#public-health

30 segments tagged with public-health on Living on Earth.

May 22, 2026: Cancer and CAFOS
Living near many large Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs appears to raise cancer risk, according to a study from Yale researchers. CAFOs pack thousands of pigs, cows, and chickens together to produce meat, dairy, and eggs. All those crowded animals can produce a lot of waste that pollutes air and water, which may explain an association between CAFOs and cancer, though the study does not prove causation. Brian Bienkowski, managing editor of The New Lede, joins Host Steve Curwood to talk about the research and how concerns transcend politics.
March 13, 2026: PFAS Still at Pittsburgh Airport
Foams containing PFAS or “forever chemicals” are excellent at suppressing fires involving jet fuel and other oil products, but they leave behind a toxic legacy. And they have long been used for firefighting drills, including at a training facility based at Pittsburgh International Airport. Although the facility now uses PFAS-free firefighting foam, the Allegheny Front’s Reid Frazier reports that sampling is still showing high levels of PFAS being discharged into nearby streams.
March 06, 2026: Stinky Seaweed Menace
Though the floating seaweed known as Sargassum provides critical habitat for many species in the Sargasso Sea in the North Atlantic, it is now finding a fertile home in southern waters, where it’s wreaking havoc on coastal communities and ecosystems. Teresa Tomassoni, oceans correspondent with our media partner Inside Climate News, spoke with Living on Earth’s Aynsley O’Neill about impacts to respiratory health, tourism and sea turtles.
February 27, 2026: Note on Emerging Science: Detecting Antibiotics in Wastewater
Wastewater treatment often fails to capture antibiotics, which can lead to antibiotic resistance and even “super microbes” when they end up in our waterways. Living on Earth’s Hedy Yang reports in this Note on Emerging Science that scientists in Brazil have found a novel way to improve antibiotic detection in wastewater, by using sewage sludge itself to create a coating for sensors.
February 20, 2026: Trump Canceling Climate Regs
After a landmark Supreme Court case that directed EPA to determine whether carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger public health, the agency found in 2009 that indeed they do. Now, the Trump EPA is attempting to revoke that endangerment finding to unravel all subsequent regulations on tailpipes, smokestacks and more. Vermont Law and Graduate School emeritus Professor Pat Parenteau explains to Host Jenni Doering why this step is just the beginning of what looks to be a long legal fight.
January 30, 2026: Global Health Under Trump
The current Trump administration has in its first year cut off the World Health Organization, dismantled the United States Agency for International Development or USAID, and overhauled vaccination recommendations, just to name a few decisions impacting health. Physician and Harvard public health professor Vanessa Kerry is also WHO Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health. She talks with Host Steve Curwood about the lives that could be lost as the US retreats from global health.
January 23, 2026: Health and Economic Costs of Fossil Fuels
The burning of fossil fuels is linked to some 300,000 deaths in America every year, not to mention the related carbon emissions that promote global warming. Dr. Vanessa Kerry directs Global Health and Climate Policy and teaches at the Harvard T H Chan School of Public Health. She is also the World Health Organization Special Envoy for Climate Change and Health and joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the major health costs and lost opportunities linked to pollution.
January 09, 2026: EPA Ignores Climate Dangers
This June the US Environmental Protection Agency proposed eliminating regulations that limit climate changing gases from power plants, about a quarter of US emissions. Harvard Law Professor Richard Lazarus, an environmental and constitutional law scholar and author of The Rule of Five: Making Climate History at the Supreme Court, speaks with Host Steve Curwood about the perils of the broader Trump administration effort to weaken federal environmental protections.
November 28, 2025: Deadly Toll of Wildfire Smoke
Wildfire smoke is fouling air quality across the US with increasing regularity, and it carries a heavy toll. A September 2025 study published in the journal Nature found that every year around 40,000 Americans are dying from wildfire smoke, with more on the way as the planet warms. Senior author Dr. Marshall Burke, a professor in the Doerr School of Sustainability at Stanford University, joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss how air filters, face masks and low-intensity prescribed burning can help protect the public from this growing threat.
November 21, 2025: Air Pollution Pioneers
We now know about the severe health impacts of tiny airborne particles or PM2.5, thanks in large part to the groundbreaking “Six Cities” study that started in the 1970s. The leaders of that team were Doug Dockery, who became chair of Environmental Health at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health and Arden Pope, now a distinguished professor of agricultural economics at Brigham Young University. They are co-authors of the 2025 book, Particles of Truth: A Story of Discovery, Controversy, and the Fight for Healthy Air, and they share with Host Steve Curwood the story of how they undertook their vital research and the industry pushback they received.
September 19, 2025: Heat Waves Linked to Company Emissions
New research finds that since 2010 killer heat waves have become 200 times more likely, thanks to greenhouse gas emissions, and the scientists say about half of the increase in heatwaves can be attributed to big coal, big oil, big gas and cement. Dartmouth College associate professor Justin Mankin joins Host Steve Curwood to discuss the severe economic and health consequences of extreme heat and efforts to make major carbon emitters pay for these skyrocketing costs.
August 15, 2025: The "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen
Not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with high levels of harmful pesticides. To help consumers make efficient choices in the produce aisle, every year the Environmental Working Group puts together two lists, the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen.” EWG Toxicologist Alexis Temkin talks to Host Steve Curwood about how to use them during grocery trips.
August 08, 2025: Complex Air Pollution and Public Health
Thousands of people across the United States live near multiple industrial facilities and petrochemical plants that expose them to higher levels of air pollution, but chemical exposure risk is commonly regulated one chemical at a time. A study conducted by a group of Johns Hopkins researchers found that “fence line” residents are at higher risk for multiple health problems because of the toxic mix of air they breathe. Lead author Dr. Keeve Nachman joined Host Paloma Beltran to walk through the study.
July 25, 2025: Zombie Fires in Canada
Wildfire season has scorched nearly 14 million acres in Canada this year, degrading air quality as far downwind as Montreal, Detroit and Philadelphia. A particularly dangerous kind of wildfire, known as “zombie fire”, can survive through the winter months by smoldering underground. Professor of Earth Sciences at The Ohio State University Patrick Louchouarn joined Living on Earth’s executive producer Steve Curwood to discuss this phenomenon.
July 04, 2025: EPA Employees Speak Out
In a rare act of public criticism, hundreds of EPA employees published a declaration of dissent from the agency’s policies under the Trump administration, calling out its alleged ignoring of scientific consensus to benefit polluters, undermining of public trust and more. David Cash led EPA’s Region One covering New England under the Biden Administration and shares his thoughts and opinions about the letter and the Trump EPA with Host Aynsley O’Neill.
June 06, 2025: Protecting Farmworkers from Wildfire Smoke
Poor air quality from wildfire smoke and other pollutants can harm cardiovascular health and also make farmworkers more prone to work injuries, according to researchers. But in California, requirements for employers to hand out face masks do not kick in until the air quality has already deteriorated past the point where farmworkers are experiencing impacts. Reporter Rambo Talabong of Inside Climate News spoke with Living on Earth’s Paloma Beltran about proposals to better protect farmworkers from air pollution.
May 30, 2025: CA Clean Air Tool Revoked
California’s car culture, trucking industry, and weather contribute to chronically bad air that it’s been gradually improving with its own laws and regulations and the blessing of the US Environmental Protection Agency. But now under President Trump, the EPA and Republican Congress are taking away California’s ability to clean up its air. Ann Carlson is a Professor of Environmental Law at UCLA and joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the legal questions and public health impact.
May 23, 2025: Trump Ignores Social Cost of Carbon
A new White House memo instructs federal agencies to disregard the economic impacts of climate change in their regulations and permitting decisions. This metric is known as the “social cost of carbon” and it has been used for decades to guide policy so that it considers the economic realities of our changing climate. David Cash served under President Biden as the New England Administrator for the US Environmental Protection Agency and he joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss.
May 09, 2025: NY Climate Superfund
To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. Anne Louise Rabe is the former Environmental Policy Director at NY-PIRG, The New York Public Interest Research Group, and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience.
May 02, 2025: Air Gets Worse
The latest “State of the Air” report by the American Lung Association finds air quality has worsened so much that nearly half of people living in the U.S. now breathe unhealthy levels of air pollution. Soot and smog are on the rise in part because climate change heat is bringing more wildfires and low-level ozone-forming conditions. David Cash was the New England Administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency under President Biden, and he joins Host Jenni Doering for an air quality update.
April 25, 2025: Fighting PFAS
Laurene Allen moved to Merrimack, New Hampshire to raise a family in the 1980s. Little did she know that, in 2016, the state would reveal that her town’s water supply was contaminated with high levels of PFAS, or forever chemicals, leaked by a nearby plastics plant. Laurene organized a grassroots campaign to expose widespread health harms in her community linked to those chemicals, and the plant eventually shut down. She has been recognized with the 2025 Goldman Prize for North America. Laurene Allen joins Host Steve Curwood to share her story.
April 11, 2025: Sneezing and Climate Change
Warmer temperatures are causing plants to bloom earlier and longer, leading to longer and more intense pollen sneezing seasons for people susceptible to allergies. Dr. Neelu Tummala is an ear, nose, and throat physician at NYU Langone Health who has written on the impact of climate change on our allergies. She joined Host Aynsley O’Neill to talk about the connection between climate change and allergies.
April 11, 2025: Complex Air Pollution and Public Health
Thousands of people across the United States live near multiple industrial facilities and petrochemical plants that expose them to higher levels of air pollution, but chemical exposure risk is commonly regulated one chemical at a time. A recent study conducted by a group of Johns Hopkins researchers found that “fence line” residents are at higher risk for multiple health problems because of the toxic mix of air they breathe. Lead author Dr. Keeve Nachman joined Host Paloma Beltran to walk through the study.
March 21, 2025: EPA Abandons Environmental Justice
President Trump’s EPA is halting funding for EJ programs and shuttering its Office of Environmental Justice. David Cash led EPA Region 1 covering New England during the Biden administration and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe how EJ initiatives were starting to help overburdened communities clean up their air, replace lead pipes and enjoy better health as a result.
March 14, 2025: EPA Under Attack
The Trump administration has announced plans to roll back multiple environmental regulations, cut EPA spending and push back environmental justice programs. Christine Todd Whitman served as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush and she’s the only woman who has served as the governor of New Jersey. She joined Living on Earth’s host Steve Curwood and Paloma Beltran to discuss recent federal actions end her centrist approach on environmental regulation.
March 14, 2025: Plastic Containers Linked to Heart Failure
Plastics can contain thousands of chemicals like phthalates and PFAS which are harmful to human and animal health. A new study published in the journal Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety, found that higher exposure to disposable takeout containers, was linked to a higher risk of congestive heart failure in both humans and animals. Dr. Leonardo Trasande the director of the NYU Center for the Investigation of Environmental Hazards joined host Living on Earth Steve Curwood to review the study.
March 07, 2025: NY Climate Superfund
To help cover the rising costs of climate impacts like extreme floods and sea level rise, New York State has enacted a law that asks major fossil fuel companies to pay up, based on their historic sales of coal, gas and oil. Anne Louise Rabe is the former Environmental Policy Director at NY-PIRG, The New York Public Interest Research Group, and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how the revenues would fund climate adaptation and resilience.
February 14, 2025: 'EXPLORE' Act and Outdoor Accessibility
A new bipartisan law aims to help people of all abilities explore the outdoors. Syren Nagakyrie founded the nonprofit Disabled Hikers and joins Host Jenni Doering to share insights about the challenges people with disabilities face visiting America’s public lands and how the new law could help.
January 31, 2025: Bird Flu Warning
So far avian flu hasn’t been seen spreading from human to human, but recent mutations indicate some variants are becoming better adapted to infecting humans. Dr. Richard Webby of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital also directs a World Health Organization center on the ecology of influenza. He joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain what we know about bird flu so far, and how we can prepare for the possibility of a pandemic.
January 03, 2025: New Climate Champion in Congress
Freshman U.S. Representative Yassamin Ansari, a Democrat representing Arizona’s 3rd district, puts climate at the top of her priority list. She joins Host Steve Curwood to reflect on her work with the UN on the Paris Climate Accord, discuss how extreme heat is affecting her constituents, and preview her climate aims in Congress.

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