Feature Channels: Environmental Health

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Another reason to worry about climate change: Expanding areas of arid land, air pollution, and greater exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation all present potential health hazards to your eyes, according to Sheila West, Ph.D., vice chair for research at the Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University. In October, West discussed these hazards at a symposium on the health consequences of climate change.

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Two studies by Dartmouth researchers and their colleagues shed new light on mercury pollution in the waters of the northeastern United States.

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In October, Macy's joined a growing list of major retail stores that have pledged to stop selling furniture containing flame retardants, which research suggests could cause developmental problems. Despite the trend, however, it could take years before widespread exposure declines. And now, a study in ACS' journal Environmental Science & Technology has revealed more bad news: Infants could potentially be affected the most. The report also looks at potential exposure routes.

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A method of cleaning drinking water with light is being tested and developed at The University of Alabama with the hope of creating a product available for homes and businesses.

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Current El Niño conditions in the Pacific Ocean have created high water temperatures that are seriously damaging coral reefs, including those on Christmas Island, which may be the epicenter for what could become a global coral bleaching event.

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What do mercury levels in dolphins say about mercury levels in humans? Quite a bit, according to a new study by scientists at FAU Harbor Branch, which sheds light on the potential dangers of consuming locally caught seafood. This is the first time that researchers have closed the loop between marine mammal and human health, by taking findings from their research and applying them to explore the potential risks facing humans living in the same region.

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A larger portion of Africa is currently at high risk for malaria transmission than previously predicted, according to a new University of Florida mapping study.

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While Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is in Paris hammering out the details of the global fight against climate change, a new study out of the University of Montreal and the Trottier Energy Institute shows that Canadian attitudes are somewhat ambivalent.

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Women’s equality is essential for the health of the environment and our future wellbeing, according to a new book launched by Friends of the Earth on 24th November.

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In a study published in Science today, PNNL scientists and their colleagues show that nations’ pledges to reduce greenhouse gases have the potential to reduce the probability of the highest levels of warming, and increase the probability of limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius.

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Colorado State University’s Diana Wall and coauthors make the case to integrate soil biodiversity research into human health studies in a paper published online in Nature November 23.

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If you want to keep away blood-sucking insects, DEET products are your best bet according to a recent study from New Mexico State University. Researchers also discovered a certain perfume performed better at protecting against mosquitoes than some commercial insect repellents.

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Discovery greatly expands the known distribution of the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome, which has decimated bat populations in North America

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To understand and harness the capabilities of Earth’s microbial ecosystems, nearly fifty scientists from Department of Energy national laboratories, universities, and research institutions propose a national effort called the Unified Microbiome Initiative.

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Researchers have published the first study of levels of parabens in human cord blood samples. The researchers found that a cohort of pregnant women in Brooklyn predominantly of Caribbean- and African-American descent had the highest level worldwide of methyl paraben and propyl paraben.

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Studying mice with a variety of viral infections, scientists at Washington University School of Medicine​ in St. Louis have demonstrated a way to dial up the body’s innate immune defenses while simultaneously attacking a protein that many viruses rely on to replicate.

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L.A's CicLAvia, one-day events in which neighborhood streets are closed to motor vehicles so that people can walk and cycle freely, significantly reduces air pollution along the route and even on other streets in the communities where the event is held. Events like this could benefit other cities.

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In polluted environments, diesel fumes may be reducing the availability of almost half the most common flower odours that bees use to find their food, research has found.

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The effect of radiation exposure related to the nuclear accidents that took place in Fukushima, Japan, and Chernobyl, Ukraine on thyroid cancer risk, whether dietary habits influence the risk of developing thyroid cancer, and recent study results with a triiodothyronine (T3) analog in an uncommon form of thyroid disease are all topics featured in oral presentations delivered at the 15th International Thyroid Congress, hosted by the American Thyroid Association, October 18-23, 2015, in Orlando (Lake Buena Vista), Florida.

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A newly studied class of water contaminants that is known to be toxic and hormone disrupting to marine animals is present likely due in part to indirect effects of human activity.

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Prenatal exposure to a mixture of chemicals used in the oil and natural gas drilling technique known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, at levels found in the environment lowered sperm counts in male mice when they reached adulthood, according to a new study published in the Endocrine Society’s journal Endocrinology.

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Incarcerated youth who have suffered head injuries, traumatic experiences and mental illness diagnoses are more likely to abuse multiple inhalants, according to researchers at Georgia State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

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Thawing permafrost and contaminated sediment in marine coastal areas pose some of the greatest risks for the production of highly toxic methylmercury.

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Expectant mothers who live near active natural gas wells operated by the fracking industry in Pennsylvania are at an increased risk of giving birth prematurely and for having high-risk pregnancies, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.

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A team of researchers at Wayne State University have discovered that mothers with high levels of lead in their blood not only affect the fetal cells of their unborn children, but also their grandchildren. Their study, Multigenerational epigenetic inheritance in humans: DNA methylation changes associated with maternal exposure to lead can be transmitted to the grandchildren, was published online this week in Scientific Reports.

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Today, the Environmental Protection Agency announced a lower National Ambient Air Quality Standard for ozone of 70 parts per billion (ppb)/8-hours daily maximum concentration. While today’s announcement represents progress towards improving our nation’s air quality and the overall health of the American public, the selection of 70 ppb ignores the compelling evidence that a more protective standard is needed.

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Dramatic increases in exposure to toxic chemicals in the last four decades are threatening human reproduction and health, according to the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO).

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A new UW study that tested 65 wines from America's top four wine-producing states -- California, Washington, New York and Oregon -- found all but one have arsenic levels that exceed U.S. drinking water standards. But health risks from that naturally-occurring toxic element depend on how many other high-arsenic foods and beverages, such as apple juice, rice, or cereal bars, an individual person eats.

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A study led by U geography professor Kathryn Grace found that a pregnant woman's exposure to reduced precipitation and an increased number of hot days result in lower birth weight. A first of its kind, the study is the first time researchers utilized fine-resolution precipitation and temperature data alongside birth data to analyze how weather impacts birth weight. The study examined 70,000 births across two decades in 19 African countries.

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In a study published today in the journal Nature Climate Change, scientists from three universities show that products made in China are associated with significantly higher carbon dioxide emissions than the same products made elsewhere.

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Emerging evidence ties endocrine-disrupting chemical exposure to two of the biggest public health threats facing society – diabetes and obesity, according to the executive summary of an upcoming Scientific Statement issued today by the Endocrine Society.

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Mothers who are pregnant or have young children would be expected to be more concerned about protecting their offspring from environmental risks that are reported most in the news, but a new study raises doubts about that conventional wisdom.

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A University of Missouri study suggests that female mice exposed to environmental chemicals may cause decreases in their daughter’s metabolism and the amount of exercise they engage in later in life.

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In what is believed to be the largest, most detailed study of its kind in the United States, scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and elsewhere have confirmed that tiny chemical particles in the air we breathe are linked to an overall increase in risk of death.

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A recent study by a multi-disciplinary team of Baylor University researchers found that a popular herbicide does not appear to have a long-term, measurable impact on aquatic plant life.

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Fine particulate matter released from a variety of sources in Houston was associated with slight increased mortality risk from 2000 to 2011, according to research from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

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A new study of more than 300 women suggests that exposure to certain phthalates — substances commonly used in food packaging, personal-care and other everyday products — could be associated with miscarriage, mostly between 5 and 13 weeks of pregnancy.

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More than 15 million Americans live within one mile of unconventional oil and gas (UOG) operations that combine directional drilling and hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” to release natural gas from underground rock. Scientific studies still are inconclusive on the potential long-term effects on human development. Now, Susan C. Nagel and Christopher D. Kassotis, researchers with the University of Missouri, and national colleagues have conducted a review of research on health effects associated with UOG operations and concluded these activities have potential for environmental release of a complex mixture of endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) that could potentially harm human development and reproduction.

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Grenada, Spain's climate and layout is like that of many cities in the Mediterranean area, which has the highest occurrence of pollen allergies in the world. The researchers hope their efforts will lead to fantastic urban green spaces that don’t cause allergic reactions for 30% of the city’s population.

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Female mice exposed in utero, or in the womb, to low levels of arsenic through drinking water displayed signs of early puberty and became obese as adults, according to scientists from the National Institutes of Health. The finding is significant because the exposure level of 10 parts per billion used in the study is the current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard, or maximum allowable amount, for arsenic in drinking water. The study, which appeared online August 21 in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, serves as a good starting point for examining whether low-dose arsenic exposure could have similar health outcomes in humans.

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Dr. Stuart Shalat, an expert on pollution and its effect on children’s health, has joined the School of Public Health at Georgia State University as a professor and director of the Division of Environmental Health.

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The use of Bisphenol A (BPA) in plastic has been on the decline amid growing concerns that the compound’s estrogen-mimicking properties may cause dangerous hormonal disruptions. Despite the reduction, BPA remains a ubiquitous substance, found in thousands of products. Cashiers who frequently handle thermal printed receipts may be exposed to higher levels of BPA than the general population. For the first time, researchers are studying this workforce segment to measure how their exposure may differ from that of the general population.

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The trace amounts of toxic substances used to make plastics don’t contaminate the food or beverage products they contain at a significant level and pose no immediate threat to consumers, according to recent Iowa State University research. But the plastics may create environmental problems years after they’ve been used.

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Post-doctoral Researcher Yun-Ya Yang, working with Associate Professor Gurpal Toor, studied areas along rural and urban parts of the Alafia River, in Hillsborough County, near Tampa. They found 17 pharmaceuticals. But they say these types of chemicals are not confined to the Alafia River or urban-area rivers in Florida.

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Researchers at the University of Georgia’s Savannah River Ecology Laboratory have found that a contaminated mixture called Aroclor 1268 has spread beyond a former chemical plant, now a Superfund site, near Brunswick.

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Jet fuel, when combined with sustained noise, may cause brain-related injury and lead to multiple conditions.

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The liver is unique among organs in its ability to regenerate after being damaged. Exactly how it repairs itself remained a mystery until recently, when researchers supported by the National Institutes of Health discovered a type of cell in mice essential to the process. The researchers also found similar cells in humans.