Tag: human health

Weak Systems and Funding Gaps Jeopardize Drinking-Water and Sanitation in the Poorest Countries

The World Health Organization (WHO) and UN-Water sounded the alarm for an urgent increase in investment in strong drinking-water and sanitation systems.The call came as the international water sector meets in Stockholm...

WHO Calls for More Research into Microplastics and a Crackdown on Plastic Pollution

The World Health Organization (WHO) today calls for a further assessment of microplastics in the environment and their potential impacts on human health, following the release of an analysis of current research...

Australian Power Stations Among World’s Worst for Toxic Air Pollution

Power stations in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley and New South Wales’s Lake Macquarie region have been named on a list of the world’s biggest hotspots for toxic air pollution.A new report by Greenpeace,...

A Small Island With Big Plans: The Kingdom of Bahrain Commits to Environmental Sustainability

In June 2019, the Kingdom of Bahrain revealed its plans to ban plastic bags. The move took many by surprise. Ahmed Rajab, a photographer in Bahrain for the Gulf Daily News, is...

A Pretty Stream in Belgium Is so Polluted Its Water Could Be Used as Pesticide

The idyllic stream that meanders through the Flemish countryside has been called the most polluted stream in Europe.When you think of a polluted waterway, what do you envision? For me, a dark,...

EPA Releases Report Advising Communities to Prepare for Climate Change-Related Disasters

Policymakers at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) published a report in the Federal Register outlining how local communities should start planning for near-future catastrophes associated with climate change.As first reported by...

Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans ‘Costs up to $2.5bn a Year’

Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans costs up to $2.5 billion (£1.9bn) a year in damaged and lost resources. That’s according to a new study published in Marine Pollution Bulletin, which suggests industries...

New Study Claims Climate Change Could Be Linked to Heart Defects in Newborns

Heat and pregnancy do not mix. High temps don't just make a pregnant woman uncomfortable, the heat can actually hurt the health of her baby -- and with climate change, this will...

Legal Plastic Content in Animal Feed Could Harm Human Health, Experts Warn

Small bits of plastic packaging from waste food make their way into animal feed as part of the UK’s permitted recycling process.Plastic traces in animal feed could pose a risk to human...

Pesticides Have Accumulated in European Soil

Pesticides and weed killers have their benefits. They are beneficial in reducing or eliminating pests that damage or destroy crops. Yet they can wreak havoc with entire ecosystems.Worse: their effects can linger...

Air Pollution Pumps up the Risk of Heart Attacks

A new report from the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants outlines a range of cardiovascular risks. Particles in air pollution cause a wide range of damaging effects to the cardiovascular system. That’s according...

Air Pollution Particles Found in Mothers’ Placentas

Scientists have found the first evidence that particles of air pollution travel through pregnant women’s lungs and lodge in their placentas.Toxic air is already strongly linked to harm in foetuses but how...

Project in the Making: “Cadastre of Mining Waste”

A total of 250 abandoned mining waste sites in the Republic of Serbia were monitored as  part of the project Cadastre of Mining Waste of the Republic of Serbia, carried out by...

Geoengineering Would Hurt Earth’s Crops More Than It Would Help Them, Says Study

Think geoengineering is a great way to reverse the effects of climate change? Well, we might want to push pause on those plans. According to a study published Wednesday in the journal...

Study Finds New Reason to Ban Plastic: It Emits Methane in the Sun

The proliferation of plastic pollution has led to concerns over its impact on marine life and human health as the toxins it absorbs and emits move up the food chain. Now, a...

Can Norway Help Us Solve the Plastic Crisis, One Bottle at a Time?

Tens of thousands of brightly coloured plastic drinks bottles tumble from the back of a truck on to a conveyor belt before disappearing slowly inside a warehouse on the outskirts of Oslo.As...

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