Air Pollution News and Research

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Intensive BP lowering effective in reducing cardiovascular risk in patients exposed to air pollution

Evidence suggests particulate matter is the air pollutant which poses the greatest threat to global health. Studies have shown that exposure to particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns is associated with acute and chronic elevations in blood pressure (BP) as well as hypertension.

2 Feb 2021

New research appears to resolve the underprediction riddle of biomass burning

Oxidized organic aerosol is a major component of ambient particulate matter, substantially impacting climate, human health, and ecosystems.

15 Dec 2020

Scientists identify biosynthetic genes involved in the production of usnic acid in lichens

Scientists from the Faculty of Pharmacy at the Complutense University of Madrid have headed an international study that has successfully detected a sequence of biosynthetic genes that play a key role in the synthesis of usnic acid in lichen—a kind of compound that exhibits antioxidant, antiviral, antibacterial, anticancer, and neuroprotective activity.

14 Dec 2020

Study links air pollution and diabetes to interstitial lung disease

People with pre-diabetes or diabetes who live in ozone-polluted areas may have an increased risk for an irreversible disease with a high mortality rate.

10 Dec 2020

Cooking with wood may increase risk of developing lung damage

Advanced imaging with CT shows that people who cook with biomass fuels like wood are at risk of suffering considerable damage to their lungs from breathing in dangerous concentrations of pollutants and bacterial toxins.

26 Nov 2020

Air quality could influence the virulence and spread of COVID-19

The correlation between the high concentration of fine particles and the severity of influenza waves is well known to epidemiologists.

25 Nov 2020

Study shows how air pollution exposures affect mental health later in life

In a study of women aged 80 years and older, living in locations with higher exposures to air pollution was associated with increased depressive symptoms.

19 Nov 2020

Researchers document effect of air pollution on people experiencing homelessness

When air quality worsens, either from the smoke and ozone of summer or the inversion of winter, most of us stay indoors. But for individuals experiencing homelessness, that's not always an option.

From The University of Utah 18 Nov 2020

Conservation of tropical peatlands could reduce impact of COVID-19 pandemic

Conservation of tropical peatlands could reduce the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and the likelihood of new diseases jumping from animals to humans, researchers say.

From University of Exeter 18 Nov 2020

Exposure to air pollution during fetal period may contribute to higher blood pressure

Exposure to an urban environment characterised by high levels of air pollution and noise in areas with a high building density during the foetal period and in early childhood may contribute to higher blood pressure.

16 Nov 2020

New report provides a comprehensive analysis of Australia's changing climate

Continued warming of Australia’s climate, an increase in extreme fire weather and length of the fire season, declining rainfall in the southeast and southwest of the continent, and rising sea levels are some of the key trends detailed in the latest State of the Climate report, released today by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO.

16 Nov 2020

Environmental risk factors are important determinants of cardiovascular disease

In a current opinion article "Reduction of environmental pollutants for prevention of cardiovascular disease: it's time to act", published in the European Heart Journal this week.

9 Nov 2020

Researchers compare air pollution in urban and suburban areas of China

For the first time, researchers have compared air pollution in urban and suburban areas across all of China. Using data from the China National Environmental Monitoring Center (CNEMC), the researchers found that one air pollutant, called particulate matter (PM2.5), maybe overestimated in winter, while another pollutant, called ozone (O3), is significantly underestimated.

6 Nov 2020

Researchers outline the future effects of global warming on major cancers

Climate change will bring an acute toll worldwide, with rising temperatures, wildfires and poor air quality, accompanied by higher rates of cancer, especially lung, skin and gastrointestinal cancers, according to a new report from UC San Francisco.

6 Nov 2020

BMA: Most hospital trusts do not have a policy to reduce consumption of single-use plastics

Almost six out of ten hospital trusts don’t have plans in place to manage or reduce their consumption of single-use plastics, according to BMA research on climate change

2 Nov 2020

Air pollution drives huge demand for food delivery services, study reveals

When the air outside is bad, office workers are more likely to order food delivery than go out for lunch, which in turn increases plastic waste from food packaging, according to a study by researchers from the National University of Singapore.

20 Oct 2020

Urban air pollution may make COVID-19 more severe for some

In a recent study, researchers at Emory University found that long-term exposure to urban air pollution may have made COVID-19 more deadly.

8 Oct 2020

Global food production poses an increasing climate threat

According to a new study, rising nitrous oxide emissions are putting reaching climate goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement in jeopardy.

8 Oct 2020

Energy-efficient, climate-friendly cooling could lower greenhouse gas emissions

A new IIASA-led study shows that coordinated international action on energy-efficient, climate-friendly cooling could avoid as much as 600 billion tonnes CO2 equivalent of greenhouse gas emissions in this century.

7 Oct 2020

Study shows ecological consequences of extreme air pollution in the Arctic

An international team of scientists that includes a USDA Forest Service scientist based in New Hampshire used tree rings to document how "Arctic dimming," the interference with sunlight caused by extreme pollution such as that at an industrial complex in northern Siberia, is killing trees and possibly affecting how trees respond to climate change.

30 Sep 2020