Air Pollution News and Research

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Rice University analysis of state efforts shows dramatic gains in reducing airborne particulate matter

National efforts in the last decade to clear the air of dangerous particulate matter have been so successful that most urban areas have already attained the next benchmark, according to new research by Rice University.

29 Mar 2014

Pollution from agricultural sources poses larger health costs than previously estimated

Ammonia pollution from agricultural sources poses larger health costs than previously estimated, according to NASA-funded research.

29 Mar 2014

Higher exposure to TRAP increases odds of readmission to hospital for asthma

Higher exposure to traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) dramatically increases the odds of readmission to the hospital for asthma - but only for white children, according to a new Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study.

27 Mar 2014

Researchers explore link between diet, metabolic homeostasis and air pollutant exposure

Is air pollution connected with increases in obesity, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease? Researchers are providing insight into that question today at the Society of Toxicology 53rd Annual Meeting and ToxExpo in Phoenix, Ariz.

26 Mar 2014

WHO report confirms air pollution as world's largest single environmental health risk

In new estimates released today, WHO reports that in 2012 around 7 million people died - one in eight of total global deaths - as a result of air pollution exposure. This finding more than doubles previous estimates and confirms that air pollution is now the world's largest single environmental health risk. Reducing air pollution could save millions of lives.

25 Mar 2014

WTC first responders at higher risk for obstructive sleep apnea, PTSD

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai researchers have linked high levels of exposure to inhaled particulate matter by first responders at Ground Zero to the risk of obstructed sleep apnea and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), both conditions that may impact cardiovascular health.

21 Mar 2014

Researchers determine long-term fate of chemicals in drinking water

Virginia Tech faculty engineers and students are unravelling fundamental chemical and health properties of the chemical that contaminated the drinking water for the residents of West Virginia.

11 Mar 2014

Higher levels of exposure to traffic-related air pollution linked to changes in right ventricle of the heart

Exposure to high levels of traffic-related air pollution is associated with changes in the right ventricle of the heart that may contribute to the known connection between air pollution exposure and heart disease, according to a new study.

7 Mar 2014

Researchers develop early warning systems for preventing epidemics

The environment has an impact on our health. Preventing epidemics relies on activating the right counter-measures, and scientists are now trying to find out how better use of forecasting can help.

24 Feb 2014

Heavy exposure to air pollution increases risk for developing hypertension during pregnancy

Breathing the air outside their homes may be just as toxic to pregnant women - if not more so - as breathing in cigarette smoke, increasing a mom-to-be's risk of developing deadly complications such as preeclampsia, according to findings from a new University of Florida study.

13 Feb 2014

Cedars-Sinai receives $1M grant to study molecular changes in brain due to air pollutants

Researchers at the Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Department of Neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai will conduct a study to determine if several potentially toxic compounds that exist in polluted air are capable of entering the brain from the bloodstream and causing brain cancer.

12 Feb 2014

Air pollution puts pressure on primary care

Research in Hong Kong shows that air pollution concentrations are significantly associated with the number of consultations for upper respiratory tract infections (URTIs), contributing to the burden on primary care services.

10 Feb 2014

Research focuses on health effects from wood burning

With the winter weather still going strong, lots of people will be restocking the wood pile next to their fireplaces and wood burning stoves. Can using a wood burning stove or fireplace pose a threat to my health?

6 Feb 2014

Financial, social hardships account for increased likelihood of asthma readmissions among black children

Black children are twice as likely as white children to be readmitted to the hospital for asthma - a disparity due in large part to a greater burden of financial and social hardships, according to a new study.

3 Feb 2014

Strategic placement of trees near roadways may enhance air quality, positively impact public health

Calif.-Strategic placement of trees and plants near busy roadways may enhance air quality and positively impact public health.

25 Jan 2014

Many serious diseases come from the air that we breathe every day

At rest, we breathe approx. 12-15 times per minute, and for each inhalation we change approx. one litre of air. Depending on the activity level, this makes up a daily quantity in the order of twenty cubic metres of air that - with its content of pollution in the form of particles and different gases - can make us ill depending on how polluted the air is.

24 Jan 2014

Obese kids exposed to high levels of air pollutants are nearly 3 times as likely to have asthma

Obese children exposed to high levels of air pollutants were nearly three times as likely to have asthma, compared with non-obese children and lower levels of pollution exposure, report researchers at Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC).

23 Jan 2014

Long-term exposure to particulate matter linked with increased risk for heart attack

Long-term exposure to particulate matter is associated with an increased risk for heart attack. Moreover, this association can already be observed in levels of particulate exposure below the current specified European limit values.

22 Jan 2014

Long term exposure to particulate matter in outdoor air linked to heart attacks and angina

Long term exposure to particulate matter in outdoor air is strongly linked to heart attacks and angina, and this association persists at levels of exposure below the current European limits, suggests research conducted at the Department of Epidemiology in Rome, Italy and published on bmj.com today.

21 Jan 2014

Monitoring air pollution now possible with technological advances in air quality measurement methods

Launching a natural research experiment in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month using advanced monitoring methods to assess health risk from air pollution, environmental health scientist Rick Peltier at the University of Massachusetts Amherst hopes to demonstrate for the first time in a real-world setting that air pollution can and should be regulated based on toxicology variables rather than simply on the volume of particles in the air.

9 Jan 2014