blog posts

• Air pollution clouds the mind and makes everyday tasks challenging

  Feb 19, 2025 4:15 pm

  Source: University of Birmingham, 2/6/25

  People's ability to interpret emotions or focus on performing a task is reduced by short-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) air pollution, potentially making everyday activities, such as the weekly supermarket shop, more challenging.

• A novel approach to PFAS removal and awareness efforts

  Mar 12, 2025 9:00 am

  Source; Universities of Wisconsin, 3/12/25

  When it comes to PFAS research and education, Seyed Javad Amirfakhri is professionally and personally invested. Amirfakhri is an Assistant Professor of Paper science and Chemical Engineering at UW-Stevens Point who is conducting innovative PFAS removal research. He also has five children and wants to make sure drinking water is safe for them and others.

• Poor air quality increases depression risk

  Apr 17, 2025 3:30 pm

  Source: The Hill, 4/5/25

  A new study indicates that long-term exposure to air pollutants could directly correlate to an increased risk for depression. The study published in Environmental Science and Ecotechnology and conducted by Harbin Medical University and Cranfield University examined the link to depressive symptoms in a Chinese adult population and six common air pollutants over 7 years.

• How do researchers determine how toxic a chemical is? A toxicologist explains alternatives to animal testing

  May 19, 2025 10:45 am

  Source: The Conversation, 3/12/25

  A vast number of chemicals are registered for production and use around the world. But only a portion have been thoroughly evaluated for their toxicity due to time, cost, ethical concerns and regulatory limitations. Better understanding the process of determining the toxicity of chemicals could help make them safer. 

• Microplastics could be hampering the ocean’s ability to capture carbon

  May 20, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: New Scientist, 4/30/25

  A global survey of microplastics in oceans reveals that tiny particles of plastic are prevalent throughout the water column, which could harm marine ecosystems and affect carbon storage in the deep sea

• Could nanoplastics in the environment turn E. coli into a bigger villain?

  Jun 9, 2025 3:45 pm

  Source: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, 5/19/25

  Nanoplastics are everywhere. These fragments are so tiny they can accumulate on bacteria and be taken up by plant roots; they’re in our food, our water, and our bodies. Scientists don’t know the full extent of their impacts on our health, but new research from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign food scientists suggests certain nanoplastics may make foodborne pathogens more virulent. 

• Biochar-based slow-release fertilizers: A step toward more sustainable agriculture

  Jun 17, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: AZO Materials, 3/27/25

  A recent study published in Scientific Reports explores the development and performance of biochar-based slow-release fertilizers (SRFs) enhanced with semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (Semi-IPNs). This approach addresses common issues with conventional chemical fertilizers (CFs), such as nutrient loss, environmental pollution, and declining soil health. The goal was to improve nutrient availability and water retention in soil to support more sustainable agricultural practices.

• Common farm chemical threatens insect survival

  Jul 9, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Macquarie University, 6/30/25
  

  New Macquarie University-led research published in Royal Society Open Science, shows chlorothalonil, one of the world's most widely used agricultural fungicides, deeply impacts the reproduction and survival of insects, even at the lowest levels routinely found on food from cranberries to wine grapes.

• From masterpieces to makeup: eco-friendly art conservation gentle enough for human skin

  Aug 11, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Horizon Magazine, 7/1/25

  Green art conservation methods developed by EU-funded researchers are setting new standards and proving useful far beyond museums, from cosmetics to agriculture. 

• One of the biggest microplastic pollution sources isn’t straws or grocery bags – it’s your tires

  Aug 14, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The Conversation, 7/22/25

  Every few years, the tires on your car wear thin and need to be replaced. But where does that lost tire material go? The answer, unfortunately, is often waterways, where the tiny microplastic particles from the tires’ synthetic rubber carry several chemicals that can transfer into fish, crabs and perhaps even the people who eat them.

• Exposure to PFAS, ‘forever chemicals’, linked to increased type 2 diabetes risk

  Aug 20, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Medical News Today, 7/24/25

  Vishal Midya is the corresponding author of a new study recently published in the journal eBioMedicine that found exposure to a class of synthetic chemicals called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)Trusted Source — also known as "forever chemicals" — may increase a person's risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

• Bioreactors reduce phosphorus from agricultural drainage water, Illinois study shows

  Aug 26, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Illinois College of ACES, 8/11/25

  Tile drainage is a common practice used in agricultural fields to remove excess water, but it also transports harmful nutrients into water bodies, contributing to algal blooms that deprive aquatic life of oxygen. Woodchip bioreactors are an efficient way to reduce nitrogen pollution by treating the water as it exits the field. However, these denitrifying bioreactors may leach phosphorus from the woodchips into the environment. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign evaluates data from 10 bioreactors in Illinois to determine whether they are a source of phosphorus pollution.

• PFAS exposure linked to teen weight regain after bariatric surgery

  Sep 1, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: HealthDay, 8/19/25

  For adolescents, exposure to perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is associated with weight regain after bariatric surgery, according to a study published online Aug. 14 in Obesity. 

• Heat-styling hair care products release billions of nanoparticles that can accumulate in lungs, engineers find

  Sep 5, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Purdue University, 8/20/25

  A typical morning hair-care routine can expose you to as much immediate nanoparticle pollution as standing in dense highway traffic, report Purdue University engineers. A Purdue research team led by Nusrat Jung, an assistant professor in the Lyles School of Civil and Construction Engineering, and her Ph.D. student Jianghui Liu, found that a 10–20-minute heat-based hair care routine exposes a person to upward of 10 billion nanoparticles that are directly deposited into their lungs. These particles can lead to serious health risks such as respiratory stress, lung inflammation, and cognitive decline. The team's findings are published in Environmental Science & Technology.
  
  
  

• Sites contaminated by toxic ‘forever chemicals’ are much more widespread than previously thought, researchers find

  Sep 17, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Northeastern University, 9/10/25

  Toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, also known as PFAS or “forever chemicals,” are in everything from Band-Aids and clothing to water and floss. However, new research reveals they are potentially even more widespread in the U.S. than previously thought. The research done by Northeastern University’s PFAS Project Lab reveals that while there are about 2,200 known sites of PFAS contamination in the U.S., there are close to another 80,000 likely contaminated sites. It presents what the researchers say is a much more complete — and stark — picture of PFAS contamination while also presenting legislators, communities and environmental activists with a roadmap of where to focus their efforts. 

• Slow burn: The vital need for benign flame retardants

  Sep 18, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 9/3/25

  Flame retardants slow the spread of fires but they can have serious, unintended human health and environmental impacts. Inadequate toxicity testing and inconsistent regulations make it difficult to keep potentially harmful fire-resisting chemicals out of products. Researchers in industry and academia are trying to develop safer chemistries and working on next-generation biobased flame retardants.

• New and simple detection method for nanoplastics

  Oct 3, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Stuttgart, 9/8/25

  A joint team from the University of Stuttgart in Germany and the University of Melbourne in Australia has developed a new method for the straightforward analysis of tiny nanoplastic particles in environmental samples. One needs only an ordinary optical microscope and a newly developed test strip—the optical sieve. The research results have now been published in “Nature Photonics” (doi: 10.1038/s41566-025-01733-x).

• Scientists just found out forever chemicals are shockingly acidic

  Oct 6, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University at Buffalo, 9/13/25

  Scientists have uncovered that “forever chemicals” like PFAS are even more acidic than anyone realized, meaning they dissolve and spread in water with alarming ease. Using a cutting-edge method combining NMR spectroscopy and computer modeling, researchers showed that the acidity of notorious compounds like PFOA and GenX had been vastly underestimated—sometimes by factors of a thousand.

• First comprehensive review of plastic pollution in the Amazon reveals contamination poses urgent health risks

  Oct 17, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Phys.org, 10/1/25

  In a study published in the journal Ambio, researchers examined 52 peer-reviewed scientific papers on plastic found in the Amazon since 2000, particularly in fauna, fish, sediment and water. More than 90% of the research was concentrated in Brazil along the main Amazon River channel, and the most frequently reported microplastic fragment size was less than five millimeters. The findings make for troubling reading. Plastic contamination is not limited to a few spots; it's widespread across the basin. The review found plastic fragments and litter in the water, river sediments, and among plants and wildlife, including birds, fish and mammals. The most alarming discovery was the threat to human health. Researchers found that two-thirds (66%) of the studied animals (mostly fish) that contain plastic are regular food sources for local communities. This high level of contamination puts many people at risk of ingesting plastic fragments, especially microfragments.

• Scientists find hidden brain damage behind dementia

  Oct 23, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center, 10/6/25

  A University of New Mexico scientist is revealing what might be one of the most overlooked causes of dementia — damage in the brain’s tiny blood vessels. Dr. Elaine Bearer has created a new way to classify these changes, showing that many people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s also suffer from vascular damage that quietly destroys brain tissue. Even more surprising, she’s finding microplastics inside the brain that appear linked to inflammation and memory loss. 

• The invisible chemical in the air that could be raising Parkinson’s risk

  Oct 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: American Academy of Neurology, 10/3/25

  A massive nationwide study has linked long-term exposure to the industrial chemical trichloroethylene (TCE) with a higher risk of Parkinson’s disease in older adults. Researchers examined over 1.1 million people, finding that those living in areas with the highest outdoor TCE levels faced a 10% greater risk of developing Parkinson’s.

• How microplastic pollution is boosting antimicrobial resistance

  Oct 27, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, 10/17/25

  Excessive microplastics contamination could be fuelling antimicrobial resistance (AMR), already a spiralling problem worldwide, a new research report reveals. The report, published in The Journal of Hazardous Materials, finds that plastics act as a platform for biofilms – communities of bacteria and other microbes that cling to their surfaces. These biofilms can help accelerate the spread of drug resistance by creating a protective barrier that blocks the entry of antibiotics into the microbes, and helps resistance genes to transmit more easily within the biofilm community.

• Why The Search Is On For PFAS-Free Batteries

  Oct 28, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Forbes, 10/22/25

  The demand for Lithium-ion batteries might be on the rise, but how many of us are aware they contain harmful PFAS compounds, otherwise known as “forever chemicals”? The use of such compounds is obviously not good for the environment, and the search is now on for alternative compounds, which can be used in the next generation of batteries.

• Recovering arsenic from wastewater sludge

  Oct 30, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Chemical & Engineering News, 10/17/25

  Arsenic is a potent carcinogen and one of the world’s most dangerous drinking-water contaminants, particularly in South Asia, where millions are exposed through groundwater. Removing the toxin from groundwater helps protect public health but leaves behind sludge laced with arsenic, which is expensive and hazardous to dispose of properly. Researchers in Denmark have now found a way to turn that toxic waste into something valuable: high-purity elemental arsenic, a material in growing demand for green electronics and batteries (Sci. Adv. 2025, DOI:10.1126/sciadv.adz5816).

• New research reveals what’s really hiding in bottled water

  Nov 3, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Concordia University, 10/6/2025

  A chance encounter with plastic waste on a tropical beach sparked a deep investigation into what those fragments mean for human health. The research reveals that bottled water isn’t as pure as it seems—each sip may contain invisible microplastics that can slip through the body’s defenses and lodge in vital organs. These tiny pollutants are linked to inflammation, hormonal disruption, and even neurological damage, yet remain dangerously understudied.

• Micro-nano plastics make other pollutants more dangerous to plants and intestinal cells

  Feb 18, 2025 12:15 pm

  Source: Rutgers University, 2/11/25

  Micro- and nanoscale plastic particles in soil and water can significantly increase how much toxic chemicals plants and human intestinal cells absorb, according to two new studies from Rutgers Health that raise fresh concerns about food safety from plastic pollution.

• Microplastics: What’s Trapping the Emerging Threat in Our Streams?

  Apr 28, 2025 3:30 pm

  Source: University of Arkansas, 4/21/25

  Microplastics, tiny plastic particles found in everyday products from face wash to toothpaste, are an emerging threat to health and ecology, prompting a research team to identify what keeps them trapped in stream ecosystems. The research team’s study, “Transport and retention of microplastic fibers in streams are impacted by benthic algae, discharge, and substrate,” was published in Limnology and Oceanography in February.

• FAU joins first global effort to map microplastics in ocean systems

  May 1, 2025 5:45 pm

  Source: Florida Atlantic University, 4/30/25

  For the first time, scientists have mapped microplastic distribution from the surface to the deep sea at a global scale – revealing not only where plastics accumulate, but how they infiltrate critical ocean systems. For the study, researchers synthesized depth-profile data from 1,885 stations collected between 2014 and 2024 to map microplastic distribution patterns by size and polymer type, while also evaluating potential transport mechanisms.              

  Results, published in Nature, reveal that microplastics are not just surface pollutants – they’re deeply embedded in the ocean’s structure. Ranging from a few to thousands of particles per cubic meter, their size determines how they move: smaller microplastics (1 to 100 micrometers) spread more evenly and penetrate deeper, while larger ones (100 to 5,000 micrometers) concentrate near the surface, especially within the top 100 meters of gyres. Gyres act like massive, slow-moving whirlpools that trap and concentrate floating debris – especially plastic.  

• Cancer-causing chemicals are in many beauty products women use, a study finds

  May 16, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: NPR, 5/8/25

  More than half of Black and Latina women in Los Angeles who participated in a new study regularly used personal-care products containing a known carcinogen. Study participants photographed the ingredient lists of all the products they used at home over the course of a week. The journal Environmental Science & Technology Letters published the study Wednesday.

  Of 64 women, researchers found that 53% reported using soap, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, skin lightener, eyeliner, eyelash glue and other beauty products that contained formaldehyde and formaldehyde-releasing preservatives — toxins found to cause cancer in humans.

• Emory study finds molecular link between air pollution and pregnancy risks

  Jun 11, 2025 5:45 pm

  Source: Emory University, 6/3/25

  A new study by Emory University researchers, published recently in Environmental Science & Technology, found that exposure to the tiny particles in air pollution during pregnancy can disrupt maternal metabolisms, altering key biological pathways. These changes were associated with increased risk of various negative birth outcomes, including premature birth. 

• Wildfires threaten water quality for years after they burn

  Jul 11, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Colorado at Boulder, 6/23/25

  Years after wildfires burn forests and watersheds, the contaminants left behind continue to poison rivers and streams across the Western U.S. — much longer than scientists estimated. 

  A new study published in Nature Communications Earth & Environment, analyzed water quality in more than 500 watersheds across the Western U.S., and is the first large-scale assessment of post-wildfire water quality. The results showed contaminants like organic carbon, phosphorus, nitrogen, and sediment can degrade water quality for up to eight years after a fire. Water managers can use this data to help them plan for the future and respond appropriately when wildfires strike.  

• New research uncovers gene impacts of PFAS exposure in firefighters

  Aug 19, 2025 9:00 am

  Medical Express, 7/25/25

  Researchers at the University of Arizona Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health found that certain kinds of long-lasting chemicals firefighters are exposed to may affect the activity of genes linked to cancer and other diseases. The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research. The study is among the first to connect common industrial chemicals called PFAS—per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—to changes in microRNAs, or miRNAs, which are molecules that act as guardrails to help control gene expression.

• New maps show how risk from ‘forever chemicals’ varies

  Sep 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: The Conversation, 9/4/25

  To better understand the ways people are being exposed to PFAS, researchers examined four exposure pathways – drinking water contamination, food contamination, recreational exposure and industrial emissions, such as from Superfund sites, airports, military bases and manufacturing plants – across three Great Lakes states: Michigan, New York and Pennsylvania. The interactive map and online dashboard that they created lets residents look up their communities’ known PFAS exposure risks and calculate their own risks. The results also offer insights for people across the U.S. who share similar environments, dietary choices and lifestyles.

• Phthalates in everyday products may fuel breast cancer, new study warns

  Sep 30, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: U.S. Right to Know, 9/5/25

  Common chemicals in plastics, personal care products, and food packaging may drive the onset, growth, and spread of breast cancer—the second-leading cause of cancer deaths in women, new research suggests. The findings, published this month [September 2025] in Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, suggest phthalates hijack the body’s hormone systems, activate cancer-promoting genes, and make tumors easier to form. and harder to treat. The study raises new questions about the safety of chemicals that millions of Americans encounter every day in air, food, and water.   

• Microplastics in the placenta linked to increased risk of miscarriage

  Oct 15, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Environmental Health News, 10/3/25

  In a recent study published by eBioMedicine, researchers found that women with higher levels of microplastics in their placenta were at an increased risk of experiencing spontaneous miscarriage in the first trimester. 

• The invisible plastic threat you can finally see

  Oct 22, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Universitaet Stuttgart. 9/10/25

  Researchers in Germany and Australia have created a simple but powerful tool to detect nanoplastics—tiny, invisible particles that can slip through skin and even the blood-brain barrier. Using an "optical sieve" test strip viewed under a regular microscope, these particles reveal themselves through striking color changes.

• Bacteria found to eat forever chemicals — and even some of their toxic byproducts

  Feb 3, 2025 12:45 pm

  Source: University of Buffalo, 1/23/25

  Most remediation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) involves adsorbing and trapping them, but certain microbes can actually break apart the strong chemical bonds that allow these chemicals to persist for so long in the environment. Now, a University at Buffalo-led team has identified a strain of bacteria that can break down and transform at least three types of PFAS, and, perhaps even more crucially, some of the toxic byproducts of the bond-breaking process.

• This sponge soaks up pollutants but saves valuable minerals

  Mar 17, 2025 4:45 pm

  Source: Northwestern University, 2/5/25

  Northwestern researchers have developed a specialized sponge that slurps up pollutants, offering a reusable and cost-effective solution to water contamination. As more waterways contend with algae blooms and pollution caused by minerals from agricultural runoff and industrial manufacturing processes, new methods to remove pollutants like phosphate, copper and zinc are emerging across fields. While solutions exist, they tend to be costly and can be used just once. The sponge, coated with nanoparticles that have an affinity for pollutants, can collect metals like zinc and copper, as well as phosphate, and in previous iterations has successfully pulled lead from water, and microplastics and oil from lakes and oceans. It then releases these valuable resources when it is exposed to different pHs. 

  See https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsestwater.4c01234 for the study describing this research.

• Micronanoplastics found in artery-clogging plaque in the neck

  Apr 28, 2025 1:00 pm

  Source: American Heart Association, 4/22/25

  A small study found that fatty buildup in the blood vessels of the neck (carotid arteries) may contain 50 times or more micronanoplastics -- minuscule bits of plastic -- compared to arteries free of plaque buildup.

  Note: The study featured in this news release is a research abstract. Abstracts presented at the American Heart Association’s scientific meetings are not peer-reviewed, and the findings are considered preliminary until published as full manuscripts in a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

• USGS research on 6PPD-quinone: Where the rubber meets the road

  May 7, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: U.S. Geological Survey, 2/28/25

  Stormwater and road runoff are recognized forms of pollution that can contain chemicals harmful to fish and other aquatic animals. This includes 6PPD-quinone, the oxidized form of the chemical compound 6PPD that is used to prevent tires from degrading and cracking, ensuring driver safety. As 6PPD-quinone sheds from tires during normal wear it can enter streams in stormwater runoff. This page provides an overview of current research and future directions by the USGS Environmental Health Program.

• Sulfur runoff amplifies mercury concentrations in Florida Everglades

  May 15, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of California, Davis, 5/8/25

  Sulfur applied to sugarcane crops in South Florida is flowing into wetlands upgradient of Everglades National Park, triggering a chemical reaction that converts mercury into toxic methylmercury, which accumulates in fish, new research from University of California, Davis finds.

  In a paper published in Nature Communications, researchers collected water and mosquito fish across wetlands fed by agricultural canals. They documented how sulfur runoff can dramatically increase methylmercury concentrations in fish — sometimes up to 10 million times greater than the waters in which they lived, posing a risk to human health and wildlife. Growers apply sulfur to alkaline soils in South Florida to manage pH levels and increase the availability of nutrients to sugarcane.

  
  

• Microplastics can cause malignant changes in lung cells

  Jul 24, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: Medical University of Vienna, 7/15/25

  Although the respiratory system is one of the main entry points for microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) from the air into the body, little is known about the effects of these tiny particles on the lungs. Researchers at MedUni Vienna have now demonstrated for the first time that MNPs can trigger malignant changes in lung cells that are associated with the development of cancer. The findings were published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and once again underline the urgent need for action to reduce plastic waste.

• A potential ‘green’ alternative to formaldehyde and PFAS in fabric finishing

  Sep 2, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: American Chemical Society, 8/18/25

  More than half of the 7.5 million bales of cotton produced annually in the U.S. will be used in clothing manufacturing. The finishing techniques used to make cotton fabric smooth, water-repellant and resistant to wrinkling can be detrimental to the environment and the wearer. Now, researchers propose a method for using cottonseed oil as a “greener” and safer alternative to formaldehyde and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), often called forever chemicals, when finishing cotton fabrics.

  Taylor Kanipe, a graduate student at North Carolina State University (NC State), presented her results at the fall meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), held Aug. 17-21.

• Banned pesticides found in clouds, sparking new health concerns

  Sep 16, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: U.S. Right to Know, 9/11/25

  Pesticides banned years ago in the European Union are drifting through the skies and turning up in clouds above France, raising concerns about how long these toxins persist and how far they can travel, with potentially harmful global health impacts, according to a pathbreaking new study.  The research, published in Environmental Science & Technology, is the first to detect dozens of agricultural chemicals—including insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, and other substances—suspended in cloud water droplets. That means pesticides not only linger in the environment but also move through the atmosphere and fall back to Earth in rain or snow, sometimes at levels exceeding European safe drinking water limits, the research suggests. 

• Microplastics could be fueling antibiotic resistance, BU study finds

  Mar 14, 2025 5:15 pm

  Source: Boston University, 3/11/25

  In a startling discovery, a team of Boston University researchers found that bacteria exposed to microplastics became resistant to multiple types of antibiotics commonly used to treat infections. They say this is especially concerning for people in high-density, impoverished areas like refugee settlements, where discarded plastic piles up and bacterial infections spread easily. The study is published in Applied and Environmental Microbiology.

• Microplastic contamination detected in milk and cheese raises food safety concerns

  Jul 25, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: AZO Cleantech, 7/18/25

  A recent study, published in npj Science of Food, investigated microplastic contamination in milk, fresh cheese, and ripened cheese, providing one of the most detailed assessments yet of plastics in dairy products. The research team used advanced spectroscopic techniques to analyze the size, shape, colour, and concentration of microplastics in these widely consumed foods. 

• Long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution linked to increased risk of dementia

  Aug 6, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Cambridge, 7/27/25

  An analysis of studies incorporating data from almost 30 million people has highlighted the role that air pollution – including that coming from car exhaust emissions – plays in increased risk of dementia...In a paper published in The Lancet Planetary Health, a team led by researchers at the Medical Research Council (MRC) Epidemiology Unit, University of Cambridge, carried out a systematic review and meta-analysis of existing scientific literature to examine this link further. This approach allowed them to bring together studies that on their own may not provide sufficient evidence, and which sometimes disagree with each other, to provide more robust overarching conclusions. In total, the researchers included 51 studies, including data from more than 29 million participants who had been exposed to air pollutants for at least one year, mostly from high-income countries. Of these, 34 papers were included in the meta-analysis: 15 originated in North America, 10 in Europe, seven in Asia, and two in Australia. The researchers found a positive and statistically-significant association between 3 types of air pollutant and dementia.

• Pollution solution with a pinch of clay

  Aug 7, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: University of Cambridge, 7/28/25

  A low-cost material made from clay and vitamin B2 could one day help clean up pollution using only sunlight. Developed by researchers in the University of Cambridge Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (CEB), the new material – Flaponite – combines a clay base with compounds derived from vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, to create a sustainable photocatalyst. It’s affordable, recyclable, and designed to work in water under visible light – offering a promising new approach to breaking down environmental pollutants without harsh chemicals or high energy use. The study demonstrates how the material can break down model pollutants in lab conditions – a crucial first step in developing real-world water purification or green chemical processing technologies. 

• Microplastics found to change gut microbiome in first human-sample study

  Oct 14, 2025 9:00 am

  Source: EurekAlert, 10/6/25

  New research presented at UEG Week 2025 shows that microplastics – plastic particles smaller than 5mm commonly found in the environment – can alter the human gut microbiome, with some changes resembling patterns linked to depression and colorectal cancer. 

• New water microcleaners self-disperse, capture microplastics and float up for removal

  Mar 31, 2025 8:30 am

  Source: North Carolina State University, 3/26/25

  In a new paper, researchers at North Carolina State University show proof of concept for a system that, in a single cycle, actively removes microplastics from water. The findings, described in the journal Advanced Functional Materials, hold the potential for advances in cleansing oceans and other bodies of water of tiny plastics that may harm human health and the environment.