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New faculty explore environmental impacts on health from different angles
New faculty members appointed to Harvard Chan School’s Department of Environmental Health are studying how environmental factors impact health from a variety of angles, including potential harms from “toxin cocktails,” microbes in engineered water systems, and climate-related extreme…
How studying the ‘exposome’ can reveal harmful environmental exposures
In the not-too-distant future, doctors may be able to determine what sort of damaging exposures their patients have faced—everything from toxic chemicals to unhealthy foods—all from a blood test. This largely invisible collection of exposures is known as…
Lead pipe replacement free in Boston, but uptake slow
A year-old program offers property owners in Boston free replacement of old lead service lines that carry water from the public supply to homes. But only about 400 homeowners have taken advantage of the program so far, according…
Plan to eliminate lead pipes a ‘big win’ for Harvard Chan School scientists
An EPA plan to eliminate all of the nation's lead pipes in 10 years relies heavily on research conducted by Harvard Chan School's Ronnie Levin and Joel Schwartz.
Lead limits in drinking water to be tightened following multiple crises
The EPA is set to propose new regulations on lead pipes—a move that is decades too late, according to Harvard Chan School’s Ronnie Levin.
Communities of color disproportionately exposed to PFAS pollution in drinking water
People who live in communities with higher proportions of Black and Hispanic/Latino residents are more likely to be exposed to harmful levels of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in their water supplies than people living in other communities,…
Regulations reducing lead and copper contamination in drinking water generate $9 billion of health benefits per year, according to new analysis
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Lead and Copper Drinking Water Rule Revision (LCRR) costs $335 million to implement while generating $9 billion in health benefits annually—far exceeding the EPA’s public statements that the LCRR generates $645 million in…
What’s behind ‘shocking’ U.S. life expectancy decline—and what to do about it
U.S. life expectancy has declined to 76.4 years, the shortest it’s been in nearly two decades, according to December data from the CDC. Two experts from Harvard Chan School—Dean Michelle Williams and Ariadne Labs’ Asaf Bitton—discussed the problem…
Summer drought may be preview of extreme weather cycles
Drought conditions in parts of Massachusetts and other Northeast states are likely to be repeated in future years as climate change hastens extreme weather cycles, in which dry periods become drier and wet periods wetter, according to experts.
Fossil fuel extraction is harming Indigenous communities, say experts
Fossil fuel production causes environmental health effects in Indigenous communities, and leadership from frontline Indigenous activists has been critical in fighting these environmental injustices, according to experts who spoke at a Harvard Chan School event.
