How Plastic Can Harm Your Health. Plastic is everywhere, yet it often contains chemicals linked to reproductive harm, cancer risk, metabolic disease, and other issues. Consumer Reports Kevin Loria Senior Health & Food Reporter Jan 18, 2024 Plastic is everywhere—even in the foods we eat and the beverages we drink. CR’s recent tests of nearly 100 foods found two types of chemicals used in plastic, bisphenols and phthalates, in a wide variety of packaged foods.

These findings are concerning because there’s clear evidence linking exposure to these particular chemicals to a number of health effects, including disruptions of the endocrine or hormone system. Such disruption has been linked to neurodevelopmental problems, metabolic disorders, and reproductive issues. According to one new study, diseases that have been linked to exposure to plastic-related chemicals cost the U.S. approximately $250 billion in healthcare costs in 2018.  As plastic production has increased, so has the incidence of chronic disease, according to Woodruff. And while several interrelated factors are likely at play, many expert groups including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics say that at least some of that increase is likely due to chemical exposure.The Evidence Gets Clearer.....It’s hard to quantify the exact impact of every chemical that people are exposed to through day-to-day life. But there’s a growing body of research about plastic chemicals that has followed populations over time to look at patterns of disease and examined how these chemicals directly affect animals and in some cases, people. All this has helped clarify how certain chemicals cause disease, and provided evidence for concerns researchers have raised for many years. After decades of study, the health effects of exposure to some chemicals in plastic—such as bisphenols and phthalates—are better understood. But based on what we know about those chemicals, and the number of similar chemicals and other additives used in plastic, experts suspect that the list of potentially worrisome plastic chemicals is long.Researchers say that we know less about the health effects microplastics, but there are reasons to be concerned. “They may function as Trojan horses that carry toxic chemicals into the human body,” Landrigan says.Plus, according to Woodruff, researchers have found that microplastic exposure is linked to issues with male fertility, biomarkers of colon and gut cancer, and to potential respiratory problems. The mechanism for these effects is not yet clear. But in addition to the risk of these particles carrying toxic chemicals, it’s also possible that as they end up in various tissues, these particles serve as an irritant, causing inflammation that leads to further health effects.

Plastic Everywhere...There are at least two mechanisms through which researchers say exposure to plastic can affect human health: exposure to chemicals in plastic, and then the ingestion or absorption of micro- and nanoplastics. And human exposure to plastics—and to the chemicals that make up and are added to plastic materials—occurs at every stage of the product life cycle, from production to use to disposal.                            

https://www.consumerreports.org/toxic-chemicals-substances/how-plastic-can-harm-your-health-a2854312421/ 

Heat is testing the limits of human survivability. Here’s how it kills CNN  Laura Paddison, Jen Christensen, Mary Gilbert, Henry Zeris, Yukari Schrickel,Lou Robinson andWay MulleryMon July 29, 2024 Philip Kreycik should have survived his run. In the summer of 2021, the 37-year-old ultra-marathon runner used an app to plot a roughly 8-mile loop through Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park in California, a huge stretch of parkland threaded with trails. On the morning of July 10, as temperatures crept into the 90s, Kreycik set off from his car, leaving his phone and water locked inside. He started at a lightning pace — eating up the first 5 miles, each one in less than six minutes. Then things started to go wrong. GPS data from his smartwatch showed he slowed dramatically. He veered off the trail. His steps became erratic. By this time, the temperature was above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. When Kreycik failed to show up for a family lunch, his wife contacted the police. It took more than three weeks to find his body. An autopsy showed no sign of traumatic injuries. Police confirmed Kreycik likely experienced a medical emergency related to the heat.The tragedy is sadly far from unique; extreme heat is turning ordinary activities deadly.

People have died taking a stroll in the midday sun, on a family hike in a national park, at an outdoor Taylor Swift concert, and even sweltering in their homes without air conditioning. During this year’s Hajj pilgrimage in June, around 1,300 people perished as temperatures pushed above 120 degrees Fahrenheit in Mecca. Heat is the deadliest type of extreme weather, and the human-caused climate crisis is making heat waves more severe and prolonged. Add humidity into the mix, and conditions in some places are approaching the limits of human survivability — the point at which our bodies simply cannot adapt.“We’ve essentially weaponized summer,” said Matthew Huber, a climate professor at Purdue University.....read on

Inside a heat chamber....Kreycik had almost everything on his side when he went running on that hot day: he was extremely fit, relatively young and was an experienced runner.While some people are more vulnerable to heat than others, including the very old and young, no one is immune — not even the world’s top athletes.......read on.   https://www.cnn.com/2024/07/29/climate/heat-survivability-health-death-intl 

  Climate refugees are people who must leave their homes and communities because of the effects of climate change and global warming. Climate refugees belong to a larger group of immigrants known as environmental refugees. Climate refugees are people who must leave their homes and communities because of the effects of climate change and global warming. Climate change is caused by natural events, such as volcanic eruptions, as well as human activities, such as burning fossil fuels and cutting down forests. Climate change has happened many times since Earth was formed billions of years ago. Global warming is the most recent period of climate change. This term refers specifically to the increase in Earth’s average temperature as a result of rising levels of greenhouse gasses. Greenhouse gasses trap heat in the atmosphere and are released when fossil fuels are burned. Fossil fuels, which include coal, oil, and natural gas, are used to generate electricity, power vehicles, heat homes and commercial buildings, and produce a wide variety of goods. In general, wealthy, industrialized countries create the most greenhouse gas emissions but feel the smallest effect of climate change, while low-income, developing countries produce the lowest emissions but are the most at risk. Countries with lower emissions tend to be in geographical regions that make them more vulnerable to climate change issues, such as deserts and low-lying islands. They also have fewer resources available to prepare for climate emergencies and fund reconstruction efforts. Dry areas, like the Horn of Africa, and low-lying countries, like the Maldives, are already feeling the strain of climate change while producing relatively few emissions. 

Yet the funding outlook for 2025 is anything but promising. Global cooperation is increasingly under threat, and the gap between humanitarian needs and funding to meet them is growing. In particular, the specific needs of women and girls are often overlooked with humanitarian response, such as gender-based violence, which is one of the most underfunded sectors. The costs of inaction will be stark. We already know that a majority of maternal deaths take place in fragile contexts. Women in crisis settings also experience twice the rate of gender-based violence – 70 per cent – and adolescent girls are 90 per cent more likely to be out of school compared to those not in crisis settings. But these outcomes are not inevitable. They are choices made by governments, donors, civil society and more. In 2025, UNFPA and its partners are raising the alarm that women and girls are most at risk when their reproductive rights, safety and humanity are kept in the shadows.

Below we shine a spotlight on some of the most underfunded crises for women in the world.......                                                  Cameroon – Multiple threats for women and girls.....Cameroon is battling mass internal displacement from repeated climate emergencies and violence by armed groups, as well as a significant refugee influx from neighbouring countries. UNFPA is working to meet the rising needs of some 3.4 million people and investing in climate-resilient health infrastructure. This helps support women like Aicha*, who after fleeing massive floods while pregnant and already displaced by violence told UNFPA, “I was so scared for the baby in my womb and for myself.” In numbers: For 2025, UNFPA is asking for US$9 million for Cameroon. Last year’s appeal was less than one third funded, meaning UNFPA was unable to reach more than half of the people in need of its services, and could no longer support 36 primary healthcare centres and 20 safe spaces.                                                                          

Chad – Multiple crises and a neighbour at war.....Conflict, climate emergencies and displacement are driving the crisis in Chad. And since the war in Sudan broke out, Chad has seen the largest arrival of refugees in its history, with conditions in numerous displacement camps cramped, unsanitary and dangerous. As millions of women and girls lack adequate access to sexual and reproductive healthcare and protection services, the current deep lack of funding for humanitarian response is only making the situation more tenuous.  In numbers: UNFPA requirements for 2025 are $27.8 million. Last year, just one third of the appeal was funded. This meant the organization could not reach more than 77,000 people with the sexual and reproductive health services they required, 50,000 women and girls could not access gender-based violence support, and some 111 primary health facilities were no longer supported.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo – Sexual violence and maternal deaths soar.......