Air in Biological News

Improved air quality during Beijing Olympics could inform pollution-curbing policies

The air in Beijing during the 2008 Olympics was cleaner than the previous year's, due to aggressive efforts by the Chinese government to curtail traffic, increase emissions standards and halt construction in preparation for the games, according to a Cornell study. Led by Max Zhang, assistant pr...

LSUHSC shows for first time infant inhalation of ultrafine air pollution linked to adult lung disease

New Orleans, LA Stephania Cormier, PhD, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, has shown for the first time that early exposure to environmentally persistent free radicals (present in airborne ultrafine particulate matter) affects long-term lung function. S...

Energy-saving method checks refrigerant level in air conditioners

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Engineers have developed a technique that saves energy and servicing costs by indicating when air conditioners are low on refrigerant, preventing the units from working overtime. The new "virtual refrigerant charge sensor" is particularly practical for automotive air cond...

Athletes, spectators faced unprecedented air pollution at 2008 Olympic Games

CORVALLIS, Ore. Particulate air pollution during the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing constantly exceeded levels considered excessive by the World Health Organization, was far worse than other recent Olympic Games, and was about 30 percent higher than has been reported by Chinese environmental exper...

Inhaling a heart attack: How air pollution can cause heart disease

BETHESDA, Md. (March 23, 2009) We are used to thinking of heart disease as a product of genetic factors or lifestyle choices, such as what we eat and how much we exercise. There is another road to heart disease: breathing. Accumulating evidence indicates that an increase in particulate air poll...

Indoor air pollution increases asthma symptoms

A study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins University found an association between increasing levels of indoor particulate matter pollution and the severity of asthma symptoms among children. The study, which followed a group of asthmatic children in Baltimore, Md., is among the first to examine ...

Case Western Reserve researchers looking at light-induced toxins in air and water

Is the air we breathe on a daily basis slowly killing us? It may not be that severe, but the air we breathe and water we drink may be more harmful than we realize. Toxic nitro-aromatic pollutants (or nitro-polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), both manmade and naturally occurring, continue t...

Are we trading energy conservation for toxic air emissions?

A team of Yale scientists has found that certain countries and some U.S. states stand to benefit from the use of compact fluorescent lighting more than others in the fight against global warming. Some places may even produce more mercury emissions by switching from incandescent light bulbs to comp...

CU-Boulder study suggests air quality regulations miss key pollutants

A new study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder reveals that air quality regulations may not effectively target a large source of fine, organic particle pollutants that contribute to hazy skies and poor air quality over the Los Angeles region. According to the study, a much smaller per...

US Air Force grant targets medical evacuation procedures

University of Cincinnati (UC) researchers have received a grant in excess of $2 million from the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine to determine the ideal time to fly that minimizes health complications to injured soldiers due to the rush to move them from the battlefield into a safe zone...

Remote technology sees through ice, snow and hot air to monitor power plants

On Aug. 14, 2003, the power grid failure that left the northeastern United States in darkness surprised a country unaccustomed to interrupted electricity. Expectations of a plentiful energy supply in the United States contrast dramatically to the situation in some developing countries that lim...

US Air Force technology helps scientists understand plant root function

MADISON, WI SEPTEMBER 8, 2008-- The McClellan Nuclear Radiation Center (MNRC) in Sacramento, CA was developed by the U.S. Air Force to detect corrosion and defects in aircraft structure using an imaging technique called neutron radiography. This technique is currently helping soil scientists under...

Dirty air brings rain -- then again, maybe not

An international team of scientists, headed by Prof. Daniel Rosenfeld of the Institute of Earth Sciences at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has come up with a surprising finding to the disputed issue of whether air pollution increases or decreases rainfall. The conclusion: both can be true, de...

Scientists to assess Beijing Olympics air pollution control efforts

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing kicks off this week, the event is giving scientists a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how the atmosphere responds when a heavily populated region substantially curbs everyday industrial emissions. The National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded "Cheju AB...

Scripps scientists will assess Beijing Olympics air pollution control efforts

As the Summer Olympics in Beijing kicks off today, the event is affording scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to observe how the atmosphere responds when a heavily populated region substantially curbs everyday industrial emissions. T...

GKSS membranes reduce air pollution in Beijing

Measures for better air Now that Olympia is approaching, the Chinese authorities are trying to reduce the air pollution in the large cities with different measures. For example, the car traffic in Beijing is massively limited: the government has ordered not to use 70 percent of all company cars...

OSU study shows exposure to bad air raises blood pressure

COLUMBUS, Ohio The air people breathe while walking in the park, working in the garden or shopping downtown may be unhealthy enough to seriously spike their blood pressure, a new study suggests. Cardiovascular researchers at The Ohio State University Medical Center are the first to report a di...

Toxic chemicals found in common scented laundry products, air fresheners

A University of Washington study of top-selling laundry products and air fresheners found the products emitted dozens of different chemicals. All six products tested gave off at least one chemical regulated as toxic or hazardous under federal laws, but none of those chemicals was listed on the pr...

Study reveals air pollution is causing widespread and serious impacts to ecosystems

If you are living in the eastern United States, the environment around you is being harmed by air pollution. From Adirondack forests and Shenandoah streams to Appalachian wetlands and the Chesapeake Bay, a new report by the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies and The Nature Conservancy has found t...

URI researcher: China can't fully fix air quality problem for Olympics

NARRAGANSETT, R.I. July 14, 2008 The outlook for air quality in Beijing during the Olympics is borderline, and there's little that the Chinese government can do to improve it. That's the conclusion drawn by a University of Rhode Island atmospheric chemist who analyzed pollution data collected...

Tests show LLNL detection instrument can monitor the air for all major terrorist threat substances

Security and law enforcement officials may some day have a new ally - a universal detection system that can monitor the air for virtually all of the major threat agents that could be used by terrorists. This type of system is under development by a team of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory...

Even low levels of air pollution may pose stroke risk

ANN ARBOR, Mich.---Short-term exposure to low levels of particulate air pollution may increase the risk of stroke or mini-stroke, according to findings that suggest current exposure standards could be insufficient to protect the public. "The vast majority of the public is exposed to ambient ai...

Beijing game for clean air challenge

Wen-Xings assessment of the quality of ambient air in Beijing has just been published online in Springers journal, Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health.Since the 1980s, the rapid industrial development, urbanization and increase in traffic have resulted in severe air pollution in Beijing. And with the...

Arable land can have a negative impact on air quality

This release is available in German . Leipzig. Fallow agricultural land and steppe-formation processes are evidently capable of having a much greater effect on global air quality than was previously assumed. This is the conclusion drawn by researchers after examining a dust cloud that form...

UC Riverside to host conference on stricter air quality standards for Southern California

RIVERSIDE, Calif. How Southern California tackles the daunting task of meeting stricter federal and state emissions standards and reducing greenhouse gases is the focus of an all-day conference hosted by UC Riversides Edward J. Blakely Center for Sustainable Suburban Development and the Souther...

USF professor gives historical look at physiology and WWII air war

BETHESDA, Md. (April 11, 2008) World War II-era physiologists helped solve physiological problems related to flight, research that helped pave the way for an Allied victory in the air, according to Jay B. Dean, of the University of South Florida College of Medicine. Dr. Dean prepared a presenta...

Flowers' fragrance diminished by air pollution, University of Virginia study indicates

Air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to follow scent trails to their source, a new University of Virginia study indicates. This could partially explain why wild populations of some pollinato...

NASA launches airborne study of arctic atmosphere, air pollution

This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic's lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic. The recent decline of sea ice is one indication the Arc...

State, UH teaming up to reduce (ob)noxious air emissions

A University of Houston partnership that helped Houston avoid the title of Americas smoggiest city will soon help reduce emissions all over the state thanks to an $8.8 million grant from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ). The Texas Diesel Testing and Research Center at the ...

Springer founds new journal Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health

Springer is founding a new quarterly journal called Air Quality, Atmosphere and Health. The publication will provide a forum for the enormous output of research in this rapidly developing area. Scheduled for early 2008, the journal will strengthen Springers expanding environmental and public hea...

Time spent in car drives up air pollution exposure

Los Angeles, Oct. 30, 2007 The daily commute may be taking more of a toll than people realize. A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) and the California Air Resources Board found that up to half of Los Angeles residents total exposure to harmful air pollutants oc...

US Army, US Navy, US Air Force, US Marines, US Department of Defense conference held at UH

HOUSTON, Oct. 26, 2007 From defusing bombs to treating post trauma, the U.S. armed forces face challenges on multiple fronts. The University of Houston will host a Department of Defense (DoD) research conference to address such issues Nov. 1 and 2 at the Hilton UH Hotel and Conference Center. ...

RIT to study air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the Great Lakes region

Reducing pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in the Great Lakes region due to freight transportation requires a little creativity and a serious look at sustainabilityways of protecting the environment without slowing the economy. A team of professors at Rochester Institute of Technology rec...

New microsensor measures volatile organic compounds in water and air on-site

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a miniature sensor that uses polymer membranes deposited on a tiny silicon disk to measure pollutants present in aqueous or gaseous environments. An array of these sensors with different surface coatings could be used during field-t...

Louisiana Tech researchers investigate tracking, sensors to assist Air Force

Two Louisiana Tech faculty members, Dr. Sumeet Dua, an assistant professor of computer science, and Dr. Rastko Selmic, an assistant professor of electrical engineering, are using their skills and technical knowledge to help the U.S. Air Force and Department of Defense with sensor networks and trac...

Skin oil -- ozone interactions worsen air quality in airplanes

Airline passengers and crews who gripe about poor cabin air quality could have a new culprit to blame: the oils on their skin, hair and clothing. A study in the current issue of ACS Environmental Science & Technology suggests interactions between body oils and ozone found in airplane cabins could ...

Geologists map rocks to soak CO2 from air

To slow global warming, scientists are exploring ways to pull carbon dioxide from the air and safely lock it away. Trees already do this naturally through photosynthesis; now, in a new report, geologists have mapped large rock formations in the United States that can also absorb CO 2 , which t...

Study predicts when invasive species can travel more readily by air

A new study forecasts when climate factors such as temperature, humidity and rainfall will match at geographically distant airline departure and destination points, which could help to shuffle invasive species, and the diseases they may carry, across the globe along existing flight routes. The fin...

UI researchers find potentially toxic substance present in Chicago air

Although the industrial compounds known as polychlorinated biphenols or PCBs have been found in previous air samples collected in the city of Chicago, a University of Iowa researcher says that a new study of Chicago air sampled between November 2006 and November 2007 found PCB11, a byproduct of th...

2007 hurricane forecasts took blow from winds and Saharan dry, dusty air

A new analysis of environmental conditions over the Atlantic Ocean shows that hot, dry air associated with dust outbreaks from the Sahara desert was a likely contributor to the quieter-than-expected 2007 hurricane season. Factors known to influence the number and intensity of hurricanes in a se...