LOS ANGELES — Industry groups are pushing for California regulators to delay new environmental measures, including those meant to promote clean air. Their reason: the economic stress the COVID-19 pandemic is putting on their businesses. Groups have sent at least six letters to California officials in the past two weeks requesting delays or modifications to […]
Sudden spikes in air pollution in the UK trigger hundreds more heart attacks, strokes and acute asthma attacks on those days, research suggests. A team at King’s College London looked at data from London, Birmingham, Bristol, Derby, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford and Southampton. Days when pollutant levels were in the top half of the annual […]
Particles of black carbon – or soot – can cross the placenta, a study has found. The Nature Communications research is the first direct evidence the particles can get into the part of the placenta that feeds the developing fetus. It could be the first step to explaining why high pollution is linked to an […]
Media playback is unsupported on your device Children who live in Birmingham could have their lives cut short by up to seven months due to the levels of air pollution, a study has found. King’s College London researchers say that an eight-year-old born in 2011 may die between two to seven months early if exposed […]
A fresh inquest will be held into the death of a nine-year-old girl whose fatal asthma attack may have been linked to air pollution near her home. Ella Kissi-Debrah, who lived 25 metres from the South Circular Road in Lewisham, south London, died in 2013 after having seizures for three years. The High Court said […]
Psychotic experiences – such as hearing voices or extreme paranoia – are more common in teenagers living in cities with high pollution than those in rural areas, a study of young people in England and Wales suggests. Scientists say that their research could provide possible clues about why children in urban areas are more likely […]
Public health chiefs have called for cars to be banned around schools in the UK, reports say. Paul Cosford, the medical director of Public Health England, told the Times it should be socially unacceptable to leave a car running near school gates. The comments came as PHE published a series of recommendations on how the […]
Does air pollution make outdoor exercise risky? What if you have asthma or another health problem? Answer From Edward R. Laskowski, M.D. While aerobic activity is one of the keys to a healthy lifestyle, air pollution and exercise can be an unhealthy combination. This is especially true if you have asthma, diabetes, or heart or […]
As a fourth-year medical student and future family medicine provider, I have a moral obligation ― as does any doctor ― to keep my current and future patients healthy and thriving. It’s for that reason I must speak out against acting Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Andrew Wheeler’s pending proposal, misleadingly named the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” […]
Chronic exposure to air pollution can cause harm to cognitive performance, a new study reveals. Researchers believe that the negative impact increases with age, and affects men with less education the worst. Over four years, the maths and verbal skills of some 20,000 people in China were monitored by the US-Chinese study. Researchers believe the […]
Regular exposure to even low levels of air pollution may cause changes to the heart similar to those in the early stages of heart failure, experts say. A study of 4,000 people in the UK found those who lived by loud, busy roads had larger hearts on average than those living in less polluted areas. […]
A nine-year-old girl’s fatal asthma attack has been linked to illegally high levels of air pollution. Ella Kissi-Debrah lived 25m (80ft) from London’s South Circular Road – a notorious pollution “hotspot”. She experienced three years of seizures and hospital stays before her death in February 2013. During that time, local air pollution levels breached EU […]