Pollution News and Research

Latest Pollution News and Research

New technology can detect toxins in a person's breath

Breathing. Anyone reading this article is doing it right now. But what chemicals are we breathing in, and out? A group of Virginia Tech College of Engineering researchers has published a paper in the journal Environmental Science & Technology that details how to learn just that, using microelectromechanical systems to focus on toxins and everyday impurities that enter the body through the air we intake.

8 Nov 2011

Exposure to air pollution may increase risk of RA

Exposure to some types of air pollution, especially sulfur dioxide — one of the six most common pollutants in the United States — is associated with a somewhat increased risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis, according to research presented this week at the American College of Rheumatology Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago.

7 Nov 2011

Replacing short auto trips with bicycle trips would yield major health benefits

Cutting out short auto trips and replacing them with mass transit and active transport would yield major health benefits, according to a study just published in the scientific journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

3 Nov 2011

Potential role for UV light exposure, vitamin D levels in chronic digestive conditions

New research points to a potential role for UV light exposure and vitamin D levels in chronic digestive conditions.

1 Nov 2011

UV light exposure and vitamin D play a potential role in chronic digestive conditions

New research points to a potential role for UV light exposure and vitamin D levels in chronic digestive conditions; Crohn's disease, a serious inflammatory condition in the small intestine; and ulcerative colitis (UC), which similarly affects the colon.

31 Oct 2011

Sewage provides perfect ecosystem for studying diversity of uncharacterized viral populations

Raw sewage provides a perfect ecosystem for studying the diversity of viral populations that remain uncharacterized. This is one of the principal conclusions of a study published in the journal mBio by a team comprising experts from the UB's Laboratory of Water and Food Viral Pollution, Washington University and the University of Pittsburgh, under the direction of James Pipas.

22 Oct 2011

Climate change could be detrimental to global health, conference attendees say

Environmental health experts, scientists and government officials attending a conference in London sponsored by the British Medical Journal on Monday "issued a statement warning that climate change could not only bring a global health catastrophe but could threaten global stability and security as well, a journal release said," UPI.com reports.

19 Oct 2011

Potential new protein target for pulmonary hypertension

A protein critical to development appears to have a grave impact on lungs exposed to smoking and air pollution, researchers report.

18 Oct 2011

UEA scientists to assess future impact of global warming on allergic diseases

A new study by an international team of scientists including the University of East Anglia (UEA) will assess the future impact of global warming on allergic diseases.

18 Oct 2011

FDA may be lax when it comes to laws on sea food safety: Study

Due to the last year’s BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a new study contends that current federal standards underestimate the risk to pregnant women and children of cancer-causing contaminants that can accumulate in seafood from such spills.

16 Oct 2011

Broken biogeochemical cycle of phosphorus will impact food security

Should the periodic table bear a warning label in the 21st century or be revised with a lesson about elemental supply and demand? If so, that lesson could start with one element considered a staple of life - but growing endangered, like the Asiatic dhole - phosphorus.

15 Oct 2011

Indoor cooking stoves kill 2 million annually, NIH study says

Pollution from indoor cooking stoves, typically open fires that that burn solid fuels such as wood, charcoal or dung, kills two million globally each year, scientists at NIH said in a study published in the journal Science on Thursday, Agence France-Presse reports.

15 Oct 2011

Lifestyle factors and nutritional patterns reduce early causes of childhood allergy

Today, about one in four European children suffer from allergy, which makes this disease the non-infectious epidemic of the 21st century. Evidence suggests that lifestyle factors and nutritional patterns, such as breastfeeding, help to reduce the early symptoms of allergy.

15 Oct 2011

Three-step strategy for healthy bones and strong muscles

For this year's World Osteoporosis Day, the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) is releasing a 24-page report promoting a three-step strategy for healthy bones and strong muscles.

14 Oct 2011

Cardinal Health joins Practice Greenhealth

To further bolster its commitment to environmental sustainability, Cardinal Health today announced that it has joined Practice Greenhealth, a membership organization for institutions and businesses in the health care field who are engaged in reducing their environmental footprints.

30 Sep 2011

WHO releases global survey of worst, best cities for air pollution

"Cities in Iran, India, Pakistan and the capital of Mongolia rank among the worst on the planet for air pollution, while those in the United States and Canada are among the best, according to the first global survey released Monday by the World Health Organization," the Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle reports.

28 Sep 2011

Scientists warn about climate-induced increase in death rates over the next 60 years

Scientists are warning that death rates linked to climate change will increase in several European countries over the next 60 yrs.

28 Sep 2011

New research on public perceptions about cancer

New research on public perceptions about cancer reveals that 50-year-old ideas still hold sway while many current lifestyle messages are not getting through.

28 Sep 2011

Novartis files marketing authorisation with EMA for NVA237 to treat COPD

Sosei Group Corporation, today announces that NVA237 (glycopyrronium bromide), a long-acting muscarinic antagonist (LAMA) being investigated as a once-daily treatment for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), has been filed by Novartis for marketing authorisation with the European Medicines Agency (EMA), under the brand-name Seebri Breezhaler, triggering a $5m milestone payment to Sosei.

27 Sep 2011

Study finds link between increased respiratory symptoms and lower altitude areas of river valleys

The research will be presented tomorrow at the European Respiratory Society's (ERS) Annual Congress in Amsterdam. The ERS Congress will officially open today. In the first study of its kind, researchers from the UK aimed to assess the impact of weather, pollution and geography on the symptoms of people with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

26 Sep 2011