Daily News 07/22
Daily News Archives Since I Got Blocked From Facebook (Israel Asked Facebook to Censor Iran War Content, Documents Show)
Corporate Greenwashing
Another clue is at the population health level, where we are witnessing an unsettling rise in the rates of early-onset cancers in individuals aged 35–50, pointing to a potential environmental or lifestyle change (or both) associated with this group. This age range corresponds to the generations born into the “modernized” world that brought about elevated rates of plastic ingestion, and one hypothesis is that the chronic ingestion of plastic is spurring these increases in cancer risk. Consistent with this hypothesis, elevated levels of MNPs are observed in colorectal cancer specimens as compared with noncancer colon tissue (8), and feeding studies exposing fish to MNPs have shown increased rates of liver neoplasias (9). Observations are currently merely correlative, and the generation of individuals aged 35–50 in the United States experienced, in addition to accumulating plastic waste, a number of societal changes that are likely to confound interpretation, such as changes in antibiotic use and the widespread incorporation of processed foods into our diet. Large, carefully designed epidemiological studies are needed to tease apart the multiple variables that are potentially at play. However, without better technology to measure nanoplastics, which are arguably the most concerning biological form of MNPs, surveillance efforts may be incomplete. Presently, it is also not clear whether larger microplastics serve as surrogates for bioavailable nanoplastics because of a lack of knowledge of how larger microplastics fragment and degrade in the environment; resolving this would require a concerted, large-scale, multidisciplinary effort. Though daunting, the efforts needed to fully understand the population health impact of microplastics would still represent fractional activities compared with the original scale and research outputs originally expended to develop plastics in the first place.
MNP-induced inflammation, oxidative stress, and gut microbiome alterations
One potential mechanism by which chronic MNP exposure promotes biological effects may be via a nongenotoxic, cancer cell–extrinsic mechanism. To understand how this might occur, one must first consider MNPs not as soluble toxins, but as particulate matter (PM). PM of a certain size (e.g., <2.5 μM) is a known carcinogen. But PM2.5 is not a mutagen. Rather, PM2.5 exerts cancer-promoting effects by inducing chronic inflammation, which creates a growth-permissive microenvironment for cancer. The inflammatory effects of PM2.5 are, at least partially, mediated by macrophages, which recognize and engulf foreign particles to elicit “danger” signals. The inflamed macrophages, when cocultured with small numbers of cancer cells harboring pro-proliferative EGFR mutations, promote growth of the cancer cells (10). Macrophages might recognize MNPs in a similar manner as PM2.5, engulfing plastic particles by phagocytosis and inducing pro-inflammatory signals (Figure 1). Plastic ingestion also increases gut permeability and alters composition and function of gut microbiota, which can further exacerbate inflammation. This likely induces chronic inflammation in the gut for some individuals. Combined with widespread changes in diet and gut intestinal flora in recent decades, it is possible that MNP exposure exacerbates cancer growth by creating a more cancer-permissive microenvironment. Rigorous in vivo studies are needed to further test this hypothesis, and these analyses will need to thoughtfully consider variation in plastic type; heterogeneity in shape, size, and chemistries; and the underlying diet and associated gut flora of the organism (11). In support of this hypothesis, evidence from ingestion exposure to environmentally realistic concentrations of polyethylene MNPs in mice demonstrates an increase in T cell exhaustion in colons that is mediated by IL-1β–producing macrophages (12)._—The carcinogenic consequences of the plastic pollution crisis
Weather warnings as tropical depression develops along US Gulf coast Depression set to become tropical storm later on Monday as separate storm strengthens off Mexico’s Pacific coast
Climate Change made Historic Wildfire Smoke Event 5X Times more Likely Because climate change, dense smoke from wildfires in. Minnesota and of Ontario is blanketing tens of millions with hazardous pollution
Global Heating Threatens Kidney, Heart Health of Workers About half the people in the world are suffering the consequences of more frequent and more intense extreme heat events
How Climate Change Supercharges Hurricane Flooding, Deaths Flooding has caused over half of all direct hurricane deaths since 2013. The threat will increase as climate change intensifies hurricanes.
Reminds me of the Documentrary Don’t Look Up: Capitalists Hide the Truth: ‘A public health emergency waiting to occur’: how US industry groups spent years fighting who gets to measure toxic air Air polluters try to ensure toxic emissions happen far from monitors – but the people who live nearby still feel it Kimbrelle Kyereh lives just a few hundred feet from the massive chemical storage tanks in St Rose, in south-eastern Louisiana. Oiy fumes sometimes drift into her home, bringing headaches, nausea and insomnia. On one such night, she grabbed her son at 3am and fled to an all-night Ihop. In 2023, after years of coping with the noxious odors, Kyereh began collecting air samples in her yard for a local environmental justice group. But soon after, Louisiana passed an industry-backed law that sharply restricted how that kind of data could be used.
As the US faces wildires, drought and floods.: Trump Under Fire for Diverting Disaster Relief Workers to Immigration Policing Trump administration officials were notably absent from a House hearing on reforming FEMA this week.
Slowdown in Arctic ice melt ends after largest winter decline on record Scientists recorded slower reduction over past 20 years, but study finds this was ‘temporary rather than sustaine
Trump’s ICE Murder Rampage: Federal Agents Reportedly Told FBI Will No Longer Investigate ICE Confrontations New guidance distributed to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents across the country in recent days said that the FBI will no longer investigate confrontations that officers have with protesters or people who are subjected to immigration enforcement — leaving the agency to investigate its own violent encounters with the public following at least two recent killings by ICE agents.
We received no alert, say leaders of First Nations communities razed by Canadian wildfires Chiefs in Ontario say they were left to self-evacuate before homes burned to ground, after being told there was no imminent threat
Britain: the many faces of Andy Burnham – how long until the mask slips?At the time of writing, Andy Burnham is preparing to move into Downing Street, following the resignation of Keir Starmer, the much-loathed former prime minister.