Archive for July, 2009
The Smallest of Pollutants Are Linked to Outsize Health Risks
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Sitting in traffic triples a person’s short-term heart-attack risk. Living in a city with heavy air pollution such as Los Angeles is as risky for the heart as being a former smoker. And having a house near a highway ups the risk of hardened arteries by some 60 percent. In each case, tiny "ultrafine" particles in the air may be a key culprit.
Read More..>>Trying to Fix Baghdad
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Corrected on 3/6/08: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated the rank of Brig. Gen. James Milano.
BAGHDAD—The Abu Ghraib hospital was lucky, through government reconstruction funds, to receive a stereoscopic lens to allow the doctors there to perform surgeries on patients with injured eyes. And there are many such patients, given the amount of shrapnel that’s flown around the neighborhood in the past five years. But the device sits unused on a small surgical cart in a dusty operating room because it lacks a mount needed to operate the machine. Brig. Gen. James Milano scowls at the all-too-familiar conundrum. "The sad thing about this is that we’re five years into war and the reconstruction and this hospital is still back at ground zero. If only it was just in Abu Ghraib," he tells the doctor.
Read More..>>Rivers Great and Small Can Fight Pollution, If Given A Chance
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Big rivers typically get the credit for being powerful and mighty, but a sweeping national study released today shows that even little streams can pack a punch when it comes to pollution control.
A nationwide team seeking to understand what happens to the nitrogen that is washed into the water as runoff from fertilizers and wastes from human activities has provided the most comprehensive understanding yet of how complex networks of rivers and streams—mighty and meager—naturally process nitrogen from the waters before it ends up causing trouble downstream. The scientists say the study presents a highly detailed picture that can help guide stream and river management and land-use planning.
Read More..>>More Attention to the Problem of Space Debris
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
The European Space Agency today warned about the growing problem of space debris, a potential peril for space operations as U.S. News reported last December.
Space debris is made up of a growing amount of inactive space hardware in orbit around the Earth as well as fragments of spacecraft that have broken up, exploded, or otherwise been abandoned. This includes the burned-out launch vehicle upper stages, dead or inactive spacecraft, and other objects ranging in size from as big as an automobile to microscopic dust that may pose a threat to active space missions.
The ESA has posted some illustrations of the evolution of the space junk situation. "Space debris have been recognized as a potential problem," said the ESA. "Even though the current space debris population may not represent an immediate and excessive danger, the risk of collision with debris is continuously growing. Now is the time to take action to preserve the commercially valuable space environment for future space users."
Read More..>>Health Buzz: Ozone Exposure and Other Health News
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Short-Term Ozone Exposure Linked to Premature Death
Even short-term exposure to ozone at current levels could lead to premature death, according to a new report from the National Academy of Sciences. The authors suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency should include ozone-related mortality as a factor when setting ozone standards. Short-term exposure to ozone, defined as lasting less than 24 hours, can cause respiratory problems and other health concerns. The report says that those with pre-existing diseases, or other factors that might make them more susceptible, are more likely to die after ozone exposure. But the risk isn’t limited to that group, the authors note.
Read More..>>Panel Confirms That Ozone Kills
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Ozone, a key component of smog that comes in part from automobile fumes, is linked to premature death, says a new report from the National Academy of Sciences. The findings ratchet up pressure on the Environmental Protection Agency to consider ozone-related mortality in setting ozone standards in the future. They also come as a snub to the White House Office of Management and Budget, which has raised questions about the certainty of the ozone pollution and mortality link in the past, the Associated Press reports.
Read More..>>Air Pollution Linked to Blood Clots in Legs
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
By Ed Edelson
HealthDay Reporter
Spanish ID: 615451
MONDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) — Long-term exposure to the tiny, dirty particles in polluted air seems to increase the risk of deep vein thrombosis, which are blood clots in the thighs or legs, an Italian study finds.
Read More..>>Particulate Air Pollution Damages Veins, Too
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Scientists have long known that air pollution damages the lungs and, more recently, that it harms the arteries and the heart as well. Now they’ve found that particulate pollution, the cocktail of soot, diesel exhaust, chemicals, metals, and aerosols that circulates above and beyond countless American cities, increases the risk of developing dangerous blood clots in the veins of the legs, too. Deep vein thrombosis, as these common clots are called, can become lethal pulmonary embolisms when portions flake off and lodge in the lung. These lodged clots kill a third of people who have them when left untreated.
Read More..>>Health Buzz: Celebrex, Naproxen, and Other Health News
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
Taking NSAIDs May Not Slow Mental Decline in Older People
Taking the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory medicines Celebrex and naproxen does not appear to slow mental decline in people with a family history of Alzheimer’s disease, a new study reports. With some experts believing that inflammatory processes play a role in mental decline, there was hope these medicines could help ward it off cognitive decline. The study is scheduled to be published in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology.
Read More..>>No Link Between Coarse Air Pollution, Hospitalizations
Posted on July 4, 2009 - Filed Under Air Pollution, Curbing Pollution, Environmental Pollution, General, Global Warming, Land Pollution, Ocean Pollution, Pollution News, Water Pollution
TUESDAY, May 13 (HealthDay News) — Exposure to coarse airborne-pollution particles, such as those found in windblown dust or stirred up by agricultural work and mechanical grinding, does not appear to be linked to hospital admissions, a new study finds.
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