News by Subject Biology

Air pollution in the US has decreased since about 1990, and a new study conducted at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill now shows that this air quality improvement has brought substantial public health benefits. The study, published in the journal Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, found that deaths related to air pollution were nearly halved between 1990 and 2010.

Children with asthma who grow up in a New York City neighborhood where air pollution is prevalent need emergency medical treatment more often than asthmatics in less polluted areas. This is according to researchers from Columbia University in the US in a new study published in the Springer Nature-branded journal Pediatric Research.

The first detailed analysis of air pollution trends in China reveals a 20 per cent drop in concentrations of particulate pollution over the last three years (2015-2017).

Moss, one of the world's oldest plants, is surprisingly in tune with the atmosphere around it. Now in a study appearing in ACS' journal Analytical Chemistry, scientists report that they have found a simple and inexpensive way to detect air pollutants, specifically sulfur dioxide, in real time based on subtle changes in moss leaves. The discovery could rapidly alert authorities to potentially dangerous alterations in air quality using a sustainable, natural plant sensor.

Investigators who analyzed the published literature have found significant gaps in our understanding of the effects of microplastics -- plastic particles less than 5mm in size -- in the environment.

A review of more than 300 global studies has revealed a large 'mismatch' in the types of microplastics measured in the environment to those tested for effects in the laboratory.