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Chemistry

This category contains 59 posts

Oysters on drugs

When I used to teach invertebrate zoology, I found a surprising number of studies where they exposed different invertebrates to different drugs. My favourite was the spiders on drugs. You can search it and find images of the webs they built after exposure to different drugs. Today, an article popped up about oyster larvae and … Continue reading

Linking Tylenol to autism is not backed by science

I can’t not post something given the announcement from the US president yesterday. But I also don’t need to write anything new. There are an abundance of good news articles out already in response to the unfounded claim that taking Tylenol while pregnant can result in a child developing Autism Spectrum Disorder. Here are a … Continue reading

Plastics, recycled plastics, and dangerous chemicals

Okay, so I want to start this post by saying that we need to reduce plastic use overall and that the message in the research I’m going to discuss is not that recycled plastics are the problem. But there are consequences of viewing plastic recycling as the thing that will save us from our plastic … Continue reading

It’s more than just the smoke

Wildfires are growing in size and intensity with climate change. Clearly the smoke from these fires has direct health consequences; however, some recent research shows that the concern goes beyond the smoke itself. Kelesidis and colleagues (2025) studied the impact of the 2023 Canadian wildfires on New York. They found that there were the expected … Continue reading

Everything is connected

The world is warming through climate change but 2023 was warmer than predicted. This led to questions of why and Quaglia and Visioni (2024) think they have part of the answer. International shipping regulations came in in January 2020 that significantly reduced sulfate emissions. This is important because sulfate causes both risks for human health … Continue reading

Cigarettes and the environment

I have never smoked, so I really don’t understand the attraction, but I do understand the frustration when I see so many cigarette butts lying on the ground. It always baffles me, how many people just toss their butts rather than disposing of them properly. This, along with a couple of recent discussions with people … Continue reading

Skating on weak ice

I was supposed to compete in an ice dragon boat festival last winter. Sadly, it was cancelled because of unsafe ice conditions. And according to new research by Culpepper and colleagues (2024) this is going to become more common as we consider quality as well as quantity. In the face of climate change, it seems … Continue reading

Fireworks and pollution levels

We are just over a month out from July 1 (Canada) and July 4 (US) celebrations. Many of these include fireworks. And fireworks, according to new research by Saporito and colleagues (2024), contribute to temporary increases in both air and water pollution. Saporito and colleagues studied air and water pollution levels in New York City … Continue reading

Self-heating concrete, resource consumption, and accessibility

I’m interested in the idea of having heated pathways to support mobility in the winter. I think it could support active transport and increased community accessibility by keeping the paths clearer of snow and ice. But the sustainability of doing this has always been problematic. It generally requires energy use most often through some sort … Continue reading

Climate change leads to wildfires which leads to climate change, and it might be worse than we thought

We are in an unprecedented fire season in 2023. Warming temperatures and drier conditions caused by climate change are a major reason. But wildfires themselves also contribute to climate change creating a reinforcing feedback loop. And, new research indicates that this might be worse than previously thought. It has been well established that black carbon … Continue reading

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