Emerging Pollutants
Protecting Water Quality for the Health of People and the Environment
Ed. by Sarantuyaa Zandaryaa et al, 2025
This open access book (free download) focuses on the importance of reducing pollution and protecting water resources for the health of people and the environment.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-71758-1
@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#WaterSecurity
#pollution
#pollutants
Why the #AQI ( #AirQualityIndex ) increases (close to, sometimes surpassing 100) from 23:00–05:00 in the #Philippines ?
Check the attached screenshots as provided by ChatGPT.
Research on #mercury #pollution in #Antarctic #penguins
Scary that publicizing #pollutants like Rachel Carson did in the early 1960s with DDT in the book Silent Spring continues to be fertile #science
We are in particular need of people with backgrounds in natural and applied science who have experience working in the private sector or government settings, as well as folks with experience in the following areas:
- Earth science or geology
- Hydrology or hydrogeology
- Analytical testing of environmental #pollutants, particularly in air samples
- #Indigenous rights
- Investigative research methods
- #EnvironmentalScience and environmental public health
Sign-up here!
https://researchforthefrontlines.ca/guidelines-for-researchers/
Chemical Environmental Pollutants and Their Effect on Health by Aikaterini Salavoura, 2025
This book focuses on the impact of environmental chemicals on human health. Its coverage includes metals contaminating the environment, persistent organic pollutants (POPs), air pollution and endocrine disruptors. Harmful consumer products, workplace exposure, cosmetics, microplastic waste are described.
https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-80271-3
@bookstodon
#books
#nonfiction
#chemicals
#pollutants
#health
Get ready for #BlackLung
#Trump set to sign #ExecutiveOrders to boost #US #coal
When burned, coal releases more of the main #GreenhouseGas carbon dioxide than any other #FossilFuel. It also emits criteria #pollutants that are blamed for #lung & #heart illnesses. Much of its use has declined on #regulations from #Democrats, including President Joe #Biden.
#Climate #ClimateCrisis #environment #PublicHealth #law
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/trump-sign-executive-orders-boost-coal-industry-sources-say-2025-04-08/
The #DeepOcean is home to fragile #ecosystems, unique #species, and critical #CarbonSinks that help regulate global #climate. #Mining the ocean floor will destroy these ecosystems and release toxic #pollutants, leading to irreparable damage to ocean #biodiversity.
We know this is a longer post, but understanding the full context is crucial. The fact that #companies can now exploit this #loophole in #InternationalWaters
A study shows that strategies to reduce #ammoniaemissions in Germany are successful. The research also identifies which measures are particularly effective and which are yet to be improved: http://go.tum.de/181185
iStock/fotokostic
Synthetic textiles shed #microfibres during washing & wear, contributing to #MicroplasticPollution in water bodies & the atmosphere. By wearing fewer clothes, especially those made from synthetic fibres, we can directly reduce the release of these #pollutants. The production & maintenance of clothing requires significant resources, including water, energy, & raw materials. (2/6)
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* 75+ trade groups against EPA findings
* Trump2 EPA appointee David Dunlap: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Dunlap_(lobbyist)
* dir. environmental regulatory affairs, Koch Industries
* tried to persuade EPA formaldehyde doesn’t cause leukemia
* Koch subsidiary Georgia-Pacific made formaldehyde, products that emit it (since sold chem biz to Bakelite Synthetics)
* at EPA Dunlap had authority over division working on toxicity report
Formaldehyde Causes More Cancer Than Any Other Air Pollutant. Little Done to Curb the Risk
https://www.propublica.org/article/formaldehyde-epa-trump-public-health-danger
* WHO: formaldehyde = carcinogen
* EPA: 320M Americans live in areas where lifetime cancer risk from outdoor exposure to formaldehyde 10x higher EPA limit
* Trump vowed to roll back regs he views as anti-business
* typical home has formaldehyde level >3x higher than EPA limit
...
#PlasticRain Is the New #AcidRain
Plastic rain could prove to be a more insidious problem than acid rain.
by Matt Simon
June 12, 2020
"Hoof it through the national parks of the western United States—Joshua Tree, the #GrandCanyon, Bryce Canyon—and breathe deep the pristine air. These are unspoiled lands, collectively a great American conservation story. Yet an invisible menace is actually blowing through the air and falling via raindrops: #Microplastic particles, tiny chunks (by definition, less than 5 millimeters long) of fragmented plastic bottles and microfibers that fray from clothes, all #pollutants that get caught up in Earth’s atmospheric systems and deposited in the #wilderness.
"Writing in the journal Science, researchers report a startling discovery: After collecting #rainwater and air samples for 14 months, they calculated that over 1,000 metric tons of microplastic particles fall into 11 protected areas in the western US each year. That’s the equivalent of over 120 million plastic water bottles.
"'We just did that for the area of protected areas in the West, which is only 6 percent of the total US area,' says lead author Janice Brahney, an environmental scientist at Utah State University. 'The number was just so large, it's shocking.'
"It further confirms an increasingly hellish scenario: Microplastics are blowing all over the world, landing in supposedly pure habitats, like the #Arctic and the remote #FrenchPyrenees. They’re flowing into the #oceans via #wastewater and tainting #deepsea #ecosystems, and they’re even ejecting out of the water and blowing onto land in sea breezes. And now in the American West, and presumably across the rest of the world given that these are fundamental atmospheric processes, they are falling in the form of plastic rain—the new acid rain.
"Plastic rain could prove to be a more insidious problem than acid rain, which is a consequence of #SulfurDioxide and #NitrogenOxide emissions. By deploying #scrubbers in power plants to control the former, and catalytic converters in cars to control the latter, the US and other countries have over the last several decades cut down on the #acidification problem. But microplastic has already corrupted even the most #RemoteEnvironments, and there’s no way to scrub water or land or air of the particles—the stuff is absolutely everywhere, and it’s not like there’s a plastic magnet we can drag through the oceans. What makes plastic so useful—its hardiness—is what also makes it an alarming pollutant: Plastic never really goes away, instead breaking into ever smaller bits that infiltrate ever smaller corners of the planet. Even worse, plastic waste is expected to skyrocket from 260 million tons a year to 460 million tons by 2030, according to the consultancy McKinsey. More people joining the middle class in #EconomicallyDeveloping countries means more #consumerism and more #PlasticPackaging. "
Read more:
https://getpocket.com/explore/item/plastic-rain-is-the-new-acid-rain?utm_source=pocket-newtab-en-us
Low Earth Orbit (LEO) Satellite Systems Like Starlink Cause Environmental Harm Regulators Didn’t Prepare For
Last June scientists warned that low-Earth orbit ( #LEO ) satellites constantly burning up in orbit could release chemicals that could undermine the progress we’ve made repairing the #ozone #layer.
Researchers at USC noted that at peak, 1,005 U.S. tons of aluminum will fall to Earth,
releasing 
397 U.S. tons of aluminum oxides per year to the atmosphere, an 
increase of 646% over natural levels.
Numerous companies, most notably Elon Musk’s #Starlink and Jeff Bezos’ #Blue #Origin,
are working on launching tens of thousands of small LEO satellites in the coming years.
A new report by U.S. PIRG adds to concerns that these launches haven’t been thought through environmentally,
noting that the disposable nature of such satellites means 29 tons of satellites will re-enter our atmosphere every day at peak.
After years of delays, the FCC did recently release rules requiring that satellites be removed from orbit within five years to help minimize “space junk.”
But the organization notes that very little if any thought was given by innovation-cowed regulators toward the 
environmental impact of so many smaller satellites constantly burning up in orbit:
“We shouldn’t rush into deploying an untested and under-researched technology into new environments without comprehensive review.
Over just five years Starlink has launched more than 6,000 units and now make up more than 60% of all satellites.
The new space race took off faster than governments were able to act.”
The steady launches are also a notable pollution concern, the report notes,
releasing “soot in the atmosphere equivalent to 7 million diesel dump trucks circling the globe, each year.”
#SpaceX has consistently played fast and loose with #environmental #regulations,
with regulators even in lax Texas starting to give the company grief for releasing significant #pollutants into nearby bodies of water.
A #NASA-funded study used #satellites to measure nitrogen dioxide, a traffic-related #pollutant, near 150,000 large warehouses across the U.S. The asthma-causing pollutant jumped 20 percent in those areas, and even more near the busiest facilities. 1/2
gift link:
9. Ohio v. EPA, Kinder Morgan Inc. v. #EPA, American Forest & Paper Assn. v. EPA, US Steel Corp. v. EPA — The court is reviewing the #Biden admin’s plan to limit #smog-forming #pollutants from #PowerPlants & other industrial facilities that cause problems for their downwind neighbors in other states.
#Biden Administration Announces $55 Million to Clean Up Legacy #Pollution in #NorthDakota, #WestVirginia https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/biden-harris-administration-announces-nearly-55-million-investing-america-agenda #USpol
#California will get $35 million in federal funding to plug orphaned oil, #GasWells https://www.dailynews.com/2024/05/17/millions-coming-to-plug-orphaned-oil-gas-wells/
#NewMexico receives another $25M in federal money to plug abandoned #OilWells https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/state-receives-another-25m-in-federal-money-to-plug-abandoned-oil-wells/article_23240890-1461-11ef-83ff-2b48ff6c1c9d.html
"these wells pose serious threats to air and water by contaminating #groundwater, releasing toxic air #pollutants, and leaking #methane"
'#GreenhouseGases are #pollutants that kill #MarineLife, court rules
Wealthy states must cut their #emissions faster than their developing peers, court says, in major step for #ClimateJustice'
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/article/2024/may/21/greenhouse-gases-are-pollutants-that-kill-marine-life-court-rules
In the myopic world of business reporting, BHP are environmental heroes.
“BHP is betting big on a #renewable #energy future: Whichever way you look at it, #BHP has slapped down #climatechange deniers with a $60 billion bet on a renewable energy future.” €
VS
“Mining firm BHP offers $25.7bn settlement for #Brazil dam disaster: The mining company BHP has said it hopes to secure a $25.7bn (£20bn) settlement over the 2015 #Samarco #disaster, when the collapse of a dam left at least 19 people dead, 700 homeless and spread unprecedented levels of #pollutants across the #rivers and #landscape of Brazil” *
€ <https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-30/bhp-anglo-american-takeover-bid-renewable-energy-future-copper/103782260>
* <https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/apr/29/mining-firm-bhp-brazil-dam-vale-samarco>
…In Washington, #JoeLieberman became known as a serious-minded legislator adept at working w/colleagues on both sides of the aisle. One of his earliest achievements was having a leadership role in the bipartisan amendment in 1990 of the #CleanAirAct, beefing up federal #regulation of #pollutants.
He was also proud of bipartisan govt changes he helped enact after the Sept 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, most prominently the creation of the #DHS & the restructuring of the #intelligence community.
The chemicals are considered #climate super-#pollutants because they can be thousands of times more powerful than carbon dioxide in warming #Earth’s atmosphere.
Acc/to an unsealed #indictment, Hart “communicated w/ co-conspirators in Mexico to arrange for the purchase of HCFC-22” & other refrigerants, as well as w/buyers in California.
♬ 