Despite the Evidence, Nearly 15% of Americans Deny Climate Change

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• February 16, 2024
• Full Page

Nearly 15% of Americans still deny that climate change is real, according to a new national assessment from the University of Michigan.

Evidence of climate change has been mounting, including science which has shown that climate-related natural disasters are growing in f...

A Quarter of Americans Breathe 'Unhealthy Air,' Report Shows

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• February 13, 2024
• Full Page

Few can forget the haunting images of New York City bathed in a thick orange smog after smoke from Canadian wildfires swept southward last summer.

Now, a new report<...

Biden Administration to Tighten Air Pollution Standards

• Robin Foster HealthDay Reporter
• February 9, 2024
• Full Page

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced that it is cracking down on air pollution.

Specifically, the agency introduced a tougher air quality standard that takes aim at fine particulate matter -- the tiny bits of pollution that can penetrate the lungs -- by...

Ozone-Linked Deaths on the Rise Globally

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 30, 2024
• Full Page

Deaths related to ozone air pollution will rise significantly around the world during the next two decades due to climate change, a new study warns.

Cities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa can expect to see ozone-related deaths increase by as many as ...

American Air Is Getting Cleaner, But Benefits Aren't Reaching All

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• January 17, 2024
• Full Page

An American's income and ethnicity could play a role in how clean the air is that they breathe, a new study finds.

Air pollution emissions have fallen more in wealthier areas, and less in areas with larger Hispanic or American Indian populations.

Overall, U.S. air ...

Wildfires Are Undoing Gains Made Against Air Pollution

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• December 5, 2023
• Full Page

Unhealthy air from wildfires is causing hundreds of additional deaths in the western United States every year, a new study claims.

Wildfires have undercut progress made in cleaning America's air, and between 2000 and 2020 caused an increase of 670 premature deaths each y...

Commuting on a Highway? Your Blood Pressure May Pay a Price

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 29, 2023
• Full Page

It's not just bumper-to-bumper highway traffic that's causing your blood pressure to spike during your daily commute.

New research shows that the exhaust fumes spewing from all those vehicles triggers a significant increase in car passengers' blood pressure.

The ob...

Breathing in Coal-Based Pollution Could Be Especially Deadly: Study

• Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter
• November 27, 2023
• Full Page

When it comes to the ultra-fine particles you may breathe in from polluted air, all is not created equal as it affects your health.

Fine particle pollutants known PM2.5 -- particles that are 2.5 microns or less in diameter -- appear to double the risk for premature death...

Most Americans Know Little About Harmful PFAS 'Forever Chemicals'

• Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter
• November 21, 2023
• Full Page

Nearly half of Americans have never heard of health-threatening PFAS "forever chemicals,"a new survey has found.

PFAS (perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances) are a category of thousands of manufactured chemicals that have become an emerging concern to environment...

Air Pollution Exposure Before Birth May Harm Reproductive Development: Study

• Dennis Thompson and Carole Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporters
• November 15, 2023
• Full Page

Air pollution could be harming the development of children, reaching into the womb to alter their healthy growth, a new study reports.

Researchers say certain air pollutants appear to negatively alter a specific measure of prenatal exposure to hormones.

"These find...

Wildfire Smoke Raises Risks for Folks on Dialysis

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• November 7, 2023
• Full Page

Exposure to wildfire-related air pollution in western states has taken its toll on U.S. patients who are on dialysis.

New research linked it to elevated risks of ho...

Car Exhaust Could Harm a Woman's Pregnancy

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• October 16, 2023
• Full Page

Air pollution from heavy traffic may be driving pregnancy complications and health concerns for infants.

Researchers who matched more than 60,000 birth records with air-monitoring data found that pregnant patients living in an urban area with elevated levels of nitrogen ...

Smoggy Days Raise Short-Term Odds for Stroke

• Alan Mozes HealthDay Reporter
• September 28, 2023
• Full Page

Exposure to air pollution, even for just a short time, drives up your risk of having a stroke over the next few days, new research warns.

That conclusion stems from a review of 110 studies conducted across Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Depending on the specific n...

Wildfire Smoke Pollution a Growing Global Threat

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• September 21, 2023
• Full Page

More people around the world are exposed to wildfire smoke that has the potential to harm human health, and their numbers are growing, new research finds.

More than 2 billion people are exposed to at least one day of potentially health-impacting wildfire smoke each year...

Wildfire Smoke Is Reversing Recent Clean-Air Gains Across the U.S.

• Denise Mann HealthDay Reporter
• September 20, 2023
• Full Page

When Canadian wildfire smoke shrouded the New York City skyline and spread to parts of New England this summer, millions of East Coast residents saw firsthand just how pervasive it can be.

Now, a new study quantifies exactly what wildfire smoke is doing to hard-fought ga...

Dirty Air Could Raise Breast Cancer Risk

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• September 13, 2023
• Full Page

Air pollution has long been known to harm the heart and lungs, but new research suggests it might also raise the risk of breast cancer.

Researchers at the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) discovered ...

Could Wildfire Smoke Raise Rural Suicide Rates?

• Amy Norton HealthDay Reporter
• September 11, 2023
• Full Page

As this summer has shown, the massive smoke plumes generated by wildfires can dirty the air of regions many miles away. Now a new study is raising the question of whether that pollution is contributing to suicides in rural America.

Researchers found a correlation between...

Canadian Wildfire Smoke Caused Spikes in Asthma-Related ER Visits Across the U.S.

• Steven Reinberg HealthDay Reporter
• August 25, 2023
• Full Page

Smoke from Canadian wildfires sent high numbers of people suffering from asthma attacks to America's emergency rooms this spring and summer, according to two new reports.

From April 30 to August 4, 2023, smoke from out-of-control wildfires in Canada increased emergency ...

Canadian Wildfire Smoke's Health Impact on NYC  Residents May Have Been Less Than Feared

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• August 24, 2023
• Full Page

Living through days of smoky air from Canadian wildfires in June was unpleasant for New York City residents, but new data shows it wasn't as immediately concerning for their lungs as feared.

The research finds breathing-related hospital visits weren't much worse in the c...

Living With Air Pollution Raises Chances of Dementia, Study Finds

• Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter
• August 15, 2023
• Full Page

People who daily breathe in air pollution, particularly from wildfires or agricultural sources, might need to add a heightened risk of dementia to their list of health concerns.

New