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What Color is Your Night Light? It May Affect Your Mood

By Guest PostAugust 9, 2013Healthanabel galan, body, brain, celynn vaughn, circadian clock, color, dendritic spines, density, depressive like symptoms, ghassan daye, health hazards, hippocampus regions, iprgcs, light at night, mood disorders, night light, photosensitive cell, randy nelson, retina, salk institute, tracy bedrosian, your mood, zachary weil

Study Finds Red Light Least Harmful, While Blue Light is Worst

COLUMBUS, Ohio –– When it comes to some of the health hazards of light at night, a new study suggests that the color of the light can make a big difference.

In a study involving hamsters, researchers found that blue light had the worst effects on mood-related measures, followed closely by white light.

But hamsters exposed to red light at night had significantly less evidence of depressive-like symptoms and changes in the brain linked to depression, compared to those that experienced blue or white light. (more…)

Hidden Dangers in the Air We Breathe

By Guest PostMay 10, 2013Environment, Healthacrolein, air quality, air we breathe, average american, berkeley lab, brett singer, california, cardiovascular systems, chronic exposure, daly, factories, fine particles, gas, health hazards, hidden dangers, indoor air pollutants, indoor air quality, max sherman, micrometers in diameter, phillip price, respiratory, title 24, united states, urban environment, us population, vehicles, world health organization, world war

Berkeley Lab researchers work on new building standards after discovering previously unknown indoor air pollutants.

For decades, no one worried much about the air quality inside people’s homes unless there was secondhand smoke or radon present. Then scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) made the discovery that the aggregate health consequences of poor indoor air quality are as significant as those from all traffic accidents or infectious diseases in the United States. One major source of indoor pollutants in the home is cooking.

The Berkeley Lab scientists are now working on turning those research findings into science-based solutions, including better standards for residential buildings and easier ways to test for the hazardous pollutants. These efforts are the result of a paper published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2012 that described a new method for estimating the chronic health impact of indoor air pollutants. That research uncovered two pollutants that previously had not been recognized as a cause for concern—fine particles and a gas called acrolein. (more…)

IBM and The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Develop New Antimicrobial Hydrogel to Fight Superbugs and Drug-Resistant Biofilms

By Guest PostJanuary 24, 2013Health, Technologyalcohol, antibiotic, antimicrobial activity, antimicrobial hydrogel, aseptic techniques, biocompatible, biodegradable, biofilms, blackhole, bleach, cdc, conventional antibiotics, drug resistant bacteria, drug resistant biofilm, gravitation, health hazards, hydrogels, ibm, ibm research, infectious diseases, institute of bioengineering, james hedrick, macromolecule, microbial membranes, molecular structure, molecular zipper, nanomedicine solutions, Nanotechnology, new technology, non-toxic, orifice barriers, polymer, positive charge, skin infections, sterilization, synthetic antimicrobial hydrogel, synthetic hydrogel, united states, water solubility, yi yan yang

Applications range from protective coating to sterilize hospital surfaces and medical equipment or as an injection to more effectively treat patients

SAN JOSE, Calif. – 24 Jan 2013: Researchers from IBM and the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology revealed today an antimicrobial hydrogel that can break through diseased biofilms and completely eradicate drug-resistant bacteria upon contact. The synthetic hydrogel, which forms spontaneously when heated to body temperature, is the first-ever to be biodegradable, biocompatible and non-toxic, making it an ideal tool to combat serious health hazards facing hospital workers, visitors and patients.

Traditionally used for disinfecting various surfaces, antimicrobials can be found in traditional household items like alcohol and bleach. However, moving from countertops to treating drug resistant skin infections or infectious diseases in the body are proving to be more challenging as conventional antibiotics become less effective and many household surface disinfectants are not suitable for biological applications. (more…)

Study Improves Accuracy of Models for Predicting Ozone Levels in Urban Areas

By Guest PostNovember 3, 2010Environmentanne mccoy, aos angeles basin, chemical reaction, computer models, formation of nitric acid, ground-level ozone, health hazards, hydroxyl radical, mitchio okumura, nitric acid, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, poor air quality, smoggy days, urban areas

*Current computer models may underestimate levels of ground-level ozone*

A team of scientists has, for the first time, completely characterized an important chemical reaction that is critical to the formation of ground-level ozone in urban areas. The team’s results indicate that computer models may be underestimating ozone levels in urban areas during episodes of poor air quality (smoggy days) by as much as five to 10 percent.

Ground level ozone poses significant health hazards to people, animals and plants; is the primary ingredient of smog; and gives polluted air its characteristic odor. It is known that even small increases in ozone concentrations can lead to increases in death from respiratory problems. Because of the health hazards caused by ozone exposure, the research team’s results may have regulatory implications. (more…)

Tag Archives: health hazards

What Color is Your Night Light? It May Affect Your Mood

Hidden Dangers in the Air We Breathe

IBM and The Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology Develop New Antimicrobial Hydrogel to Fight Superbugs and Drug-Resistant Biofilms

Study Improves Accuracy of Models for Predicting Ozone Levels in Urban Areas