Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Air Pollution In Cities As Dangerous For Lungs As Smoking 20 Cigarettes A Day, Study Finds
NPR: Air Pollution May Be As Harmful To Your Lungs As Smoking Cigarettes, Study Finds
Emphysema is considered a smoker's disease. But it turns out, exposure to air pollution may lead to the same changes in the lung that give rise to emphysema. A new study published Tuesday in JAMA finds that long-term exposure to slightly elevated levels of air pollution can be linked to accelerated development of lung damage, even among people who have never smoked. (Janney, 8/13)
New Orleans Times-Picayune: Hot Weather Lingers In New Orleans As Experts Warn Of Health Impacts
New Orleans and most of Louisiana sweated through another day of oppressive heat Tuesday, with the city continuing to deal with excessively high temperatures that kept residents indoors and health care workers on alert. ...Hot weather in August in New Orleans is nothing new, but conditions in recent days have risen from uncomfortable to dangerous, particularly for the people most vulnerable to excessive heat, such as children, the elderly and those with certain chronic medical conditions. (Woodruff, 8/13)
KCUR: Climate Change Could Make Missouri A Mosquito Paradise, But Health Experts Warn We Aren’t Ready
This year’s catastrophic flooding has created hard times for many people in Midwest, but it’s created a nirvana for mosquitoes. Kansas City and the surrounding region could potentially become a hotbed for mosquito-borne viruses like West Nile virus in the coming years due to increasing temperatures and more frequent flooding, which are predicted by climate experts. (Smith, 8/14)
Arizona Republic: Cleanup Of Cancer-Causing Toxins In Phoenix Has Been Delayed For Years
The water beneath a large swath of Phoenix isn’t fit to drink.A plume of toxic chemicals has tainted the groundwater for decades, and it's now at the center of a bitter fight over how the aquifer should be cleaned up and what should happen to the water in the future. At issue are questions about why the cleanup has proceeded slowly, which government agency should lead the effort, and whether the polluted water, which isn't flowing to household faucets, is releasing chemicals into the air at levels that may pose health risks for people in the area. (James and Nicla, 8/13)
NPR: Newark's Drinking Water Problem: Lead And Unreliable Filters
Last fall, Newark gave out more than 40,000 water filters, even going door to door to reach families with lead service lines. The toxin is believed to have leached into drinking water through the old pipes between water treatment plants and people's homes. Free filters and cartridges would remove 99% of lead, the city of Newark said. But recent test results introduced an element of doubt about that claim. ... Samples showed the filtered drinking water had lead levels exceeding 15 parts per billion, which is the federal and state standard, EPA regional administrator Peter Lopez said. (Ingber, 8/13)
