Lead levels in backyard hen eggs are often much higher than in eggs bought in the shops. A new study of soil lead, chickens and eggs locates the high-risk areas in our biggest cities.
Reconstruction of Haikouichthys ercaicunensis based on fossil evidence.
Talifero/Wikimedia Commons
Burning leaded gasoline releases toxic lead into the environment, and for 100 years people around the world have been dealing with the health effects. How did a century of toxic fuel come to be?
Wildfire smoke contains a mixture of toxic pollutants that can be harmful to both the lungs and the brain.
Bloomberg Creative/ Bloomberg Creative Photos via Getty Images
Pollution from more frequent floods and wildfires – exacerbated by the warming climate – is threatening human health and poses particular risks to the brain.
Testing kids for lead exposure starts with a fingertip prick.
Brett Carlsen/Getty Images
The Centers for Disease Control has announced a new, stricter standard for lead poisoning in children, which will more than double the number of kids considered to have high blood lead levels.
The lead pipes in some old buildings could contaminate drinking water.
AnnaER/Pixabay
Those directly exposed to toxic dust and trauma on and after 9/11 carry with them a generation of chronic health conditions, which are placing them at higher risk during the pandemic and as they age.
Vintage leaded petrol pumps on an old garage forecourt in the UK.
David Gee/Alamy Stock Photo
New research found that smoke from the Camp Fire in Paradise, California, carried high concentrations of lead. An environmental toxicologist explains what else you’re breathing and how to stay safe.
A lead pipe (left) seen through a hole in the kitchen ceiling in the home of Desmond Odom, in Newark, New Jersey.
AP Photo/Julio Cortez
President Biden has proposed spending $45 billion to replace every lead water pipe and service line in the nation. A public health expert explains why he sees this as a worthwhile investment.
New research finds that tap water avoidance is on the rise in the US, especially among minorities. An expert on water and health calls for better public education about water quality and testing.
Technical advances are reducing the volume of e-waste generated in the US as lighter, more compact products enter the market. But those goods can be harder to reuse and recycle.
Blood samples from pediatric health screenings can provide valuable data for public health research.
AP Photo/Carlos Osorio
The EPA has just adopted a rule that limits what kinds of science regulators can use in setting rules. A scholar explains how this shift could impede his work mapping child lead poisoning.
A harmful algal bloom in the western basin of Lake Erie in August 2017.
(NOAA/Aerial Associates Photography, Inc. by Zachary Haslick/flickr)
The Great Lakes contain reservoirs of legacy contaminants, mostly in their sediments, that are vulnerable to resuspension.
Health Canada has some of the strongest limits on lead in the world, but they can’t be effective without testing and a plan to replace pipes.
(Shutterstock)
An investigation showed that five Canadian cities had lead levels in their water on par with those in Flint, Mich. during its peak period of water contamination.
Warning signs in the Newark Health Department after the city learned that lead service lines to houses still were contaminating water.
Seth Wenig/AP
Qi Bing, University of California, Irvine and Maura C. Allaire, University of California, Irvine
Newark is the latest US city to struggle with high lead levels in drinking water. Ending this public health crisis will require more money and enforcement, plus stricter water testing standards.
Is your community’s water tainted with lead? The data might not have been reported.
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Laura Pangallozzi, Binghamton University, State University of New York
Flint’s highest recorded lead levels were typical for water systems that report problems. What’s more, a number of cities haven’t reported their lead issues.
Associate Professor, Investigator for UNSW Digital Grid Futures Institute; Affiliated Investigator NHMRC Centre for Air Pollution, Energy and Health Research, Associate Investigator the ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, UNSW Sydney