A major international study published in The Lancet Global Health attempted to assess a subtle consequence of climate change: how rising temperatures affect people's physical activity habits, rather than heatstroke directly.
Environment International published a study from a Chinese cohort that linked prenatal exposure to bisphenols (BPs) to the risk of preterm birth (PTB) and specifically tested whether maternal anemia increased this risk.
Rain and snow increasingly bring traces of the same molecule to Earth: trifluoroacetic acid (TFA). Over the past decades, it has been found in rivers and lakes, groundwater, tree leaves, beer and bottled water, and in human blood and urine samples.
Fine particles PM2.5 are known to increase the risk of asthma exacerbations. But PM2.5 is a mixture of dozens of components (metals, inorganic salts and organics), and until now it was unclear which "building blocks" of the mixture were the most dangerous.
The authors show that when the mass of fine particles in the air (PM2.5) is within the standard and the applications on the phone draw a "green" index, this does not mean that the air is safe. The composition of the aerosol is more important than the mass alone: even at "low" concentrations, the proportion of toxic particles in composition can remain high and maintain adverse effects on the respiratory tract.
A large-scale review of the neurotoxicity of micro- and nanoplastics (MNPs) has been published in the journal Environment & Health (ACS). The authors systematized the data on how and where we encounter plastic particles, how they get to the brain, and what mechanisms of damage to the nervous system are involved - from oxidative stress and neuroinflammation to disruption of synapses and the blood-brain barrier (BBB).
A team of researchers in PNAS found that internal climate variability (ICV - the natural swings in the weather-climate system that cannot be reduced to "emission scenarios" or differences between models) is one of the main sources of uncertainty in assessing future climate suitability for disease transmission by vectors (mosquitoes and ticks).
Living at an altitude of ≥1500 m is associated with the fact that the "biological age" of people is ahead of their passport age. According to two independent algorithms for assessing aging, the acceleration was from ~0.7 to 2.2 years; the effect was stronger in smokers.
Extreme heat is becoming more common, and air conditioning is not available to everyone. The most popular way to cool is with a household fan. But does it work in real, muggy heat, and what difference does dehydration make? A new paper in JAMA Network Open provides a clear answer: in hot and humid conditions, the effect of a fan depends significantly on hydration levels.
