Feature Channels: Pollution

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More than 1,000 manatees died in 2021, due mostly to starvation. They consume about 100 pounds of seagrass a day, and this staple food is now scarce in Florida’s Indian River Lagoon (IRL). A new study shows that about 7,400 acres of seagrass were lost in the IRL between 1943 and 1994. Between 2011 and 2019, about 58 percent of seagrasses were lost. To help with recovery efforts, researchers are experimenting with growing seagrass in large tanks and then transplanting it into the IRL to try to restore some of the lost seagrass beds.

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A new high-temperature polymer fuel cell that operates at 80-160 degrees Celsius, with a higher-rated power density than state-of-the-art fuel cells, solves the longstanding problem of overheating, one of the most significant technical barriers to using medium-and heavy-duty fuel cells in transportation vehicles such as trucks and buses.

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Winters are warming faster than summers in North America, impacting everything from ecosystems to the economy. Global climate models indicate that this trend will continue in future winters but there is a level of uncertainty around the magnitude of warming. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire focused on the role of carbon dioxide emissions in this equation—looking at the effects of both high and low levels of carbon dioxide emissions on future climate warming scenarios—and found that a reduction in emissions could preserve almost three weeks of snow cover and below freezing temperatures.

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A new study from the Texas A&M University School of Public Health suggests the air quality inside homes may not stack up against air quality inside office buildings.

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A study is the first to unveil the prevalence of plastics in the entire water column of an offshore plastic accumulation zone in the southern Atlantic Ocean and implicates the ocean interior as a crucial pool of ‘missing’ plastics. Results show that small microplastics are critical, underexplored and integral to the oceanic plastic inventory. In addition, findings show that weak ocean current systems contribute to the formation of small microplastics hotspots at depth, suggesting a higher encounter rate for subsurface particle feeders like zooplankton.

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To promote clean cities, Marcy Rood built a network of organizations and individuals at DOE and at Argonne. She was recognized as a Clean Fuels Champion for her long-term commitment to educate and facilitate change, one fleet and one consumer at a time.

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With funding from COAST, these CSU faculty members launched new research projects in response to the October 2021 Huntington Beach oil spill.

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Jan. 31, 2022 – Today, the Environmental Protection Agency took an important step towards reducing mercury and other toxic air pollutants in America’s air. The EPA released a proposed ruling stating that it is “necessary and appropriate” for them to require further reductions in mercury and air toxic emissions from industrial point sources of pollution in the U.S.

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New study Amazon forests capture high levels of atmospheric mercury pollution from artisanal gold mining published in Nature Communications. An international team of researchers documented substantial mercury accumulation in soils, biomass, and resident songbirds in some of the Amazon’s most protected and biodiverse areas.

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New research shows that chemical reactivity, seasonality and distribution of airborne particulate matter are critical metrics when considering air pollution’s impact on human health.

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The Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment (CITE) at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute will engage in research to advance understanding of the freight transportation industry in conjunction with the Super Truck 3 program at the U.S. Department of Energy.

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Under the intensity of a prolonged pandemic, the world finds an ever-growing and seemingly never-ending waste stream of used surgical masks, plastic face shields, and medical gloves and gowns. Cornell University engineers now offer a solution to sustainably reroute the discarded material.

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Researchers published the first study in the Chesapeake Bay watershed to evaluate the combined effects of changes to climate and land use on runoff and pollutants in a rapidly developing watershed that is a tributary to the bay.

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Optimizing electric vehicle charging capabilities could help the transportation industry reduce its carbon footprint. A new research program coming to the University of Delaware in summer 2022 will challenge students to find such solutions.

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Chula Engineering professor proposes ways to manage used masks and ATK test kits by choosing reusable masks, separating infectious waste, and preparing it properly before discarding it to be destroyed in a non-polluting disposal system to reduce overflowing waste problem.

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New York, NY – Jan. 26, 2022 –This week, 17 leading medical organizations and U.S. public health leaders submitted an amicus brief to the US Supreme Court in the case West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency, urging the justices to affirm the agency’s authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change and have been proven to inflict major health problems.

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It is unlikely that a cancer-causing chemical inside your car can be dusted or wiped way, according to new UC Riverside research.

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In a large-scale fundraising campaign, popular YouTubers like Mister Beast and Mark Rober are currently trying to rid the oceans of almost 14,000 tonnes of plastic waste. That's about 0.15 per cent of the amount that ends up in the oceans every year. But it's not just our waters that are full of plastic. A new study shows that the spread of nanoplastic through the air is a more widespread problem than previously thought.

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The navigation software group HERE is taking over a software tool developed by Migros and Empa and making it available worldwide. The tool can be used to calculate the CO2 emissions of trucks with different powertrain systems for any route. It can show logistics companies worldwide on which routes hydrogen, electric, biogas or biodiesel trucks can be used and how low their CO2 emissions are compared to diesel-powered trucks.

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For the first time, researchers can infer levels of nitrogen dioxide on scales as small as a square kilometer thanks to a new method developed in the lab of Randall Martin.

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Each classification of water can be used differently, preserving this precious resource

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Researchers from the University of Delaware are joining forces with colleagues at the University of Kansas and Pittsburg State University to develop new molecules that can be used to make a new generation of environmentally friendly plastics.

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A paper published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society presents research discussing how new air quality standards recommended by the American Thoracic Society have the potential to prevent more illness and death than standards adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). This study is part of the annual ATS/Marron Institute Health of the Air report.

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A pilot study in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters reports that a single clothes dryer could discharge up to 120 million microfibers annually — considerably more than from washing machines.

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If researchers could find a way to chemically convert carbon dioxide into fuels or other products, they might make a major dent in greenhouse gas emissions.

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Microplastics are tiny plastic pieces that can be found in the ocean and atmosphere. Scientists’ current understanding of microplastics is that they are widespread globally, but the impact they have on ecosystems and humans is largely unknown. Current technologies for identifying microplastics are also limited, but a project led by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s Chemical Sensors Lab is moving researchers closer to an in-field microplastics sensor that measures the amount of plastic particles in water.

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A new IIASA-led study shows, for the first time, how circular waste management systems can help to effectively curb emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants.

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Large wildfires and severe heat events are happening more often at the same time, worsening air pollution across the western United States, a study led by Washington State University researchers has found.

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Nearly 2 million new cases of pediatric asthma every year may be caused by a traffic-related air pollutant, a problem particularly important in big cities around the world, according to a new study published today.

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Researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology have observed in a thorough field study that sea spray pollutes the air in coastal areas with these potentially harmful chemicals, including perfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs).

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Researchers reporting in ACS’ Environmental Science & Technology Letters have detected a broad range of emerging synthetic antioxidants, called hindered phenol and sulfur antioxidants, in dust from electronic waste (e-waste) recycling workshops, possibly posing risks for the workers inside.

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Reusing human excreta is an opportunity to create fertilizer and reduce greenhouse gases

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University of Washington researchers investigated disparities in exposure to six major air pollutants in 1990, 2000 and 2010 by comparing models of air pollution levels to census data. While overall pollutant concentrations have decreased since 1990, people of color are still more likely to be exposed to all six pollutants than white people, regardless of income level, across the continental United States.

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New research, led by the University of Bristol and Peking University, has discovered that emissions coming from China of the ozone-destroying chemical, dichloromethane, have more than doubled over the last decade.

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An international team of researchers explored how focusing either on the short- or long-term warming effects of methane can affect climate mitigation policies and dietary transitions in agriculture.

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A multi-institution research team has discovered a catalyst that converts methane, the primary component of natural gas and a major greenhouse gas, into ethane and ethylene that can be turned into plastics and resins.

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A new study shows that people who do vigorous physical activities, like jogging or playing competitive sports, in areas with higher air pollution may show less benefit from that exercise when it comes to certain markers of brain disease. The markers examined in the study included white matter hyperintensities, which indicate injury to the brain’s white matter, and gray matter volume. Larger gray matter volumes and smaller white matter hyperintensity volumes are markers of overall better brain health. The research is published in the December 8, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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Increasing adoption of certain agricultural practices can help combat climate change, according to a new report by researchers from Rutgers and the University of Maine. The study explores how New Jersey’s plants and soils can help to absorb and store carbon dioxide from greenhouse gas emissions.

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RUDN University economists have found out how consumers feel about ecolabeling in Russia. It turned out that consumers do not pay attention to eco-labels, and manufacturers mislead them, so in Russia ecolabeling does not contribute to the sustainable development of the economy. Economists have suggested using a smartphone app to help buyers verify the authenticity of eco-stamps.

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There are more than 300,000 septic systems permitted in six counties adjacent to the 156-mile-long Indian River Lagoon (IRL) in Florida. Researchers assessed water quality and measured stable nitrogen isotopes in groundwater, surface water, and macrophyte tissue to identify nitrogen sources impacting the lagoon.

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Filtering and removing the microplastics from water is a difficult task, but acoustic waves may provide a solution. Researchers have developed a filtration prototype that uses two speakers to create acoustic waves. The force produced by the waves separates the microplastics from the water by creating pressure on a tube of inflowing water. As the tube splits into three channels, the microplastic particles are pressed toward the center as the clean water flows toward the two outer channels.

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