's economy. Aesthetically pleasing and present in everyday life, turfgrass provides a safer, cushioned surface for sports and recreational activities and is known to increase home values.

16 Sep 2009

Lead exposure may result in cardiovascular mortality

Growing evidence shows that exposure to lead in the environment is associated with cardiovascular disease, including increased risk of hypertension. However, those studies have looked at lead concentrations in blood, not bone lead, a better indicator of cumulative lead exposure over time.

10 Sep 2009

Exposure to air pollution can cause heart attack

It's well known that measures such as exercise, a healthy diet and not smoking can help reduce high blood pressure, but researchers at the University of Michigan Health System have determined the very air we breathe can be an invisible catalyst to heart disease.

8 Sep 2009

Low level exposure to carbon dioxide leads to increased risk of hospitalization in older people

Exposure to carbon monoxide, even at levels well below national limits, is associated with an increased risk of hospitalization for the elderly with heart problems, according to a study published today in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

1 Sep 2009

Study reveals the detrimental effects of high concentration levels of dangerous ultrafine particles in tunnels

A toxic cocktail of ultrafine particles is lurking inside road tunnels in concentration levels so high they have the potential to harm drivers and passengers, a new study has found.

28 Aug 2009

Keeping asthma under control

A new nationwide telephone survey of 1,001 asthma patients, conducted by AstraZeneca, found that while most patients with asthma understand the risks associated with uncontrolled asthma, they don't always act accordingly.

16 Aug 2009

Outdoor air pollutants at high levels

Higher summertime levels of outdoor ground-level ozone, microscopic particle pollution like smoke and smog, as well as other air pollutants may cause anyone who is sensitive to these airborne contaminants to experience shortness of breath, wheezing and coughing, and may also trigger asthma attacks and cause lung irritation.

12 Aug 2009

Child’s IQ can be affected by mother’s exposure to urban air pollutants

A mother's exposure to urban air pollutants known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) can adversely affect a child's intelligence quotient or IQ, a study reports. PAHs are chemicals released into the air from the burning of coal, diesel, oil and gas, or other organic substances such as tobacco. In urban areas motor vehicles are a major source of PAHs.

21 Jul 2009

International health experts to discuss environmental effects on children's health

International health experts will gather through Wednesday in Busan, South Korea, to discuss the effects of the environment on children's health for the Third WHO International Conference on Children's Health and the Environment, the Korea Times reports.

9 Jun 2009

Neighborhood influences asthma rates

Neighborhoods with restaurants, entertainment, cultural facilities and ethnic diversity have lower asthma rates in the city of Chicago than neighborhoods where residents are less likely to move, and where there are more churches and not-for-profit facilities.

5 Jun 2009

Combination of interventions could reduce childhood pneumonia deaths by 90%, study says

A combination of measures taken to improve nutrition, indoor air pollution, immunization and child pneumonia case management could reduce total child mortality worldwide by 17 percent and global pneumonia deaths by more than 90 percent, according to a study published in the June issue of the Bulletin of the World Health Organization, UPI reports.

4 Jun 2009

Simple measures could reduce child mortality from pneumonia

Implementing measures to improve nutrition, indoor air pollution, immunization coverage and the management of pneumonia cases could be cost-effective and significantly reduce child mortality from pneumonia, according to a study led by the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

1 Jun 2009

Genetic basis for environmental and occupational respiratory diseases

Exposure to particulate matter has been recognized as a contributing factor to lung cancer development for some time, but a new study indicates inhalation of certain particulates can actually cause some genes to become reprogrammed, affecting both the development and the outcome of cancers and other diseases.

17 May 2009

Inhaled smoke shifts male cardiovascular system into overdrive

Secondhand tobacco smoke and smoke from cooking oil and wood smoke affected cardiovascular function of men and women who were exposed to small doses of the smoke for as little as 10 minutes, according to a study from the University of Kentucky.

20 Apr 2009

Rockefeller neuroscientist applies basic science to health care reform

A self-described "molecular sociologist" is extending his basic research to the national policy debate on health care reform. Bruce McEwen, head of the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology, led a panel of scientific experts last month at the Institute of Medicine's Summit on Integrative Medicine and the Health of the Public. The Institute is the most prominent independent medical advisory board in the country and will release a report from the conference in November, as Congress is likely to be considering major health care legislation.

25 Mar 2009

Environmental cardiology - the relationship between air pollution and heart disease

We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise.

23 Mar 2009

Big link between driving and heart attacks

People who have had a heart attack are likely to report having been in traffic shortly before their symptoms began, researchers reported at the American Heart Association's 49th Annual Conference on Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention.

15 Mar 2009