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While all links worked when entries were posted to the database, different publishers
have different policies about retaining articles and providing access to archived material.
Thus some of the links, particularly older ones, may no longer be functional.
For links no longer working, you may be able to gain paid access to text via the publisher's site.
Common air pollutants can react with one another to form highly reactive and toxic chlorine gasses, reports a study published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In areas where both NOx and HCl concentrations are generally high, these chemical reactions can also increase ozone pollution. 7 October 2009. More...
A new study finds that fewer older people are hospitalized due to heart problems associated with air pollution if they live in places that have more homes with central air conditioning.
But, a vicious cycle of energy demand, air conditioning use and air pollution can develop, the researchers explain. More air conditioning use requires more energy. Generating energy leads to air pollution and contributes to global warming, possibly spurring higher use of air conditioning. 4 September 2009. More...
Sperm counts are lower in mice whose mothers were exposed during pregnancy to a mixture of particles found in diesel exhaust.
The results add to a small but growing series of studies that suggest exposure to diesel exhaust can disrupt the proper development of the testis in rats and mice and perhaps affect reproduction. 14 August 2009. More...
A new study with mice links arsenic exposure to reduced immune response.
The results suggest those people most exposed to arsenic through their drinking water may be more susceptible to illness and possibly death when infected with the H1N1 swine flu virus. 17 July 2009. More...
In mice, short-term exposure to fine air particles reduces responsiveness of specialized neurons that regulate cardiac rhythm. Scientists believe that this reduced activity may be responsible for the cardiovascular disease associated with air pollution.
Fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 is a mixture of particles that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers (about one third of the diameter of a human hair). PM2.5 is a product of combustion and is released into the environment by forest fires and by gasses emitted by power plants, factories and automobiles. 7 July 2009. More...
Management measures that keep unwanted pests out of buildings and apartments can control cockroaches and their associated allergens better than traditional pesticide sprayings.
This is the first study to show how a one-time, low cost visit by professionals can effectively reduce the insects' populations for up to six months. Sealing cracks and using bait traps--rather than periodic pesticide applications--to control the pests lowers people's indoor exposures to unhealthy toxic chemicals and allergens that can lead to asthma. 22 June 2009. More...
A recent study in Arizona of household air identified over 400 airborne chemicals ranging from pesticides to phthalates.
Pesticides, including diazinon, chlorpyrifos and DDT were found at surprisingly high levels, as were phthalates. 28 April 2009. More...
A nanomaterial prized for its potential use in electronics moved through human lung fluid and altered the way lung cells reacted to infections, possibly reducing their ability to signal immune defenders and fight off the invaders.
The results add more concern about the safety of the very tiny particles called single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT). Workers who make the materials -- and consumers who use them -- may be at risk if the nanomaterials are inhaled. 6 March 2009. More...
People living close to highways, large roads or other sources of high levels of traffic-related air pollution die earlier than those farther away, finds a study conducted in Toronto, Ontario.
People with higher exposure to pollution from traffic were 20 percent more likely to die at any given time than those with low levels of exposure. The greatest risk appears to be death from heart disease. People with high exposure to traffic pollution showed a 40 percent increased risk of cardiovascular mortality. 3 February 2009. More...
Genetics, age and gender determine what kind and how badly lungs are harmed in mice that breath ozone, a dangerous type of air pollution.
This study is the first to report which differences influence health effects of ozone exposure in various strains of mice. These data suggest that genetic makeup plays a strong role in how young and adults respond to ozone. 21 January 2009. More...
The type of chemicals someone is exposed to in the womb, or soon after birth, may predetermine the risk for developing respiratory infections as an infant and allergy and asthma as an adult, according to a study that focused on PCBs and DDE.
In the study, both the amount and type of PCBs a baby was exposed to in the womb, or in the first three months after birth, affected the number of respiratory infections a child had. Some types of PCBs seemed to be associated with increased respiratory infections; other types seemed be associated with fewer infections. 5 January 2009. More...
A recent study confirms and broadens our understanding of asthma by showing the respiratory disease is highly affected by particulate matter.
For the first time, researchers report that asthma incidence and severity is associated with a specific type of indoor air pollution, referred to as course particulate matter. Specifically, the amounts of wheezing, slowing of a child’s activity and use of rescue medication were all elevated in children living in homes with more of this type of indoor air pollution. 16 December 2008. More...
Minute quantities of a bacterial protein inserted in corn provoke immune reactions in mice.
The protein is added to increase the effectiveness of plant-based transgenic vaccines. The results indicate that special care will be needed with transgenic corn to reduce exposure to workers and the public if this protein is used commercially in corn or other food crops, to avoid unwanted immune responses in people and decreased effectiveness of oral vaccines that use the protein. 8 November 2007. More...
New research exposing mice to a chemical used to make polyurethane foam and paints provides the first experimental confirmation that the compound causes respiratory tract disease.
The findings corroborate epidemiological studies showing links between on-the-job exposure to toluene diisocyanate and both nasal inflammations, diseases that affect at least half the industrial workers in the US. The results help understand how breathing even small amounts of a chemical can lead to debilitating respiratory diseases. 20 July 2007. More...
Could lead poisoning contribute to asthma and other allergic diseases?
Experiments with cells in the immune system of mice--which are hypersensitized by lead-- provide support for this hypothesis. 25 June 2007. More...
Nicotine, a powerful drug found in tobacco products and anti-smoking therapies, impaired the ability of adult rats to control glucose levels after they had been exposed to the drug during fetal development and lactation.
The changes are consistent with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The exposed rats had fewer insulin-making cells in the pancreas. Exposures were comparable to those experienced by moderate smokers or people using nicotine patches. 18 June 2007. More...
Exposure through the skin to PFOA, a chemical commonly used to make fabric protectors, stain repellants and non-stick surfaces, increases the allergic response in mice when they are subsequently exposed to an allergen.
The results suggest one possible explanation for the rising incidence of asthma in children. Exposure to PFOA is virtually ubiquitous. The levels used in this experiment, however, were much higher than those commonly detected in people. 29 May 2007. More...
Researchers comparing pollution levels between urban and rural Thai schoolboys found that those attending school in Bangkok had more chemicals in the bodies and more damage to key cell systems than their country-dwelling counterparts.
The boys attending schools in the highly populated, traffic-congested city had higher levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) breakdown products in their urine, more DNA damage and less ability to repair the DNA than rural dwellers. Air samples revealed PAH levels 30 times higher in front of urban schools. 24 May 2007. More...
Concentrations of arsenic considered safe in public drinking water impair the ability of zebrafish to fight off bacterial and viral infections when the exposure takes place during early development.
One day after being experimentally infected, embryos exposed to 2 parts per billion of arsenic had viral levels 57 times greater than controls and bacterial levels 20 times greater. The results raise questions about the adequacy of current public health standards for arsenic. 23 May 2007. More...
Leading scientists who study the fetal basis of adult disease review major findings in an issue of Reproductive Toxicology that focuses on this subject.
This shifting paradigm in science suggests that susceptibility to disease is set in utero or neonatally. Exposures to environmental toxicants during this time and/or altered nutrition may result in irreversible changes that are manifest in adulthood as obesity, reproductive disorders, cardiovascular, respiratory or neurological disease. Reproductive Toxicology 15 April 2007. More...
Scientists studying residents living in a 1970s era housing development built atop a retired oil field waste pit found an extraordinarily high incidence of lupus, an autoimmune disease.
Researchers calculated that the rate was 30 to 99 times higher in people living in this six-block area of Hobbs, NM, than what would be expected in the general population. The disease was significantly associated with higher than normal exposure to the environmental contaminants mercury and pristane, a hydrocarbon found in petroleum. 10 April 2007. More...
Scientists report in a new study that six environmental contaminants which act like the hormone estrogen increase the speed and intensity of immune reactions in human and mouse cells.
The doses used were selected to be well within the range of human exposures. Intermediate doses had stronger impacts than higher doses. The results suggest that these contaminants may be contributing to the epidemic of asthma. 3 April 2007. More...
Young children living in houses with the highest measured levels of a common phthalate in house dust were two to four times as likely to report wheezing or allergic symptoms than those with lower levels.
The results are similar to those found by Swedish investigators in 2004 and support the notion that exposure to common chemicals may contribute to recent increases in allergic disease in the industrialized world. 27 March 2007. More...
Toxic gases, including ammonia and hydrogen sulfide, are emitted from concentrated animal feeding operations.
Microbial exposures, especially to endotoxins, are related to deleterious respiratory health effects. Malodors may be linked to psycho-physiological changes. But there are few data on the health effects of these exposures to people living in the surrounding areas. Environmental Health Perspectives. 17 November 2006. More...
The risk of adult-onset asthma is more than double for workers employed in offices with plastic wall-lining.
This conclusion emerged from a case-control study in southern Finland examining the work and home environment of 521 asthmatics and 932 controls. The researchers suggest that the association is a result of increased exposure to the phthalate DEHP in work environments that have used materials containing polyvinyl chloride, which can be as much as 40% by weight DEHP. 7 November 2006. More...
Cancer-related death rates of IBM workers between 1969 and 2001 were elevated compared to the US general population.
All cancers combined were elevated in men and women. Specific cancers elevated in men were brain and central nervous system cancers, kidney, melanoma of skin, and pancreatic cancers. In women, kidney cancer and lymphatic and hematopoietic tissue cancers were higher. Environmental Health. 19 October 2006. More...
The phthalate DEHP increases allergic reaction to a mite allergen in mice at levels within the range deemed safe by current EPA standards.
The dose-response relationship followed an inverted-U pattern, with an intermediate dose causing larger effects than the highest dose use. This is the first report of non-monotonic response for a phthalate. The results implicate DEHP as a possible causal agent in increasing prevalence of allergic reactions in developed countries. 18 October 2006. More...
Science Byte: A study of Inuit preschool children reports that the risk of ear and acute respiratory infections is associated with exposure to PCBs in the womb.
Children in the highest quartile of exposure were 25% and 40% more likely than children in the lowest quartile for ear and respiratory infections, respectively. The research team concluded that "prenatal exposure to PCBs could be responsible for a significant portion of respiratory infections in children of this population. EHP. 20 March 2006. More...
Science Byte: As small particle air pollution increases, cardiovascular and respiratory problems mount for senior citizens.
Scientists tracked hospital admission rates among Medicare patients in relation to concentrations of small particle air pollution (PM 2.5). Even a small rise results in more hospitalizations. JAMA. 8 March 2006. More...
Science Byte: A study of infant mortality in California strengthens the link between fine particulate air pollution and infant mortality.
Researchers examined infant death rates in relation to monitoring data for particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter. Higher levels of fine particle pollution are associated with an increased rate in overall postneonatal mortality. EHP 14 January 2006. More...
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