Pollutants
New WHO air pollution standards could save millions of lives each year
The World Health Organization is urging nations to adopt new air quality guidelines that could save 7 million lives a year worldwide. Fine particulates known as PM2.5 are the deadliest of six types of pollution that need tighter restrictions, WHO says.
Pharmaceuticals in Aqua
Common pharmaceuticals including antibiotics, antiseptics, beta-blockers, and cholesterol-lowering drugs, have been showing up in lakes and rivers, according to new research done in Europe. The drugs don’t appear to be coming from manufacturing plants because some were found in the surface water of nations where the drugs are not produced. So, the studies’ authors conclude […]
Tahoe Test for MTBE
The fuel additive methyl tertiary-butyl ether, or MTBE, is a suspected carcinogen that is showing up in many of California’s lakes and reservoirs. Two major studies are under way at Lake Tahoe, on the California-Nevada border, to determine how two-stroke engines may be contributing to the problem. Willie Albright has reports.
M-T-B-E: TRADING CLEANER AIR FOR FOULER WATER?
The Clean Air act requires reduced ozone and carbon monoxide in many urban areas. California, with nine of the ten most air polluted cities in the country, has some of the strictest air quality standards. To meet the standards, oil companies have reformulated gasoline using an additive called MTBE. MTBE has been used in gasoline […]
Deadly Particulates
Living on Earth’s Kim Motylewski reports on the latest study linking particulate air pollution ? microscopic airborne grit ? to higher death rates, even at levels the EPA calls safe. Scientists say that particulates cause up to sixty thousand premature deaths each year in the United States.