Danger Dust

Tire wear particles enter rivers and lakes primarily via wind and rain. These particles account for 50% to 90% of all microplastics that run off roads during rainfall. Furthermore, scientific extrapolations suggest that nearly half (45%) of the microplastics found in soil and water come from tire abrasion.

The concentration of tire wear particles in water bodies can vary by several orders of magnitude, ranging from 0,00001 to 10.000 milligrams per liter.

The particles contain a complex mixture of different compounds, including toxic substances: heavy metals such as cadmium and zinc and organic substances such as the ozone protection or antioxidant 6-PPD. If the tire wear particles end up in freshwater ecosystems, the pollutants are leached out there.

Traditional scintillators rely on rigid inorganic matrices with high-Z elements, whose mechanical inflexibility restricts applications in multiple scenarios.

Developing an efficient scintillator that combines inorganic properties with flexibility is a desirable yet highly challenging goal. We pioneered an inorganic metafabric scintillator paradigm through self-sustained slip system engineering, transforming brittle all-inorganic scintillation materials into ductile textile architectures, yielding intrinsically conformally flexible scintillators that adhere seamlessly to complex, curved surfaces.

The ultimate all-inorganic scintillator delivers near-unity quantum yield, with scintillation output more than 10 times higher than that of previous polymer matrix–based flexible scintillators.

Using these metafabric scintillators, a multimodal x-ray interactive wearable platform (X-Wear) was developed, and their applications in body-centered flexible detection and imaging, mobile health, visual radiation monitoring, and breathable radiation shielding were successfully demonstrated.

This work offers a previously undefined paradigm for a scintillator system design strategy that maintains the high performance of inorganic scintillators while adding the functionality of being conformally flexible and wearable of fabrics.

A rare cell in the lining of lungs is fundamental to the organ-wide response necessary to repair damage from toxins like those in wildfire smoke or respiratory viruses, Stanford Medicine researchers and their colleagues have found. A similar process occurs in the pancreas, where the cells, called neuroendocrine cells, initiate a biological cascade that protects insulin-producing pancreatic islet cells from damage.

Researchers examined follicular fluid from 29 women and seminal fluid from 22 men, both of which play critical roles in natural conception and assisted reproduction.

A range of commonly used microplastic polymers, including polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), polystyrene (PS), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyamide (PA), polypropylene (PP) and polyurethane (PU), were identified in both groups.

Microplastics were present in 69% of the follicular fluid samples analyzed. Notably, the most frequently detected polymer was PTFE, found in 31% of the samples. This was followed by PP (28%), PET (17%), PA (14%), polyethylene (PE) (10%), PU (10%) and PS (7%), in descending order of prevalence.

In male seminal fluid samples, microplastics were found in 55% of those analyzed. PTFE again emerged as the most prevalent polymer, identified in 41% of the samples. Other polymers detected included PS (14%), PET (9%), PA (5%), and PU (5%), though in lower concentrations.

• 124 workers died in work-related incidents in 2024/25

• 2,218 mesothelioma deaths in 2023 through past exposure to asbestos

Latest annual figures show 124 workers were killed in work-related incidents in Great Britain. A decrease of fourteen from the previous 12-month period.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has today, Wednesday 2 July, published its latest annual fatality statistics, covering the period from April 2024 to March 2025. The number of deaths remain broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels, and compares to 223 twenty years ago (2004/05) and 495 in 1981.

The industries with the highest number of deaths were construction (35) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (23). Of all main industry sectors, agriculture, forestry and fishing continues to have the highest rate of fatal injury per 100,000 workers followed by waste and recycling.

The Kirkuk Health Department in northern Iraq reported dozens of suffocation cases due to the dust storm that hit the governorate over the past few hours.

Director of Media at the Kirkuk Health Department Saman Yabeh said that Kirkuk hospitals received 109 suffocation cases of varying severity due to the dust storm. Medical teams dealt with the cases immediately.

He added that all health facilities were on full alert in anticipation of any emergency, stressing that most cases have recovered after receiving the necessary treatment.

Since Tuesday morning, Kirkuk has been experiencing a heavy dust storm, which has reduced visibility and caused widespread suffering among citizens, especially those suffering from chronic respiratory diseases.

A team of researchers led by Prof. Jiang Changlong from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a fast and simple way to detect harmful pesticide residues, with results visible to the naked eye in just 10 seconds.

While effective against pests, overexposure to pyrethroids can cause health issues such as dizziness and breathing problems.

People figured out how to make dry stone walls thousands of years ago. In Scotland, dry stone structures date back as far as 5,000 years, to the actual Stone Age. The Maya ruins in Lubaantun, Belize, built around the eighth or ninth century A.D., used dry stone construction. So did the Great Enclosure, an enormous complex in Zimbabwe, built between the 13th and 14th centuries. The Japanese dry stone craft of ano-zumi thrived in the 17th century. The very fact that these walls still stand in any form speaks to the strength of their construction.

India's capital banned fuel sales to aging vehicles on Tuesday as authorities try to tackle the sprawling megacity's hazardous air pollution.

The city is regularly ranked one of the most polluted capitals globally with acrid smog blanketing its skyline every winter.

At the peak of the smog, levels of PM2.5 pollutants—dangerous cancer-causing microparticles small enough to enter the bloodstream through the lungs—surge to more than 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum.

Petrol cars older than 15 years, and diesel vehicles older than 10, were already banned from operating on New Delhi's roads by a 2018 Supreme Court ruling.

But millions flout the rules.

In this review, we described the sources and characteristics of three different particle sizes of dust: PM2.5, silica, and nanosilica. Based on their respective characteristics, we further explored the main toxicity induced by PM2.5, silica, and nanosilica in vivo and in vitro. Furthermore, we evaluated the health implications of respiratory dust on the human body and proposed potential synergistic effects, taking into consideration current studies. Overall, the severity of organ damage and cytotoxicity induced by PM2.5, silica, and nanosilica varies and is influenced by multiple factors, including dust type, size, dose, and surface composition. Other key factors, such as cell type, cell status, organ distribution, animal status, and the duration of exposure, also play a role and are subject to individual differences in cells and in vivo. The toxicity mechanisms of PM2.5, silica, and nanosilica include oxidative stress, inflammation, DNA damage, and metabolic disorders. Currently, the reported injuries in humans are focused on respiratory diseases, cardiovascular diseases, neurological diseases, and adverse pregnancy outcomes. However, studies on the related signaling pathways are still relatively incomplete.

As for the question of whether actually snorting Moon dust Jordan Belfort-style would be a sound idea, the researchers say you probably could. But while it's unlikely you'd experience long-term illness as a result, you should be prepared for discomfort.

"Any dust, if you inhale it, you'll sneeze, cough, and have some physical irritation," Smith's statement continued. "But it's not highly toxic like silica, where you end up with silicosis from being on a construction site for 10 years. It's not going to be something like that."

As the adage goes: just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

These findings underscore that chronic, sublethal chlorothalonil exposure not only induces larval mortality but also adversely affects fecundity in adult insects.

Amid growing concerns over pesticide-induced insect decline and environmental pollution, interest in sustainable biopesticides has increased, with a particular focus on botanical fungicides derived from plant-based compounds. These natural metabolites offer effective disease control while exhibiting low toxicity to non-target organisms, making them strong candidates for environmentally friendly pest management. Additionally, their compatibility with integrated pest management programmes promotes biodiversity conservation by preserving beneficial insect populations, including pollinators and natural enemies. Collectively, these attributes highlight the value of biopesticides in advancing ecologically responsible and sustainable agricultural practices.

Early one October afternoon in 2023, thick grey smoke drifted across Sheffield’s western skyline. As much of the city became blanketed, residents turned to social media to complain about “bonfire smoke”, while others were forced to leave the city due to breathing difficulties.

However, this smoke did not originate within the city. It was drifting in from the Peak District, more than nine miles away, where controlled heather burning was taking place on the moorlands. For around six hours, levels of fine particulate matter (known as PM2.5), tiny airborne pollutants known to harm human health, exceeded 40 micrograms per cubic metre of air (µg/m³) and peaked at 70µg/m³, well above the guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization.

This single incident points to the wider and largely invisible problem of the routine burning of the UK’s uplands. This can be a serious source of air pollution, but because most official air pollution monitoring concentrates on urban areas, the effects are overlooked.

In these autoimmune diseases, T cells mistakenly target the body's own tissues instead of invading viruses or bacteria as they would during normal immune responses. Treatments focused on T cells have been elusive because blocking their action broadly weakens the immune system and creates risk for infections and cancer.

Published online June 30 in the journal Cell, the study revealed that holding closely together two protein groups (signaling complexes) on T cells, including one found more often on T cells involved in autoimmune disease, shuts down those T cells in a limited way.

Orthostatic intolerance occurs when the body fails to properly compensate for moving to an upright position, which is thought to result in reduced blood flow to the brain and symptoms such as lightheadedness, fatigue, and weakness. A subset of those with orthostatic intolerance also meet the criteria for postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), which includes an excessive increase in heart rate as one of the symptoms.

Many factors can worsen orthostatic intolerance, but heat is a particularly relevant trigger during the summer months.

ME Awareness Week Recap

For ME Awareness Week 2025, we shared infographics raising awareness about the debilitating nature of ME/CFS, but also about the research being conducted to tackle the symptoms associated with the disease. For ease of access, we have collated these postings into one article.

Post-exertional malaise Post-exertional malaise (PEM), the hallmark feature of ME/CFS, is the worsening of symptoms (and potential appearance of new symptoms) following minimal physical or mental exertion. It typically occurs 24 – 72 hours following the triggering event but may occur sooner. PEM can significantly reduce the level of activity/functioning of an individual with ME/CFS, and can last for several days, weeks, or longer.

Once asbestos enters the lungs, it doesn’t leave. Its sharp, microscopic fibres scar tissues, trigger inflammation and can cause deadly diseases like mesothelioma, lung cancer and laryngeal cancer. That’s why over 60 countries have banned it – and why the US mostly phased it out.

In 2024, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) moved to ban all industrial uses. But on June 17, the agency said it would revisit the Biden‑era ban.

Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral made of thin, fibrous crystals. It is fire-resistant, durable, lightweight, flexible and insulating. This unique blend of properties resulted in its widespread use over millennia. Indeed, asbestos fibres have been found woven into pottery and textiles from 2500BC.

The underlying factors that lead to specific strains within a species to emerge as human pathogens remain mostly enigmatic. Toxigenic clones of the cholera agent, Vibrio cholerae, are encompassed within one phylogenomic clade, the pandemic cholera group (PCG). Here, we investigate the molecular and evolutionary factors that explain the confined nature of this group. Our analyses determined that the emergence of PCG is largely dependent on the acquisition of unique modular gene clusters and allelic variations that confer a competitive advantage during intestinal colonization. These allelic variations act as a critical bottleneck that elucidate the isolated emergence of PCG and provides a tractable blueprint for the study of the emergence of pathogenic clones within an environmental population.

Published April 2014

Despite a body of evidence supporting an association between asbestos exposure and autoantibodies indicative of systemic autoimmunity, such as antinuclear antibodies (ANA), a strong epidemiological link has never been made to specific autoimmune diseases. This is in contrast with another silicate dust, crystalline silica, for which there is considerable evidence linking exposure to diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis, and rheumatoid arthritis. Instead, the asbestos literature is heavily focused on cancer, including mesothelioma and pulmonary carcinoma.

Published September 2018

An increased risk for Systemic Autoimmune Diseases (SAID) was reported in the population of Libby, Montana, where extensive exposure to asbestiform amphiboles occurred through mining and use of asbestiform fiber-laden vermiculite. High frequencies of antinuclear autoantibodies (ANA) were detected in individuals and mice exposed to Libby Asbestiform Amphiboles (LAA). Among the 6603 individuals who have undergone health screening at the Center for Asbestos Related Diseases (CARD, Libby MT), the frequencies of rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, sarcoidosis, and systemic sclerosis are significantly higher than expected prevalence in the United States.

While emerging evidence suggests pesticides can be toxic to the mix of microorganisms in the digestive system, a new study is the first to map changes to specific gut bacteria based on interactions between human microbes and insect-killing chemicals observed in the lab and an animal model.

The analysis showed that over a dozen pesticides influence human gut bacteria growth patterns, affect how gut microorganisms process nutrients and camp out inside some bacteria. Researchers say the resulting "atlas" of molecular mechanisms, which they have made publicly available, is a resource that can be leveraged for targeted studies on relevant diseases and potential therapeutic strategies.

Microbial ecosystems are fundamental to planetary and human health, yet human activities are accelerating their loss. Disruptions to microbial communities undermine environmental stability, biodiversity, and health. Urgent action is required to preserve microbial diversity.

The Microbiota Vault Initiative provides a global framework to safeguard microbiomes from human, animal, and environmental sources. It proactively archives microbial diversity for future needs, prioritizing depositor sovereignty, equitable collaboration, and ethical governance.

By sharing limited information on deposits, the initiative fosters microbial conservation and collaboration between local and global researchers. It complements other efforts to ensure the resilience of microbiomes in an era of rapid environmental change.

PAPRs are reusable respirators that can be used to protect against gases, vapors, or particles, when equipped with the appropriate filter, cartridge, or canister. They are battery-powered with a blower that pulls air through attached filters or cartridges to clean it before delivering it to your breathing zone. PAPRs provide low breathing resistance with a high level of protection.

PAPRs often have a hood or helmet that covers your nose, mouth, and eyes. Therefore, they also provide eye protection. A PAPR may have a tight-fitting half or full facepiece or a loose-fitting facepiece, hood, or helmet.

Unlike tight-fitting PAPRs, loose-fitting PAPRs do not require fit testing. They may be a good alternative if you have facial hair or are unable to pass a fit test with a tight-fitting respirator.

A new study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology(link is external and opens in a new window) and led by researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health identifies the hidden geological mechanisms behind widespread uranium contamination in Eastern Karnataka, India, where 78 percent of tested groundwater exceeds safe drinking limits for uranium, and some groundwater uranium contamination reaches levels 75 times the U.S. EPA limit. Uranium exposure can affect kidneys, bones, and the liver, yet contamination often goes undetected.

The researchers discovered that uranium becomes dangerously mobile in specific underground environments—a finding that could help local communities monitor and manage this health threat. With over 25 million people in the region relying on groundwater for more than 70 percent of their drinking water, these insights could lead to targeted solutions, such as where to site wells and localized treatment at affected well-heads.

There is growing recognition that patient stratification, based on host and pathogen factors, is key to delivering the right drug regimen for the right duration. In this Perspective, we review the current knowledge on the heterogeneity of TB disease and propose approaches to optimize treatment duration in distinct patient groups, taking into consideration the realities of TB control globally.

We emphasize key insights that improve the understanding of bacterial vulnerabilities in patients with easy-to-treat and hard-to-treat TB, helping to reduce diagnostic uncertainties.

We explore how the TB research community can integrate disease biology, pathology and symptoms, to rethink therapeutic strategies and reduce TB treatment duration.