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Lead You Absorbed as a Child May Cause Dementia as You Age
When I was a child, a speck of lead escaped the tailpipe of a passing car, drifted through the air and lodged deep in my lungs. There it dissolved across a tissue-thin membrane into my bloodstream. Then the toxic metal atoms became microscopic wrecking balls in my body. Some, hitching a ride on red blood cells, slipped past the blood-brain barrier, tangling neural switches and repaving neurons. Others lodged deep inside my kidneys, liver and heart, leaving behind injured cells and blood vessels. But the vast majority, masquerading as calcium, were entombed in the mineral lattice of my growing skeleton.
I never suffered acute lead poisoning, but like roughly 125 million children born between 1951 and 1980, a period of extraordinary lead exposure in the United States, I am invisibly scarred by the damage the heavy metal left behind. As I age, the lead in my bones may reemerge to deliver one last blow.
Growing up in the 1980s, I was the last generation to live through the highest period of lead exposure in U.S. history: Exhaust from cars fueled by leaded gasoline, as well as paint chips and lead pipes, added to the toxic burden in my body. Trillions of lead atoms are now part of my being.
For more than 90 percent of the population born between 1951 and 1980, blood lead levels exceeded 5 micrograms per deciliter, a level we now know is associated with lower IQ, attention and behavior problems, and smaller brain volume.
E.P.A. Erases Limits on Climate Pollution From Power Plants
The New York Times reported:
The United States will no longer limit the planet-warming pollution that power plants pump into the air while burning coal and gas, the Trump administration announced Monday.
The shift by the Environmental Protection Agency completed the administration’s erasure of the most consequential climate policies of Presidents Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Barack Obama. If the move survives expected legal challenges, it could also prevent future administrations from regulating greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.
The power sector is the second largest source of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in the United States. This pollution accumulates in the atmosphere, where it traps the sun’s heat, raising temperatures and supercharging extreme weather events around the globe. Scientists say the United States and other industrialized nations must sharply cut emissions to avoid the most devastating impacts of climate change.
Nighttime Coughing Could Be Due to Air Pollution Levels, Research Suggests
Has your partner ever woken you up at night with their coughing? Has your coughing ever woken them up? New research suggests it could be due to air pollution levels in your area, even if those levels are low.
Researchers from the University of Cambridge, Tsinghua University and the sleep technology company Sleep Cycle analyzed coughing sounds from 32 cities in 12 countries over 500 days, and found that higher daily air pollution levels were strongly linked to nighttime coughing levels, even where local pollution levels were below the World Health Organization’s recommended daily exposure limit.
The researchers used cough sounds passively recorded by the mobile app via the phone’s microphone. Cough sounds were counted on individual devices and pooled by city to build an unprecedented dataset of this kind. The researchers accounted for external factors that could lead to an increase in coughing levels, such as weather conditions or influenza levels.
Pesticide Exposure Tied to More Severe Parkinson’s Symptoms
People with Parkinson’s disease who were exposed to pesticides at work may experience more severe symptoms than those who weren’t, according to new research.
Why it matters: The findings could sharpen scrutiny of pesticides in Iowa, which has both heavy agricultural pesticide use and thousands of Parkinson’s cases.
Driving the news: Occupational pesticide exposure was associated with worse motor function and some non-motor symptoms, according to a study published last month in NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. Anxiety, daytime sleepiness and sleep disturbances were among the symptoms associated with exposure.
Bacterial Strains Determine Pneumonia and Meningitis Risk From Air Pollution
Air pollution leads to different risks of bacterial pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis, depending on the subtype of bacteria a person has, new research suggests. The new study comes from the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the National Institute for Communicable Diseases in Johannesburg, South Africa, the Barcelona Supercomputing Center — Centro Nacional de Supercomputación (BSC-CNS), and collaborators.
The team suggests that the subtype of the bacterium, Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae), together with air pollution exposure impacts the rate and timing of invasive disease – with some strains linked to immediate infection after air pollution exposure, and some taking several weeks.
Published today (14 September) in Nature Microbiology, the researchers also found that older adults and young children are more vulnerable during periods of high air pollution, and that improving air quality could lower disease risk. They also suggest that understanding what type of bacterial strains are circulating and how environmental factors shape infection rates could inform future public health policies, protect those most at risk, and prepare hospitals for outbreaks.
‘Tidal Wave’ of PFAS Being Launched to Satisfy AI Industry, Campaigners Warn
PFAS companies are launching a “tidal wave” of forever chemicals production to meet demand from the AI industry, a campaign organisation has warned. Despite alarm over the chemicals, which have been linked to cancer, a survey of the 10 biggest manufacturers found most had plans to increase production.
Many frame their investments around the “AI revolution”, because of the role Pfas play in semiconductor production and next-generation datacentre cooling systems.
But opponents warn that the chemicals, which never degrade in nature, are a ticking timebomb for human and planetary health. They say increased production risks undermining nascent moves to restrict Pfas in Europe, the UK and parts of the US.
Pollution Spikes After Trump Halted Global Air-Monitoring Efforts, Report Says
Air pollution in dozens of cities around the world rose after U.S. embassies and consulates stopped monitoring air quality readings last year, according to a study published Monday.
The Trump administration halted the program that published independent air quality data at more than 80 U.S. diplomatic sites in March 2025, citing budget constraints.
Later that year, local air pollution levels increased by between 24 and 33 percent in 46 of those cities, according to Monday’s study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“This is such a big loss,” said Zoey Zhou, an assistant professor of climate at Columbia University and one of the study’s authors. “Not only for the data, but also for the health impacts and also for accountability.”
