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Check Your City: Air Pollution Linked to Slower Marathon Times

By Deanna Neff HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Does the city you run in make a difference? Researchers say yes, it...

By Deanna Neff HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, Nov. 6, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Does the city you run in make a difference? Researchers say yes, it does.When marathon runners hit the wall or fall behind their goal pace, they often blame fatigue, weather or nutrition. However, a study from Brown University published in Sports Medicine suggests a less obvious, environmental culprit: air pollution.Researchers analyzed a dataset of 2.6 million marathon finish times from major U.S. races, including those in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles, spanning 17 years and matched it to estimated pollution levels from weather stations. They found a direct link between slower average finish times and higher concentrations of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5.The data also showed that the fastest runners were more affected by this effect.PM2.5 refers to tiny pollutants smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter. These particles are often the focus of air-quality health advisories, because they can travel deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream, causing inflammation and chest constriction, reports The New York Times.The study revealed a measurable slowdown tied to PM2.5 levels. For every increase of one microgram per cubic meter increase in these tiny particles, the average finish time for runners dropped.In other words, on a day with even moderately elevated pollution, a runner's time could be slower by several minutes.The Los Angeles Marathon generally had the highest estimated median pollution levels and the slowest median finish times among the races studied. While this could owe to other factors like warmer weather and a hillier course, the overall pattern of slower finishes in more polluted races held true across all cities, even when comparing different years within the same marathon city.Boston had the fastest average finish time and one of the cleanest air levels among the cities, along with Minneapolis/St. Paul and New York City.What makes this finding particularly notable is that it affects even the fittest individuals. “What’s notable is that we’re looking at people who are all incredibly healthy,” Joseph Braun, a professor of epidemiology at Brown, told The New York Times. “But even among really healthy people, air pollution is having an important, albeit subtle, effect on your physiology.”Surprisingly, the slowdown was more pronounced for faster-than-average runners. Researchers suspect this may be because elite and competitive marathoners breathe in more air — and do so more rapidly — inhaling a larger dose of the pollution over the 26.2-mile course.PM2.5 primarily comes from the burning of fossil fuels — such as from power plants, gasoline or diesel vehicles — as well as from forest fires and wood burning. While air quality has improved in many U.S. regions, short-term spikes from sources like wildfire smoke have become a growing concern, The Times said. SOURCE: The New York Times, Nov. 1, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Health
Pollution

14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead

These beautifully produced new books — covering art and photography, cooking, crafts, and more — celebrate our wildlife, health, and sustainable ways to care for our environment. The post 14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead appeared first on The Revelator.

After a challenging year, we could all use something to help us recharge and remotivate ourselves. A new book (or two, or more) may be just what the situation calls for. We’ve gathered 14 new books to inspire you, your friends and family as the year winds down — and encourage everyone to start the new year with a positive and energetic approach. The list includes practical, thoughtful, and informative reads that you might find humorous and enlightening. We’ve adapted the books’ official descriptions below, and the link in each title goes to the publisher’s page. You should also be able to find any of these titles through your local bookseller. Pseudoscience: An Amusing History of Crackpot Ideas and Why We Love Them by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen This short, light-hearted book is a visual and narrative history of popular ideas, phenomena, and widely held beliefs disproven by science. From the easily disproved to the wildly speculative, to straight-up hucksterism, Pseudoscience is a romp through much more than bad science — it’s a hilarious look into why we insist on believing in things such as climate change denial, phrenology, astrology, and the existence of aliens. For example, “Rumpology” claims you can tell a person’s future by touching their butt. Seriously. Other examples include fake moon landings by the government, spontaneous human combustion, and gay conversion “therapy.” This wild mix of history, pop culture, and good old-fashioned science not only entertains, but sheds a little light on why we all tend to believe in things we know aren’t true — and how con artists take advantage of us by convincing us that these unscientific notions are facts. This book is a searing commentary on how conspiracy theories can spread like wildfires across the social networks of our increasingly interconnected online existence. Painting the Cosmos: How Art and Science Intersect to Reveal the Secrets of the Universe by Nia Imara This National Indie Excellence award winner presents a stunning portrait of our vast, dynamic, and mysterious universe as seen through the lenses of astronomy and art, evoking our curiosity about where the two come together. Astrophysicist and visual artist Dr. Nia Imara combines these perspectives to shed new light on the marvels of the universe and how we see ourselves in it. Richly illustrated with stunning full-color images of our universe and beautiful paintings, drawings, sculptures, and more from creators around the world — particularly the often-neglected work of women and Black artists — this one-of-a-kind book unites the realms of art, science, and culture to create a dynamic portrait of the cosmos, inspiring one to see the world in a fascinating new light where space and art are beautifully intertwined. Welcome to Florida: True Tales From America’s Most Interesting State by Craig Pittman Humor with an environmental message, award-winning investigative journalist and New York Times bestselling author Craig Pittman introduces readers to the people, creatures, places, and issues that make up the Florida of today. From threats to Florida’s environment to a hippo that became an official state citizen, these tales range from the moving to the bizarre. Follow the escapades of crime writers, hungry predators, politicians, and developers across the state. At the core of this collection is a deep sense of admiration for the resilience of those who live here, showcasing the power of “ordinary Floridians” fighting to save some part of the state and its wildlife that they hold dear. Often, that means folks rallying to protect the state’s unique natural landscape; sometimes it means former CIA agents incorporating their own island community. Both a love letter to and hilarious deep dive into the nation’s fastest growing state, and imbued with Pittman’s characteristic humor and undeniable fondness for both the weird and wonderful parts of his home, this book shows why, despite some of its reputations, Florida continues to prove irresistible. Wild Eye: A Life in Photographs by Beverly Joubert and Dereck Joubert A magnificent, large-format coffee table book featuring the dazzling wildlife and haunting landscapes of the African continent, with more than 250 beautiful photographs from one of National Geographic’s most popular photographers and her filmmaker husband. This luxe retrospective documents their 40-year odyssey through Kenya, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. A vivid journey into Africa’s landscape and all its wildlife, this passion for animals shows striking images that tell an arresting story in an instant, opening a window into the souls of their subjects and inspiring viewers to fight for their survival. Each alluring shot includes Dereck’s observations on the wildlife they hold so dear. Covering five themes, the book reveals the essence of Africa such as a leopard, his eyes glowing, from an acacia tree, a lion devouring a buffalo, a baboon silhouetted against the moon, a baby elephant snuggling with his mother, a rhino being rescued from poachers and much more. Both profound and inspiring, this majestic book forms a bridge between the animals, the lands, and the photographer. Each page is an impassioned call to conserve all forms of life— no matter what it takes. Mastering the Art of Plant-Based Cooking: Vegan Recipes, Tips, and Techniques by Joe Yonan Maybe you know someone who wants to become vegan but doesn’t know where to start. This informative and fun cookbook features simple, delicious, and wholesome plant-based recipes, making it easy for anyone to savor the joys of vegan cooking — whether you’re a seasoned chef or a curious beginner. With over 100 vegan recipes using seasonal and sustainable ingredients, this book educates vegan newbies on how to choose fresh, local produce that supports the planet while respecting their busy lives with quick meals. Voted by NPR and Bon Appétit as one of the best culinary books of 2025, it’s the first book to collect vegan dishes and wisdom into a single volume, treating vegan food as its own cuisine, worthy of mastery. Packed with recipes and essays from prominent food writers in the plant-based sphere, this book shows the abundance of vegan food around the world, offering something for everyone. Starting with an in-depth pantry section, it explains how to create homemade versions of foundational ingredients like milks, butters, stocks, dressings, and spice mixes. There are numerous base recipe variations, an extensive dessert section, hundreds of vegan meals, and stunning photography. This will become a mainstay in you and your friends’ kitchens delivering new ideas for years to come. Yosemite Wildlife: The Wonder of Animal Life in California’s Sierra Nevada By Beth Pratt This lively and accessible blend of storytelling, the latest research, natural history, and compelling wildlife photographs fills a 100-year gap in publishing that will deeply connect people to this world-renowned national park in California. Crafted over decades by writer and conservation leader Beth Pratt to fulfill her vision of continuing the legacy of Grinnell & Storer’s landmark 1924 work, Animal Life in the Yosemite. Beth’s writing is accompanied by the work of naturalist-photographer Robb Hirsch, who spent more than 30 years in the field photographing animals so as not to impact them by his presence; his photography tells a distinct story of the park’s dazzling wildlife at its most undisturbed. Portrait of an Oyster: A Natural History of an Epicurean Delight by Andreas Ammer, translated by Renée von Paschen, illustrated by Falk Nordmann For anyone who loves oysters, this glorious guide to global oyster varieties, with drawings and descriptions of each specimen is an exploration of the oyster’s role in art, culture, cuisine, science, and history — featuring stunning full-color illustrations. Delve beyond the shucked shell to discover the rich and surprising world of the oyster and the artists, philosophers, explorers, and chefs the mollusk has inspired across the centuries. See vintage advertisements, line drawings, and archival photographs and find intriguing insights into the biology and cultivation of oysters. Bonus: Read our article about how conservationists are restoring oyster reefs and helping to protect coastal communities. Tamed: From Wild to Domesticated, the Ten Animals and Plants That Changed Human History by Alice Roberts Dogs became our companions. Wheat, rice, corn, soy and potatoes fed booming populations. Chickens inspired new branches of science. Horses gave us strength and speed. Apples and other fruits provided harvestable sweetness. Humans tamed them all. For hundreds of thousands of years, our ancestors were just one wild species among many, our survival dependent on the whims of nature. Then we began to tame the plants and animals all around us — and ourselves. Combining genetics, archaeology, evolutionary biology, and anthropology, Tamed tells the story of the greatest revolution in human history, revealing the fascinating origins of crucial domesticated species and how they transformed us. As Roberts uncovers the astounding global implications of mutual domestication, she urges us to look again at our relationship with the natural world — and our incredible influence upon it. *** And Something for the Young Folks… No matter the occasion, never arrive empty-handed — bring a book! These titles encourage our younger readers to discover ways to protect and sustain the planet. How to Explain Climate Science to a Grown-Up by Ruth Spiro, illustrated by Teresa Martínez Hey kids: Do you want to know a secret? Sometimes grown-ups need you to explain things to them — like climate science. In this tongue-in-cheek guide, an in-the-know narrator instructs kid readers in the fine art of explaining climate science to a grown-up. Both children and their adults learn: The difference between weather and climate, how climate scientists collect data, what causes climate change and what we can do to reverse course and repair the planet. Fun and fact-filled, this book, part of a series, will empower kids to explore complex scientific concepts with any grown-up who will listen. Earthrise: The Story of the Photograph That Changed the Way We See Our Planet by Leonard S. Marcus A unique middle-grade nonfiction book about the astonishing photograph taken during the Apollo 8 mission that forever shifted the way we view ourselves and our planet. Gazing out the window of the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Christmas Eve, 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders grabbed his camera and snapped the iconic color photo of our planet rising over the lunar horizon. Not long after the crew’s safe return, NASA developed Anders’s film and released “Earthrise” to the world. It soon became one of the most viewed and consequential photographs in human history, inspiring the first Earth Day in 1970 and boosting the global environmental movement. In the decades since, this incredible photograph of our “blue marble” has moved billions to rethink their understanding of our home planet, and even their very idea of “home.” No Less Strange or Wonderful: Essays in Curiosity by A. Kendra Greene Author and artist Greene delivers a brilliant and generous meditation on the complex wonder of being alive, on how to pay attention to even the tiniest (sometimes strangest) details that glitter with insight, whimsy, and deep humanity, if only we’d look. In 26 essays, illuminated in both text and image, Greene is trying to make sense of the things that matter most in life: Love, connection, death, grief, the universe, meaning, nothingness, and everything. Through a series of encounters with animals, strangers, and children, the wild merges with the domestic and the everyday meets the sublime. Each essay returns readers to our smallest moments and our largest ones in a book that makes us realize life’s playful curation, and its delightful associative interconnectedness that helps us understand we are all one. History Smashers: Earth Day and the Environment by Kate Messner In this graphic novel for young adults, discover the real story behind the first Earth Day celebration and some of the biggest U.S. climate catastrophes — and their solutions. In April 1970, 20 million people grabbed their rakes, gloves, and recycling bins to celebrate the first Earth Day. Since that environmental kickoff, the struggle to save and restore wildlife and nature continues. While it’s true that the first Earth Day encouraged people around the globe to clean up their act when it came to the environment, it has not been an easy task. Learn about the centuries-old history of activists who have tried to save the planet: Indigenous people across the world using sustainable farming practices, women in 18th-century India protecting trees, and amateur scientist Eunice Foote discovering the science behind global warming in the 1850s. Join the History Smashers team to bust history’s biggest misconceptions and figure out what in the world really happened before and after the first Earth Day — and how you can join the fight to protect the environment. Plant Attack! The Fascinating Ways Flora Defends Itself by Erin Silver Plants can’t scream or run away from danger, but many have developed surprisingly cool and courageous ways to keep themselves safe from pesky bugs, hungry animals and even large-clawed crabs. Plants can stab, poison, drown and even suffocate their predators. Discover the corpse flower, which smells like a combination of rotting wounds, garlic, cheese and sour sweat. Then there’s the touch-me-not balsam that explodes, flinging anything that touches it through the air. This intriguing book explores 15 different plants and the unique, and sometimes bizarre, ways they defend themselves from predators, including us. We Love You: An Optimistic Guide to Life on a Rock Floating Through Space by Thomas Sullivan and Andy Min Join best friends Thomas and Andy as they take you on an optimistic, philosophical, and hopeful journey that contemplates what it means to be joyfully alive. Providing a guidebook to deepen your relationship with nature — and your relationship with yourself — these lifelong best friends explore nature as they talk, laugh, and cry their way through what it means to live a fulfilling life on Earth. From teeming oak forests to the strange concrete wilderness of our human cities, Thomas and Andy will show you how to pursue hope and happiness across our world and teach you to recognize the beauty of what we often take for granted. With breathtaking imagery, essays, original artwork, poetry, and mindfulness practices, universal human themes like “Recapturing Childhood Wonder” and “Dealing with Today’s World” take on the big questions of life and shows that maybe there’s nothing to be afraid of. If we embrace the journey, we can make our lives and this rock we live on so much better. *** You can find hundreds of additional environmental book recommendations, including many more to inspire your friends and relatives, in the “Revelator Reads” archives. And let us know what you’re reading: Drop us a line at comments@therevelator.org. The post 14 Incredible New Books to Inspire Your Friends and Family in the Year Ahead appeared first on The Revelator.

Sustainable
Activism
Climate

Researchers Found Hundreds of Mysterious Dimples on the Seafloor Near Antarctica. Now They Know What Creature Made Them

The indentations are nests of fish called yellowfin notie, and they are not randomly scattered—rather, they appear to have been arranged in distinct patterns

Researchers Found Hundreds of Mysterious Dimples on the Seafloor Near Antarctica. Now They Know What Creature Made Them The indentations are nests of fish called yellowfin notie, and they are not randomly scattered—rather, they appear to have been arranged in distinct patterns Sarah Kuta - Daily Correspondent November 6, 2025 8:56 a.m. While seaching for Ernest Shackleton's lost ship Endurance in 2019, researchers stumbled across clusters of indentations on the seafloor. Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 Scientists were using an underwater robot to explore the waters around Antarctica when they came across a peculiar scene: The seafloor was dotted with hundreds of mysterious dimple-like indentations. At first, the researchers were totally perplexed. Working aboard the polar research vessel S.A. Agulhas II, they went back and forth, debating what the imprints might be—and what might have made them, reports BBC Wildlife Magazine’s Melissa Hobson. Now, the scientists say they have an answer. The depressions were nests created by yellowfin notie (Lindbergichthys nudifrons), a type of fish that thrives in the extreme cold of Antarctic waters. Researchers describe their discovery in a new paper published October 28 in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science. Fun fact: A big berg When the giant iceberg A68 broke free from the Larsen C ice shelf in 2017, it made news, even becoming a social media star. It's no wonder: The iceberg was twice as large as the entire country of Luxembourg and was even visible from space, before breaking up into smaller pieces. The discovery “goes to show that exploration of our world is still underway, with constant new findings,” lead author Russ Connelly, a marine biologist at the University of Essex in England, tells CNN’s Ashley Strickland. Researchers discovered the yellowfin notie nests during the 2019 Weddell Sea Expedition. The mission, which took place in January and February 2019, included scientists from around the world. It had several goals. A big one was to find Ernest Shackleton’s lost ship Endurance, which became trapped in sea ice and sank in 1915. But the team also wanted to investigate ice shelves in the Weddell Sea, particularly a largely unexplored region of the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic Peninsula. In July 2017, a massive, 2,200-square-mile iceberg called A68 broke free from the ice shelf, revealing a huge swath of newly accessible seafloor below. “That calving event provided a unique opportunity to study a region undergoing rapid environmental change, specifically the first chance to study previously inaccessible areas of the seabed that were once underneath A68,” Connelly writes in a commentary accompanying the paper.The researchers didn’t find the Endurance—though another group located it three years later in 2022—but they did learn plenty about the Weddell Sea, one of the most remote and least studied regions on the planet, Connelly writes. The yellowfin notie nests, for example, were a major find. In total, the team documented 1,036 nests across five sites. The researchers found larvae in and around 72 of them. Video footage also revealed new insights about the creatures, including how they arrange their nests to ensure the survival of their young. The nests, which had all been cleared of plankton, were not randomly scattered. Instead, they were “organized into distinct patterns, forming a vast, geometric fish neighborhood on the seafloor,” Connelly writes. Over 1,000 Strange Markings Discovered On Antarctic Seafloor Many of the nests were arranged in clusters, and the scientists suspect this setup helps keep the eggs safe from hungry predators, like brittle stars and ribbon worms. Once the eggs are laid, males stand guard for roughly four months to ensure the little ones don’t get eaten. Since yellowfin notie males are known to defend the area surrounding their nest—up to about 9.8 inches away—the clusters likely make everyone safer. Some of the nests were more isolated, perched on the outskirts of the communities. Researchers think those are inhabited by larger, stronger fish that are better suited to defend themselves and their eggs on their own. The arrangement is an example of the “selfish herd” theory, which posits that animals “reduce their domain of danger by putting other individuals between themselves and an approaching predator,” the researchers write in the paper. Similar defensive nesting patterns have been observed in other species of fish, though this is the first time scientists have documented it in yellowfin notie. “The entire community is a dynamic interplay between cooperation and self-preservation,” Connelly writes. Nearly 15 percent of the active nests had pebbles in and around them, and some had been built next to rocks. The researchers suspect the fish might be taking advantage of stones that fall off icebergs as they melt. These rocks “are ideal to lay eggs on as they allow good oxygenation of the eggs, helping to prevent rotting on the seafloor, whilst also providing a barrier to animals living within the muds to eating the eggs,” Autun Purser, an ecologist at the Alfred Wegener Institute who was not involved with the research but reviewed the paper for the journal, tells CNN. Zooming out, the scientists hope their findings will help support efforts to get the Weddell Sea designated as a marine protected area. The move would not only help protect charismatic creatures like penguins and seals, but also “these hidden nurseries that form part of the Antarctic food web,” Connelly writes. “These underwater environments are a powerful reminder that even in the planet’s most extremes, life finds a way to build complex, resilient communities,” he adds. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

Animals
Food
Science

Many of Altadena's standing homes are still contaminated with lead and asbestos even after cleanup

A study led by a community group found that even after cleanups were supposedly complete, many standing homes in Altadena remain contaminated with lead and asbestos.

More than half of still-standing homes within the area the Eaton fire’s ash settled had significant lead contamination even after extensive indoor remediation efforts, according to new findings announced Thursday from the grassroots advocacy group Eaton Fire Residents United. Additionally, a third of remediated homes tested positive for asbestos.The results from 50 homes within and downwind of the Eaton burn area provide the first widespread evidence that the remediation techniques pushed by insurance companies and public health officials have not sufficiently removed contaminants deposited by the fire.Long-term exposure to asbestos increases the risk of developing mesothelioma and other cancers, and long-term exposure to lead can cause permanent brain damage, especially in children, that leads to developmental delays and behavioral problems. No level of exposure to lead and asbestos comes without risks of adverse health effects.“This is a community-wide problem,” said Nicole Maccalla, who leads EFRU’s data science. “It doesn’t matter what remediation you’re using, one pass is not establishing clearance based on the data that we have, which means that it is not yet safe to return to your home.”That’s an issue given that many residents who have been staying elsewhere are returning home — especially those whose insurance money for temporary housing is running dry. EFRU leaders are encouraging residents to test their homes after remediation work, and, if the results show contamination, to keep remediating and testing until the lab results come back clean.EFRU — born in January out of a frustration that no level of government was adequately addressing Altadena residents’ environmental health concerns — started by asking owners of standing homes to share the results of testing they had commissioned from professional labs both before and after remediation.In March, EFRU was the first to publish comprehensive results from inside homes that had not yet been remediated: Out of the 53 professional testing reports homeowners shared with the organization, every household that tested for lead had found it. A similar process was employed for this latest, post-remediation report. Homeowners hired testing professionals to come collect samples and run tests at certified labs, then they shared those results with EFRU. The organization then collated them in a database to give a wider-scope view of contamination in standing homes than any one single test could show.Of the 50 total homes included in EFRU’s report, 45 were tested for lead, and 43 of those had at least some level of lead contamination.Out of the 18 homes where professionals tested for lead on windowsills specifically, nine exceeded the corresponding level at which the Environmental Protection Agency typically requires further remediation. And out of the 24 homes tested for lead on floors specifically, 15 exceeded the EPA’s remediation level.There are no official EPA remediation levels for asbestos dust on surfaces. However, asbestos dust was found in nine of the 25 homes that were tested for it in the EFRU report. The average concentration within those homes was significantly above the ad-hoc remediation level the EPA used in New York after 9/11.“The number of houses tested is still very low, but considering that most of the homes have been remediated by professional companies, we would expect that all the homes should go below the EPA level,” said François Tissot, a Caltech geochemistry professor who began testing standing homes after the Eaton fire damaged his own. “That’s the promise of professional remediation.”Now, EFRU is calling on the California Department of Insurance to implore insurers to cover testing and, if needed, multiple rounds of remediation. The group is also asking Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare an “ash zone,” which would formally recognize the impact of the fire’s smoke and ash beyond the immediate burn zone.An ash zone, EFRU says, would raise public awareness around health concerns and take some of the burden off individual residents to prove to insurance companies that their home was affected. The Department of Insurance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Tissot, who is not involved with EFRU but has been in communication with the group, previously found that wiped-down surfaces had about 90% less lead than those left untouched since the fire. It made EFRU’s findings particularly surprising. “To see that we are not even breaking 50% with professional remediation is rather alarming,” he said.While state and federal officials, in collaboration with researchers, have developed playbooks for addressing contamination in drinking water systems and in soil after wildfires, standing-home remediation is something of a Wild West.Instead of a central government agency working to ensure indoor remediation follows a research-backed recovery approach, a revolving door of insurance adjusters and a hodgepodge of remediation specialists with wildly different levels of qualifications and expertise have set different policies and standards for each home.EFRU reviews test results primarily from industrial hygienists, who specialize in identifying and evaluating environmental health hazards, most often in workplaces such as manufacturing facilities and hospitals. In its review, EFRU found many tests did not even look for lead or asbestos — despite the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health clearly warning that the two contaminants are known issues in the post-fire area. Those that tested for asbestos often used less-sensitive methods that can under-report levels.EFRU hopes to work with researchers and officials to develop an indoor contamination playbook, such as the ones that exist for drinking water and soil, designed to help residents both safely and quickly recover.“We need coordinated effort from all the different agencies with the elected officials — either through legislation or pressure,” said Dawn Fanning, who leads EFRU’s advocacy work. “We can come up with the answers for these residents and for future wildfires.” How to get your blood tested for lead Environmental health experts encourage lead blood testing for individuals who might be routinely exposed to the contaminant, particularly kids. Anyone concerned about their exposure to lead due to the January fires can call 1-800-LA-4-LEAD to request free testing through Quest Labs. Most insurance companies also cover lead blood testing. More information is available on the LA County Department of Public Health’s website.

Government
Health
Science

How dry cleaning might raise the risk of cancer, and what to do about it

A new study found links between a toxic dry cleaning chemical and liver cancer. Trump officials are reconsidering an EPA plan to phase it out.

Environmental and health advocates have long sought to curb dangerous chemicals used in dry cleaning. Now a new study adds to the evidence of harms, linking a common dry cleaning chemical to liver disease and cancer.Here’s what you need to know about the risks.How dry cleaning worksDespite the name, clothes don’t stay “dry” when dry-cleaned. Instead, garments are loaded into drums and soaked in chemicals that dissolve stains.Before modern cleaning systems were developed, workers would manually move solvent-soaked garments from washer to dryer, creating a direct exposure route and increasing the chances of environmental contamination. Today, cleaners wash and dry everything in the same drum. Clothes are then pressed or steamed.What are the health risks?One of the most widely used dry cleaning chemicals is an industrial solvent called PCE, also known as tetrachloroethylene, perchloroethylene and perc. The Environmental Protection Agency considers PCE a probable human carcinogen, and it has been linked to bladder cancer, multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.Follow Climate & environmentLast year, the EPA announced a new rule banning PCE for most uses and giving dry cleaners a 10-year phaseout period. The Trump administration is reconsidering this decision, according to an EPA spokesperson.But a recent study found that exposure to PCE tripled the risk of liver fibrosis, excessive scarring that can lead to liver disease and liver cancer. Researchers found that repeated exposure to PCE, which is detectable in an estimated 7 percent of the U.S. population, increased the likelihood of liver damage.“If you’ve been exposed to PCE, talk to your doctor about it,” said Brian P. Lee, associate professor of medicine at the University of Southern California and the study’s lead author.The study found that higher-income households faced the most risk from PCE exposure because they are more likely to use dry cleaning. People who work in cleaning facilities or live nearby also face an elevated risk due to prolonged exposure. Once the chemical gets into a building or the ground, it’s very difficult to remove. The EPA estimates that roughly 6,000 dry cleaners, mostly small businesses, still use PCE in the United States.Lee said the study adds to the growing list of harms associated with the chemical.Studies have also shown that PCE can linger on clothing after dry cleaning and that it builds up over time after repeated cleanings and can contaminate indoor air as it vaporizes.“We now have decades of studies confirming that these widespread dry cleaning chemicals are exposing people to unacceptable risks of cancer and other serious diseases,” said Jonathan Kalmuss-Katz, a senior attorney at the advocacy group Earthjustice. “Those harms are entirely avoidable.”Jon Meijer, director of membership at the Drycleaning & Laundry Institute International, a trade association, said the group supports the original rule passed under the Biden administration and explained that those who still use the chemical do so because of financial challenges.“It’s time for a phaseout of perchloroethylene,” Meijer said. “There are so many alternatives out there.”Safer alternativesExperts say there are plenty of alternatives to using harmful dry cleaning chemicals, but some are safer than others.Go dry-clean free: Try purchasing clothes that don’t need to be dry-cleaned. Selecting cotton blazers and other professional attire, for example, can reduce dry cleaning visits, said Tasha Stoiber, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy group. “The easiest thing is to look for professional staples that don’t need to be dry-cleaned,” Stoiber said.Hand-washing: Some “dry-clean only” garments can be delicately hand-washed in cold water with a gentle detergent specific to the particular fabric you’re using. Hanging delicate clothes to dry after a wash can avoid damage from heated air dryers.Steaming: Steam cleaning can freshen up clothes by removing odors, bacteria and small stains without needing a full wash.Commercial wet cleaning: Commercial wet cleaning relies on biodegradable detergents and water instead of toxic solvents.Liquid carbon dioxide: Experts suggest selecting dry cleaners that use liquid carbon dioxide as a solvent to remove dirt and avoid toxic chemicals.Watch out for greenwashingSome businesses advertise eco-friendly or “green” alternatives to dry cleaning. But experts warn that new chemicals can have their own downsides.Diana Ceballos, an assistant professor in the University of Washington’s Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, said that dry cleaning technology has improved dramatically and that new solvents and machinery can be more effective than PCE.Still, Cebellos said that there can be a lot of “regrettable substitution” when it comes to alternatives to PCE and that some that are billed as “safe” or “organic” could also be toxic.“Most options are far better,” Cebellos said. “But there’s a lot of greenwashing” out there, so people should ask questions and do “a little bit of research.”

Chemicals
Business
CO2

Climate Change Boosted Hurricane Melissa's Destructive Winds and Rain, Analysis Finds

An analysis from World Weather Attribution reports human-caused climate change intensified the winds and rainfall unleashed by Hurricane Melissa in the Caribbean

Human-caused climate change boosted the destructive winds and rain unleashed by Hurricane Melissa and increased the temperatures and humidity that fueled the storm, according to an analysis released Thursday.Melissa was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to make landfall and brought destructive weather to Jamaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic and Cuba, causing dozens of deaths across the Caribbean. Roofs were torn off of homes, hospitals were damaged, roads were blocked by landslides and crop fields were ruined.The rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution found that climate change increased Melissa’s maximum wind speeds by 7% and made the rainfall 16% more intense. The scientists also wrote that the temperature and humidity in which the storm intensified were made six times more likely due to climate change compared to a pre-industrial world.Rapid attribution analyses are a type of research that study factors influencing an extreme weather event and explore what the event would have been like in a world without climate change. They are typically published days or weeks after an extreme weather event.Melissa slowly tracked across the region and drew in enormous amounts of energy from abnormally warm ocean water. The analysis reported ocean temperatures in Melissa’s path through the Caribbean were about 1.4°C (2.5°F) warmer compared to a pre-industrial climate.“Warmer ocean temperatures are effectively the engine that drives a hurricane … the warmer the ocean temperatures, the greater the wind speed a hurricane can have,” said Theodore Keeping, a climate scientist who works for WWA and contributed to the analysis.Melissa is the fourth storm in the Atlantic this year to undergo rapid intensification, which is when a tropical cyclone’s maximum sustained winds increase by at least 30 knots (about 35 mph or 56 kph) in 24 hours.“A hurricane this rare would actually have had wind speeds about 10 mph (16 kph) less extreme” in a pre-industrial climate, said Keeping. He said research links hurricane wind speeds to economic damage and there would have been less destruction caused by Melissa if the winds were slower.Scientists have linked rapid intensification of hurricanes in the Atlantic to human-caused climate change. Planet-warming gases released by humans, such as carbon dioxide, cause the atmosphere to hold more water vapor and increase ocean temperatures. Warmer oceans give hurricanes fuel to unleash more rain and strengthen more quickly. “It’s like basically taking a sponge and wringing it out, and climate change is making that sponge even larger,” said Brian Tang, a professor of atmospheric science at University at Albany.Tang, who was not involved in the WWA research, said the methodology of the study released Thursday seems robust, and one of the more novel aspects of the analysis was the connection the scientists drew between wind speeds and increase in damage, which he said is a challenging area of research.Andrew Dessler, professor of atmospheric sciences at Texas A&M University, who was not involved in the WWA research, said the findings of the rapid analysis are in line with existing research about climate change and tropical storms in the Atlantic. “This is completely consistent with our expectation of what’s going to happen in the future,” Dessler said.Rapid attribution analyses help fill the need for an explanation about the influence of climate change shortly after a catastrophic weather event occurs, said Dessler. He said such analyses are “very valuable as a quick look” before the scientists are able to do more time-consuming calculations. Dessler said one of the scariest aspects of Melissa was the storm's peak sustained winds of 185 mph (298 kph) winds. “That’s pretty rare to have a storm that strong. And I think that, to the extent that this is a harbinger of the future, it’s not good,” he said.The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Climate
CO2
Science

UN Climate Summit Kicks off in Brazil's Amazon With Hopes for Action Despite US Absence

World leaders are gathering in a coastal city in the Brazilian Amazon for the U.N.'s annual climate summit

BELEM, Brazil (AP) — World leaders descending on the United Nations annual climate summit in Brazil this week will not need to see much more than the view from their airplane window to sense the unfathomable stakes. Surrounding the coastal city of Belem is an emerald green carpet festooned with winding rivers. But the view also reveals barren plains: some 17% of the Amazon's forest cover has vanished in the past 50 years, swallowed up for farmland, logging and mining.Often called the “lungs of the world” for its capacity to absorb vast quantities of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that warms the planet, the biodiverse Amazon rainforest has been increasingly choked by wildfires and cleared by cattle ranching.It is here on the edge of the world's largest tropical rainforest that Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva hopes to convince world powers to mobilize enough funds to halt the ongoing destruction of climate-stabilizing tropical rainforests in danger around the world and make progress on other critical climate goals.Organizers are hoping this year's Conference of Parties — known less formally as COP30 — will yield commitments of money and action to support the goals laid out at previous such meetings, billing it as the "Implementation COP." But they'll have to overcome reduced participation from the world's biggest emitters as the heads of the world’s three biggest polluters — China, the United States and India — will be notably absent.These tensions are on display as a preliminary leaders’ gathering gets underway on Thursday before formal U.N. climate talks kick off next week. US absence looms over leaders’ meeting That leaves the rest of the summit’s leaders — including U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron — to confront not only the consequences of an intensifying global climate crisis but a daunting set of political challenges.“Trump’s stance affects the whole global balance. It pushes governments further toward denial and deregulation,” said Nadino Kalapucha, the spokesperson for the Amazonian Kichwa Indigenous group in Ecuador. “That trickles down to us, to Ecuador, Peru, Argentina, where environmental protection is already under pressure.”Trump’s close ideological ally, President Javier Milei of Argentina called human-caused climate change a “socialist hoax,” threatened to quit the Paris Agreement and pulled Argentine negotiators out of last year’s summit in Azerbaijan as part of what he described as a reassessment of climate policy. Brazil illustrates climate dilemma He's expected to launch on Thursdays an initiative called the Tropical Forests Forever Fund, which aims to support more than 70 developing countries that commit to rainforest preservation. The official COP website describes the initiative as a “permanent trust fund” that would generate about $4 from the private sector for every $1 contributed.“We will go past the negotiation of rules to implementation,” Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira told reporters late Wednesday. “It will be the moment when global leaders face with honesty the challenge of climate change.”“I don’t want to be an environmental leader,” Lula said Tuesday. “I never claimed to be.” Logistical headaches for Brazil A town of 1.3 million inhabitants, Belem had just 18,000 hotel beds before its preparations to host the conference, which typically draws tens of thousands of delegates, environmentalists, company executives, journalists and other members of civil society. Foreign officials and journalists scrambled to reserve rooms as prices surged to surreal heights. Some booked spots on one of a few docked cruise ships brought into a nearby port for the occasion. Public schools, military facilities and even the local Internal Revenue Building have been outfitted with air-conditioning and bunk beds to become makeshift hostels. The more adventurous or frugal participants can pay $55 a night to crash in hammocks in a facility that normally caters to cats.“Some two-legged creatures deserve our generosity, too,” Eugênia Lima, the 59-year-old owner of a local cat hotel that stopped accepting feline guests to seize on spiking demand during COP30. “I am very proud that the world will be looking at us this month.” Belem's by-the-hour "love motels" have also cashed in, luring civil servants and climate scientists to rooms that would otherwise host prostitutes or couples in need of privacy. Usually $10 an hour, most love motels are charging COP30 guests $200 per night. Activists find a forum for protest Large-scale marches, sit-ins and rallies are essential aspects of annual U.N. climate talks, but the previous three summits have taken place in autocratic nations that outlaw most forms of protest. Egypt, the UAE and Azerbaijan complied with U.N. rules that facilitate pre-approved protests within a walled-off part of the venue not subject to local laws.Brazil is a different story. Even before the start of the leaders' summit, on Wednesday demonstrators were reveling in their much-missed freedom. Youth activists, Indigenous leaders and climate campaigners sailed into Belem on vessels outfitted with giant protest banners.“Action, justice, hope" read one sign strung between the sails of a boat belonging to environmental group Greenpeace. “Respect the Amazon” read another. Dozens disembarked after multi-day river journeys to rally along the coast."Being able to protest and dialogue is a great thing about this COP," said Laurent Durieux, a researcher at the U.S.-based International Relief and Development organization who arrived by boat from Santarem, a city 1,200 kilometers (1,000 miles) west of Belem.“Brazil has a long history of social struggle and that is part of this event."The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.orgCopyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Climate
Activism
Crisis

William announces Earthshot Prize 2025 winners in Rio

Winners include a project for making the Atlantic Forest financially viable and a global ocean treaty initiative

William announces Earthshot Prize 2025 winners in RioAFP via Getty ImagesPrince William with Kylie Minogue at the awards ceremony The Prince of Wales has revealed the five winners of this year's environmental Earthshot Prize, calling them an "inspiration that gives us courage".Prince William said their work was "proof that progress is possible" during Wednesday evening's awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro's Museum of Tomorrow.Winners include a project for making South America's Atlantic Forest financially viable and a global ocean treaty initiative aimed at conserving marine life. Brazilian football legend Cafu, Olympic gymnast Rebeca Andrade and former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel were among the award presenters.A performance by Kylie Minogue featured a medley of hits - including Padam, Padam and Can't Get You Out of My Head. Singer Shawn Mendes and Brazilian queen of pop Anitta also got the jubilant mood swinging. Earthshot Prize supports eco-friendly projects from around the world, and annually awards each of the five winners with a £1m grant to scale up their ideas aimed at repairing the world's climate.Organisers of the initiative were inspired by former US President John F Kennedy's Moonshot project, which challenged scientists to get astronauts to the Moon and back safely.Hosted by award-winning Brazilian broadcaster Luciano Huck, the awards ceremony was addressed by Prince William, the Earthshot Prize's president.Political guests at the ceremony included Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband and London Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan.ReutersThe Prince of Wales and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer"When I founded the Earthshot Prize in 2020, we had a 10-year goal: to make this the decade in which we transformed our world for the better," he told attendees."We set out to tackle environmental issues head on and make real, lasting changes that would protect life on Earth."There are five Earthshots or goals: Protect and Restore Nature; Clean Our Air; Revive Our Oceans; Build a Waste-free World; and Fix Our Climate.The future king has committed himself to it for 10 years, with Rio marking a halfway point for the venture.This year saw nearly 2,500 nominees submitted from 72 countries. Out of them, 15 finalists were selected, from which the five winners were chosen.Earthshot Prize 2025 - Full list of winnersProtect and Restore Nature: re.green, in Brazil, is making protecting one of the world's most important ecosystems, the Atlantic Forest, financially viableClean Our Air: The city of Bogotá, has shown how public policy can bring lasting change, through means such as clean air zones and re-greening degraded areas in the Colombian capitalRevive Our Oceans: The High Seas Treaty is a global ocean initiative that will set out clear measures to conserve marine life, among other things, and will go into effect from January 2026Build a Waste-Free World: Lagos Fashion Week, in Nigeria, is redefining the industry, with each designer wishing to showcase required to show their commitment to sustainable practice Fix Our Climate: Friendship is dedicated to helping vulnerable communities across Bangladesh for a multiude of things from access to public services, health, education and preparing for natural disastersPA MediaThe Prince of Wales was joined by artists Seu Gorge, Anitta, Kylie Minogue and Shawn MendesCEO of re.green, Thiago Picolo, said that winning the Protect & Restore Nature prize puts the organisation "on the right path"."Winning a prize likes this is validation for us, helps us know we're going in the right direction, facilitates conversations we need to have with banks, capital providers, corporates," he said.Referring to the winners as "innovators", Prince William called the Earthshot Prize a "mission driven by the kind of extraordinary optimism we have felt here tonight"."There's a great deal we can learn from their determination, their vision for scale, and their unyielding belief that we can create a better world."The chair of the board of trustees, Christiana Figueres, said they were building a "global legacy"."These winners are proof that the spirit of collective action born here in Rio continues to grow stronger, more determined, and more urgent than ever. "Their 2030 aims are deeply ambitious - but their impact to date, their plans in place and their tenacity fuels my optimism."Daily Mirror/PALondon Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan also attended the ceremony in Rio de JaneiroEarlier in the day, Prince William met the 15 finalists during a visit to the Christ the Redeemer statue, where he posed for a photograph on the same spot his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, did 34 years ago.But much of the prince's five-day visit to Brazil has been focused on climate and the environment.On Tuesday, he criticised criminals for their involvment in the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest during a speech at the United for Wildlife conference.He also travelled to the small island of Paqueta, where he met locals, learnt about mangrove conservation and planted tree saplings.On Thursday, he will be travelling to Belem in the Amazon rainforest, where he is scheduled to give a speech at COP30, the UN's annual climate change meeting.

Forests
Climate
Education

Pollution from Ineos’s Antwerp plastic plant ‘will cause more deaths than jobs created’

Lawyers challenge €4bn Project One development, saying emissions and health impacts vastly underestimatedThe deaths from pollution caused by Europe’s biggest plastic plant, which is being built in Antwerp, will outstrip the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday.In documents submitted to the court, research suggests the air pollution from Ineos’s €4bn petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created. Continue reading...

The deaths from pollution caused by Europe’s biggest plastic plant, which is being built in Antwerp, will outstrip the number of permanent jobs it will create, lawyers will argue in a court challenge issued on Thursday.In documents submitted to the court, research suggests the air pollution from Ineos’s €4bn petrochemical plant would cause 410 deaths once operational, compared with the 300 permanent jobs the company says will be created.Lawyers, community members and financial experts are taking court action in Belgium’s council for permit disputes to stop the plastics facility.The chemical plant would transform ethane from fracked US shale gas into ethylene – the raw material used to make plastic – in a process called “cracking”. The plant, called Project One, is designed to turbocharge European plastic production. Petrochemical facilities emit particulate matter as a result of their operations.Plastic production has increased more than 200-fold since 1950 and is expected to almost triple again to more than a billion tonnes a year by 2060, driven largely by single-use plastics used for packaging and drink and food containers.Tatiana Luján, of Client Earth, who is leading the case, said new evidence showed that in addition to the risks to life, the carbon emissions of Project One would vastly exceed Ineos’s own estimates.Ineos’s assessment found that projected direct annual carbon emissions would be 655,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent (CO2e), roughly the same as Eritrea’s output. But lawyers say the company failed to calculate full lifecycle emissions.A report by Data Desk submitted to the court estimates the full supply chain emissions footprint of Project One could reach 3.8m tonnes of CO2e each year, around five times higher than stated in Ineos’s environmental impact assessment.Luján said: “We know categorically that we need no more plastic-producing infrastructure globally. Yet right here in Europe, authorities are bending over backwards to enable the biggest plastics facility on the continent yet.“Project One has a shiny image, but its story is founded on fossil fuels. The gas supply chain is riddled with injustice and huge emissions and this is currently flying under the radar. Meanwhile, experts have detailed a projected local impact that people in Belgium are not being made aware of.”Since the legal battle began, courts around the world have clarified the inclusion of so-called scope 3 emissions in environmental impact assessments. These are emissions that do not happen on-site but would not be created if the facility did not exist.Luján added: “Recent rulings on how authorities need to tally up the real impact of industrial developments change the prospects of this legal challenge. This is the first time a court will weigh in on scope 3 and plastics. That makes it a crucial case.”Ineos told the Guardian they had not been officially notified of the appeal, or received the appeal so were unable to comment in detail on the arguments. “We are disappointed that the NGOs have once again chosen to take legal action, despite our invitation to them to engage in dialogue about their concerns. It is also regrettable that the legal certainty of investments in the renewal of industry in Europe is repeatedly being undermined. This is happening in a context where our European manufacturing industry is heading for further deindustrialisation, due to a lack of protection against rising imports from regions that are not subject to strict environmental regulations.”They added that they remain fully committed to the project:“the most environmentally friendly steam cracker in Europe, with carbon emissions less than half those of the most efficient European installations.”

Pollution
Chemicals

Britain's Prince William Calls for Optimism on Environment at EarthShot Prize Event

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Britain's Prince William expressed optimism on Wednesday about tackling global environmental challenges at a star-studded...

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) -Britain's Prince William expressed optimism on Wednesday about tackling global environmental challenges at a star-studded event in Rio de Janeiro for the fifth edition of his EarthShot Prize.William's first visit to Latin America comes shortly before Brazil hosts the UN climate summit COP30 next week."I understand that some might feel discouraged in these uncertain times," William said during the ceremony for the award, founded in 2020 and inspired by a visit to Namibia."I understand that there is still so much to be done. But this is no time for complacency, and the optimism I felt in 2020 remains ardent today."Named in homage to John F. Kennedy's "moonshot" goal, the award was intended to foster significant environmental progress within a decade that has now reached its midpoint.The prize, which aims to find innovations to combat climate change, and tackle other green issues, awards five winners 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) each to drive their projects.Pop stars Kylie Minogue and Shawn Mendes, Brazilian musicians Gilberto Gil, Seu Jorge and Anitta, along with former Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel, were among those who appeared or performed at the ceremony.British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and London Mayor Sadiq Khan also attended.William will attend the UN climate summit in place of his father, King Charles. On his trip, he announced initiatives for Indigenous communities and environmental activists, and visited landmarks in Rio.(Reporting by Andre Romani in Sao Paulo and Michael Holden in London; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)Copyright 2025 Thomson Reuters.Photos You Should See – Oct. 2025

Activism
Climate
Indigenous

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