When it comes to linking cigarette smoke to heart attacks, one might assume that such a link would apply only as long as one is smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke. That's not necessarily true, however, at least according to a follow-up study of people living in and around Pueblo, Colorado.

Exposure to arsenic-contaminated drinking water during pregnancy is associated with low birth weight and fetal loss, and there is concern that the infants' development may be affected. The researchers conducted a large population-based study of nutritional supplementation with 4,436 pregnant women in Matlab, Bangladesh, an area of high-arsenic

In Xuanwei County, China, unvented indoor coal burning is strongly associated with increased risk of lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. However, the impact of coal burning and stove improvement on risk of pneumonia is not clear. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study among all farmers born 1917 through 1951 and living in Xuanwei as of 1 January 1976.

Both influenza viruses and air pollutants have been well documented as major hazards to human health, but few epidemiologic studies have assessed effect modification of influenza on health effects of ambient air pollutants. The authors aimed to assess modifying effects of influenza on health effects of ambient air pollutants.

The Love Canal is a rectangular 16-acre, 10-ft deep chemical waste landfill situated in a residential neighborhood in Niagara Falls, New York. This seriously contaminated site first came to public attention in 1978. No studies have examined mortality in the former residents of the Love Canal neighborhood (LC).

Exposure to heavy metals may cause kidney damage. The population living near the Avonmouth zinc smelter has been exposed to cadmium and other heavy metals for many decades. The study aimed to assess Cd body burden and early signs of kidney damage in the Avonmouth population.

As more and more multibillion-dollar projects for sequestering carbon dioxide (CO2) deep within the Earth seek financial support, human-formed fertile black soils in the Amazon basin suggest a cheaper, lower-tech route toward the same destination.

There's a new market growing in the United States, but unlike others trading in tangible commodities, this one trades in the absence of something that no one wants: greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. According to industry figures, the global markets for both voluntary offsets and those sold to meet compliance requirements are growing rapidly, and U.S.

Although the issue of anthropogenic climate forcing and public health is widely recognized, one fundamental aspect has remained underappreciated: the impact of climatic change on plant biology and the well-being of human systems. The authors aimed to critically evaluate the extant and probable links between plant function and human health, drawing on the pertinent literature.

Original Source

Ambient levels of air pollution may affect the health of children, as indicated by studies of infant and perinatal mortality. Scientific evidence has also correlated low birth weight and preterm birth, which are important determinants of perinatal death, with air pollution.