Latest News On Environmental Health

Latest KFF Health News Stories

Low-Income Californians Feel Twice The Burn From Wildfires

KFF Health News Original

People living near highways and agricultural and industrial zones get hit with a “double whammy” when smoke blows into their neighborhoods, where the air is often polluted already.

Podcast: KHN’s ‘What The Health?’ Opioids, EpiPens And Health Funding

KFF Health News Original

In this episode of KHN’s “What the Health?” Julie Rovner of Kaiser Health News, Alice Ollstein of Talking Points Memo, Margot Sanger-Katz of The New York Times and Joanne Kenen of Politico discuss Senate action on health funding and opioid legislation, the state of the individual insurance market and consternation over expiration dates on EpiPens, the self-injected allergy remedy. Also, could an otter with asthma signal a potential public health crisis?

The ‘Gesundheit Machine’ Collects Campus Cooties In Race Against A Fierce Flu

KFF Health News Original

Environmental health professor Don Milton is studying how the flu — and other dangerous infections — are spread. The close quarters of dorm rooms and cafeterias at the University of Maryland provide him with a steady supply of research subjects.

Hospitals Find Asthma Hot Spots More Profitable To Neglect Than Fix

KFF Health News Original

Months of reporting and rich hospital data portray life in the worst asthma hot spot in one of the worst asthma cities: Baltimore. The medical system knows how to help. But there’s no money in it.

Breathing Fire: Health Is A Casualty Of Climate-Fueled Blazes

KFF Health News Original

As the planet warms, wildfires such as the latest disastrous blazes in Northern California have increased in frequency and scope. Beyond the environmental effects, people suffer health repercussions that can be disabling and even deadly.

California Cracks Down On Weed Killer As Lawsuits Abound

KFF Health News Original

California has listed the active ingredient in Monsanto’s Roundup as a cancer-causing agent and will require warning labels on it starting next year. The company says that the listing is unjustified and that science is on its side.

California Valley Fever Cases Highest On Record

KFF Health News Original

Nearly 5,400 cases of the soil-borne fungal disease were reported in 2016, the largest number since the state began tracking the illness in 1995, according to public health officials.