industryterm:harmful chemicals

GM fungus rapidly kills 99% of malaria mosquitoes, study suggests - BBC News
▻https://www.bbc.com/news/health-48464510

Un champignon pour tuer les moustiques vecteurs du paludisme - Top #Santé
▻https://www.topsante.com/medecine/sante-et-voyage/paludisme/un-champignon-pour-tuer-les-moustiques-vecteurs-du-paludisme-632089

https://file1.topsante.com/var/topsante/storage/images/1/3/1/8/1318564/un-champignon-pour-tuer-les-moustiques-vecteurs-paludisme_exact1024x768_l.jpg

Les chercheurs de l’université du Maryland, aux États-Unis, ont identifié un #champignon appelé Metarhizium pingshaense, qui infecte naturellement les #moustiques qui propagent le #paludisme. Dans un essai mené au Burkina Faso, ce champignon génétiquement modifié a fait disparaître 99% des populations de moustiques en 45 jours.

Pour renforcer les pouvoirs de ce champignon, les chercheurs se sont tournés vers une toxine trouvée dans le venin d’une espèce d’araignée australienne. Ils ont génétiquement modifié le champignon pour qu’il fabrique cette toxine à l’intérieur du moustique.

#ogm

Are natural #fibres really better for the environment than microplastic fibres?
▻https://phys.org/news/2019-03-natural-fibres-environment-microplastic.html

https://3c1703fe8d.site.internapcdn.net/newman/gfx/news/hires/2018/textile.jpg

“However, whilst they may not be plastic, ’natural’ textile fibres are far from a solution to the textile industry’s contribution to plastic pollution. The production of cotton is incredibly water intensive, and the methods used to process natural fibres often introduce a myriad of harmful chemicals into waters used for bathing and drinking. Moreover, the processing of natural fibres is often carried out in dangerous, exploitative working conditions.”

Tom adds: “As our research shows, there is a high percentage of natural fibres in our water – and we don’t really understand what impact this might have on the environment. What do we really know about the alternatives we are using in our efforts to curb plastic pollution? Much more needs to be done, before we can confidently say which of the alternatives available to us are the best for our planet.”

#plastique #eau #environnement

Electronics-Recycling Innovator Going to Prison for Extending Compu...
▻https://diasp.eu/p/7152379

Electronics-Recycling Innovator Going to Prison for Extending Computers’ Lives

[ ▻https://returntonow.net/2018/05/10/ewaste-innovator-prison ]

Eric Lundgren built the first “electronic hybrid recycling” facility in the United States, which turns discarded cellphones and other electronics into functional devices.

Known for building an electric car out of “garbage” that outlasts a Tesla, his company processes more than 41 million pounds of e-waste a year.

Lundgren has received international praise for slowing the stream of harmful chemicals and heavy metals into the environment, and counts IBM, Motorola and Sprint among clients grateful for his cheap refurbished products.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is not such big a fan of Lundgren’s work.

When he figured out how to recycle e-waste from China (...)

Researchers have found a ‘striking’ new side effect from eating fast food - The Washington Post
▻https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2016/04/15/researchers-have-found-an-alarming-new-side-effect-from-eating-fast-

https://images.washingtonpost.com/?url=http://img.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/files/2016/04/AP_070204065042.jpg&w=1484&op=resize&opt=1&filter=antialias

Researchers at George Washington University have linked fast-food consumption to the presence of potentially harmful chemicals, a connection they argue could have “great public health significance.” Specifically, the team found that people who eat fast food tend to have significantly higher levels of certain phthalates, which are commonly used in consumer products such as soap and makeup to make them less brittle but have been linked to a number of adverse health outcomes, including higher rates of infertility, especially among males.

Recent #Fast_Food Consumption and #Bisphenol A and
Phthalates Exposures among the U.S. Population in
NHANES, 2003–2010
▻http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2016/4/ehp.1510803.acco.pdf

Background: Phthalates and bisphenol A (BPA) are widely used industrial chemicals that may adversely impact human health. Human exposure is ubiquitous and can occur through diet, including consumption of processed or packaged food

[...]

Conclusion: Fast food may be a source of exposure to DEHP and DiNP. These results, if confirmed, could inform individual and regulatory exposure reduction strategies.

#phtalates #santé

BBC News - China acknowledges ’cancer villages’
▻http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21545868

The latest report from the environment ministry is entitled “Guard against and control risks presented by chemicals to the environment during the 12th Five-Year period (2011-2015)”.

It says that the widespread production and consumption of harmful chemicals forbidden in many developed nations are still found in China.

“The toxic chemicals have caused many environmental emergencies linked to water and air pollution,” it said.

The report goes on to acknowledge that such chemicals could pose a long-term risk to human health, making a direct link to the so-called “cancer villages”.

“There are even some serious cases of health and social problems like the emergence of cancer villages in individual regions,” it said.

(...)

Last month - Beijing - and several other cities - were blanketed in smog that soared past levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organisation.

The choking pollution provoked a public outcry and led to a highly charged debate about the costs of the country’s rapid economic development, our correspondent says.