Pollen allergy is a common cause of allergic respiratory diseases such as hay fever and asthma. A recent continent-wide study suggests that rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the last 30 years may be increasing pollen counts especially in European cities, which could have serious consequences for public health.

The impact of air quality on public welfare is important to policy development. However, it is difficult to make a clear link between the two when air pollution tends to be reported at a country level and wellbeing is an individual measure. A new study takes a step further towards linking the two by analysing regional level air quality across the EU and relating it to levels of life satisfaction.

The presence of plastics in aquatic environments is a growing concern across the EU. This study explored the amount of microplastic particles present in raw and treated water at three water-treatment plants in the Czech Republic. While treated water contained fewer particles than raw1 fresh water, the amount found in treated water was not negligible, and largely comprised tiny particles of <10 micrometres (μm) in diameter. Ways to filter microplastics from potable water must be identified and their risk to humans, sources and routes into drinking water determined, say the researchers.

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Energy efficiency is at the centre of EU policy for achieving a fundamental transformation of Europe’s energy systems by 2030. This Thematic Issue reveals the complexity of the issue of energy efficiency, its links with resource efficiency and the wide range of factors influencing it, from technology to social practices.

Sustainability in the production of goods and services could be encouraged by replacing value-added tax (VAT) with ‘DaVAT,’ a damage and value-added tax, a new study suggests. This tariff is partly based on a life-cycle assessment (LCA) of goods and services and varies from high (products deemed to seriously harm the environment and human health) to low (those with a lesser impact). The researchers propose a novel way to convert VAT into DaVAT and provide a new policy tool, based on LCA, that can be applied by any country wishing to reform its consumption tax system and move towards a more sustainable future.

Upland peat soils provide a substantial carbon sink if managed properly, according to new research. A study of a peatland area in the UK indicated that it could potentially store approximately 160,000 tonnes of CO2 per year.

Miscanthus grass could have greater potential to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during cultivation than some other biofuel crops, such as switchgrass and corn, according to researchers. The study modelled how carbon and nitrogen circulate through ecosystems on a bioenergy farm, and estimated that miscanthus could provide a net sink of up to 350-428 g of CO2 per m2 per year during this stage of biofuel production.

Urban vegetation could have been overlooked as valuable above-ground carbon storage, according to researchers. They estimated that 231,521 tonnes of carbon were stored in above-ground vegetation in a UK city, the majority of which (97 per cent) in trees. This was 10 times the amount estimated from national figures for the same city area.

While extreme environmental events — such as floods and tsunamis — may trigger migrations, the underlying drivers of migration are far more complex and diverse, says new research. The research reviewed the available evidence on population movements associated with extreme weather events and found that people could find themselves ‘trapped’ and vulnerable, whether they stayed at their homes or moved to new locations.

Soil and plants store around 5% of the world’s carbon, but carbon storage in some soils is in decline. Recent research has found that climate change accounted for 9–22% of carbon declines in organic soils in semi-natural habitats throughout England and Wales from 1978–2003. The researchers say monitoring soils rich in carbon should be a priority to ensure that more carbon is not released to reinforce climate change.

Most emissions of nitrous oxide (N2O) are linked to the use of nitrogen (N) fertiliser in agriculture, highlighting a need for agricultural management practices that reduce emissions while maintaining agronomic productivity. A new study has assessed the long-term impact of conventional tillage (CT — where soil is prepared for agriculture via mechanical agitation) and no-tillage (NT) systems on soil N2O emissions and crop productivity in rain-fed Mediterranean conditions. The findings show that, over a period of 18 years, mean yield-scaled (i.e. per unit grain yield) soil N2O emissions (YSNE) were 2.8 to 3.3 times lower under NT than CT. The researchers therefore recommend NT as a suitable strategy by which to balance agricultural productivity with lower soil N2O emissions in rain-fed Mediterranean agroecosystems.

To solve the problem of food waste we need to radically rethink how our food is produced and consumed, researchers argue in a recent study. They propose a new framework that considers how to reduce wastage throughout the supply chain. Preventing excess levels of food production and consumption in the first place is its most important step.

A circular economy (CE) is one in which materials retain their value and are reused, minimising waste. Cities and councils could act as CE trailblazers by embedding this approach whenever possible into their public purchase of products, services and works. This study explored different approaches to circular public procurement (CPP), and identified possible opportunities to promote CE via appropriate procurement policy and criteria.

For children with autism and a class of genetic disorders, exposure to diagnostic ultrasound in the first trimester of pregnancy is linked to increased autism severity, according to a study by researchers at UW Medicine, UW Bothell and Seattle Children's Research Institute.

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Preliminary findings from a mass participation study have indicated a link between weather conditions - specifically rain and lack of sunshine - and chronic pain.

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The Art of Connecting is Rethinking the Risk. Be clear on where you stand with BT Security

A new UK study suggests that there are associations between obesity, physical activity, and levels of CO2 emissions from transport. These associations seem mostly to reflect the fact that obese people tend to travel longer distances by motorised forms of travel. They may also partly reflect less ‘active travel’ by bicycle or walking by obese people.

Residents living near a busy railway line in Strasbourg were found by researchers to have reduced cognitive function compared to residents in quieter areas, which may be the result of long-term exposure to night-time noise. Psychological tests suggested that they had not adapted to the noise over the years, and they did not become less affected with time.

Hybrid and electric vehicles emit lower levels of carbon dioxide and air pollutants than conventional petrol and diesel vehicles, yet their market uptake in the EU remains limited. New research provides an assessment of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — which combines purchase and operating expenses — of different vehicle types. By comparing historical data on hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles in three countries (Japan, the UK and the USA), researchers found a strong link between TCO and market share of those vehicles. They also identified a number of ways in which policymakers may promote the adoption of cleaner vehicles through the provision of financial incentives.

New research highlights that potential to use forest materials as bioenergy to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from fossil fuel use must be balanced against the role played by forest stocks as carbon storage facilities.

A new study suggests that, although the global terrestrial carbon sink remained relatively stable from 1990 to 2007, the effects of tropical forests were virtually neutral because CO2 emissions from deforestation offset their carbon sink.

Forests play an important role in both mitigating and adapting to climate change, although current policies tend to isolate the two approaches. A recent study suggests that mitigation and adaptation are complementary and linked, and that forestry management that integrates the two can successfully provide both of these important services.

High levels of waste production must be tackled as part of the move towards sustainable living. Recent research has used Sweden as a case study to assess the strength of suitable policies and strategies that are required to break the link between economic growth and waste generation.

EU integration may have led to more sustainable consumption patterns in new Member States (NMS) during 1995-2007, according to researchers from Lithuania. Their study indicates that, during this period in new Member States, a smaller share of household expenditure was spent on ‘essential’, but more environmentally-damaging items, such as food, drink and housing, and a larger share on ‘luxurious’, but less environmentally damaging, items.

The concepts of instrumental value (protecting nature for humans’ sake) and intrinsic value (protecting nature for nature’s sake) are fundamental to environmental policy. This paper — based on a literature review and critical analysis — argues that using these concepts alone overlooks important concerns for the environment. The authors recommend also considering relational values, which derive from the relationships between people and nature.

A new study suggests shale gas extraction leads to methane contamination of underground water sources and calls for thorough surveys of methane levels at extraction sites. The study presents a timely insight into a relatively under-researched area of science that will help support decisions on the future of shale gas exploration.

Dishwashing is responsible for over half of tap water used in the kitchen, according to the results of a new study, which also suggest that people who live alone consume double the water per person that those that live in a four or five-person household. Although relatively few households were studied, this research could prove useful in helping develop consumer advice for saving water.

Long-term, low level exposure to arsenic in drinking water may increase a person’s risk of skin cancer, according to a new study conducted in Hungary, Romania and Slovakia. The study suggests that levels of inorganic arsenic previously thought to be harmless may have a carcinogenic effect over a longer period of time.

The number of earthquakes of magnitude 3 or greater in the central and eastern US has increased significantly in recent years, from about 21 a year between 1967 and 2000, to over 300 between 2010 and 2012. Most of this increase seems to be linked to the deep injection of wastewater in underground wells, according to a recent review of seismic activity.

From rising seas to fiercer and more frequent storms, climate change effects are putting increasing pressure on coastal populations and ecosystems throughout Europe. Human activities, such as farming and land-use changes, are already in conflict with ecosystems. However, linking ecosystem services with social preferences in coastal land-use management can lead to more sustainable resource planning, finds a new study. The researchers developed guidelines for a participatory climate change adaptation process, which integrates the social effects of adaptation measures with the ecosystem services that they affect.

A framework on the effects of environmental change on human migration has been developed by researchers. It makes clear that environmental change can influence migration directly but also indirectly through impacts on economic, social and political factors. The framework can be used to guide further research, evaluate policy options, or develop predictions for migration under global change, say the researchers.

Belgrad, Daniel, author

High Nature Value (HNV) farmland is agricultural land that supports biodiversity and can be identified by its environmentally sound farming practices. New research on bird biodiversity on French HNV farmland has concluded that conservation of HNV farmland is important as well as conserving areas that were previously HNV and have undergone recent agricultural intensification.

The litter size of the endangered European mink is less than half of that of its main competitor, the invasive American mink, research shows. The higher fertility of the American mink may allow rapid population growth of this species, threatening European mink with extinction.

The declining number of bee and wasp species in England has been linked to historic changes in land-use in a recent study. Researchers say that policies which promote diverse landscapes offer more opportunities for bees and wasps to nest and forage and are best for conserving these insect pollinators.

The invasion of the American mink (Neovison vison) is linked to a shift in the adult sex ratio of the native European polecat (Mustela putorius) across its entire range, a new study has discovered. Through aggressive competition, the American mink has decreased the number of reproductive female European polecats. This is the first study to identify such an effect upon a native species across its entire range in Europe.

The numbers of fish in the world’s oceans are plummeting. Past studies have shown that populations of larger fish tend to decline more steeply. This study assessed the effects of both body size and speed of life (measured by growth rate) on population declines in the tuna family. Analysis of population trends and life history data showed that speed of life better explained population decline than body size.

Many agricultural pesticides used in Europe could disrupt male hormones and lead to infertility problems, according to laboratory tests. ‘Biomonitoring’ studies to investigate the actual behaviour of pesticides in the human body are now urgently needed to clarify the link between pesticide exposure and male reproductive health.

Cyanobacteria — often referred to as blue-green algae — are found in water bodies around the world and can produce toxins with potential health risks. This US-wide study found a significant positive association between cyanobacterial bloom coverage and death by non-alcoholic liver disease. The researchers say their study suggests some evidence of a potential health risk and should be used to generate further investigation into the health impact of cyanobacteria.

The presence of organic pollutants in waste water and drinking water can have alarming environmental and public health implications. Current water treatment methods have limitations: they can only remove certain contaminants, to certain extents, and also produce harmful by-products. New and improved methods are required. A recent review paper presents radiation processing as a promising approach, providing strong evidence of its efficacy, efficiency, safety, and feasibility. Focusing particularly on the use of electron-beam processing for the removal of organic pollutants from waste water and drinking water, the researchers present a compelling picture, relevant to stakeholders involved in water treatment and management.

Advances in nanotechnology mean that a rapidly increasing number of products are being produced using engineered nanomaterials, for example, nano-enabled thermoplastics. Many of these nano-enabled products are destined to reach their end-of-life through waste incineration or accidental fire. Now, an original study has revealed that the presence of nanofiller in thermoplastics significantly enhances both the concentration and toxicity of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) produced during thermal decomposition at the product’s end- of-life, resulting in concentrations of total PAHs and more toxic PAHs that are up to eight times higher than those found in pure (non nano-enabled) thermoplastics. This finding has significant environmental health implications.

The presence of disinfection by-products (DBPs) in drinking water is an emerging health concern. DBPs come in many classes and are chemically diverse, making them challenging to monitor. Swedish researchers have evaluated a new method for the simultaneous determination of a broader range of DBPs than typically possible using other available techniques. The method uses gas chromatography (a laboratory technique that separates and analyses vaporisable compounds in a mixture), together with a halogen-specific detector (XSD). Having been tested in real water samples from two municipal waterworks in Sweden, the method has been optimised for the simultaneous determination of a wide range of neutral DBPs.

Last week, my colleague Mariano Lizarraga Fernandez pointed me to the Washington post simulation of COVID-19 and we thought it would be interesting to implement something similar using MathWorks products.... read more >>

If the effects of air pollution on climate change are included in air quality strategies, efficiency gains of €2.5 billion can be achieved in the EU, according to recent research.

New research has found a possible link between traffic-related air pollution outside people's homes and the onset of asthma in children during the first eight years of life. Higher levels of nitrogen dioxide, PM2.5 and soot were more likely to be recorded at the homes of those children who developed asthma and asthma symptoms.

Living near busy roads is associated with an increased risk of childhood leukaemia, according to French researchers. The study found that children living within 500 metres of major roads were more likely to develop leukaemia than those who lived far from such roads. It is possible that high levels of traffic pollution from the roads are responsible for the higher rates of the illness.

Pollen allergy is a common cause of allergic respiratory diseases such as hay fever and asthma. A recent continent-wide study suggests that rising carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions over the last 30 years may be increasing pollen counts especially in European cities, which could have serious consequences for public health.

A strong link between long-term exposure to vehicle pollution and deaths from heart disease and lung cancer has been found in a study of over a million individuals. The researchers say their results are relevant to European policymaking relating to air quality.

Long-term exposure to particulate matter pollution is strongly linked with heart attacks and angina, a new European study of over 100 000 people has shown. The results indicate that this association exists at levels below current European limits, and that the burden of disease due to particulate matter may have been largely underestimated.