Almost one billion tonnes of plastic will be dumped on land and in the oceans over the period from 2016 to 2040 unless the world acts, say a team of 17 global experts.
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.
An emergency was declared after 20,000 tonnes of diesel leaked into a river when a tank at a power plant near the city of Norilsk, Russia, collapsed at the end of May. The spill contaminated a 350 sq km area.
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.
An average consumer throws away 60 % of clothing within a year of purchase. It is estimated that 18.6 million tonnes will be thrown away this year alone and by the year of 2050 the annual discard could grow to 150 million tonnes.
The Earth Island Institute asked for unspecified damages and an order for Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle USA, Procter & Gamble and six other companies to clean up plastic waste that the group says has created a global pollution crisis.
A new study suggests that significant early childhood exposure to traffic-related air pollution is associated with structural changes in the brain at the age of 12. Specifically reductions in gray matter volume and cortical thickness.
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.
In the US, a 13-month closure of a steel mill in Utah resulted in reducing hospitalizations for pneumonia, pleurisy, bronchitis and asthma by half. School absenteeism decreased by 40 percent, and daily mortality fell by 16 percent.
When you consider the full flight, which includes emissions from takeoff, cruise and landing, aircraft emissions are also responsible for around 16,000 premature deaths a year from impaired air quality.
More than half of Europe’s endemic trees are threatened with extinction as invasive diseases, pests, pollution and urban development take a growing toll on the landscape, according to a study.
A big study examined the records of more than a quarter million pregnant women in Beijing from 2009 to 2017 in light of the womens' exposure to air pollution. Among the women 17,497 were found to have experienced silent miscarriages.
Studies have found that microplastics are in the human food chain. Recently Plastic by-products have been discovered in blood and urine samples of young children. They were found in 97% to 100% of the test cases.
France is set to introduce an "eco-tax" for all flights from French airports, the government has said. The money raised by the tax will be invested in in less-polluting transport, such as rail.
Last month Philippines ordered Canada to take back 69 shipping containers filled with Canadian trash. And now Malaysia has announced that it will be shipping out 450 metric tonnes of plastic trash to its countries of origins.
