HomeEnvironmental Health
Environmental Health
Legal tussle over fluoride in US tap water and link to IQ
A US courtroom is the battleground for a scientific clash between experts over a report suggesting fluoride can affect brain development, and whether the...
Premature birth rate may be linked to plastics – US study
Premature births are rising worldwide, and according to researchers, the cause could be synthetic chemicals called phthalates – used in clear food packaging and...
New York health advisory lists social media an environmental toxin
New York City is the first city to issue an advisory officially designating social media as an environmental toxin.
Last week its Department of Health...
100 times more nanoplastics in water bottles than thought – US study
Scientists say the average bottle of water contains 240 000 pieces of cancer-causing nanoplastics – 100 times more than previously thought, and a fact...
US study flags BP spikes from traffic pollution
Recent research has suggested that not only does bumper-to-bumper traffic come at the cost of wasted fuel and environmental pollution, it also results in...
Air pollution linked to diabetes in landmark Indian study
A seven-year study of 12 000 residents of Delhi and Chennai – the first of its kind in the country – has found links between...
Lead pollutants more harmful than thought – Norwegian/Columbian study
Lead is significantly more harmful to the health of children and adults across the world than previously thought, suggests a modelling study presented to...
Kissing your pet can put you at risk of animal-borne diseases
While owning a pet is linked to numerous mental and physical health benefits, pets can also harbour infectious diseases that can sometimes be passed...
Study finds microplastics in heart tissues, pre- and post-surgery
While examinations for microplastics in our innermost organs that aren’t directly exposed to the environment are still limited, researchers doing a pilot study of...
Global analysis ties pollution to antibiotic resistance
Curbing air pollution could help mitigate the impact of antibiotic resistance, say scientists from China and the UK after their modelling study found significant...
Gas stoves’ benzene fumes tied to higher blood cell cancer risk – US analysis
Millions of people worldwide – including in South Africa – use natural gas or propane-burning cooktops and ovens, but now researchers have found that...
Pollution impact far-reaching from reduced sperm count to cancer: UK study
Recent research, drawing from more than 35 000 studies over the past decade, has linked air pollution to reduced sperm count and damaged foetal...
Pollution escalates osteoporosis in women – US study
Researchers have found that bone loss occurs twice as fast among women living in areas with higher air pollution, particularly postmenopausal women, and that,...
Fewer food allergies for children living with animals – Japanese study
Children exposed to pet cats or indoor dogs during foetal development or early infancy tended to have fewer food allergies than other children, according...
E. coli from raw meat causes one in 14 UTIs – US study
Undercooked meat may be responsible for hundreds of thousands of urinary tract infections (UTIs) every year, scientists have warned, with recent research showing that...
Childhood lead exposure possibly linked to lower IQ levels – US study
Researchers have calculated that exposure to car exhausts from leaded petrol during childhood stole a collective 824m IQ points from more than 170m Americans...
Mould, the silent killer, under-reported and misunderstood
Allergic reactions to fungi were described 300 years ago, but the importance of allergy to fungi has been underestimated for a long time, according...
‘Forever chemicals’ detected in all umbilical cord blood in 40 studies
In a collective examination of nearly 30 000 samples, scientists uncovered some “disturbing” findings, detecting toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS chemicals) in every...
One in six people dying prematurely from air pollution
Pollution worldwide is increasing, and along with that, causing more health issues for populations around the globe. Side-effects of exposure are many, varied and...
Microplastics found in human blood for first time – Dutch study
Microplastic pollution has been detected in human blood for the first time, with Dutch scientists finding the tiny particles in almost 80% of the...
Heavy wildfire smoke may increase risk of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest
The natural cycle of large-scale wildfires is accelerating and exposing both rural and urban communities to wildfire smoke, according to the study. While adverse...
Air pollution's tiny particles may trigger non-fatal heart attacks
Transient exposure to air pollution's ultrafine particles may trigger the onset of nonfatal myocardial infraction, found a German study.
Myocardial infarction is a major form...
Global warming linked to likely increase in violent deaths
Rising temperatures caused by global heating are likely to increase deaths from road crashes, violence, suicides and drowning, according to a US data analysis....
Anxiety, depression and suicide risk linked to air pollution — first meta-analysis
The first systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence connecting air pollution reviewed study data from 16 countries and found support for the hypothesis of...
Study finds link between air pollution and bone health in India
Some of the effects of air pollution on health are well documented – lung cancer, stroke, respiratory diseases, and a long etcetera – but...
Australian wildfires spark worrying public health effects
Australia's devastating wildfires are causing serious public health effects, especially for those with underlying lung and heart conditions. Hospitals have also seen an increase...
Dramatic health benefits following air pollution reduction
A study by the Environmental Committee of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) reviewed interventions that have reduced air pollution at its source....
BPA levels in humans dramatically under-estimated — study
Researchers have developed a more accurate method of measuring bisphenol A (BPA) levels in humans and found that exposure to the endocrine-disrupting chemical is...
Study finds air-pollution's impact on health may be worse than thought
The number of health problems linked to air pollution could be far higher than previously thought. The Guardian reports that this is according to...
Aspirin may lessen adverse effects of air pollution
A study by a team of researchers from the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, and the Boston...
It was the dirty air that made me do it…
A cross-disciplinary study by Colorado State University researchers claims "strong links" between short-term exposure to air pollution and aggressive behaviour, in the form of...
For the planet, eating some meat better than going vegetarian
A diet that involved reducing animal food consumption by two-thirds – – generally had a lower climate and water footprint than the...
Significant link between environmental pollution and neuro-psychiatric disorders
A study led by University of Chicago researchers suggests a significant link between exposure to environmental pollution and an increase in the prevalence of...
PFAS chemicals passing through the placenta into the foetus
A study by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden shows PFAS industrial chemicals, which are used in many consumer products, pass through the placenta...
More babies born with congenital heart defects predicted
US researchers predict that a larger number of babies will be born with congenital heart defects between 2025 and 2035 due to their mothers'...
Air pollution as bad as smoking for miscarriage risk
Short-term exposure to elevated levels of air pollutants was associated with 16% higher risk for miscarriage, equivalent to the effect of smoking in first...
Extreme heat exacerbating global health risks — UN scientific report
Crop yields are declining. Tropical diseases like dengue fever are showing up in unfamiliar places, including in the US. Tens of millions of people...
Exposure to sunlight kills bacteria living in dust
Allowing sunlight in through windows can kill bacteria that live in dust, according to a study. Researchers at the University of Oregon found that...
Even low levels of air pollution linked to heart damage
People exposed to even low levels of air pollution are more likely to develop structural changes in the heart that can be a precursor...
Sooty air pollution particles reaching the placenta
Previous research has indicated links between pregnant mothers’ exposure to air pollution and premature birth, low birth weight, infant mortality and childhood respiratory problems....