Elevated blood levels of toxic chemicals found in pesticides, nonstick cookware, and fire retardants have been tied to an increased risk for celiac disease in young people, new research shows. According to NYU Grossman School of Medicine researchers who led the study, people with the…
By Mayukh Saha Plastic pollution has been haunting the planet for a long time. We may have realized the devil that plastic is quite recently, but we are also trying to bring the use of plastic to a halt. In Australia, a teenager has taken…
By Anthony McLennan It’s one of the biggest challenges facing humanity: how to stop the tide of plastic pollution that is suffocating our planet. Now, a French company called Carbios has developed a mutant enzyme formula which can break down plastic into a pristine recyclable…
By Steven Murawski, University of South Florida and Sherryl Gilbert, University of South Florida Over the decade since the Deepwater Horizon spill, thousands of scientists have analyzed its impact on the Gulf of Mexico. The spill affected many different parts of the Gulf, from coastal…
By John Vibes The environmental non-profit Earth Island Institute has filed a lawsuit against the companies who are responsible for a very large portion of the world’s plastic waste. These companies are Coca Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, Clorox, Crystal Geyser, Mars, Danone, Mondelez International, Colgate-Palmolive, and…
By Jade Small Although we all experience life-changing events, for some it becomes the catalyst for real change not only on a personal level but on a scale where we attempt to improve the planet for everyone. At the tender age of 16, Boyan Slat…
By Emma Fiala According to officials, around 212 million gallons of sewage has spilled into Fort Lauderdale’s waterways over the last few months. That’s enough sewage to fill a shocking 320 Olympic-sized swimming pools. During December 2019, the south Florida city’s sewer pipes broke six…
A growing health crisis fueled by synthetic chemicals known as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, in groundwater has garnered much attention in the last few years. The reported levels could be “just the tip of the iceberg,” as most of the chemicals are still…
Children with higher concentrations of a certain chemical in their blood are more likely to get cavities, according to a new study by West Virginia University School of Dentistry researchers. Manufactured chemical g roups called perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances are universal as a result of…
Researchers from North Carolina State University have found elevated levels of 11 per- and polyfluoroalkyl (PFAS) chemicals in the blood of Cape Fear River striped bass. Two of those compounds – perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and Nafion byproduct 2 – are associated with altered immune and…
The water filter on your refrigerator door, the pitcher-style filter you keep inside the fridge and the whole-house filtration system you installed last year may function differently and have vastly different price tags, but they have one thing in common. They may not remove all…
Habitat loss, pesticide use and, surprisingly, artificial light are the three most serious threats endangering fireflies across the globe, raising the spectre of extinction for certain species and related impacts on biodiversity and ecotourism, according to a Tufts University-led team of biologists associated with the…
By John Vibes A massive killer whale washed up on shore in early January, in an area between Lincolnshire and Norfolk on the eastern coast of the UK. The 15-foot-long orca was found decomposing in a salt marsh, where soon after the body was examined…
By Emma Fiala According to a 36-count grand jury indictment, a Seattle company used a hidden drain to dump a highly-corrosive chemical solution directly into the sewer system. The King County sewer system eventually reaches the Duwamish Waterway and the Puget Sound. After “a sensitive sewer…
By Manuel García Aguilar In 2013, 18-year-old Dutch inventor Boyan Slat founded The Ocean Cleanup in his hometown in the Netherlands to develop a system to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex. The patch is an immense…
By Elias Marat We all know that consumerism is a force that’s destructive to the environment, but too frequently the blame is placed on cultural factors — for example, our personal habits as consumers. However, the enormous burden placed on the environment is primarily due…
By John Vibes Air New Zealand has recently come up with a great new way to reduce waste on its airline. Earlier this month, the airline announced that they will be introducing edible cups on their flights and airport lounges to cut down on plastic….
By Mayukh Saha Extruded polystyrene, or Styrofoam as we know it, is among the top polluters after plastic. This non-biodegradable, inflammable material is mostly used as packing material, but the consequences are quite drastic. Since it retains the temperature of the product, Styrofoam is also…
By John Vibes According to a new study published on Tuesday in Frontiers in Marine Science, manta rays and whale sharks in Indonesia are consuming between 63 and 137 pieces of plastic pollution per hour. A team of scientists from Marine Megafauna Foundation and Murdoch…
By John Vibes RZA of The Wu-Tang Clan has launched a vegan puffer jacket that is made out of recycled plastic bottles that were removed from the ocean. RZA’s company 36 Chambers has teamed up with PETA and the German clothing brand Embassy of Bricks…
