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PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are found in the environment as a result of motor vehicle emissions, as well as the burning of oil, tobacco smoke, and other combustible sources. Researchers have found that prenatal exposure to PAH may lead to self-regulation problems like ADHD later in life for the child. The research team tested blood samples from mothers and analyzed the behavior of 462 mother-child pairs. Maternal blood was tested for PAH exposure. The children were tested with the Child Behavior Checklist at ages 3-5,7, 9 and 11.Scores from this test were used to create a composite score for the Deficient Emotion Self-Regulation Scale. The higher the score, the less of a capability to self-regulate. Researchers found that children who had mothers with higher exposure to PAH had a higher DESR score, and thus less of an ability to self-regulate. The fact that PAH can lead to ADHD may indicate that PAH is an important factor to a rang of mental health problems. Researchers think that prenatal exposure to PAH damages neurons that direst motor, attentional, and emotional responses. I believe this issue is of particular importance because it shows how harmful our own actions are against ourselves. If PAH we release into the atmosphere is causing this amount of harm, other chemicals can be doing even more harm. Also, the behavioral problems that are the result of such exposure can lead to societal problems in the future, as people will be less able to self-govern and be good citizens. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160317094525.htm
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Bee numbers are declining globally due to colony collapse disaster, and this is putting farmers' livelihoods at risk. Despite the European Union banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, the problem of losing bees still looms. Scientists are still not entirely sure of all the workings of how pesticides interact with bees. However, researchers from Poland have developed a method for analyzing 200 pesticides at one time to see what is really going on. With bees being the pollinators for 80% of crops and wildflowers in Europe, it is important to find out the effects of pesticides on the insects. To adequately understand what is going on, we must find out which pesticides are found in bees and at which concentrations. This would help to see what the effects of certain combinations are now and over time. The research team used QuEChERS, which is currently used to detect pesticides in food, to test bees for 200 pesticides at the same time. 57 different pesticides were found to be in the bees. I find this issue of particular importance because bees are incredibly important when it comes to food production. We need to properly understand how our pesticides are affecting them before all the bees are gone, for then we would have to start hand pollinating crops, which would just be costly and annoying. Really this issue needs to receive more attention since it deals directly with our food supply. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160310111849.htm In 2007, China passed the US as the country that emits the most greenhouse gases. But if one follows where most of China's products go, the blame clearly shifts to other places. China's per capita consumption-based footprint is small, as the export a lot of their products to other countries. A team of researchers looked at 43 countries and 5 regions from a consumption standpoint, and found that consumers are responsible for more than 60 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of the world's water use. It was seen that consumers are directly responsible for 20 percent of all carbon emissions, which results from driving cars and heating hoes. What was surprising, though, was that consumers are indirectly responsible for four-fifths of all carbon impacts through the simple purchase of products and the resources that were needed to produce those goods. A good example is water use. While it may be thought that shortening shower length can help to reduce water use, what would really help would be to cut down meat consumption. Cows are terrible inefficient at converting grains into meat, and so one kilo of meat of beef requires 15,415 liters of water to be produced. Researchers also looked at the difference in water use when producing soy milk and cow's milk: a liter soy milk needs only 267 liters of water (with only about 62 percent of that water actually growing the soybeans) while a liter cow milk needs about 1050 liters of water. Processed foods also need lots of resources, as it takes lots of water to grow the raw materials, lots of oil to ship the materials, and lots of energy to produce and package the final product. (By the way, it takes 17,000 liters of water to produce one kilo of chocolate). When the researchers looked at countries, they found that the richer a country is, the more its inhabitants consume. The more a person consumes, the bigger that person's impact is on the environment. The US is the worst country with 18.6 tons of CO2 equivalent per capita. I find this issue of particular importance because it highlights the fact that change in environmental thinking really needs to start at the individual level. Personal choices to become vegan or vegetarian can cut water use by much more than simply taking shorter showers. Also, just cutting back on buying products can help to reduce an individual's impact on the environment. People should spend more on services instead, as this has the benefit of not only reducing a person's carbon footprint but expanding a person's experiential knowledge. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160224132923.htm |
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April 2016
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