• Human antibiotic use up 36% this century; antibiotic use in livestock to grow 67% by 2030. • Up to 75% of antibiotics used in aquaculture may be lost into the surrounding environment. • Antimicrobial resistance one of six emerging areas of concern highlight in UN Environment Frontiers Report Growing antimicrobial resistance linked to discharge…
Allergens are widespread, but highly variable in U.S. homes, according to the nation’s largest indoor allergen study to date. Researchers from the National Institutes of Health report that over 90 percent of homes had three or more detectable allergens, and 73 percent of homes had at least one allergen at elevated levels. The findings were…
In a report issued on November 6, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that 98% of domestic and 90% of imported foods tested in FY 2015 were compliant with federal pesticide residue limits. Pesticides combat pests that may affect crop yield in human and animal food crops. Certain trace amounts of pesticides, or pesticide…
• Air pollution is the biggest contributor, linked to 6.5 million deaths in 2015, while water pollution (1.8 million deaths) and workplace-related pollution (0.8 million deaths) pose the next largest risks. • Almost all pollution-related deaths (92%) occur in low- and middle-income countries, and in rapidly industrializing countries (such as India, Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Madagascar…
Industrial food and farming systems are making people sick in a variety of ways, and are generating staggering human and economic costs – according to a major new report from the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems (IPES-Food). Decisive action can be taken on the basis of what we know, the Panel found,…
Innovative study finds a well-intentioned home heating policy contributed to higher pollution in Northern China, shaving years off hundreds of millions of lives. There are currently an estimated 4.5 billion people around the world exposed to levels of particulate air pollution that are at least twice what the World Health Organization (WHO) considers safe. Yet,…
The Health and Environment Alliance (HEAL) has launched the report Hidden Price Tags: How ending fossil fuel subsidies would benefit our health providing the first-ever comparison of fossil fuel subsidies and the costs to health associated with air pollution from fossil fuels. ● New HEAL report shows how fossil fuel subsidies support an industry that…
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced a new comprehensive plan for tobacco and nicotine regulation that will serve as a multi-year roadmap to better protect kids and significantly reduce tobacco-related disease and death. The approach places nicotine, and the issue of addiction, at the center of the agency’s tobacco regulation efforts. The goal…
Dear EarthTalk: Why do antibacterial soaps and other products with triclosan get such a bad rap from health and environmental advocates? — Wanda Caravan, Hartford, CT Antibacterial soap products aid in killing bacteria. But rumors that they are no more effective in doing so than traditional soap and water, coupled with concerns that such products…
TOXMAP® is a Geographic Information System (GIS) from the Division of Specialized Information Services of the US National Library of Medicine® (NLM) that uses maps of the United States and Canada to help users visually explore data primarily from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) and Superfund Program. There are two…