Ecology

News section with updates from clinics, science, health care, and society, explained clearly with practical context.

Air pollution linked to increased risk of glaucoma and cataracts

People who live in areas with higher levels of air pollution for long periods of time may be more likely to develop glaucoma and cataracts.

15 September 2026, 19:31

Microplastics are more than just pollutants: they can carry toxic substances, pathogens, and antibiotic resistance genes.

Microplastics in the environment may pose a much more complex threat than previously thought when assessed as a stand-alone pollutant.

05 September 2026, 09:01

Wildfire smoke may trigger an inflammatory response in the brain via STING: Scientists have identified a mechanism for potential neuronal damage.

Tiny particles of wildfire smoke can damage the DNA of supporting brain cells and trigger a powerful innate immune response, which in experiments became toxic to neighboring neurons.

02 September 2026, 22:14

Swimming in rivers and lakes was associated with a doubling of the risk of skin problems, and intestinal infections were better predicted by E. coli than enterococci.

Swimming in fresh open water can be associated with a noticeable, although in absolute terms relatively small, risk of health problems.

28 August 2026, 19:55

Private gardens and several parks near the home have been linked to a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

Living in an area with a high proportion of private gardens may be associated with a slightly lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to researchers who analyzed data from over 423,000 participants in the UK Biobank.

06 August 2026, 22:42

Climate change could expand chikungunya risk zones: Model points to 139 countries

The study's key finding: currently, potential risk zones for chikungunya virus transmission cover 21.26% of the world's land area and affect 139 countries and regions. The highest risk zones are currently concentrated in tropical and subtropical regions—South America, Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and parts of Oceania.

28 May 2026, 21:20

Air pollution has been linked to an increased risk of dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson's disease dementia.

This large Danish case-control study, based on national registries, examined whether long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter) and nitrogen dioxide was associated with the risk of two neurodegenerative conditions: dementia with Lewy bodies and dementia associated with Parkinson's disease.

19 May 2026, 09:28

Microplastics and nanoplastics were found in almost all human brain samples.

A new study in Nature Health reports that microplastics and nanoplastics were found in almost all human brain samples studied: 99.4% of tissue samples from patients with brain tumors and 100% of healthy brain tissue samples taken from deceased donors.

29 April 2026, 09:59

Seven days without contact with plastic dramatically reduces phthalate and bisphenol levels in the body.

The study focuses not on microplastics as particles, but on so-called plastic-associated chemicals—chemicals associated with plastic, primarily phthalates and bisphenols—that can enter the body through food, packaging, kitchen utensils, personal hygiene products, dust, and air.

23 April 2026, 16:59

Asphalt has been found to be an underestimated source of air pollution: a study has been published on its emissions, oxidation, and the formation of ultrafine particles.

The main idea of the study is that road asphalt is not just a passive surface, but a source of non-methane volatile organic compounds, which, after chemical oxidation in the atmosphere, can turn into ultrafine secondary organic aerosols.

23 April 2026, 09:10

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