Virginia Tech awarded $3.4 million grant to study the environmental effects of utility-scale solar installations

The study, funded by the Department of Environmental Quality, is “collecting the data we need to do solar right.”

Grant and Award Announcement

VIRGINIA TECH

As utility-scale solar farms become more widespread as a source of renewable energy, Virginia Tech scientists are researching environmental consequences with respect to stormwater and the sediment and nutrients transported in runoff.

With a $3.4 million grant from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, researchers from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences will lead a comprehensive six-year study to determine how utility-scale solar farms impact stormwater runoff and local soil and water quality throughout the state.

“Solar is probably going to be the No. 1 land use change that will occur over the next decade in many parts of Virginia, particularly in existing agricultural and forested areas,” said Ryan Stewart, associate professor in the School of Plant and Environmental Sciences and lead investigator of the project. “Even if it’s not your neighbor’s property, these sites will be somewhere nearby. We’re collecting the data we need to do solar right.”

Virginia ranks ninth in the nation for solar production, according to the Solar Industries Association, with 52 active utility-scale solar facilities generating upwards of 4,296 megawatts — enough to power 476,000 homes. Since Virginia passed the Clean Economy Act in 2020, mandating a transition to 100 percent renewable energy by 2050, the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has received 50 active notices of intent from companies planning to build utility-scale solar installations. To meet Virginia’s 2050 renewable energy goal of 16,100 megawatts, as many as 161,000 acres — or about 10 acres per megawatt — would be needed.

“The research question we are addressing here is: Is there a change in the soil and hydrology?” Stewart said. “The DEQ wants to know if and how these solar installations should be regulated and how they should be siting infrastructure. There’s just not a lot of data out there and what is available is either not really applicable to this type of project or it’s outdated.”

In addition to helping inform DEQ regulatory policy, the study will offer guidance to localities considering solar farm proposals. Industry partners, including Dominion Energy, AES Corporation, Energix, and Urban Grid, have stepped forward to participate in the study by offering their solar facilities as research sites as well as providing commitments of cash and in-kind support for this research totaling over $500,000 to date.

“The industry, in general, is supportive of this research because our approach is we are going to go out to these sites and actually measure to see which models work and which don’t,” said co-investigator W. Lee Daniels, the Thomas B. Hutcheson Jr. Emeritus Professor of Environmental Science. “Even though it’s a six-year project, that feedback loop to our cooperators will start occurring as soon as we have data and we can validate it.”

The team will select six sites throughout Virginia to study — three fully developed, revegetated solar sites and three that will be monitored from pre-development through installation, revegetation, and their full operating phase. Each solar farm will be outfitted with multiple monitoring locations, instrumented to collect data on rainfall, surface water level, air temperature, and specific conductance. Flow-weighted composite samples taken from storm events will be analyzed for pH, sediment, nitrogen, phosphorous, and other potential contaminants.

The study will represent one of the largest collections of actual runoff data in Virginia since several localities contributed to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Nationwide Urban Runoff Program completed in the 1980s, which still underpins many of the current runoff and watershed modeling applications in the Chesapeake Bay region. These models are extremely important in measuring progress toward achieving environmental goals such as the Total Maximum Daily Load for the Chesapeake Bay.

“In terms of modeling applications and validating and improving models, this data will be really useful and valuable to a lot of people,” Daniels said. “This work is going to generate data that would also be applicable to construction sites, mixed-use sites, and pasture sites, for example. We’ll have actual numbers to update all these 30- and 40-year-old assumed values that are underlying our models right now.”

The research team integrates expertise from Virginia Tech and Virginia State University. Stewart, the lead principal investigator, is an expert in soil hydrology and stormwater infiltration. Daniels is an authority in the rehabilitation of disturbed lands who will assist with soil disturbance studies and work directly with the industry and DEQ. David Sample, professor of biological systems engineering and Extension specialist based at the Hampton Roads Agricultural Research and Extension Center, will lead efforts to model stormwater flows and local water quality impacts.

Sample recently conducted two similar stormwater monitoring studies in the cities of Virginia Beach and Fredericksburg.

“Each of these efforts will help expand our knowledge of runoff water quality and will help guide the design of mitigation measures and stormwater treatment,” Sample said.

Advanced Extension Specialist John Ignosh with Virginia Cooperative Extension will facilitate stakeholder communication and provide field equipment support.

Co-investigators Vitalis Temu and Maru Kering, both associate professors at Virginia State University’s Agricultural Research Station, will monitor how site vegetation reacts with solar panels and storm events.

“As society tries to confront climate change and look for sources of renewable energy, solar will be part of our energy portfolio for a while,” Stewart said. “The chance to collect this kind of runoff data in the field and at this scale is rare, so we are very excited for that.”

This research underpins Virginia Tech’s commitment to sustainability, as the university was again ranked among the top 100 universities globally in the Times Higher Education 2023 Impact Rankings.

The Times Higher Education Impact Rankings are the only global performance tables that assess universities against the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. The rankings use calibrated indicators to compare universities across four areas: research, stewardship, outreach, and teaching.

Virginia Tech received an overall score of 89 and an impact ranking of No. 92 out of nearly 1,600 universities. More information about Virginia Tech’s rankings can be found online.

Fungi blaze a trail to fireproof cladding

RMIT scientists have shown it’s possible to grow fungi in thin sheets that could be used for fire-retardant cladding or even a new kind of fungal fashion.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

RMIT UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: LEAD AUTHOR NATTANAN CHULIKAVIT SHOWS OFF THE COMPRESSED MYCELIUM SHEETS SHE CREATED FOR THE PROJECT. view more 

CREDIT: RMIT UNIVERSITY

Mycelium, an incredible network of fungal strands that can thrive on organic waste and in darkness, could be a basis for sustainable fireproofing. RMIT researchers are chemically manipulating its composition to harness its fire-retardant properties.

Associate Professor Tien Huynh, an expert in biotechnology and mycology, said they’ve shown that mycelium can be grown from renewable organic waste.

“Fungi are usually found in a composite form mixed with residual feed material, but we found a way to grow pure mycelium sheets that can be layered and engineered into different uses – from flat panels for the building industry to a leather-like material for the fashion industry,” said Huynh, from the School of Science.

The novel method of creating mycelium sheets that are paper-thin, like wallpaper, works without pulverising the mycelium’s filament network. Instead, they used different growth conditions and chemicals to make the thin, uniform and – importantly – first resistant, material.

Fungi fireproofing our buildings

The researchers are focused on creating bio-derived, fire-retardant cladding for buildings to prevent tragedies like the Grenfell Tower fire, in which the deadly blaze was accelerated by a highly combustible cladding component.

Associate Professor Everson Kandare, an expert in the flammability and thermal properties of biomaterials and co-author of the paper, said the mycelium has strong potential as a fireproofing material.

“The great thing about mycelium is that it forms a thermal protective char layer when exposed to fire or radiant heat. The longer and the higher temperature at which mycelium char survives, the better its use as a fireproof material,” said Kandare.

Beyond being effective, mycelium-based cladding can be produced from renewable organic waste and is not harmful to the environment when burned, he explained.

Where composite cladding panels are used, they usually contain plastics – which produce toxic fumes and heavy smoke when they burn.

“Bromide, iodide, phosphorus and nitrogen-containing fire retardants are effective, but have adverse health and environmental effects. They pose health and environmental concerns, as carcinogens and neurotoxins that can escape and persist in the environment cause harm to plant and animal life,” said Kandare.

“Bioderived mycelium produces naturally occurring water and carbon dioxide.”

Bringing the research to life

This research could eventually lead to improved and eco-friendly cladding for buildings.

“Plastics are quick and easy to produce, whereas fungi is slow to grow and relatively harder to produce at scale,” said Huynh.

“However, we’ve been approached by the mushroom industry about using their fungal-incorporated waste products. Collaborating with the mushroom industry would remove the need for new farms while producing products that meet fire safety needs in a sustainable way.”

The researchers are now looking to create fungal mats reinforced by engineering fibres to delay ignition, reduce the flaming intensity and improve fire safety ranking.

The paper, “Fireproofing flammable composites using mycelium: Investigating the effect of deacetylation on the thermal stability and fire reaction properties of mycelium” (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2023.110419, lead author Nattanan Chulikavit), is published in the journal Polymer Degradation and Stability.

It builds on preliminary research published by the experts in high-ranked international journals, Polymer Degradation and Stability and Nature’s Scientific Reports.

This project is a major collaboration involving RMIT University, the University of New South Wales, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University and the Australian Research Council Training Centre in Fire Retardant Materials and Safety Technologies.

The research team Nattanan (Becky) Chulikavit (left), Associate Professor Tien Huynh (middle) and Associate Professor Everson Kandare (right) in their lab at RMIT’s Bundoora campus.

CREDIT

RMIT University

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JOURNAL

Polymer Degradation and Stability

DOI

10.1016/j.polymdegradstab.2023.110419 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Cells

ARTICLE TITLE

Fireproofing flammable composites using mycelium: Investigating the effect of deacetylation on the thermal stability and fire reaction properties of mycelium

Poignant photo project reveals all we lost in lockdown

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

 

VIDEO: LAPTOPS AND SCHOOLWORK ON KITCHEN TABLES, A DESERTED PLAYGROUND, FACE MASKS ON A WASHING LINE, AN EMPTY CHURCH, A WALK IN THE WOODS. AS THE UK COVID INQUIRY CONTINUES FOR A FIFTH WEEK, RESEARCHERS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA HAVE CREATED A UNIQUE SNAPSHOT OF LOCKDOWN LIFE. view more 

CREDIT: UNIVERSITY OF EAST ANGLIA

Laptops and schoolwork on kitchen tables, a deserted playground, face masks on a washing line, an empty church, a walk in the woods.

As the UK Covid inquiry continues for a fifth week, researchers at the University of East Anglia have created a unique snapshot of lockdown life.

When the pandemic first hit, the team embarked on a project to track the physical and mental health of the nation. More than a thousand participants signed up and up and they were followed every day for three months in the first study of its kind.

As well as keeping daily lifestyle diaries about their physical activity, diet and mood, the participants were asked to submit photographs that captured their life in lockdown.

The research team studied these images, and a new paper published today reveals just how much people lost during Covid.

The images illustrate an “unequal pandemic”, the researchers say.

But they also reveal how and why some people fared better than others during lockdowns and beyond.

Lead researcher Prof Caitlin Notley, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said: “People around the world had to change their lifestyles very quickly in response to the Covid pandemic.

“We set out to track people’s health and lifestyle behaviours to help answer important questions about the overall impact of the pandemic on health.

“To help us really understand what life was like, we asked our participants to submit photographs that captured their experiences of lockdown.”

Almost 400 photos were submitted, along with short descriptions to accompany them, giving testimony to people’s lived experiences. 

Dr Sarah Hanson, from UEA’s School of Health Sciences, said: “A recurrent theme through the images is one of loss – of both freedoms, and lives.

“But the photographs also illustrate people’s starkly different experiences of life in lockdown - it was a very unequal pandemic.

“For those with limited control over their lives and in poorer circumstances the pandemic exacerbated already difficult lives and communities that are struggling to recover.

“The pandemic has been devastating to many people and social groups and our findings show the many unintended social consequences of lockdown.

“It is right that lives return to normality but there are still people shielding, communities have suffered and people are still deeply affected by what happened during those times and the sense of loss by many is profound.

“Those who had more resources and more control over their lives were more easily able to find comfort, find a way to be socially connected and to develop a sense of resilience. It tended to be those who were better off financially, had gardens, had a computer and internet at home, and who were able to work from home, that were able to cope with it better.

“We should also be mindful that even for those who appeared to cope well, the trauma can be covert and issues can emerge as significant psychological issues later on,” she added.

‘Lest we Forget. Illuminating lived experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown’ is published in the journal Social Science & Medicine.

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JOURNAL

Social Science & Medicine

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Lest we Forget. Illuminating lived experience of the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdown

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Jul-2023

Unemployment and underemployment significant drivers of suicide: Analysis

Peer-Reviewed Publication

UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY

A study examining unemployment and underemployment figures and suicide rates in Australia has found both were significant drivers of suicide mortality between 2004-2016.

The researchers say the findings indicate that economic policies such as a Job Guarantee, which prioritise full employment, should be a core part of any comprehensive national suicide prevention strategy.

Predictive modelling also revealed an estimated 9.5 percent of suicides reported during that time resulted directly from unemployment and underemployment.

The analysis used national data, which included numbers of suicides per month provided by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and monthly unemployment and underemployment statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The 13-year period includes the Global Financial Crisis (mid 2007 to early 2009) and the beginning of the Robodebt scheme (July 2016).

Between 2004 – 2016, approximately 1 in 10 of the 32,331 suicides in total were estimated to result from labour underutilisation (3071 suicides or 9.5 percent).

1575 suicides were attributed to unemployment (4.9 percent of total suicide mortality). 1496 suicides are attributed to underemployment (4.6 percent)

The study, published in Science Advances, was led by researchers from the Brain and Mind Centre at the University of Sydney.

The results are consistent with epidemiological studies (independent of this study) that found changes from employment to unemployment tend to produce a significant increase in psychological distress. 

“Our analyses provide evidence that rates of unemployment and underemployment were significant drivers of suicide mortality in Australia during that time,” said lead researcher Dr Adam Skinner from the Brain and Mind Centre.

“Ensuring adequate employment for every person seeking work is an effective way to reduce the immense personal and social cost of intentional self-harm and suicide.”

The study used a relatively new analytical method called convergent cross mapping to confirm causal effects of underemployment and unemployment over time on suicidal behaviour.

The strength of convergent cross mapping is that it allows researchers to detect cause and effect in complex systems, where significant correlation between variables does not necessarily indicate causality.

Predictive modelling was used to estimate the number of suicides caused by labour underutilisation per month. 

“The study confirms that a high priority in suicide prevention should be full employment, particularly as we now face economic uncertainty in Australia,” said Brain and Mind Centre co-director, Professor Ian Hickie AM.

“Rising unemployment costs lives - particularly amongst those most vulnerable groups.”

-ENDS-

• Lifeline on 13 11 14
• Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800
• MensLine Australia on 1300 789 978
• Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467
• Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36
• Headspace on 1800 650 890
• QLife on 1800 184 527
• ReachOut at au.reachout.com

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JOURNAL

Science Advances

DOI

10.1126/sciadv.adg3758 

ARTICLE TITLE

Unemployment and underemployment are causes of suicide

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

12-Jul-2023

COI STATEMENT

Declaration: Refer to the published paper for full details. I.B.H. has previously led community-based and pharmaceutical industry-supported projects focused on the identification and better management of anxiety and depression. He was a member of the Medical Advisory Panel for Medibank Private until October 2017, a board member of Psychosis Australia Trust, and a member of Veterans Mental Health Clinical Reference Group. He is the Chief Scientific Advisor to, and a 3.2% equity shareholder in, InnoWell Pty Ltd. Adam Skinner, Nathaniel Osgood and Christine Song declare that they have no competing interests.

Red sea plume’ alga may cut greenhouse gas emissions from cow poo nearly in half

Adding a species of red alga to cow droppings significantly decreased methane production of stored feces

Peer-Reviewed Publication

FRONTIERS

Approximately a third of all anthropogenic methane is emitted by ruminant livestock. These animals get nutrients through fermenting food in four-chambered stomachs found in cows, sheep, and goats. They produce methane in two ways: through belching and from the decomposition of their manure under certain conditions.

Now, researchers in Sweden have examined if adding the tropical alga Asparagopsis taxiformis (AT), also known as red sea plume, to cow feces impacts greenhouse gas emissions from the manure of dairy cows. They have published their results in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems.

“We showed that adding AT to the feces of dairy cows significantly reduced methane production from the feces by 44% compared to feces without AT,” said Dr Mohammad Ramin, an animal science researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences. “It also turned out that methane production from feces of cows that had been supplemented with AT in their diet was not lower than from the feces of cows that had not been fed the alga.”

Red sea plume fighting green(house) gas

AT is a red algae species, with cosmopolitan distribution in tropical to warm waters. Its main compound is bromoform, which mitigates methane by blocking the process through which the gas is generated. To date it is the most promising natural methane inhibitor.

“There have been many studies using AT in dairy cows’ diets to reduce enteric methane production. However, no studies have reported on the decrease of methane emissions from manure,” Ramin pointed out.

Adding AT to cows’ feed, however, is not entirely without side effects since AT contains high levels of iodine. Research has shown that if cow feed is supplemented with AT, iodine levels in milk, which is also consumed by humans, increase. Iodine is an essential nutrient but can be toxic in high concentrations. Heightened iodine levels can cause health issues such as thyroid problems. Researchers are currently working on growing AT containing less iodine in labs.

However, AT can also be used to reduce methane emissions from manure, not only from cows’ enteric fermentation. This is the approach which Ramin et al. took.

Naturally less methane

The contribution of manure to greenhouse gas emissions depends on several factors, including storage conditions. Manure stored in the cool-temperate European climate is estimated to be responsible for approximately 12% of total methane emissions from the dairy system.

“Manure methane production does contribute to global greenhouse gas emission and needs to be reduced,” Ramin said. “Our study showed a potential way how methane inhibitors could be utilized to do that.”

Despite their promising results the researchers pointed out that they did a pilot study in which they used feces form just four cows. They recommended that future studies should increase the number of cows from which manure is collected. Further, more studies are necessary to investigate the interactions between the halogenated compounds of the alga and the fecal microbiome, they said.

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JOURNAL

Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems

DOI

10.3389/fsufs.2023.1187838 

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Experimental study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

Animals

ARTICLE TITLE

Reducing methane production from stored feces of dairy cows by Asparagopsis taxiformis

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

13-Jul-2023

COI STATEMENT

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Skin lightening products can be dangerous, but users don’t know risks

Bleaching among skin of color individuals is prevalent in U.S.

Peer-Reviewed Publication

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY

  Colorism – system of inequality that views lighter skin as more beautiful and advantageous – motivates skin lightening

·  Users aren’t aware of adulterated ingredients in over-the-counter products such as mercury and steroids 
·  Products are purchased from chain grocery stores or online, used without medical advice
 

CHICAGO --- Skin lightening is prevalent in the U.S. among skin of color individuals – particularly women – but the people who use those products don’t know the risks, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. 

Colorism, the system of inequality that views lighter skin as more beautiful and advantageous, can be the motivation behind skin lightening, the study also found. The findings also reinforced the prevalence of skin lightening in the U.S.

“The most surprising finding was the lack of awareness of ingredients in products being purchased over the counter and their potential detrimental effects,” said lead investigator Dr. Roopal Kundu, founder and director of the Northwestern Medicine Center for Ethnic Skin and Hair. “These products are bought from chain grocery stores, community-based stores or even online and do not undergo the same type of regulation as large-chain store or prescription products.”

Kundu is also a professor of dermatology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and a Northwestern Medicine board-certified dermatologist. 

The study will be published July 13 in the International Journal of Women’s Dermatology.

Previous studies show these products are often adulterated with other things such as steroids and mercury that could be toxic to the skin. 

One of Kundu’s patients used the lightening product hydroquinone, also called a bleacher, on his entire face for many years. The patient now has permanent hyperpigmentation.

Doctors prescribe skin lighteners for some skin conditions such as melasma, and the products can be safely used under physician guidance. But most people who use skin lighteners also do not consult a medical provider before use, Kundu said. 

In 2020, the FDA received reports of serious side effects from the use of skin lightening products containing hydroquinone, including skin rashes, facial swelling and exogeneous ochronosis (discoloration of skin.) The FDA advised consumers not to use these products due to the potential harm they may cause.

Colorism is behind skin lightening

The participants – 80% women – who used skin lighteners perceived stronger colorism in their lives than those who did not use the products, according to the study. 

“There is this perception that having lighter skin within a group – Southeast Asian or African populations, for example – is looked upon more favorably and manifests by making someone more attractive to a mate or more likely to get a job,” Kundu said. “The belief is that having lighter skin is tied to personal and professional success.”

Most of Kundu’s patients interested in skin lightening want to do so to even out skin tone due to a skin disease. But a fourth of study participants wanted to do general skin lightening. One of Kundu’s patients recently told her his goal was to completely lighten his skin. “I had to tell him that is not something we can do,” Kundu said. “We weren’t going to globally lighten his skin color.”

To conduct the study, researchers sent an anonymous 19-question survey to individuals with skin of color in the U.S. asking about their demographics, colorism attitudes, skin tone satisfaction and skin lightening habits. Of 455 individuals who completed the survey, 238 were Black, 83 were Asian, 84 were multiracial, 31 were Hispanic, 14 were American Indian or Alaskan Native and five identified as other. 

The use of skin lightening agents was reported by 21.3% of respondents, with 75.3% of these respondents using them to treat a skin condition such as acne, melasma or hyperpigmentation. The others were using the agents for general skin lightening. 

“As dermatologists, we hope to understand the cultural and societal influences that impact skin health and treatment of skin disease,” Kundu said. “Cultural mindfulness for clinicians as they get to know their patients battling pigmentary issues allows for the safe, effective, comprehensive and compassionate treatment of dermatological disease across all communities.” 

Co-authors include Dr. Karishma Daftary, Sneha Poondru, Nina Patel, Maxwell Shramuk, and Lutifyya Muhammad. 

The title of the article is “Colorism Attitudes and Use of Skin Lightening Agents in the United States.”

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JOURNAL

International Journal of Women’s Dermatology

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Survey

ARTICLE TITLE

“Colorism Attitudes and Use of Skin Lightening Agents in the United States.”

FOREVER CHEMICALS

Alarmingly high PFAS levels in the populations of Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark and the UK

Peer-Reviewed Publication

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

 

IMAGE: POLAR BEARS AND SEALS ARE STILL AN IMPORTANT FOOD SOURCE IN HUNTING COMMUNITIES IN GREENLAND. view more 

CREDIT: PHOTO: RUNE DIETZ

The hunting community in Ittoqqotoormiit (Scoresby Sound), Northeast Greenland, has some of the world's highest concentrations of PFAS in their blood, even though they live far away from sources of contamination with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS).

 

PFAS is used in almost all industries and is found in many products such as textiles, carpets, shoes, food packaging, cosmetics, fire foam and pesticides.

 

The substances are long-range transported to the Arctic via the atmosphere and ocean currents. When they are released to the environment, PFAS is bio-magnified through the food chain. Predators at top of the food chain, such as ringed seals, toothed whales and polar bears therefore contain high PFAS concentrations, and the high levels in the indigenous population of East Greenland are hence primarily originating from their food.

 

The study, which has just been published in the prestigious journal Lancet Planetary Health, shows that 92% of residents in Ittoqqortoormiit have far more PFAS in the body than the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) recommends to avoid damage to the immune system.

 

In addition, 86% of the inhabitants have blood values that are higher than EFSA's threshold value for serious risk of damage to the immune system.

PFAS reaches the Arctic with air and sea currents from North America, Asia and Europe. PFAS can, among other things, cause damage to people's immune system. As polar bears and humans are at the top of the food chain in the Arctic, they can have concentrations of PFAS that are up to 30 million times higher than in plankton algae in the sea.

CREDIT

no

A global problem

The recently published study shows that the pollution with PFAS is critical in many parts of the world, and Christian Sonne emphasizes that national and regional legislation must go hand in hand with the UN's sustainable development goals and the Stockholm Convention in order to phase out PFAS.

 

"If measures are not taken quickly, such as a ban on PFAS and the use of alternatives to PFAS, pollution of the environment will continue to threaten public health around the world", says professor Christian Sonne.

 

On 7 February 2023, the European Chemicals Agency published a proposal to limit the production, use and marketing of more than 10,000 PFAS substances in the EU. The purpose of the proposal is to limit the spread of PFAS substances. As a rule, the use of PFAS will be banned in general in EU, but unfortunately not in various pesticides. Similar actions are under way in the US.

 

The researchers behind the study show that PFAS levels in the blood are generally higher in the European countries and North America compared to countries in Asia and Africa. The highest concentrations are found (in descending order) in Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Denmark, Australia, Sweden, Norway, Malaysia, USA, Taiwan, Greece, Poland, Spain and Iceland.

Meat from polar bears is one of the greatest sources of PFAS exposure in the hunting community Ittoqoortoormiit (Scoresby Sound) in Northeast Greenland.

CREDIT

Photo: Rune Dietz

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JOURNAL

The Lancet Planetary Health

METHOD OF RESEARCH

Case study

SUBJECT OF RESEARCH

People

ARTICLE TITLE

Assessment of exposure to perfluorinated industrial substances and risk of immune suppression in Greenland and its global context: a mixed-methods study

ARTICLE PUBLICATION DATE

11-Jul-2023