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In patients with pre-existing heart or lung disease, being exposed to high levels of traffic-related air pollutants is associated with reduced heart rate variability (HRV) — a risk factor for sudden cardiac death, reports a study in the July Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), according to a press release.

Two petroleum refiners have agreed in separate settlements to spend a total of more than $141 million in new air pollution controls at three refineries in Kansas and Wyoming, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Justice Department announced in a press statement yesterday. The settlements are expected to reduce harmful emissions by 7,000 tons per year.

While researchers estimate that the average person spends 90 percent of his or her life indoors, government has been slow to establish specific standards governing levels of indoor air pollutants.

Trust for America's Health (TFAH) released a new report yesterday that finds only five states have published a strategic climate change plan that includes a public health response. This includes planning for health challenges and emergencies expected to develop from natural disasters, pollution, and infectious diseases as temperatures and sea levels rise.

According to a report in the March 2009 issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch, climate change threatens human health in many ways.

After a thorough scientific review ordered in 2007 by the U.S. Supreme Court, EPA issued a proposed finding last Friday (April 17) that greenhouse gases contribute to air pollution that may endanger public health or welfare, according to an EPA press statement.

As the United Nations climate change summit in Copenhagen heads into its final week, nearly half of Americans — 49% — say they are only slightly or not at all concerned about climate change, while 35% are somewhat or highly concerned, a new Zogby Interactive survey shows.

Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, gave a speech on the Senate floor yesterday citing recent Gallup Poll results showing a “record-high 41 percent of Americans now say [global warming] is exaggerated!” This is the “highest level of public skepticism about mainstream reporting” in more than a decade, according to the March 11, 2009, Gallup survey,” said Inhofe.

EHS pros should prepare for a renewed emphasis on reproductive health hazards.