Residential buildings in New York City that burn residual fuel oil were concentrated in Northern Manhattan and the Bronx, as of late 2015. Compared to cleaner heating sources such as natural gas, these dirty fuels produce high levels of particulate matter, exposure to which is linked to asthma, obesity, developmental delays, and other health problems.

In the wake of China’s ban on the import of foreign garbage, which took effect earlier this month, countries across the globe are scrambling to figure out what to do with the thousands of tons of trash piling up at their ports. Now, Europe has announced it is launching an aggressive new recycling initiative to reduce plastic waste and garbage exports.

In an attempt to better understand the urban environment and its components, scientists have discovered that sunlight causes chemical reactions in the dust found on Edmonton roads.

“We found that when you shine light on road dust, it produces a reactive form of oxygen called singlet oxygen,” said environmental chemist Sarah Styler. “It acts as an oxidant in the environment and can cause or influence other chemical reactions.”

Air pollution trapped along the Wasatch Front by winter inversions are estimated to send more than 200 people to the emergency room with pneumonia each year, according to a study by University of Utah Health and Intermountain Healthcare. Bad air quality especially erodes the health of adults over age 65, a population particularly vulnerable to the effects of pneumonia.

Water contaminated by the oil currently leaking into the ocean from the Sanchi tanker collision is likely to take at least three months to reach land, and if it does the Korean coast is the most likely location. However, the oil’s fate is highly uncertain, as it may burn, evaporate, or mix into the surface ocean and contaminate the environment for an extended duration.

Two undergraduate students researching pollution have helped develop a new way to measure how much plastic is released into the environment from laundering clothes – which may be contributing to plastic pollution choking the world's oceans.

While April showers might bring May flowers, they also contribute to toxic algae blooms, dead zones and declining water quality in U.S. lakes, reservoirs and coastal waters, a new study shows.

In urban streams, persistent pharmaceutical pollution can cause aquatic microbial communities to become resistant to drugs. So reports a new study published today in the journal Ecosphere. 

Streams and rivers across much of the U.S. are getting saltier and more alkaline due to an uptick in the use of road deicers and fertilizers in recent decades, according to a  50-year-long analysis of 232 monitoring sites by the U.S. Geological Survey.

Resilient bacteria might help streams but could threaten human health

(Millbrook, NY) In urban streams, persistent pharmaceutical pollution can cause aquatic microbial communities to become resistant to drugs. So reports a new study published today in the journal Ecosphere. 

Emma Rosi, an aquatic ecologist at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and lead author on the study explains, "Wastewater treatment facilities are not equipped to remove many pharmaceutical compounds. We were interested in how stream microorganisms - which perform key ecosystem services like removing nutrients and breaking down leaf litter - respond to pharmaceutical pollution."