​Living in a tree-filled neighborhood may be as beneficial to the heart as regular exercise

NBC News - Living in a tree-filled neighborhood may be as beneficial to the heart as regular exercise, new research shows. Researchers at the University of Louisville designed a clinical trial that followed hundreds of people living in six low- to middle-income neighborhoods in South Louisville, Kentucky. They used blood and other samples to better understand how their heart risks changed before and after the team planted thousands of mature trees near their homes. Results from the Green Heart Louisville Project's HEAL Study, released Tuesday, showed that people living in neighborhoods with twice as many trees and shrubs had lower levels of a blood marker associated with heart disease, diabetes and some types of cancer compared with those who lived in more tree-bare neighborhoods.

US Landfills one of the country’s biggest sources of PFAS pollution

Landfills in the United States one of the country's biggest sources of pollution  have been found to contain large amounts of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) "forever chemicals." A recent study has found that PFAS likely make their way into the surrounding environment through gas emitted from landfills, since treatment systems at the facilities are not equipped to destroy or manage the hazardous chemicals, reported The Guardian.

According to a new study, more than half the landfills in the United States are "super-emitters" of methane.

"Addressing these high methane sources and mitigating persistent landfill emissions offers a strong potential for climate benefit," said Dr. Dan Cusworth, lead author of the study and a program scientist with Carbon Mapper, in a press release from Carbon Mapper. "The ability to precisely identify leaks is an efficient way to make quick progress on methane reduction at landfills, which could be critical for slowing global warming."

The study, "Quantifying methane emissions from United States landfills," published in the journal Science, is the largest measurement-based assessment of landfill methane ever conducted. It identifies major sources of emissions that have been absent from traditional accounting so that they can be given precedence for mitigation.

The research team — including scientists from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, University of Arizona, Arizona State University, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and airborne atmospheric research company Scientific Aviation — assessed hundreds of the country's landfills using airborne surveys and direct observations.

The study not only emphasized the enormous impact of landfill emissions, but highlighted potential gaps in traditional methods of model-based accounting that could benefit from direct measurements using air-, surface- and space-based monitoring.

​Rate Of Cancer Deaths Projected To Increase by 93 Percent In Men In 2050

By 2050, the number of new cancer deaths for men globally is expected to reach 10.5 million, a 93 percent increase. Additionally, the number of new cancer cases for men is projected to rise by 84 percent. Both rates are higher for men than for women.

"Substantial disparities in cancer cases and deaths were observed among men in 2022, and these are projected to widen by 2050," according to a study published Monday in Cancer, an Interdisciplinary Journal of the American Cancer Society.

Read more from source:
https://acsjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/cncr.35458

​EPA Invokes Emergency Ban on Pesticide - first time in 40 years!

On Tuesday the EPA issued an emergency stop order on the use of an herbicide called dimethyl tetrachloroterephthalate (DCPA or Dacthal) due to serious health risks for fetuses.

This is notable because it's the first time in 40 years that the EPA has taken emergency action to stop the use of any pesticide.

According to the EPA: "unborn babies whose pregnant mothers are exposed to DCPA, sometimes without even knowing the exposure has occurred, could experience changes to fetal thyroid hormone levels, and these changes are generally linked to low birth weight, impaired brain development, decreased IQ, and impaired motor skills later in life, some of which may be irreversible."

DCPA is used on broccoli, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kale, cabbage, mustard greens, and onions crops grown in the US - it's been banned in the European Union since 2009. In the US, until last December, when the manufacturer voluntarily pulled it's use, it was also used on turf fields (gold courses, athletic fields, etc).

A 2019 study found that more than 50% of young women living in farming communities in the Salinas Valley in CA (a large agricultural area where pesticide exposure is high), had been exposed to this toxic herbicide. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30380470/)

Generation X and millennials are at an increased risk of developing certain cancers compared with older generations

Washington Post - Generation X and millennials are at an increased risk of developing certain cancers compared with older generations, a shift that is probably due to generational changes in diet, lifestyle and environmental exposures, a large new study suggests. In a new study published Wednesday in the Lancet Public Health journal, researchers from the American Cancer Society reported that cancer rates for 17 of the 34 most common cancers are increasing in progressively younger generations. The findings included:

• Cancers with the most significant increased risk are kidney, pancreatic and small intestine, which are two to three times as high for millennial men and women as baby boomers.
• Millennial women also are at higher risk of liver and bile duct cancers compared with baby boomers.
• Although the risk of getting cancer is rising, for most cancers, the risk of dying of the disease stabilized or declined among younger people. But mortality rates increased for gallbladder, colorectal, testicular and uterine cancers, as well as for liver cancer among younger women...

If the current trend continues, the increased cancer and mortality rates among younger people may "halt or even reverse the progress that we have made in reducing cancer mortality over the past several decades," he added.While there is no clear explanation for the increased cancer rates among younger people, the researchers suggest that there may be several contributing factors, including rising obesity rates; altered microbiomes from unhealthy diets high in saturated fats, red meat and ultra-processed foods or antibiotic use; poor sleep; sedentary lifestyles; and environmental factors, including exposure to pollutants and carcinogenic chemicals.

EPA Celebrates the 2024 Winners of the President’s Environmental Youth Award and the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in partnership with the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), is pleased to announce the 2024 recipients of the Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators (PIAEE) and the President's Environmental Youth Award (PEYA). 

"We are delighted to celebrate and recognize the remarkable contributions educators and students across our country make every day," said EPA Administrator Michael S. Regan. "Our awardees exemplify commitment to environmental education and steadfast leadership in taking innovative approaches to protect human health and tackle climate change. To the awardees, we extend our sincere appreciation for your unwavering dedication to environmental stewardship. We look forward to seeing what you accomplish next."

"Environmental stewardship often begins in the classroom with young people and educators who are taking our planet's most pressing climate change and environmental justice challenges head on," said White House Council on Environmental Quality Chair Brenda Mallory. "This year's awardees represent passionate and dedicated leaders who are tackling the climate crisis, improving public health, and delivering a more equitable future for all."

The PIAEE award was established by the 1990 National Environmental Education Act and seeks to recognize, support, and bring public attention to the outstanding environmental projects performed by teachers who go beyond textbook instruction to incorporate methods and materials that utilize creative experiences and enrich student learning in K-12 education. The CEQ, in partnership with the EPA, administers this award. 

The PEYA was established by the Environmental Education Act of 1970 and recognizes outstanding community-level environmental projects by K-12 youth that promote awareness of natural resources and encourage positive community involvement. Each year, PEYA honors a variety of local projects developed by students, school classes, summer camp attendees, and youth organizations that promote engagement in environmental stewardship and protection. 

From across the country, 9 educators received the 2024 Presidential Innovation Award for Environmental Educators. Winning educators demonstrated leadership by integrating environmental education into multiple subjects and using topics such as climate change, environmental justice, water infrastructure, waste management, water quality, environmentally friendly agricultural practices, STEM education, and school gardens to teach about environmental sustainability. The winners also effectively demonstrated how they inspire members of their communities to participate in environmental education activities.   

Additionally, 29 students who worked as a team or individually on 13 projects received the President's Environmental Youth Award. Their stewardship projects, conducted in 2023, demonstrate the students' commitment and success in advancing community garden efforts, addressing environmental justice concerns, reducing pollution, conserving water and energy, reducing food waste, and combating climate change while also effectively encouraging the involvement of people in their communities.  

To read about the winning projects in detail, visit: PEYA Winners and PIAEE Winners.