Category: Health_MN Pollution_Air_CN Pollution_Plastics_CN Water_Pollution_CN

A few years ago, as microplastics began turning up in the guts of fish and shellfish, the concern was focused on the safety of seafood. Shellfish were a particular worry, because in their case, unlike fish, we eat the entire animal—stomach, microplastics and all. In 2017, Belgian scientists announced that seafood lovers could consume up to 11,000 plastic particles a year by eating mussels, a favorite dish in that country.

Typically when people hear about plastic pollution, they might envision seabirds with bellies full of trash or sea turtles with plastic straws in their noses. However, plastic pollution poses another threat that’s invisible to the eye and has important consequences for both human and animal health.

Anyone who has gone to school in the United States remembers the smell of diesel exhaust from riding the iconic yellow school bus, but few realize the danger of breathing those fumes. Thankfully, our children can ride pollution-free, all-electric buses that don’t cause asthma or harm brain development – and electrifying our school bus fleet is worth billions to American manufacturing.

Home energy efficiency upgrades can cut carbon pollution and help people save money on utility bills
But for Kevin Kennedy, director of the environmental health program at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, there’s an even bigger pay-off.

Few places on Earth — or in our bodies — seem to be free of microplastics. Researchers in recent months have announced the discovery of microplastics traveling in the bloodstream of a handful of anonymous donors and embedded deep in the lung tissue of about a dozen patients awaiting surgery. Another recent study reported finding microplastics in placentas.

It’s well known plastics are harmful to the environment, but this isn’t the only thing plastics are impacting, according to the World Economic Forum. They can also be harmful to your health.

An emerging domain of research shows that plastic consumption and pollution harms human health — particularly for the world’s lower-income communities.

Widespread transition to zero-emission vehicles would yield more than $1 trillion in public health benefits, according to research from the American Lung Association.
A nationwide switch to electric cars and other vehicles would save 110,000 lives and 13 million workdays over the next thirty years—the equivalent of $1.2 trillion in benefits, according to “Zeroing in on Healthy Air,” a report released Wednesday.

Spring rain, summer drought, and heat created ideal conditions for mosquitoes to spread the West Nile virus through Colorado last year, experts said. West Nile killed 11 people and caused 101 cases of neuroinvasive infections — those linked to serious illness such as meningitis or encephalitis — in Colorado in 2021, the highest numbers in 18 years.

It’s the culmination of several years of student-led efforts to ensure Emory’s future doctors learn about the growing health impacts of a warming planet, because climate change doesn’t just bring hotter weather and more extreme storms. It also makes many health issues worse – issues doctors need to recognize and treat.