Feature Channels: Pollution

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New research reveals that sulfur dioxide, a major contributor to air pollution, is removed from the air by concrete surfaces.

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The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) warns today that government agencies must not become complacent in the effort to provide clean air to all citizens.

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Cornell University materials scientists and bioelectrochemical engineers may have created an innovative, cost-competitive electrode material for cleaning pollutants in wastewater.

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Kansas State University researchers published a study in Frontiers in Environmental Science that showed Manganese relates differently than its cancer-causing cousin, arsenic, to dissolved organic matter in groundwater. Researchers say more studies are need to understand the relationship.

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Australian scientists have paved the way for carbon neutral fuel with the development of a new efficient catalyst that converts carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air into synthetic natural gas in a ‘clean’ process using solar energy.

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High ozone levels and a quickly growing population are making it tough to implement regulations to reduce pollution, says a Cal State Los Angeles professor.

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One day in December of 2015, bound for a remote ice camp in the interior of Antarctica, Scripps Institution of Oceanography doctoral student Ryan Scott boarded a ski-equipped LC-130 turboprop transport plane at McMurdo Station at the south tip of Ross Island. It was austral summer and the temperature outside hovered around -4 degrees Celsius.

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Several critical periods over a human life span – including before birth -- determine when individuals are the most susceptible to environmental toxicants. Researchers will gather at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania this Monday to discuss these “Windows of Susceptibility."

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Wildfires are major polluters. Their plumes are three times as dense with aerosol-forming fine particles as previously believed. For the first time, researchers have flown an orchestra of modern instruments through brutishly turbulent wildfire plumes to measure emissions in real time. They have also exposed other never before measured toxins.

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UIC receives NSF grant to develop high school programs to study urban 'heavy metals' pollution in Chicago.

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More than five trillion pieces of plastic debris are estimated to be in our oceans, though many are impossible to see with the naked eye.

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A Northwestern University-led research team has discovered an inexpensive and renewable material that rapidly removes PFOA, a highly toxic pollutant, from water. The treatment effectively eliminates the micropollutant, which has plagued several U.S. communities' water supplies last year.

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For World Oceans Day – celebrated today across the globe – WCS launches the 30-Day Plastics Challenge to reduce use of single-use disposable plastics, and to bring attention to the fact that, by some estimates, a staggering 5 trillion pieces of plastic are currently floating in the world’s oceans.

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The Center for Carbon Removal, in partnership with Arizona State University and several other research institutions, launched a new industrial innovation initiative this week with the goal of developing solutions that transform waste carbon dioxide in the air into valuable products and services.

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The American Thoracic Society is extremely disappointed that President Trump has announced his decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement to address climate change. This agreement was signed by nearly every nation on Earth in recognition of our shared responsibility to solve this global environmental and public health crisis.

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By swapping solar photovoltaics for coal, the US could prevent 51,999 premature deaths a year, potentially making as much as $2.5 million for each life saved. A team from Michigan Technological University calculated US deaths per kilowatt hour per year for coal related to air pollution-related diseases associated with burning coal.

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Seven years after the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers embark on new expedition to the Gulf to monitor impacts on deep sea corals

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In the western United States 160,000 abandoned mines contaminate soils in the region. Researchers hope to solve this problem with biochar, a charcoal-like substance that can reduce the toxic consequences of mining for metals.

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Oleo Sponge could make oil spill cleanup more efficient.

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Scientists have confirmed that exposure to coal combustion residuess lead to higher levels of trace elements in yellow-bellied sliders, a freshwater turtle native to the Southeastern U.S.

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New research from the University of Cincinnati (UC) reveals that residents of the Mid-Ohio River Valley had higher than normal levels of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) based on blood samples collected over a 22-year span. The exposure source was likely from drinking water contaminated by industrial discharges upriver. This is the first study of PFOA serum concentrations in U.S. residents in the 1990s.

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In an ATS 2017 International Conference first, respiratory health professionals and patients joined other conference attendees at a rally near the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23 to voice their concerns about recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air. Also participating in the rally was U.S. senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE).WASHINGTON, DC – May 24, 2017 – In an ATS 2017 International Conference first, respiratory health professionals and patients joined other conference attendees at a rally near the Capitol on Tuesday, May 23 to voice their concerns about recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air. Also participating in the rally was U.S. senators Edward Markey (D-MA) and Tom Carper (D-DE). Since its inception in 1905,

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Researchers Develop Novel Structure for a High-Efficiency Catalytic Converter Aimed at Boosting Automobile Manufacturers’ Ability to Meet Stringent Vehicle Emissions Standards

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First, diesel vehicles tainted their reputation with soot particles, then high nitric oxide emissions. So are owners of new gasoline cars environmentally friendly? Not always, says a new study led by Empa scientists: some direct-injection gasoline engines emit just as many soot particles as unfiltered diesel cars did in the past. Particle filters can remedy this.

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A new study has found that children, especially boys, whose mothers were exposed to higher levels of outdoor particulate air pollution at the same time that they were very stressed were most likely to develop asthma by age six. The study was presented at the 2017 American Thoracic Society International Conference.

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High levels of air pollution over time may get in the way of a good night’s sleep, according to new research presented at the ATS 2017 International Conference. “Prior studies have shown that air pollution impacts heart health and affects breathing and lung function, but less is known about whether air pollution affects sleep,” said lead author Martha E. Billings, MD, MSc, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington. “We thought an effect was likely given that air pollution causes upper airway irritation, swelling and congestion, and may also affect the central nervous system and brain areas that control breathing patterns and sleep.”

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A new white paper estimates the climate impacts of the budget request President Trump is expected to make on May 23. Analyzing Trump’s Budget Blueprint, the study finds the changes in federal spending would produce 1.8 million metric tons of additional GHG emissions in 2018.

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Children and teens exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollution have evidence of a specific type of DNA damage called telomere shortening, reports a study in the May Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine.

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Algal blooms deplete oxygen in lakes, produce toxins, and end up killing aquatic life in the lake. Researchers are tracing the role of bird feces, which are rich in phosphorus and nitrogen.

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On Tuesday, May 23, 2017, the American Thoracic Society will lead ATS members, pulmonary clinicians, researchers, and patient advocates in the ATS Rally on Capitol Hill: Lab Coats for Lungs. The rally will bring attention to recent policies that threaten to undermine many of the ATS’s advocacy priorities including: research funding, tobacco regulation, affordable health care, and clean air.

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Man-made pollution in eastern China’s cities worsens when less dust blows in from the Gobi Desert, according to a new study. That’s because dust plays an important role in determining the air temperatures and thereby promoting winds to blow away man-made pollution. Less dust means the air stagnates, with man-made pollution sticking around longer.

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A new University of Wisconsin-Madison study shows that the electricity production associated with air conditioning causes emissions of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide to increase by hundreds to thousands of metric tons, or 3 to 4 percent per degree Celsius (or 1.8 degrees Fahrenheit).

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Residents of older, denser, lower-income neighborhoods and smaller, multifamily homes in Southern California can more easily access commonly frequented sites such as grocery stores, restaurants, clothing stores and gas stations, according to a recent report from the University of California, Irvine.

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Scientists have identified two factors that affect the accumulation of a radioactive contaminant in waterfowl.

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Sac State and Keep California Beautiful will work to develop a model for colleges and universities across the U.S.

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As of October 2017, newly launched car models will have to pass more stringent exhaust gas tests in the EU and in Switzerland. The new test method includes measuring drives in actual traf-fic. Empa already tested currently available cars with the new method – with alarming results.

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Climate change is predicted to cause a series of maladies for world oceans including heating up, acidification, and the loss of oxygen. A newly published study published online in the April 24 edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences entitled, “Ocean warming since 1982 has expanded the niche of toxic algal blooms in the North Atlantic and North Pacific Oceans,” demonstrates that one ocean consequence of climate change that has already occurred is the spread and intensification of toxic algae.

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The University of Washington-based Carbon Leadership Forum has published the results of its first benchmark study of embodied carbon, or the carbon emissions that occur when extracting, manufacturing and installing building materials. "In the design phrase, our data enables architects and engineers to use carbon, and other environmental impacts, as a performance criteria in addition to common criteria such as cost and strength, when specifying and selecting concrete," said the UW's Kate Simonen -- architect, structural engineer and UW associate professor of architecture, who leads the carbon forum.

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Ambulance response times in London worsen when air temperatures rise or fall beyond certain limits in summer and winter, according to a new study.

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Better medical responses to the accidental or intentional release of inhaled toxic chemicals are being developed, but the field faces considerable challenges, according to a new report by an international panel of experts. The report, “Chemical Inhalation Disasters: Biology of Lung Injury, Development of Novel Therapeutics, and Medical Preparedness,” has been published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society.

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The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill did $17.2 billion in damage to the natural resources in the Gulf of Mexico, a team of scientists recently found after a six-year study of the impact of the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

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Humans began measurably and negatively impacting water quality in the Chesapeake Bay in the first half of the 19th century, according to a study of eastern oysters by researchers at The University of Alabama.

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A new study, supported by the Minamata Convention’s Interim Secretariat hosted by UN Environment, reveals that women of childbearing age living in four Pacific Island countries have elevated levels of mercury in their bodies.

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Swarthmore College is leading the effort among colleges and universities to support carbon pricing as a matter of policy.

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The degree of pollution of rivers resulting from human activities is assessed using different biotic indices. The latter reflect the ecological status of a river based on the quantity and diversity of organisms selected as bioindicators, due to their ecological preferences and tolerance to pollution. This is the case of diatoms, algae consisting of a single cell surrounded by a silica skeleton, recommended by the European Union and Switzerland as one of the ideal bioindicators for rivers and lakes.

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Although human population studies have linked air pollution to chronic inflammation of nasal and sinus tissues, direct biological and molecular evidence for cause and effect has been scant. Now, Johns Hopkins researchers report that experiments in mice continually exposed to dirty air have revealed that direct biological effect.

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The Gulf of Mexico Coastal Ocean Observing System Regional Association (GCOOS-RA) welcomed four new voting members representing marine-related industries during the organization's Annual Meeting in New Orleans.