The long-lasting and negative effects of intensive farming on soils persist even where complex animal communities have been reintroduced to the soil in attempt to restore the natural balance, according to a recent study. The findings highlight the possible effects of historical land use on soils' ability to deliver ecosystem services.

Researchers have developed a new model to assess the health-related external costs arising from air pollution from ten major emission sectors. Applying the model at national and Europe-wide levels, they suggested that the major contributors to costs were industrial power production, agriculture, road traffic and domestic combustion.

Sediments collected from coastal Louisiana over a year after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have been found to cause health defects in the Gulf killifish. Nearly all adult fish studied had signs of significantly altered gene function and embryos exposed to polluted sediment were less likely to hatch

The long-lasting and negative effects of intensive farming on soils persist even where complex animal communities have been reintroduced to the soil in attempt to restore the natural balance, according to a recent study. The findings highlight the possible effects of historical land use on soils' ability to deliver ecosystem services.

UN researchers highlight the need to develop better ways to measure the impacts of climate change on children's health. They suggest more attention be given to impact analysis of different social groups and ages, as well as nutrition.

The damaging health impacts of some key air pollutants can occur at lower atmospheric concentrations than indicated by the most recent World Health Organization (WHO) Air Quality guidelines, set in 2005 and currently used in Europe. This is according to a new WHO report, which assesses scientific evidence to help inform European air pollution policies.

For people in the UK to eat the recommended 280 grams of fish per week, the country would have to rely on aquaculture and increasingly on imports of both wild and farmed fish from poorer countries, a recent study has revealed. This can have social and environmental implications and the researchers urge governments, particularly in developed countries, to consider nutritional advice in a global context, to minimise the impact of fish exports from poorer countries.

Scientists have measured how children and pregnant women are exposed to over 120 environmental factors influencing our health — from air and noise pollution to green space and access to public transport. The study gathered and analysed data from six European countries to build a picture of the ‘exposome’ — the array of environmental factors that humans are exposed to from the moment they are conceived. A better understanding of the exposome could help us understand the role of the environment in the onset of various diseases, including cancer and other chronic disorders such as cardiovascular disease.

Exposure to excessive noise is recognised as a major environmental health concern. This Thematic Issue examines the impact of noise on human health and outlines how policy initiatives may limit health effects from noise annoyance - and improve wellbeing.

A new World Health Organisation (WHO) study has estimated that the health impact of environmental noise in western Europe could be up to 1.6 million healthy life years lost annually through ill health, disability or early death.

Exposure to aircraft noise at night for more than 20 years could increase the risk of heart disease and stroke, according to research conducted around six European airports. Risk also increased for those constantly exposed to road traffic, but this may have been caused by air pollution rather than noise.

Exposure to environmental noise levels above recommended levels results in 1169 cases of dementia, 788 strokes and 542 heart attacks every year in the UK alone, new research suggests. Valuing a year of healthy life at £60 000 (€74 002) means that these health impacts together have a ‘cost’ of £1.09 billion (€1.34 billion), the study’s authors conclude.

Vulnerable groups of people, including those with long-term illnesses, those sensitive to noise or tinnitus (ringing of the ears), people with mental health problems and unborn and newly born babies, are often more susceptible to physical and emotional stresses. As a result, vulnerable groups of people may be more at risk from exposure to environmental noise than healthy adults. However, there is comparatively little research focusing on the adverse health effects of noise on vulnerable people, say scientists reviewing these health impacts.

Living in a quiet area has a positive impact on health. A study compared quality of life for people living in quiet and noisy locations and found that those who lived in quiet locations—particularly in rural areas—had a better quality of life.

Communication about climate change could benefit from reframing it as a public health issue, according to new research. A health perspective could make climate change more relevant and understandable to the public, whilst information about the health benefits of mitigation policy could provide a positive vision for the future.

New research has investigated the complex relationship between energy consumption and public health, by analysing historical data from around the world. It indicates that electricity does not provide additional health benefits for countries with low levels of infant mortality, and that increased coal consumption has negative health impacts.

Climate change will affect the spread and risk of many infectious diseases in Europe, according to a recent survey of leading health experts. The results suggest that more needs to be done to prepare for the expected changes in infectious disease levels, such as improved monitoring of disease.

Residents living within half a mile of unconventional natural gas wells may have an increased risk of illness from exposure to air pollution from the wells, according to a recent study. The peer-reviewed study recommends that risk prevention efforts to minimise impacts on human health should concentrate on communities living and working close to wells during well completions and that further studies on health effects of exposures to air emissions from such projects should be carried out.

A new study assesses the potential impacts of climate change on human health in the Netherlands. The researchers conducted a survey, asking health experts to rate the level of uncertainty attached to different health impacts of climate change, which highlighted heat-related deaths and vector-borne diseases as particularly relevant to climate change adaptation.

Elderly people are at particular risk from the damaging health effects of hot summers in European Mediterranean cities, such as Athens, Barcelona and Lisbon, but in North African and Middle-Eastern Mediterranean cities, such as Tunis and Tel-Aviv, younger people are more vulnerable, a recent study concludes. This is particularly concerning, the researchers suggest, given the insufficient resources available to deal with this public health problem in some countries.

Spanish medical and public health researchers have found no clear evidence for increased heavy metal levels in adults living near a recently-built urban solid waste incinerator over two years of operation. Concentrations of lead, chromium and mercury in blood and urine samples taken around the plant were not significantly higher than for populations who lived further away.

Turkey is a major ship recycling centre and is the largest OECD member country with a significant ship recycling industry. In this study, researchers reviewed the environmental, health and safety issues surrounding the Turkish shipbreaking industry, its compliance with environmental regulations and its ability to claim ‘green recycling’.

Moving to an area with good access to green spaces has a positive, lasting effect on residents' mental health, new research suggests. The study shows that people who move to greener areas report considerably improved mental health three years after leaving their previous neighbourhood.

Doctors prescribe fewer antidepressants in urban areas with more trees on the street, according to recent UK research. The study examined the link between mental health and wellbeing and the presence of trees in London neighbourhoods. Its findings support the idea that maintaining a link to nature, even in an urban area, may help provide a healthy living environment.

A new study has found evidence for lung toxicity of different forms of ‘cellulose nanocrystals’ (CNCs) in mice. The study suggests that physical characteristics, such as length, of the CNC relates to the type of effect it has on the lung. These nanosized crystals, made from plant-derived materials, are increasingly being used in novel applications, such as cleaning up oil spills in water and flexible electronic displays, and consumer products, which raises concerns about their potential health impacts.

A recent report has assessed the latest research on the adverse affects of noise on health, focusing on approaches to estimating the economic cost of noise. This information could help policy makers tasked with designing cost-effective noise reduction and management policies.

Mental health and supply problems, such as loss of electricity, were perceived by residents as the most serious impacts of 2013 flooding in Germany, according to new research. The most frequent effect of the flooding on companies was interruption to their business. The researchers say that focusing on impacts that can be measured in financial terms does not fully describe the effects of flooding, and make recommendations for improving flood data collection.

Gendered expectations in marriage are not just bad for women, they are also bad for men, according to a new study by University of Connecticut (UConn) sociologists.

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GSK Nutritional Healthcare chooses a BT Cloud Contact solution to improve service on vital customer help lines powered by Enghouse Interactive

A new index for measuring the health of oceans considers the benefits of the sea to humans, as well as the status of natural components, such as biodiversity. According to the researchers who developed the index, it provides a powerful tool for allocating resources and improving policy in the management of marine ecosystems.

Measures designed to reduce levels of methane and black carbon in the atmosphere could help bring climate change under control more quickly than CO2 targeting measures alone, according to a new study. The researchers also predict wider benefits for human health and food security from methane-targeted measures.

A new study has concluded that the benefits of carbon capture and storage (CCS) to human health and ecosystems from reduced climate change related impacts considerably outweigh any negative impacts from using the technology in power plants. However, CCS has a large impact on the depletion of natural resources.

The NABH Digital Health Standards aims to consider all relevant aspects of the application of patient interfacing technologies across the continuum of care applicable for outpatient, inpatient, and remote patient monitoring.

Tech lawyers say enforcement violates SC's 2017 privacy ruling and IT Act, which emphasises consent, proportionality & purpose limitation

Internet of Things (IoT) technology can expose connected cars and smart healthcare systems to a lot of security threats, research analyst Satyajit Sinha said on Tuesday while presenting a webinar for ETTelecom.

Through AI and ML, Eureka Forbes automatically knows when a filter is approaching end of life. "So, even before the customer approaches us for service, we will initiate communication with him, asking him to get the service done," says Khushru Mistry, CIO, Eureka Forbes.

A recent study, which assessed 100 streams across Europe, reveals that a key ecosystem process, leaf litter breakdown, is slowed when nutrient concentrations in the water are either very low or very high, has the highest potential at moderate nutrient concentrations and is inhibited in heavily polluted waters, implying that the relationship between nutrient levels and ecosystem processes, such as leaf litter breakdown, is complex. The researchers suggest that including an assessment of the functioning of ecosystem processes can make an important contribution to the overall evaluation of stream health.

Human activity is transforming natural systems and endangering the ecosystem services they provide, which has consequences for human health. This study quantified the human health impact of losses to pollination, providing the first global analysis of its kind. The researchers say pollinator declines could increase the global disease burden and recommend increased monitoring of pollinators in at-risk regions, including Eastern and Central Europe.

Assessing the cumulative human health risk caused by multiple toxic substances is a major challenge. New research has reported on developments in the US, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is creating a tool that will provide maps and other information to depict exposure data and risks at both a national and a local level.

To test the possible health impacts of human exposure to methylmercury through fish consumption, researchers fed mice a diet containing fish at levels that corresponded to a typical Western diet for humans. The mice suffered adverse health impacts after two months of being fed this diet, including reduced body growth rates and modified gene expression patterns.

A new study examines different methods for assessing the health impacts of chemicals that people are exposed to at work. Combining two different approaches may help reduce the effect of the shortcomings of each approach and provide greater assurance that the most damaging chemicals are prioritised for regulatory action.

Exposure to polluted soil can affect human health, but the risk may vary depending on the soil type. A recent study has shown that the differing amounts of cadmium and lead that can be dissolved in the human digestive system can be predicted for contaminated agricultural, urban and woody habitat soils using a model. Its authors suggest this is a useful method for assessing the risks of contaminated land.

A new study of clean-up workers seven years after the 2002 Prestige oil tanker spillage has found potential evidence for long-term impacts on their hormonal and immune systems as a result of exposure to the oil. The results suggest new health surveillance measures may be appropriate for workers involved in future oil clean-up operations.

The health impacts of consuming food that has been grown using cadmium-contaminated fertilisers are an increasing concern. New Danish research has estimated that the annual monetary cost of these impacts is €15.53 per km2 of agricultural land treated with mineral fertilisers. This cost rises to €37.04 per km2 if pig manure is used.

Halving meat and dairy consumption in Europe could reduce agricultural greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 42% and nitrogen pollution by 40%, new research suggests. The amount of land needed to grow food for each EU citizen would fall from 0.23 to 0.17 hectares and the reduced intake of saturated fats and red meat could have substantial health benefits, the researchers conclude.

Levels of aquaculture pesticides exceed UK environmental quality standards (EQSs) in samples taken from near Norwegian fish farms, a recent study has shown. The researchers examined five pesticides used to kill sea lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) and showed that in many cases their concentrations exceeded UK EQSs. They used UK standards, they explain, because there are currently no Norwegian EQSs for these chemicals, and call for international quality standards to be drawn up.

A guide has been published on the known and potential health and safety effects of human exposure to graphene. It is designed to help inform those working with graphene and graphene-based nanomaterials and could be especially useful as a growing number of industries begin to experiment with and use these materials.

Researchers have developed a new approach to hierarchise pesticides based on their risk to or via the aquatic environment, which has been implemented in the Pinios River Basin of Central Greece. The analysis indicated that a number of pesticides were found in concentrations that could cause negative impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results provide detailed information to inform decisions regarding the monitoring of pesticides in the Pinios River Basin and outline an approach that could be used in other watersheds.

Several pollutants that are not covered by UN regulations could be harmful to humans, according to new research in the Balkans. By sampling air at various urban sites, the research showed that polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs) have the potential to be a major health risk.

A team of investigators has examined the effects of air pollution on human health using the databases of earlier studies from Europe, the United States and Canada. They concluded that PM₁₀ and ozone are associated with an increase in mortality. Different modelling approaches do not significantly affect the results.