A bottle of water can contain a quarter of a million pieces of plastic, a study has found. Scientists have found a new category of plastic pollution called nanoparticles, which are created when microplastics break down even further. It had previously been impossible to tell how many particles smaller than one micron, one seventieth of the width of ...

A growing body of research shows that exposure to air pollution, especially during pregnancy and childhood, may have a negative impact on brain development. Now a study led by the Barcelona Institute for Global Health (ISGlobal) has found that exposure to nitrogen dioxide (NO2) during the first two years of life is associated with poorer attention capacity in children aged 4 to 8, especially in boys. NO2 is a pollutant that comes mainly from...

If you come across brightly colored, cloth-bound books from the Victorian era, you might want to handle them gently, or even steer clear altogether. Some of their attractive hues come from dyes that could pose a health risk to readers, collectors or librarians.

New research from Columbia University found that long term exposure to one naturally occurring metal found in drinking water across the country may lead to an increased risk of heart disease.

Chronic, low-level lead poisoning is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adults and cognitive deficits in children, even at levels previously thought to be safe, according to a paper by Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Simon Fraser University in Canada, and Harvard Medical School, and Boston Children's Hospital.

Black plastics from electronic devices may be leaching toxic flame retardants into our food and homes, a new study has found.