EU clean water laws under attack from industry lobbyists
23 May 2019 - Industry lobbies are mounting a push to roll back EU clean water regulations, even though less than half of the continent's rivers, wetlands, and lakes are in a healthy state. ... Conservation groups say the proposed changes could sound a death knell for several endangered aquatic species. (more)

Ozone layer: Banned CFCs traced to China say scientists
23 May 2019 - Researchers say that they have pinpointed the major sources of a mysterious recent rise in a dangerous, ozone-destroying chemical. CFC-11 was primarily used for home insulation but global production was due to be phased out in 2010. But scientists have seen a big slowdown in the rate of depletion over the past six years. This new study says this is mostly being caused by new gas production in eastern provinces of China. (more)

Thousands of cancer diagnoses tied to a poor diet, study finds
23 May 2019 - Your diet may have more impact on your cancer risk than you might think, a new study has found. An estimated 80,110 new cancer cases among adults 20 and older in the United States in 2015 were attributable simply to eating a poor diet, according to the study, published in the JNCI Cancer Spectrum on Wednesday [22 May]. 'This is equivalent to about 5.2% of all invasive cancer cases newly diagnosed among US adults in 2015,' said Dr. Fang Fang Zhang, a nutrition and cancer epidemiologist at Tufts University in Boston, who was first author of the study. (more)

Dengue fever numbers soar on La Reunion: WHO
22 May 2019 - Tens of thousands of people are thought to have caught dengue fever in an unprecedented outbreak of the mosquito-borne disease on the French overseas territory of La Reunion, the World Health Organization said on Tuesday [21 May]. Authorities in the popular Indian Ocean tourist destination notified WHO of the outbreak in March 2018, since when 50,000 probable cases have been reported, including 22,000 so far this year. (more)

Smokers have higher risk for multiple strokes
22 May 2019 - Smokers who have a stroke are much more likely to have another one if they don't quit or at least cut back, a Chinese study suggests. Smoking has long been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and serious cardiac events like heart attacks and strokes. But the new study sheds light on how smoking influences the risk of a second stroke in patients who already had one. (more)

Too much screen time tied to school problems even in little kids
22 May 2019 - Kindergarteners who get more than two hours of screen time a day may be more likely to have behavior and attention problems in school than their classmates who spend less time in front of televisions, smartphones, and tablets, a Canadian study suggests. Doctors urge parents of young kids to limit screen time or avoid it altogether because all of those hours watching videos or gaming have been linked to slowed development of speech and language, fine and gross motor skills, and social and behavioral skills. (more)

Colombia's peace deal promised a new era. This is what it looks like.
17 May 2019 - After Colombia's government signed a peace deal with the country's main rebel group, ending decades of war and upheaval, both sides said it heralded a new era. But two and a half years after the militants agreed to lay down their arms, many of the promises made are not being honored, and the prospect of a true, lasting peace now seems far from certain. Rebels are rearming, violence is soaring in the countryside, and a new government is wavering in its commitment. (more)

LED lights damage eyes and disturb sleep, European health authority warns
16 May 2019 - The blue light in LED lighting that is increasingly used in our homes can damage the eye's retina while disturbing our biological and sleep rhythms, a French health authority warned in a new report. New scientific evidence confirms the 'phototoxic effects' of short-term exposures to high-intensity blue light, as well as an increased risk of age-related macular degeneration after chronic exposure to lower-intensity sources, according to the French Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health & Safety, known as ANSES. (more)