According to the World Health Organization, antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security, and development today. A growing number of infections—such as pneumonia, tuberculosis, gonorrhoea, and salmonellosis—are becoming harder to treat as the antibiotics used to treat them become less effective. Antibiotic resistance leads to longer hospital stays, higher…
Air pollution—especially ozone air pollution which is increasing with climate change—accelerates the progression of emphysema of the lung, according to a new study led by the University of Washington, Columbia University and the University at Buffalo. While previous studies have shown a clear connection of air pollutants with some heart and lung diseases, the new…
The Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) warns that air pollution exposure affects many organs beyond the lungs, posing a great risk to health. Outdoor fine particulate matter exposure is the fifth leading risk factor for death in the world, accounting for 4.2 million deaths and 103 million disability-adjusted life years lost according to the…
Alarming levels of some of the most toxic chemicals, including brominated dioxins and brominated flame retardants, were found in consumer products made of recycled plastics sold in Argentina, Brazil, Cambodia, Canada, the EU, India, Japan and Nigeria. Dioxins were measured in children’s toys and hair accessories at levels comparable to those found in hazardous wastes,…
Kale, on List for First Time in a Decade, Ranks 3rd on Dirty Dozen™ Kale has higher pesticide residues than nearly all other produce found on supermarket shelves, according to the Environmental Working Group’s 2019 Dirty Dozen™. EWG releases the Dirty Dozen as part of its annual Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™, which analyzes…
The most comprehensive and rigorous assessment on the state of the environment completed by the UN in the last five years was published recently, warning that damage to the planet is so dire that people’s health will be increasingly threatened unless urgent action is taken. The report, which was produced by 250 scientists and experts…
Meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement could save about a million lives a year worldwide by 2050 through reductions in air pollution alone. The latest estimates from leading experts also indicate that the value of health gains from climate action would be approximately double the cost of mitigation policies at global level, and the…
A new study, “Toxic Soup: Dioxins in Plastic Toys”, shows alarming levels of very toxic brominated dioxins in eight toys and one hair clip made of recycled plastic stemming from electronic waste. Dioxin content in toys from Czechia, Germany, France, Portugal, Argentina, India and Nigeria was comparable to the levels found in previous studies in…
Leading Scientists Call for EPA to Ban All Organophosphate Pesticides and Urge Comprehensive Steps to Protect Children On October 24 leading toxics experts released a scientific paper in the journal PLOS Medicine warning of the dangers widely-used agricultural pesticides pose to children’s health and development. The authors found that exposure to organophosphate pesticides, even…
From 21 to 27 October 2018 the international lead poisoning prevention week of action will take place, with a particular focus on eliminating lead paint. Lead poisoning is preventable, yet the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation has estimated that, based on 2016 data, lead exposure accounted for 540 000 deaths and 13.9 million years…