Pollution News and Research

RSS

Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement honors two experts on air pollution

Tyler Prize for Environmental Achievement honors two experts on air pollution with the 2012 Tyler Prize for their work to advance the scientific understanding of air pollution, and develop solutions to reduce the danger to human health and the impact on climate change.

20 Mar 2012

Health must be taken into account in climate change mitigation strategies

Health must be taken into account in climate change mitigation strategies. It is not widely appreciated that there are many benefits to health that are likely to accrue from a low carbon economy, say experts in a special supplement published on bmj.com today.

20 Mar 2012

Air emissions near natural gas drilling sites may contribute to health problems

In a new study, researchers from the Colorado School of Public Health have shown that air pollution caused by hydraulic fracturing or fracking may contribute to acute and chronic health problems for those living near natural gas drilling sites.

19 Mar 2012

The northeastern U.S. should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring

The northeastern U.S. should prepare for a surge in Lyme disease this spring. And we can blame fluctuations in acorns and mouse populations, not the mild winter. So reports Dr. Richard S. Ostfeld, a disease ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies in Millbrook, NY.

17 Mar 2012

Serious climate change-related health problems will affect the world's population

Worldwide increases in the incidences of asthma, allergies, infectious and cardiovascular diseases will result from a variety of impacts of global climate change, including rising temperatures, worsening ozone levels in urban areas, the spread of desertification, and expansions of the ranges of communicable diseases as the planet heats up, the professional organization representing respiratory and airway physicians stated in a new position paper released today.

16 Mar 2012

Ob-gyns play a major role in reducing effects of toxic chemicals on women and babies

Ob-gyns are uniquely positioned to play a major role in reducing the effects of toxic chemicals on women and babies, according to an analysis led by University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) researchers.

15 Mar 2012

Health Impact Project announces awardees of 15 new grants

The Health Impact Project, a collaboration of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Pew Charitable Trusts, announced the awardees of 15 new grants today. Selected following a nationwide call for proposals, the grantees will conduct health impact assessments (HIAs), a type of study that looks at potential health impacts of policies and projects in other sectors.

5 Mar 2012

Diesel exhaust fumes linked to lung cancer among miners

It has been known that diesel exhaust may be a probable carcinogen. But the 20-year study from the National Cancer Institute took a closer look in the Diesel Exhaust in Miners Study, which followed 12,315 miners working in eight underground nonmetal mining facilities. Data were collected on the miners' health and exposure to various elements and chemicals from the time when the mine company first introduced diesel-powered equipment (between 1947 and 1967) until the end of the study in 1997. They breathed varying levels of exhaust from diesel-powered equipment, levels higher than the general population encounters.

4 Mar 2012

La Selva geothermal system contaminated with arsenic

Monitoring the construction of wells, avoid over-exploiting cold groundwater close to hot groundwater, and controlling mineral water extraction. These are the recommendations from the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the University of Barcelona, after analysing the contamination of La Selva geothermal system, above all by arsenic pollution.

1 Mar 2012

Lung function, obstructive airway diseases linked with increased risk of heart failure

A large population-based study has found that lung function and obstructive airway diseases are strongly and independently associated with increased risk of heart failure. Importantly, say the investigators, this association was even evident in never-smokers and was still evident after adjustment for smoking status and number of years smoking. This, they add, indicates "that our results are not primarily confounded by smoking".

26 Feb 2012

Seven scientists aim to make strides in predicting and preventing preterm birth

With the help of funding from the March of Dimes, researchers from five states and Canada are seeking answers to questions such as how cellular-level processes that control uterine muscles may affect preterm labor, the causes of preeclampsia, and how air pollution may affect pregnancy and preterm birth - all with the goal of preventing preterm birth so more babies will get a healthy start in life.

24 Feb 2012

Environmental health risks low in the United Arab Emirates

By global standards, health risks caused by environmental factors are low in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), new studies by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers show.

23 Feb 2012

ESF-COST launch Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth initiative

Resolving the world's major challenges whether climate change, environmental pollution, urbanisation, our ageing population or resource scarcity requires a sweeping shift in our approach to sustainability research and education, a group of leading scientists told European policy makers today during the launch of their report "Responses to Environmental and Societal Challenges for our Unstable Earth" (RESCUE).

17 Feb 2012

Clinton to announce 5-year initiative to cut pollutants; Program could have positive public health impact

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is set to announce on Thursday morning a five-year initiative among the U.S. and five other countries -- Canada, Sweden, Mexico, Ghana and Bangladesh -- to cut pollutants that contribute to global warming, the Washington Post reports.

17 Feb 2012

Air pollution raises risk of stroke and cognitive decline

According to data from two studies published in the Archives of Internal Medicine exposure to air pollution may have serious cognitive and cardiovascular health consequences, even at levels currently deemed acceptable by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

15 Feb 2012

Study: Short-term exposure to major air pollutants may increase risk of MI

Short-term exposure (for up to 7 days) to all major air pollutants, with the exception of ozone, is significantly associated with an increased risk of heart attack, according to a review and meta-analysis of previous studies appearing in the February 15 issue of JAMA.

15 Feb 2012

Children living near coal-tar-sealed pavement likely to ingest PAHs

Children living near coal-tar-sealed pavement are likely to receive a far higher dose of carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from incidental ingestion of house dust than do children living near unsealed pavement, and that dose is more than two times higher than the PAH dose children are estimated to receive from food.

14 Feb 2012

E-cars in China could be more harmful to health than gasoline vehicles

Electric cars have been heralded as environmentally friendly, but findings from University of Tennessee, Knoxville, researchers show that electric cars in China have an overall impact on pollution that could be more harmful to health than gasoline vehicles.

14 Feb 2012

Radiation induces testicular cancer in male fetuses

Male fetuses of mothers that are exposed to radiation during early pregnancy may have an increased chance of developing testicular cancer, according to a study in mice at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

14 Feb 2012

Air pollution may accelerate cognitive decline in older women

A large, prospective study led by a researcher at Rush University Medical Center indicates that chronic exposure to particulate air pollution may accelerate cognitive decline in older adults.

14 Feb 2012