'Nowhere' on the planet is safe from air pollution

Almost no area of land on Earth has levels of air pollution deemed safe by the World Health Organisation, a new study has found.

Sitting in traffic for just 2 hours can lead to brain damage

A team at the University of British Columbia says brain scans show increased impairments in brain function after exposure to traffic pollution. In fact, signs of decreased brain function can start to appear in as little as two hours.

A Shocking 99% of Us Are Now Breathing Unhealthy Air

We often take the air we breathe for granted, but new data reveals that the pollutants behind millions of preventable deaths now taint the air most of us breathe at unhealthy levels.

Lead Exposure May Have Lowered The IQ of Half of Americans

Childhood lead exposure in the United States is ubiquitous and much more concerning than previous estimates have suggested, according to a new study.

One Day Of Air Pollution - Life Lasting Outcomes

Children exposed to air pollution, such as wildfire smoke and car exhaust, for as little as one day may be doomed to higher rates of heart disease and other ailments in adulthood, according to a new study.

Air pollution recognized as a cause of death

For the first time in the UK - and possibly the world - air pollution has been recognized as a cause of a person's death. London court has found that air pollution "made a material contribution" to the death of a nine-year-old.

Being Around Cars is Bad For Your Mental Health

There is a twofold increase in terms of common mental disorder cases directly attributable to residential annual exposures to PM2.5 greater than 15.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

Air pollution killed nearly half a million newborns in 2019

Hundreds of thousands of newborns, mostly in India and sub-Saharan Africa, died from air pollution in 2019, a study has found. Noxious fumes from cooking fuels are blamed for causing the majority of the babies' deaths.

More evidence of a link between air pollution and early death

The new research builds on a 2017 study that showed that long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution and ozone increases the risk of premature death among the elderly in the U.S.

The Highest-Ever Concentration of Microplastics

According to a recent study, up to 1.9 million pieces of microplastic is located in a 5 cm-thick layer covering just one square metre. It is the highest levels of microplastics yet recorded on the ocean floor.

As coronavirus tanks economies, cleaner skies and water emerge

Images of clear skies over China and California, or fish swimming in in Venice’s canals, are a glimpse of what it might look like if we took better care of the Earth. 

Depression and suicide linked to air pollution

Five studies found that a 10µg/m3 increase in the average level of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution people were exposed to over long periods was associated with an approximately 10 percent increase in their odds of depression.

High cost of fossil fuel pollution on children's health

The study reports monetary estimates for the main children health problems that are consequences of early exposure to air pollution, 80 percent of which is attributable to burning of coal, oil, diesel and gas.

Too Much More Microplastic in the Ocean Than We Realized

If you pulled 1,000 liters of water out of the ocean, how many small bits of plastic would you expect to find? Ten pieces? One hundred pieces? 8.3 million pieces of what researchers call "mini-microplastic" is the finding of an alarming new study.

Indonesia is being contaminated by imported plastics

Researchers from the Sweden-based International Pollutants Elimination Network (IPEN) have found that plastic waste shipped from Western countries is contaminating Indonesia's food supply.