News tagged with environmental toxic

Toxic mercury, accumulating in the Arctic, springs from a hidden source

(Phys.org) -- Environmental scientists at Harvard have discovered that the Arctic accumulation of mercury, a toxic element, is caused by both atmospheric forces and the flow of circumpolar rivers that carry ...

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created May 21, 2012 | popularity 3.7 / 5 (3) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Researchers look for ways to make an emerging technology safe for environment

The percentage of electronic waste occupying our landfills has grown at an alarming rate over the last decade, giving rise to concerns about the toxicity of components used in consumer electronics.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Mar 21, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Amazon fungi found that eat polyurethane, even without oxygen

(PhysOrg.com) -- Until now polyurethane has been considered non-biodegradable, but a group of students from Yale University in the US has found fungi that will not only eat and digest it, they will do so even in the absence ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Feb 03, 2012 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (47) | comments 27 | with audio podcast report

Researchers model potential of toxic algae photoreceptors

Blue-green algae is causing havoc in Midwestern lakes saturated with agricultural run-off, but researchers in a northwest Ohio lab are using supercomputers to study a closely related strain of the toxic cyanobacteria ...

Chemistry / Biochemistry

created Jan 26, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

New US anti-pollution standards draw industry fire

US health campaigners Wednesday hailed the announcement of new anti-pollution standards for American manufacturers, but industry leaders condemned the rules for being costly and overly aggressive.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 31

New EPA air quality rules outweigh costs and provide major health and environmental benefits

A report by researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health provides an expanded review of six new air quality regulations proposed or recently adopted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA). ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 21, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Bacterial filters reduce stink from big pig factories

Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on industrial animal factories can stink up an entire county, due to ammonia, and a smorgasbord of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Jeppe Lund Nielsen of Aalborg University, ...

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Dec 16, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

Can coal plants afford EPA's new air-toxics rule?

America has never had a nationwide limit on mercury and other toxic emissions from coal-fired power plants. That's about to change, though, and it will cost companies such as American Electric Power, which runs the Tanners ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Dec 06, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

An enzyme in fish can demonstrate environmental toxins

The level of the enzyme carbonyl reductase (CBR) is elevated in the livers of fish that have been exposed to cleaned wastewater. Scientists at the University of Gothenburg can show that CBR has properties that may make it ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 08, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Climate change effect on California delta is detailed in new study

California's water problems and the ecological pressure on the West Coast's largest estuary will intensify in a warming world, according to a first-of-its-kind scientific study.

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 03, 2011 | popularity 3.9 / 5 (7) | comments 2

Propensity for longer life span inherited non-genetically over generations, study says

We know that our environment -- what we eat, the toxic compounds we are exposed to -- can positively or negatively impact our life span. But could it also affect the longevity of our descendants, who may live under very different ...

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 19, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

How close is too close? Hydrofracking to access natural gas reservoirs poses risks to surface water

Natural gas mining has drawn fire recently after claims that hydraulic fracturing, an increasingly popular technique for tapping hard-to-reach reservoirs, contaminates groundwater. Surface lakes, rivers and streams may also ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Oct 18, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (6) | comments 3

A breath-takingly simple test for human exposure to potentially toxic substances

The search for a rapid, non-invasive way to determine whether people have been exposed to potentially toxic substances in their workplaces, homes and elsewhere in the environment has led scientists to a technology ...

Chemistry / Analytical Chemistry

created Sep 28, 2011 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 1

Colorful eco-textiles thanks to nano-sized enzymes

To address the problems encountered by the traditional European dyes industry, scientists have developed a new and environmentally friendly way to produce dyes.

Nanotechnology / Bio & Medicine

created Sep 15, 2011 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Researchers find high levels of toxic PCBs in Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal

University of Iowa researchers have found high levels of toxic polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the deep sediments lining the Indiana Harbor and Ship Canal (IHSC) in East Chicago, Ind. Scientists say the discovery is cause ...

Space & Earth / Environment

created Sep 09, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast