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What scientists have learned from 20 years of microplastics research

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Friday, September 20, 2024

Twenty years ago, a team of U.K. scientists sounded the alarm on a then-underappreciated problem: the breakdown of plastic litter into small, even microscopic, fragments. While many previous reports had documented the buildup of plastic bottles and bags in the natural environment, much less attention had been paid to what the scientists dubbed “microplastics.”  Due to “the rapid increase in plastic production, the longevity of plastic, and the disposable nature of plastic items,” the researchers concluded that there was “considerable potential” for microplastic pollution to become a major problem for the environment and human health. It turns out, they were right. Over the past two decades, the rate of plastic production has roughly doubled, to more than 400 million metric tons per year, about the weight of 1,200 Empire State Buildings. In the same time period, microplastics — defined as particles with a diameter less than 5 micrometers, about the width of a human hair — have exploded into the public consciousness, riding on a wave of research into the particles’ prevalence across ecosystems and in humans’ bodies. Since that 2004 paper, one of the first to use the term “microplastics,” microscopic plastic fragments have been found everywhere from deep sea sediments to the top of Mount Everest, as well as in human blood, breast milk, colons, kidneys, livers, lungs, placentas, and other body parts. Many of these findings are synthesized in a review paper published this week in the journal Science. The paper considers what we’ve learned from thousands of research articles about microplastics — including where they come from, where they end up, and how they affect organisms — and appraises regulatory options for dealing with the problem.  Research on the topic has “kind of taken off,” said Richard Thompson, a professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. who was lead author on the paper from 20 years ago and the new one published on Thursday. “It’s now pretty clear that this stuff is everywhere,” he added, and that unless something changes, humanity will eventually reach a point of “wide-scale” and “irreversible” harm to the environment.  One thing that has become much clearer since the early 2000s is the sheer extent of microplastic pollution. While Thompson’s 2004 paper documented small fragments of acrylic, nylon, and polyester in coastal environments around the U.K., further investigation has shown that contamination is global. By now, microplastics have been found in virtually every ecosystem researchers have looked, including in soils, lakes, and rivers, and on remote mountains. One alarming study from 2020 found that microplastics are present in rainwater, while others have shown that the particles are ubiquitous in the indoor air we breathe. Earlier this year, the environmental consulting firm Earth Action estimated that nearly 13 million metric tons of microplastic enter the oceans and terrestrial environment annually. Tires are a major source of microplastics, which are released as they rub against the roadway. Nasir Kachroo / NurPhoto via Getty Images Where did all these microplastics come from? Early on, scientists intuited that they were generated by larger pieces of plastic debris breaking down — and this is indeed the most significant source of microplastics. But many more have been identified. Paint, for example, contains plastic polymers and may contribute as much as 1.9 million metric tons of microplastics to the marine environment annually. Some of the other most significant sources of microplastics include rubber tires, which shed microplastics as they rub against the road, and synthetic textiles, which release microfibers when worn and washed. An unknown amount of microplastic pollution comes from plastic-derived fishing nets and gear, which make up a huge fraction of plastic in the ocean more broadly. One reason scientists have found microplastics so far and wide is because there are more of them looking than ever before. But those scientists also have better technologies at their disposal. A kind of imaging called pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, for instance, has recently made it easier for researchers to identify small, dark microplastics released by the erosion of rubber tires. Other methods have made it possible to more precisely count the number of microplastics in a given sample, and to sort them by size and polymer — all of which can yield clues about their toxicity.  More researchers and better technology have also led to the detection of microplastics in living organisms. Over the past 20 years, scientists have documented microplastics in more than 1,300 aquatic and terrestrial species, and throughout the human body. Eye-catching headlines over the past few months have highlighted the particles’ presence in human testicles and penises, and this February, scientists at the University of New Mexico found microplastics in every placenta out of 62 that they tested. Scientists still don’t have a complete picture of how exactly this contamination is affecting human health, but lab studies have linked microplastics to cell inflammation and the spread of cancer. Some epidemiological evidence suggests they may be a risk factor for heart disease.  Synthetic textiles release plastic microfibers when washed and worn. Dieter Menne / Picture Alliance via Getty Images These findings help explain why microplastics have risen so quickly to the top of many average people’s priority lists. In Germany, for example, consumers in a 2023 survey said they were more concerned about microplastics in food than any other health topic, including antibiotic resistance and pesticides residues on food. Another recent survey showed that more than 90 percent of U.S. voters are also “somewhat” or “very” concerned about microplastics in the human body. Many jurisdictions are seeking to hold plastic makers responsible for the pollution they’ve caused, and at least two lawsuits against the plastics industry — one brought by the New York attorney general’s office and the other brought by the City of Baltimore — specifically call out the proliferation and health risks of microplastics. Industry groups acknowledge that humans are being exposed to microplastics, but deny that there is any evidence that they may harm human health or the environment. On its website, the Plastics Industry Association says the industry “supports more and better research on microplastics” and highlights its investments in pollution prevention and recycling infrastructure. “Everyone agrees on one thing,” the trade group says: “Plastics, large or small, don’t belong in our waterways.” On that narrow point, Thompson agrees. He thinks there’s already enough evidence of microplastics’ harms that scientists should concentrate on ways to stop microplastics from entering the environment in the first place. Several interventions have already been taken — a 2020 French law, for example, now requires new washing machines to come with microfiber filters, and the European Union is phasing glitter and other microplastics out of products like shampoo and lotion. But Thompson’s paper highlights the need for multidisciplinary approaches that take into account insights from a variety of fields, including economics and behavioral science. Initiatives to replace single-use plastics with reusable alternatives, for example, could play a major role in reducing the generation of microplastics — but they’ll only work if they’re inexpensive and convenient enough for consumers to accept them. “To get something to work, it’s not just about a chemistry experiment in a lab,” Thompson said. “It’s going to take changes in social norms, the economy, society, legal frameworks.” At the broadest level, Thompson, other scientists, and environmental advocates are supportive of measures to limit overall plastic production and ban the most problematic categories of plastic, both of which would indirectly reduce the generation of microplastics. These solutions are currently being discussed as part of  a high-profile United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution. Jen Fela, vice president of programs and communications for the nonprofit Plastic Pollution Coalition, described the treaty as “the best chance we have” to address the plastic pollution crisis. “Solutions exist,” she told Grist. “The only way to stop plastic pollution is to significantly reduce plastic production.” The fifth and final round of negotiations over the treaty is scheduled to take place this November and December in Busan, South Korea. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline What scientists have learned from 20 years of microplastics research on Sep 20, 2024.

The particles are everywhere, and they may harm human health.

Twenty years ago, a team of U.K. scientists sounded the alarm on a then-underappreciated problem: the breakdown of plastic litter into small, even microscopic, fragments. While many previous reports had documented the buildup of plastic bottles and bags in the natural environment, much less attention had been paid to what the scientists dubbed “microplastics.” 

Due to “the rapid increase in plastic production, the longevity of plastic, and the disposable nature of plastic items,” the researchers concluded that there was “considerable potential” for microplastic pollution to become a major problem for the environment and human health.

It turns out, they were right.

Over the past two decades, the rate of plastic production has roughly doubled, to more than 400 million metric tons per year, about the weight of 1,200 Empire State Buildings. In the same time period, microplastics — defined as particles with a diameter less than 5 micrometers, about the width of a human hair — have exploded into the public consciousness, riding on a wave of research into the particles’ prevalence across ecosystems and in humans’ bodies. Since that 2004 paper, one of the first to use the term “microplastics,” microscopic plastic fragments have been found everywhere from deep sea sediments to the top of Mount Everest, as well as in human blood, breast milk, colons, kidneys, livers, lungs, placentas, and other body parts.

Many of these findings are synthesized in a review paper published this week in the journal Science. The paper considers what we’ve learned from thousands of research articles about microplastics — including where they come from, where they end up, and how they affect organisms — and appraises regulatory options for dealing with the problem. 

Research on the topic has “kind of taken off,” said Richard Thompson, a professor of marine biology at the University of Plymouth in the U.K. who was lead author on the paper from 20 years ago and the new one published on Thursday. “It’s now pretty clear that this stuff is everywhere,” he added, and that unless something changes, humanity will eventually reach a point of “wide-scale” and “irreversible” harm to the environment. 

One thing that has become much clearer since the early 2000s is the sheer extent of microplastic pollution. While Thompson’s 2004 paper documented small fragments of acrylic, nylon, and polyester in coastal environments around the U.K., further investigation has shown that contamination is global. By now, microplastics have been found in virtually every ecosystem researchers have looked, including in soils, lakes, and rivers, and on remote mountains. One alarming study from 2020 found that microplastics are present in rainwater, while others have shown that the particles are ubiquitous in the indoor air we breathe. Earlier this year, the environmental consulting firm Earth Action estimated that nearly 13 million metric tons of microplastic enter the oceans and terrestrial environment annually.

Closeup of a worn black tire, with the word "Bridgestone" written on it.
Tires are a major source of microplastics, which are released as they rub against the roadway.
Nasir Kachroo / NurPhoto via Getty Images

Where did all these microplastics come from? Early on, scientists intuited that they were generated by larger pieces of plastic debris breaking down — and this is indeed the most significant source of microplastics. But many more have been identified. Paint, for example, contains plastic polymers and may contribute as much as 1.9 million metric tons of microplastics to the marine environment annually. Some of the other most significant sources of microplastics include rubber tires, which shed microplastics as they rub against the road, and synthetic textiles, which release microfibers when worn and washed. An unknown amount of microplastic pollution comes from plastic-derived fishing nets and gear, which make up a huge fraction of plastic in the ocean more broadly.

One reason scientists have found microplastics so far and wide is because there are more of them looking than ever before. But those scientists also have better technologies at their disposal. A kind of imaging called pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy, for instance, has recently made it easier for researchers to identify small, dark microplastics released by the erosion of rubber tires. Other methods have made it possible to more precisely count the number of microplastics in a given sample, and to sort them by size and polymer — all of which can yield clues about their toxicity. 

More researchers and better technology have also led to the detection of microplastics in living organisms. Over the past 20 years, scientists have documented microplastics in more than 1,300 aquatic and terrestrial species, and throughout the human body. Eye-catching headlines over the past few months have highlighted the particles’ presence in human testicles and penises, and this February, scientists at the University of New Mexico found microplastics in every placenta out of 62 that they tested. Scientists still don’t have a complete picture of how exactly this contamination is affecting human health, but lab studies have linked microplastics to cell inflammation and the spread of cancer. Some epidemiological evidence suggests they may be a risk factor for heart disease

White washing machines lined up on a row on a shopping room floor, with shoppers looking at them.
Synthetic textiles release plastic microfibers when washed and worn. Dieter Menne / Picture Alliance via Getty Images

These findings help explain why microplastics have risen so quickly to the top of many average people’s priority lists. In Germany, for example, consumers in a 2023 survey said they were more concerned about microplastics in food than any other health topic, including antibiotic resistance and pesticides residues on food. Another recent survey showed that more than 90 percent of U.S. voters are also “somewhat” or “very” concerned about microplastics in the human body. Many jurisdictions are seeking to hold plastic makers responsible for the pollution they’ve caused, and at least two lawsuits against the plastics industry — one brought by the New York attorney general’s office and the other brought by the City of Baltimore — specifically call out the proliferation and health risks of microplastics.

Industry groups acknowledge that humans are being exposed to microplastics, but deny that there is any evidence that they may harm human health or the environment. On its website, the Plastics Industry Association says the industry “supports more and better research on microplastics” and highlights its investments in pollution prevention and recycling infrastructure. “Everyone agrees on one thing,” the trade group says: “Plastics, large or small, don’t belong in our waterways.”

On that narrow point, Thompson agrees. He thinks there’s already enough evidence of microplastics’ harms that scientists should concentrate on ways to stop microplastics from entering the environment in the first place. Several interventions have already been taken — a 2020 French law, for example, now requires new washing machines to come with microfiber filters, and the European Union is phasing glitter and other microplastics out of products like shampoo and lotion. But Thompson’s paper highlights the need for multidisciplinary approaches that take into account insights from a variety of fields, including economics and behavioral science. Initiatives to replace single-use plastics with reusable alternatives, for example, could play a major role in reducing the generation of microplastics — but they’ll only work if they’re inexpensive and convenient enough for consumers to accept them.

“To get something to work, it’s not just about a chemistry experiment in a lab,” Thompson said. “It’s going to take changes in social norms, the economy, society, legal frameworks.”

At the broadest level, Thompson, other scientists, and environmental advocates are supportive of measures to limit overall plastic production and ban the most problematic categories of plastic, both of which would indirectly reduce the generation of microplastics. These solutions are currently being discussed as part of  a high-profile United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution. Jen Fela, vice president of programs and communications for the nonprofit Plastic Pollution Coalition, described the treaty as “the best chance we have” to address the plastic pollution crisis.

“Solutions exist,” she told Grist. “The only way to stop plastic pollution is to significantly reduce plastic production.” The fifth and final round of negotiations over the treaty is scheduled to take place this November and December in Busan, South Korea.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline What scientists have learned from 20 years of microplastics research on Sep 20, 2024.

Read the full story here.
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Living Near Polluted Missouri Creek as a Child Tied to Later Cancer Risk

By I. Edwards HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Folks who grew up near a polluted Missouri creek during the 1940s...

THURSDAY, July 17, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Folks who grew up near a polluted Missouri creek during the 1940s through 1960s may have higher odds for cancer now, new research shows.The study focused on Coldwater Creek in St. Louis County. The area was contaminated with radioactive waste from the U.S. government’s atomic bomb program during World War II.Back then, uranium was processed in St. Louis and nuclear waste was stored near the city’s airport. That waste leaked into Coldwater Creek, which runs through several residential neighborhoods.Researchers found that people who lived within one kilometer (0.62 miles) of the creek as kids had an 85% higher risk of developing certain cancers later in life compared to those who lived more than 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) away.Those cancers include leukemia, thyroid cancer and breast cancer, which are known to be linked to radiation exposure.“The closer the childhood residence got to Coldwater Creek, the risk of cancer went up, and pretty dramatically," lead researcher Marc Weisskopf, a professor of epidemiology at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, told The Wall Street Journal.For the study, Weisskopf’s team surveyed more than 4,200 adults who lived in the St. Louis area as children between 1958 and 1970.These people had donated their baby teeth years ago for radiation research. The new survey asked about cancer and other health issues.About 1 in 4 participants said they had been diagnosed with cancer. Risk dropped the farther someone lived from the creek as a child.Outside experts who reviewed the findings described them as concerning.“It emphasizes the importance of appreciating that radioactive waste is carcinogenic, particularly to children, and that we have to ensure that we have to clean up any remaining waste that’s out there,” Dr. Rebecca Smith-Bindman, a radiation risk expert at the University of California, San Francisco, told The Journal.In 2024, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers began placing warning signs along parts of the creek that still have radioactive waste, The Journal reported.The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry reported in 2019 that contamination have raised the risk of leukemia and lung and bone cancer. Later exposures, starting in the 2000s, were linked to a slight increase in lung cancer for those who lived nearby.But the agency said it’s hard to link any one person’s cancer directly to radiation. Genetics, lifestyle and other factors could also play a role.In this study, radiation exposure wasn’t directly measured. Cancer cases were also self-reported, not confirmed by medical records. Weisskopf plans to measure radiation levels using the stored baby teeth in future research.Radiation exposure has long been tied to cancer, but this study is among the first to look at lower, long-term environmental exposure in the U.S., not just high levels from nuclear disasters or bombings."Radiation, when it’s given unnecessarily, only causes risk," Dr. Howard Sandler, chair of radiation oncology at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, told The Journal.SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal, July 16, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Disposable Vapes Release Toxic Metals, Lab Study Says

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, July 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People using cheap disposable vape devices are likely inhaling high...

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterFRIDAY, July 11, 2025 (HealthDay News) — People using cheap disposable vape devices are likely inhaling high levels of toxic metals with every puff, a recent study says.After a few hundred puffs, some disposable vapes start releasing levels of toxic metals higher than found in either last-generation refillable e-cigarettes or traditional tobacco smokes, researchers reported in the journal ACS Central Science.These metals can increase a person’s risk of cancer, lung disease and nerve damage, researchers said.“Our study highlights the hidden risk of these new and popular disposable electronic cigarettes — with hazardous levels of neurotoxic lead and carcinogenic nickel and antimony — which stresses the need for urgency in enforcement,” senior researcher Brett Poulin, an assistant professor of environmental toxicology at the University of California-Davis, said in a news release.Earlier studies found that the heating elements of refillable vapes could release metals like chromium and nickel into the vapor people breathe.For this study, researchers analyzed seven disposable devices from three well-known vape brands: ELF Bars, Flum Pebbles and Esco Bar.Before they were even used, some of the devices had surprisingly high levels of lead and antimony, researchers reported. The lead appears to have come from leaded copper alloys used in the devices, which leach into the e-liquid.The team then activated the disposable vapes, creating between 500 and 1,500 puffs for each device, to see whether their heating elements would release more metals.Analysis of the vapor revealed that:Levels of metals like chromium, nickel and antimony increased as the number of puffs increased, while concentrations of zinc, copper and lead were elevated at the start. Most of the tested disposables released higher amounts of metals than older refillable vapes. One disposable released more lead during a day’s use than one would get from nearly 20 packs of tobacco cigarettes. Nickel in three devices and antimony in two devices exceeded cancer risk limits. Four devices had nickel and lead emissions that surpassed health risk thresholds for diseases other than cancer. These results reflect only three of the nearly 100 disposable vape brands now available on store shelves, researchers noted.“Coupling the high element exposures and health risks associated with these devices and their prevalent use among the underage population, there is an urgent need for regulators to investigate this issue further and exercise regulatory enforcement accordingly,” researchers wrote.SOURCES: American Chemical Society, news release, June 20, 2025; ACS Central Science, June 25, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Trying to Quit Smoking? These Expert-Backed Tips Can Help

By David Hill, MD, Chair, Board of Directors, American Lung Association HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — According to...

THURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2022, the majority of the 28.8 million U.S. adults who smoked cigarettes wanted to quit; approximately half had tried to quit, but fewer than 10% were successful.Many folks say quitting smoking was the hardest thing they have ever done. This includes people who have climbed mountains, corporate ladders, tackled childbirth and raised families.Successfully overcoming tobacco addiction is a process, and it takes time. It can’t be done at once. Individuals taught themselves how to smoke, vape or chew tobacco products and practiced for so long that the behavior became as automatic as breathing, eating or sleeping.Quitting, then, is a process of overcoming addiction and learned behaviors. Individuals must learn to manage nicotine addiction, unlearn their automatic behavior of tobacco use, and replace it with healthy new alternatives.Because tobacco dependence is a chronic relapsing condition, Freedom From Smoking® identifies quitting tobacco use and maintaining abstinence as a process in which a person may cycle through multiple periods of relapse and remission before experiencing long-term lifestyle and behavior change.The CDC suggests that it takes eight to 11 attempts before quitting permanently.It’s essential to understand three challenges associated with quitting and create a plan to address each with proven-effective strategies:1. Psychological Link of Nicotine Addiction Over time, using tobacco products becomes an automatic behavior that needs to be unlearned.  After quitting, emotions can overwhelm a person.  Grief can also play an important role in the quitting process.  Create support systems through counseling classes, and among family, friends and co-workers. Mark a calendar for every day you are tobacco-free and reward yourself for days you avoid use. Use positive self-talk when cravings arise, such as “the urge will pass whether I smoke or not” or “smoking is not an option for me.”2. Sociocultural Link of Nicotine AddictionCertain activities and environmental cues can trigger the urge to smoke. As people mature, social factors or cues play a role in continuing use.  People who use tobacco may be reluctant to give up those connections or routines.  Identify your triggers and use replacements such as cinnamon sticks, doodling on a notepad or finding another activity to keep your hands busy. Create change and break routine by using the 3 A’s — AVOID (the situation), ALTER (the situation) or ALTERNATIVE (substitute something else). Keep a quit kit/survival kit with you at all times with items you can use to replace tobacco product use when the urge comes.3. Biological (Physical) Link of Nicotine AddictionAddiction occurs when a substance — like nicotine, alcohol or cocaine — enters the brain and activates the brain’s receptors for that substance, producing pleasure.  When a person quits, the brain’s nicotine receptors activate, creating cravings and withdrawal symptoms.  Over time, the receptors become inactive, and the withdrawal symptoms and urges to use fade away. Use cessation medications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (prescription or over-the-counter) in the proper doses for the full time period recommended by a clinician. Do not stop treatment early. Exercise alternative ways to release dopamine such as physical activity or listening to music.  Use stress management techniques, including deep breathing and relaxation exercises, daily if possible.Nearly 2 in 3 adults who have ever smoked cigarettes have successfully quit, according to the CDC You can, too! To learn more about strategies for countering the challenges associated with the three-link chain of nicotine addiction, visit Quit Smoking & Vaping | American Lung Association.Dr. David Hill is a member of the Lung Association's National Board of Directors and is the immediate past chair of the Northeast Regional Board of the American Lung Association. He serves on the Leadership Board of the American Lung Association in Connecticut and is a former chair of that board. He is a practicing pulmonary and critical care physician with Waterbury Pulmonary Associates and serves as their director of clinical research. He is an assistant clinical professor of medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, an assistant clinical professor at the Frank Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, and a clinical instructor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Lead Exposure Can Harm Kids' Memory, Study Says

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Even low levels of lead exposure can harm kids' working memory,...

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay ReporterTHURSDAY, July 10, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Even low levels of lead exposure can harm kids' working memory, potentially affecting their education and development, according to a new study.Exposure to lead in the womb or during early childhood appears to increase kids' risk of memory decay, accelerating the rate at which they forget information, researchers reported July 9 in the journal Science Advances.“There may be no more important a trait than the ability to form memories. Memories define who we are and how we learn,” said senior researcher Dr. Robert Wright, chair of environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.“This paper breaks new ground by showing how environmental chemicals can interfere with the rate of memory formation,” Wright said in a news release.For the study, researchers took blood lead measurements from the mothers of 576 children in Mexico during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. Later, the team took samples directly from the kids themselves, at ages 4 to 6.Between 6 and 8 years of age, the kids took a test called the delayed matching-to-sample task, or DMST, to measure their rate of forgetting.In the test, kids had to remember a simple shape for up to 32 seconds after it had been briefly shown to them, and then choose it from three offered options.The test lasted for 15 minutes, with correct responses rewarding the child with tokens that could be exchanged for a toy at the end of the experiment.“Children with higher levels of blood lead forgot the test stimulus faster than those with low blood lead levels,” Wright said.Researchers noted that the Mexican children in the study had higher median blood lead levels than those typically found in U.S. kids 6 to 10 years old – 1.7 Ug/dL versus 0.5 Ug/dL. (Median means half were higher, half were lower.)Children in Mexico are exposed to lead through commonly used lead-glazed ceramics used to cook, store and serve food, researchers said.However, the Mexican kids’ blood lead levels were still lower than the 3.5 Ug/dL level used by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to identify kids in the United States with more lead exposure than others, researchers added.“In the U.S., the reduction of environmental exposures to lead, such as lead-based paint in homes, lead pipes, and lead in foods such as spices, is still of continued importance as even low levels of lead can have detrimental effects on children’s cognitive function and development,” researchers wrote in their paper.This study also shows that the DMST test can be used to help test the effect of other environmental hazards on kids’ memory, researchers said.“Children are exposed to many environmental chemicals, and this model provides a validated method to further assess the effect of additional environmental exposures, such as heavy metals, air pollution, or endocrine disruptors, on children’s working memory,” co-lead researcher Katherine Svensson, a postdoctoral fellow in environmental medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a news release.SOURCES: Mount Sinai, news release, July 9, 2025; Science Advances, July 9, 2025Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

Nearly Half of Americans Still Live With High Levels of Air Pollution, Posing Serious Health Risks, Report Finds

The most recent State of the Air report by the American Lung Association found that more than 150 million Americans breathe air with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution

Nearly Half of Americans Still Live With High Levels of Air Pollution, Posing Serious Health Risks, Report Finds The most recent State of the Air report by the American Lung Association found that more than 150 million Americans breathe air with unhealthy levels of ozone or particle pollution Lillian Ali - Staff Contributor April 25, 2025 12:50 p.m. For 25 of the 26 years the American Lung Association has reported State of the Air, Los Angeles—pictured here in smog—has been declared the city with the worst ozone pollution in the United States. David Iliff via Wikimedia Commons under CC BY-SA 3.0 Since 2000, the American Lung Association has released an annual State of the Air report analyzing air quality data across the United States. This year’s report, released on Wednesday, found the highest number of people exposed to unhealthy levels of air pollution in a decade. According to the findings, 156 million Americans—or 46 percent of the U.S. population—live with levels of particle or ozone pollution that received a failing grade. “Both these types of pollution cause people to die,” Mary Rice, a pulmonologist at Harvard University, tells NPR’s Alejandra Borunda. “They shorten life expectancy and drive increases in asthma rates.” Particle pollution, also called soot pollution, is made up of minuscule solid and liquid particles that hang in the air. They’re often emitted by fuel combustion, like diesel- and gasoline-powered cars or the burning of wood. Ozone pollution occurs when polluting gases are hit by sunlight, leading to a reaction that forms ozone smog. Breathing in ozone can irritate your lungs, causing shortness of breath, coughing or asthma attacks. The 2025 State of the Air report, which analyzed air quality data from 2021 to 2023, found 25 million more people breathing polluted air compared to the 2024 report. The authors link this rise to climate change. “There’s definitely a worsening trend that’s driven largely by climate change,” Katherine Pruitt, the lead author of the report and national senior director for policy at the American Lung Association, tells USA Today’s Ignacio Calderon. “Every year seems to be a bit hotter globally, resulting in more extreme weather events, more droughts, more extreme heat and more wildfires.” Those wildfires produce the sooty particles that contribute to particulate pollution, while extreme heat creates more favorable conditions for ozone formation, producing smog. While climate change is contributing to heavy air pollution, it used to be much worse. Smog has covered cities like Los Angeles since the early 20th century. At one point, these “hellish clouds” of smog were so thick that, in the middle of World War II, residents thought the city was under attack. The Optimist Club of Highland Park, a neighborhood in northeast Los Angleles, wore gas masks at a 1954 banquet to highlight air pollution in the city. Los Angeles Daily News via Wikimedia Commons under CC-BY 4.0 The passage of the Clean Air Act and the creation of the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1970 marked a turning point in air quality, empowering the government to regulate pollution and promote public health. Now, six key air pollutants have dropped by about 80 percent since the law’s passage, according to this year’s report. But some researchers see climate change as halting—or even reversing—this improvement. “Since the act passed, the air pollution has gone down overall,” Laura Kate Bender, an assistant vice president at the American Lung Association, tells CBS News’ Kiki Intarasuwan. “The challenge is that over the last few years, we’re starting to see it tick back up again, and that’s because of climate change, in part.” At the same time, federal action against climate change appears to be slowing. On March 12, EPA administrator Lee Zeldin announced significant rollbacks and re-evaluations, declaring it “the greatest day of deregulation our nation has seen.” Zeldin argued that his deregulation will drive “a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion.” Included in Zeldin’s push for deregulation is a re-evaluation of Biden-era air quality standards, including those for particulate pollution and greenhouse gases. The EPA provided a list of 31 regulations it plans to scale back or eliminate, including limits on air pollution, mercury emissions and vehicles. This week, the EPA sent termination notices to nearly 200 employees at the Office of Environmental Justice and External Civil Rights. “Unfortunately, we see that everything that makes our air quality better is at risk,” Kate Bender tells CBS News, citing the regulation rollbacks and cuts to staff and funding at the EPA. “If we see all those cuts become reality, it’s gonna have a real impact on people’s health by making the air they breathe dirtier.” Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

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