air pollution

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reaffirmed the legal, scientific and economic bases of the 2012 Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) that require coal– and oil-fired power plants to implement “significant reductions” in emissions of mercury, acid gases and other toxic pollutants, a press release from the EPA said. The decision reverses the […]

More concerns have been raised in Ohio following a train that derailed while containing hazardous chemicals. In addition to health concerns for local residents, officials now say that the train was passing through Ohio without being labeled as hazardous. In a news conference on Tuesday, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine said that the train was not […]

At around 9 p.m. local time on Friday, Feb. 3, a freight train transporting 20 cars worth of hazardous materials derailed in the town of East Palestine, Ohio, near the state’s border with Pennsylvania.  The derailment sparked a fire and forced 1,500 to 2,000 people to evacuate. It also raised concerns about the lingering public […]

In 2019, London Mayor Sadiq Khan established the world’s first 24-hour Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) in central London to protect the city’s residents from deadly air pollution. The ULEZ imposed £12.50 fines on vehicles whose emissions exceeded certain standards. Two years later, Khan expanded the zone to include inner London within the boundaries of the North and South Circular roads.

Two studies by researchers from the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic have confirmed that “Cancer Alley,” a 184-mile region in Louisiana along the Mississippi River with a high number of petrochemical plants as well as high cancer rates for residents, is not only real, but that government officials helped create it.

BMW, Peugeot and Renault all make popular plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), but are the cars as climate-friendly as they claim? Not according to a new set of on-road tests conducted by researchers who say the vehicles emit much more carbon dioxide than official measures from standard lab tests report. According to the researchers at […]

The crackle and glow of a wood stove may be comforting, but the pollution it produces is pretty frightening. Burning wood releases high levels of toxins into the environment, creating localized pollution hot spots. Even in newer wood stoves that are certified, many of the harmful chemicals found in tobacco smoke are emitted by wood […]

Exposure to air pollution can lead expert chess players to make more mistakes.