Amid Extreme Heat, Many Low-Income Americans Miss Out On Money To Pay Cooling Costs

Politico: Holes In Federal Aid Leave Millions Sweltering 
If nothing else, this summer’s record-smashing heat has demonstrated that air conditioning can be a life-saving necessity. Yet more than 30 million low-income households that are eligible for federal funding to help pay their cooling costs haven’t received a dime, writes Thomas Frank in an investigation published today. That’s largely because the federal program to protect poor families from dangerous temperatures was designed with frigid winters in mind. And almost every state spends the bulk of that program’s money on heating, even as summer death tolls rise. (Skibell, 9/6)

E&E News By POLITICO: States Withhold Cooling Aid For The Poor As Heat Gets Deadlier
More than 30 million low-income households that are eligible for federal funding to defray the cost of air conditioning have not received any money from a government program that was created to protect vulnerable people from dangerous temperatures, an E&E News analysis shows. The dearth of cooling assistance going to households nationwide reflects shortcomings in U.S. and state policies to address the dangers of extreme heat as it kills more Americans than other weather-related disasters, according to some experts. It comes during a summer of unmatched climate catastrophes, including the hottest month on record. (Frank, 9/6)

More on the heat wave —

Reuters: UN Chief Heat Officer Says Warming Cities Pose Potential To Be Major Killers 
The United Nations' first global chief heat officer called on Wednesday for political leaders to make firm commitments at November's COP28 climate meeting to stem rapidly rising temperatures in cities, particularly in poorer countries. Eleni Myrivili, tasked with trying to ease the impact of hotter summers that threaten the health and livelihoods of billions of urban residents around the world, said finding the finance for nature-based solutions and adaptation plans for cities was a major roadblock to progress. (9/6)

The Washington Post: Extreme Heat Poses Heightened Death Risk For Those With Schizophrenia
When temperatures surge, the effects of schizophrenia can be profound. During the record-breaking heat wave in British Columbia in Canada in 2021, for example, researchers found that an astonishing 8 percent of the people who died in the heat had been diagnosed with schizophrenia — rendering it more dangerous, when combined with heat, than any other condition studied. ... People with schizophrenia are more likely to be unhoused or economically vulnerable — but that’s not the only reason they are at greater risk. Drugs prescribed for schizophrenia and other serious mental illnesses dehydrate patients and make it harder for their bodies to manage high temperatures. (Osaka, O'Connor and Muyskens, 9/6)

The Boston Globe: Many Mass. Students Are Returning To Hot Classrooms That Could Compromise Their Learning
“We really worry about the physical health of children when the temperature gets above 90 degrees,” said Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent and young adult medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital for Children. “We will see more of these days even in September as the climate changes and the effects in many US classrooms, especially in Massachusetts, which often don’t have air conditioning.” (Scales, 9/5)

In other environmental health news —

Axios: Canada Wildfires Smoke Hits U.S. Air Quality As 1,008 Fires Burn
Toxic smoke from Canada's historic wildfires is drifting across the U.S. — triggering air quality alerts throughout much of Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota and Nebraska through Thursday. (Falconer, 9/7)

NPR: Climate Change Makes Air Quality Worse, And That's Bad For Health
Emergency room visits for asthma spike during and after smoke exposure. Heart attacks, strokes, and cognitive function problems also increase after smoke exposure. In 2022, people living in the Amazon basin, Alaska, and the western part of North America all breathed in more wildfire smoke than they have on average over the past 20 years. (Borunda, 9/6)

The Boston Globe: Record Rain And Mosquitoes ‘A Window Into The New Normal’
“There are definitely more mosquitoes outside my tent than in most years,” said Matthew Ayres, a professor of biological sciences at Dartmouth who studies population ecology of insects and focuses on forest pests to understand how species fluctuate. ... With climate change, new kinds of mosquitoes are coming to New Hampshire carrying diseases like West Nile Virus and Eastern Equine Encephalitis. (Gokee, 9/6)

AP: Order Not To Use Tap Water In West Virginia Community Enters Fourth Week After Plant Malfunction 
A notice ordering residents of a northern West Virginia community not to use their tap water entered its fourth week Wednesday after a treatment-plant malfunction allowed the release of a hazardous solvent. Dr. Matt Christiansen, the state’s health officer, said preliminary findings from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency showed tetrachloroethylene in the water serving the community of Paden City along the Ohio River. (Raby, 9/6)

KFF Health News: ‘Like A Russian Roulette’: US Military Firefighters Grapple With Unknowns Of PFAS Exposure 
A U.S. military firefighter for 32 years, Kurt Rhodes trained and performed his duties with aqueous film forming foam, or AFFF — a highly effective fire suppressant that he never knew contained PFAS chemicals, now known to be harmful to human health. New federal research links testicular cancer in U.S. service members to the “forever chemicals,” adding to a growing body of evidence of the dangers they pose. Rhodes lives in fear that he, like many of his colleagues, will get sick. “It’s kind of like a Russian roulette,” he said. “Are you going to get the cancers or are you going to be one of the lucky ones who doesn’t?” (Kime and Norman, 9/7)

Advances against Lyme disease —

Reuters: Pfizer, Valneva Say 'Positive' Result For Lyme Disease Vaccine Candidate Booster 
Pfizer and French pharmaceutical peer Valneva announced on Thursday that a phase 2 study for its VLA15 Lyme disease vaccine candidate showed a "strong immune response" in both children and adolescents a month after a booster shoot. "The Phase 2 booster results emphasize the vaccine candidate’s potential to provide immunity against Lyme disease in paediatric and adolescent populations," the two companies said in a statement. (9/7)